(‘Alternate Shots’, Episode #43. Co-hosted by Richard Haass and John Ellis. Produced by Katerina Barton. Recorded Sunday, 25 October 2026. If you prefer, you can listen to this episode (and all previous episodes) by clicking on these hyperlinks: Apple, Amazon, and Spotify. We’re on a number of other podcast platforms as well. And YouTube!)
Our take on a wild week: Iran, the Houtis, the House of Saud, the Israeli elections, Ukraine, “Black October” and growing concern about the mid-term elections.
On that last point, if the former Treasury Secretary of the United States of America is concerned that a disruption of the mid-term elections — before, during, or after — will do grievous damage to the rule of law and consequently the U.S. economy……that’s different. As he put (paraphrased): “I never imagined, after 6 decades in public life, that I would ever write the column I wrote for the New York Times.”
We end, happily or tediously, depending on your point of view, with Richard’s commentary on the first-place New York Giants. You can almost see Richard’s thought bubble forming: Reggie Jackson is going to rue the day he bet against me.
All of that in less than 30 minutes. Thank you for listening. And special thanks to our new producer, the great Katerina Barton, for putting the pod together so quickly.