Rare Earths

The Chip War Isn't Really About Chips

A chip smaller than a fingernail can hold up a car, a data center, or a weapons system. That sounds like a contradiction: how can something so tiny matter so much? Because the chip is only the visible end of a production system that spans d…

Why China Wants Control of More of the Technology Supply Chain

When China tightened controls on rare earth exports in April 2025, the consequences did not stay inside China. Automakers and other manufacturers abroad scrambled to secure magnets, and some production lines faced shortages. The episode exp…

The U.S. and China Are Talking Again. What Actually Changed?

In September, presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met at the White House amid ceremonial pageantry and the familiar list of hard questions: tariffs, chips, rare-earth minerals, Taiwan and artificial intelligence. The clearest result was…

Why Japan Matters More Than Most People Realize

When people talk about a crisis around Taiwan, the focus tends to land on Taiwan itself, China, and Washington. But the map tells a wider story. Japan’s southwestern islands sit near Taiwan and the East China Sea; U.S. forces operate from b…

The Epstein Files: What Do the Documents Actually Tell Us?

The first thing to know about the Epstein files is that they are not one file, and they are not a verified list of perpetrators. They are a sprawling collection of records from criminal investigations, court proceedings, custody reviews, an…

Why Russia and North Korea Are Getting Closer

When Vladimir Putin arrived in Pyongyang in June 2024, he and Kim Jong Un signed a treaty that promised more than friendly declarations. It bound their governments to military and other assistance if either were subjected to armed invasion,…