Sources & Methods

Sources & Methods

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. NPR+ supporters hear every episode sponsor-free and can access our complete archive. Learn more and support public media at plus.npr.org.

Episodes

February 26, 2026 30 mins

The seas of the Middle East are bristling with American warships and airpower trained on Iran. What does President Trump have in mind for them?



Host Mary Louise Kelly talks with National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman about Trump's aims in nuclear negotiations with Iran and the risks of military action.

And four years after Russia's full-scale in...

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Did China conduct secret nuclear tests? The United States thinks so. 


Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and NPR China correspondent Jennifer Pak about China's nuclear arsenal and U.S. claims of an illicit Chinese nuclear test conducted in 2020. They also check in on other national security topics swirling this week: Board of Peace inaugural meeting, Iran and Ukraine.


...
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If you heard our show last week you know we were at the Munich Security Conference – a gathering in Germany where world leaders, security experts and defense officials meet yearly to take the temperature of the global order.

This is a special follow-up episode to share some of what we learned there. 


Host Mary Louise Kelly spoke with Michael Froman, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, after Secretar...
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“The world has entered a period of wrecking-ball politics,” begins the Munich Security Report, released as the world’s security establishment gathers in Germany.

Host Mary Louise Kelly is on the ground at the Munich Security Conference, as is Berlin Correspondent Rob Schmitz. Together with National Security Correspondent Greg Myre, they check in on Europe’s effort to bolster its own defenses, as the U.S...

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Two American women -- living in Cold War-era Moscow, with husbands in the CIA -- suddenly become undercover agents themselves. That's the set-up for PONIES, a new spy thriller now available on Peacock. Mary Louise Kelly speaks with star Haley Lu Richardson and showrunner David Iserson about the show, the research behind it, and what makes a good spy. 

Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org

NPR+ supporters hea...
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August 25, 2025 1 min
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. A...
Mark as Played

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