Sources & Methods – Details, episodes & analysis

National security, unlocked. Each Thursday, host Mary Louise Kelly and a team of NPR correspondents discuss the biggest national security news of the week. 


With decades of reporting from battlefields and the halls of power, they bring you inside the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community to help you understand America's shifting role in the world, and how events in faraway places matter here at home. Additional episodes feature interviews with power players from the NatSec world -- current and former military officials, intelligence experts, diplomatic leaders, and more. 


Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org. 


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The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war.


The agreement extends the existing ceasefire, reopens the Strait of Hormuz, and opens negotiations for a final peace deal.

Host Mary Louise Kelly gathers three NPR correspondents who are covering the region – Greg Myre in Tel Aviv, Jane Arraf in Beirut and Aya Batrawy in Cairo – to understand what's next and who has emerged as the winners and losers. Also, where nearly four months of war have left the Middle East.

Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is blocking some promotions at the Pentagon, and a “summer surge” of National Guard troops heads to Washington.


Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman and NPR reporter Kat Lonsdorf about the purges at the Pentagon, and why there are still National Guard troops deployed in some Democratic-run cities. Plus, a drone rescue in the Middle East.

Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org

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Another British prime minister is on his way out the door. That's six in 10 years. Now, the UK is once again looking for a new leader. Will that mean yet another reset of the “special relationship” with the United States?


Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR's London Correspondent Lauren Frayer and Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman about Prime Minister Keir Starmer's successor, whether Britain is ungovernable and what implications the new leader could have for global defense strategy (think the wars in Ukraine and Iran). Plus, they open up their reporter's notebook to talk about NPR (not us) and snog (not what you're thinking).


Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org

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This September marks 25 years since terrorists hijacked planes and steered them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. They steered a third plane into the Pentagon. A fourth was headed for the U.S. Capitol, but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after its passengers overpowered their attackers.

In the days — and years — that followed America’s leaders walked a fine and sometimes blurry line: how to prevent an attack like that from ever happening again? And how to do so without trampling American laws and democratic values? 


As part of a conversation about the legacy of 9/11 at The Aspen Ideas Festival, host Mary Louise Kelly spoke with two of the country's leaders during that time: Alberto Gonzales, who was serving as White House counsel, and Jeh Johnson, who became Homeland Security Secretary under President Obama.

Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org

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Four years in and Ukraine is still giving Russia a run for its money. Four months in and Iran shows no sign of bowing to U.S. demands. 

What do Russia’s fight with Ukraine and the U.S. war with Iran tell us about the limits of military might?


Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR's Ukraine Correspondent Joanna Kakissis about the overnight attack in Kyiv, which comes on the heels of Ukraine's drone assaults in Moscow. NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre joins them to talk about what the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran say about military might and whether major powers can regain dominance. 


Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org

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