Deep in the Hermit Kingdom

Amb. Randy Berry is back, now to share his experience as the State Department's Special Envoy for the rights of LGBTQ persons. With courage and generosity, Randy shares the key to understanding this topic anywhere in the world: The right to live free of discrimination and violence is a human rights issue, for all people. Hard to argue with that, right? And how about that lunch with Sir Elton John?

The most decorated American figure skater of all time, Michelle Kwan, retired from skating at 26. Then what? Enter, Madam Ambassador. What did Michelle do to get from there to here?

Amb. Randy Berry, after growing up on a Colorado ranch, devoted his unique diplomatic career to helping people displaced by war, disease, climate and more. Serving in many countries of Africa and also in Nepal, he worked to restore human health, security and dignity. Much has been lost in recent months, but Randy inspires us to imagine what good we can do. Extra credit: What's in Nepal's Museum of Stolen Art? 

It's 1987. Soviet repression is relaxing with Glasnost and Perestroika. So how did we get where we are today? What was the inflection point? Amb. Lynne Tracy saw it all: the beginning, middle and end of the arc of change in Russia's recent decades. What's been lost, and why does it matter?

Is the pursuit of profit in Venezuela and Africa consistent with the democratic ideals that have marked US diplomacy? This is the question Ambs Pete Romero and Charlie Ray recently asked ASU students in the first fall semester meeting of the Diplomat Lounge. How do we, as diplomats, evaluate competing priorities? The real question is, who are we, as a democracy?

What is this partnership, a return to diplomacy, of a sort? No more blowing up vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific? And who calls himself "the coolest dictator in the world"? Join our great friend Amb. Pete Romero, former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, who calls it like he sees it.

Hardly. Relative prosperity, overcome by political violence and economic desperation, followed by an earthquake, leaves the Haitian people with what? Amb. Ken Merten was there for much of Haiti's recent history. Listen while he tells us what Haiti was decades ago, and what challenges the Haitian people now face.

What do the number 8 dictator, a democratic leader with a wartime past, and an African civil war all have in common? Amb. Tracey Jacobson. By what methods, both time-tested and totally on-the-fly, did she succeed in tricky moments? Tune in and find out.

Kyrgyzstan: A charred White House (they have one, too), riots and pogroms, plus a problematic human rights award. Why doesn't the need for diplomacy ever stop? Our very own Amb. Dan Rosenblum saw it all while overseeing aid in Central Asia and shares the experience through his eyes, his heart and his professional lens.

Multiple choice: Energy is (1) how we heat our homes, (2) a tool of malign influence, (3) an instrument of statecraft? And what about all those increasingly necessary critical minerals? Amb. Geoffrey Pyatt, top energy diplomat, helps us understand that diplomacy matters more than ever and that all diplomacy is based on human trust. And the glass is half full. Listen and understand why.