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

Pete explains "the Neapolitan solution" in this love letter to his first European posting.  Plus, he connects this to gangland diplomacy today.  
You might survive your coca eradication crop duster plane going down, but then the mosquitoes will  get you, which is still better than ripping the crops out of the Colombian earth.  But, says Virginia Bennett, many small people in many small places doing small things can change the world.  Perhaps it does.
Virginia Bennett's security detail made sure no one hurled bricks at her, while the Greek populace contemplated boiling the family bunny for dinner.  Bennett helps us understand what the U.S. did to help average Greek people during their economic disaster of 2011-2014.
It's hard for an American to make friends in Cuba, circa 1990.   But Jeff DeLaurentis finds a way, and learns that Communists can be complicated.  And what are all of those old cars doing in Havana, anyway?  
The Chavez/Maduro kleptocracy in Venezuela masquerades as a people's revolution.  Almost two decades later, millions flee en masse.  Pete was there when it all began and explains why Venezuela is suddenly all over the news.
Anwar Awlaki destroys, Abrar starves.  Yemen today, with Gerald Feierstein.  
What do Teddy Roosevelt, China, and the band Afrodisiaco all have in common?  Panama!  Learn why concerns that Pete once thought were partisan paranoia might be a serious, unrecognized source of concern today.  
Gerald Feierstein, counterterrorism expert for the State Department, helps us understand how violent extremist groups attract young men, and what different nations do to bring them back to the fold, according to local values and customs.  

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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