In this episode of Beyond the Page, Ben Rhodes, Barack Obama’s former Deputy National Security Advisor, sits down at the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar for a deeply informed conversation about the state of the world we are living in today, with the rise of authoritarian leaders and ethno-nationalism and the flood of disinformation enabling them—and what responsibility America must take for these threats to freedom across the globe.

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ABOUT BEYOND THE PAGE

Over the past 25 years, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference has become the gold standard of American literary festivals, bringing together contemporary writing’s brightest stars for their view of the world through a literary lens. Hosted by SVWC Literary Director John Burnham Schwartz, and in partnership with Literary Hub, the Beyond the Page podcast curates and distills the best talks from the past quarter century at the Writers’ Conference—giving you a front row seat on the kind of knowledge, inspiration, laughter, and meaning that Sun Valley is known for.

HOW TO LISTEN

All episodes can be played from the SVWC website on our Podcasts page or from other public podcast platforms, including Apple, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Photo credit: Jay Graham