New Books in Journalism

From busting drug lords to leading the Pentagon task force charged with bringing the 9/11 terrorists to justice, Mark Fallon has spent his career on the front lines of U.S. national security. My first guest is one of the most fascinating people I've interviewed. Former NCIS Special Agent in Charge Mark Fallon [http://markfallon.us/] is a national security consultant, scholar, and expert in counterintelligence and counterterrorism who's been involved in some of the most significant terrorism investigations in U.S. history. Mark served more than thirty years in government—twenty-seven with the NCIS and two as a Senior Executive within the Department of Homeland Security. He received numerous awards and medals for his service, including the Department of Defense Counterintelligence Award for Outstanding Achievement and the U.S. Secret Service Director Honors Award. As an NCIS Special Agent, Mark operated undercover in some of the most dangerous places in the world—from infiltrating drug rings in Thailand to capturing poachers in Kenya. He takes us inside his undercover operations and describes his strategy for a successful mission. We talked about the interview and interrogation techniques that actually work (hint: they involve rapport and, occasionally, French fries), and the moment his wife discovered details of an undercover operation. In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Mark was appointed Deputy Commander and Special Agent in Charge of the Pentagon task force, responsible for investigating terrorists for possible trials before military commissions. His critically acclaimed book, Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon, and US Government Conspired to Torture [https://bookshop.org/a/12343/9781942872795] (Regan Arts, 2017) offers a gripping account of the leadership challenges he faced while trying to bring terrorists to justice without compromising his oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Mark opens up about what it takes to lead under pressure, the duty to disobey an unlawful order, and why interrogators make the best first dates He shares leadership lessons that extend far beyond national security—tools for navigating crisis, conflict, and high-stakes decisions in any field. Today, as founder of ClubFed, Mark serves as an international security consultant and continues his mission for improving the practice of interviews and interrogations. Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter Bill Dedman calls Mark Fallon "the Serpico in the war on terror," and high-ranking officials call him an American hero who’s made the world safer. Listen to the podcast—and you'll understand why. Pamela Hamilton is the award-winning author of Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale [https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Be-Good-Times-Dorothy/dp/1646632729], Kirkus Best Book of the Year and Publishers Weekly Editor's Pick. As a producer with NBC News for nearly 15 years, she interviewed prominent figures in business, entertainment, lifestyle, and the arts. Visit www.pamelalhamilton.com [https://pamelalhamilton.com/] to learn more — and sign up to be notified when new episodes are released. Connect on Instagram and Facebook @pamelahamiltonauthor.                  "We told them 'You may not, you must not—you have a duty not to obey an unlawful order." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism]

In an era of globalization, international communication constantly takes place across borders, defying sovereign control as it influences opinion. While diplomacy between states is the visible face of international relations, this “informal diplomacy” is usually less visible but no less powerful. Information politics can be found in propaganda, Internet politics, educational exchanges, tourism, and even popular film. In The International Politics of Communication: Representing Community in a Globalizing World [https://bookshop.org/a/12343/9780472057313] (University of Michigan Press, 2025) by Dr. Alan Chong examines this informational dimension of international politics, investigating how information is generated, conveyed through channels, and directed specifically at audiences. While citizens are often portrayed as faithfully loyal supporters and beneficiaries of the modern nation-state—a fiction supported by passports, identification papers, and other notarized credentials—they are subject to the pulls of loyalty from transnational tribal affiliations, mythological and historical narratives of ethnicity, as well as the transcendental claims of religion and philosophy. Increasingly, social media also enchants non-state individuals, providing new virtual communities as the center of loyalties rather than national affiliations. By reinterpreting taken-for-granted concepts in journalism, media, political economy, nationalism, development, and propaganda as information politics, this book prepares serious-minded scholars, citizens, politicians, and social activists everywhere to understand the power plays in international communication and use alternatives to begin transforming power relations.  This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book [https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/securing-peace-in-angola-and-mozambique-9781350407930/] focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher [https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/special-series/new-books-with-miranda-melcher], wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism]

Emilie Diouf [https://www.brandeis.edu/english/faculty/diouf.html] of Brandeis English, whose monograph on genocide and trauma is forthcoming, joins John to speak with the celebrated French journalist and activist Rokahya Diallo [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokhaya_Diallo]. Diouf places Diallo within a transnational black intellectual tradition, founded in the interwar period in the Negritude movement; it was then that Paulette, Jeanne, and Anne Nardal’s literary salon became a meeting ground for African, Antillean, and African-American intellectuals, in the Parisian suburb of Clamart. The three discuss the slowly changing racial climate in France and globally; how to counter ethnonationalism; as well as the currents of dissent or disdain that threaten to disrupt even leftwing political solidarity. Mentioned in the Episode * Diallo has directed 8 documentaries among which her 2013 award winning film, Les Marches de la Liberté (Steps to Freedom) . She is also the author of many books, including most recently, La France tu l’aimes ou tu la fermes [https://www.editionstextuel.com/livre/la_france_tu_laimes_ou_tu_la_fermes] or France, Love it or Shut it, a collection of her major articles on the “struggle against oppression in France and globally.” * Ne reste pas à ta place, [https://www.marabout.com/livre/ne-reste-pas-ta-place-9782501150873/] or Don’t try to fit in, (2016) and forthcoming book Le dictionnaire amoureux du féminisme [https://www.lisez.com/livres/dictionnaire-amoureux-du-feminisme/9782259305853] or A Feminist Lover’s Dictionary (Editions Plon, March 2025) * Les Indivisibles [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Indivisibles]: humor watchdog organization. Parody ceremony Y’a Bon Awards given to the “most racist sentences” every year. * Rokahya Diallo [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokhaya_Diallo] * Coordination des Femmes Noir [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordination_des_Femmes_noires] * Awa Thiam [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awa_Thiam], La Parole aux Négresses [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Parole_aux_n%C3%A9gresses] * Afrofeminism [https://modii.org/en/afrofeminisms/] * 2005 Clichy-sous-bois, a Paris banlieue, was the site of major unrest [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_French_riots]. Zyed Benna, 17, of Tunisian descent, and Bouna Traoré, 15, of Mauritanian descent, died tragically in a substation while trying to avoid detention. * The leading French TV station, TF1, made waves (and history) by hiring Harry Roselmack  [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Roselmack]in 2016 * Diallo’s own strong X/Twitter presence [https://x.com/RokhayaDiallo/status/1729776879215726688] allows her to talk about being harassed—on Twitter/X itself!--and she has a podcast with Grace Ly, Kiffe Ta Race [https://www.rokhayadiallo.com/rokhaya_diallo_podcast] * Diallo’s film Les Marches de la Liberté [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Marches_de_la_libert%C3%A9] 2013 * From Paris to Ferguson ( De Paris à Ferguson : coupables d'être noirs) 2016 * African Americans in Paris: James Baldwin and Josephine Baker in the 1930s, but also Angela Davis in the 1960s being perceived as an Algerian * Faiza Guene Just Like Tomorrow [https://clairemcalpine.com/2014/01/14/just-like-tomorrow-by-faiza-guene/] (Kif kif demain) Read [https://recallthisbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/rtb-149-diallo-transcript.pdf] and Listen to the episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism]

Why has trust in the news media declined? How can we combat biased reporting and the spread of misinformation? And how do these challenges compare to the media landscape during America’s founding era? Join us as we explore these pressing questions with William English, a political economist and Associate Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Professor English will discuss his long-standing research on the intersection of ethics, media, and politics, including the Founding Fathers’ views on press freedom and its vital role in maintaining democracy. He’ll also examine the growing problem of “hermeneutic unintelligibility”—where conflicting worldviews make meaningful dialogue between opposing groups nearly impossible. Finally, he’ll explore potential technological solutions, such as open-source protocols, that could help restore trust and transparency in media. Madison’s Notes [https://jmp.princeton.edu/podcast] is the podcast of Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions [https://jmp.princeton.edu/]. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any speaker does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism]

What is it like to be a foreign correspondent in Thailand? How can someone develop sufficient understanding of this complex society to write effective news stories about Thai politics and business? In this podcast, Francesca Regalado, until recently a Bangkok correspondent for the Japanese-owned online news magazine Nikkei Asia, discusses her three years of reporting on Thailand - under three very different prime ministers - with Duncan McCargo. A graduate of the Columbia Journalism School, Francesca Regalado has reported from the United States, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand. Duncan McCargo is President’s Chair in Global Affairs at Nanyang Technological University. Talking Thai Politics brings crafted conversations about the politics of Thailand to a global audience. Created by the Generation Thailand project at Nanyang Technological University, the podcast is co-hosted by Duncan McCargo and Chayata Sripanich. Our production assistant is Li Xinruo. Talking Thai Politics Website [https://thaipolitics.leeds.ac.uk/podcasts/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices] Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism [https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism]