August 20, 2021

John Sopko has served as America’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction since 2012, and in a scathing new report he writes, “if the goal was to rebuild and leave behind a country that can sustain itself and pose little threat to U.S. national security interests, the overall picture is bleak.”

To understand how the U.S. withdrawal could have been handled differently, and what needs to happen most urgently to improve the situation on the ground, Bianna speaks with retired General Joseph Votel, who as commander of U.S. Central Command oversaw the war from 2016 to 2019.

Author and retired naval commander Theodore Johnson argues that “racism is an existential threat to America,” though that isn’t to say that all is lost. In his new book, When the Stars Begin to Fall, Johnson lays out a blueprint for healing the nation, as he explains to Michel Martin.