American Diplomat Podcast

Real U.S. diplomats share the untold truths behind world events—what went right, what went wrong, and what you’ll never see in the news.

Want to know what it’s really like on the frontlines of international diplomacy?  Each week, Amb. (Ret.) Pete Romero and co-host Laura Bennett sit down with active and retired US diplomats to pull back the curtain on the gritty, human side of international affairs.  From dealing with foreign leaders to navigating the chaos of war zones, these diplomats share the stories that drive the headlines.  

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Latest Podcast Episodes

Or a traitor, anyway.  In an eerily quiet region during the Vietnam war, from a banana grove in the middle of the night, Lionel Rosenblatt discovers that a US military official is guilty of supplying the enemy with life-saving medicine from the United States.  Lionel is saved from a murderous reprisal through...
The Arab Spring – Tunisia, Egypt – we know about these places. But Bahrain is almost never in the news.  What is its geopolitical significance, and strategic importance to the US?  And why was Ambassador Tom Krajeski in a tight spot when the Arab Spring came to Bahrain?  Can we walk and chew gum at the same...
Amb. Ryan Crocker, Middle East expert, explains the value of Foreign Service Nationals and brings it all home with a story of the day that local staff saved his life. Toobah, a former employee of USAID, then tells us of her life, stuck at home in Kabul at all times because if she goes outside she will be killed in a...
HT, an Afghan interpreter who worked alongside US forces and has been denied a visa to come to the United States explains how he served, who in his family has been killed as a consequence of his service, and how difficult it is for him to find safety as the US departs his country.  Tony Wayne opens the episode,...
Consular officer Kate Canavan on the many things that can go wrong in Tijuana. Two air traffic controllers, fired for going on strike, go into (very) private industry. Pete’s words: “Breaking Bad, in the skies.”
Communism drives immigration decisions, 1956. Hank Cohen is in love. It’s his first tour, and he’s in Paris. The Soviets invade Hungary and Hank helps thousands of refugees flee Communist aggression and make new lives in the US. But what about heartthrob megastar Yves Montand, who is an avowed Communist?  How...
It is the 1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy and his henchman Roy Cohn target and humiliate our diplomats for accurately reporting an eventual Mao victory in China. Jack Service and his family are at the center of the storm. How are things different today?
A social worker by profession, Bonnie Miller traveled the world with her spouse Ambassador Tom Miller and created the first-ever course in Psychosocial Consequences of War in response to trauma she witnessed in Sarajevo. But the life changing moment came when she met victims of sexual trafficking.  And that’s when...

The Podcast Team

Ambassador and Co-Host

Amb. Pete Romero had a twenty-five year career as a diplomat in the US Foreign Service. In his last three postings, he was head of our embassy in El Salvador, US Ambassador in Quito, Ecuador and Assistant Secretary of the Western Hemisphere Bureau at the US Department of State.

Producer and Co-Host

Laura Bennett has written, directed, produced and edited short films that have won 11 awards and screened at 35 festivals throughout the United States. Laura speaks Spanish, French and English and has traveled in five continents, often solo and working as a volunteer.

Sound Engineer

Lorenzo Wilkins heads SD33/Art Direction and Design, focusing on identity, publication and marketing design.  His client list includes the former UPN television, Fox television, PBS, Spike Lee's 40 Acres & a Mule, the NAACP, the National Society of Black Engineers, Jane Firor & Associates, City First Bank of DC, the Education Trust and several political campaigns.

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