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

Are Foreign Service Officers made or born that way?  And what, exactly, is a "demarche"? A tour through basic training, Foreign Service style, with Dorothy Mayhew and Michael Gray.  
Pete and Laura's recent appearance on SiriusXM with host Eric Ham, bookended by discussion of the psychology of frustration, even humiliation, that can lead whole populations to support strongmen.
Bob Blake offers an alternative to genocide, but his help is refused.  How similar is the tragedy in Sri Lanka to the current crisis in Myanmar?
Want to go to jail in Sri Lanka today? Just mention the Tamil Tigers in a positive manner and you will be on trial.  That's how upset people still are about the war that ended almost ten years ago.  Bob Blake unpacks this time of terror in Sri Lanka.
Sandy Vershbow, US Ambassador to Russia 2002-2005, recounts Putin's gradual seizure of power over more and more of the Russian State, leaving ordinary Russians with little, if any, voice in the policies that affect their lives.
Conditions precedent and the rise of populist autocrat Putin, via Sandy Vershbow, US Ambassador to Russia, 2001-2005. Plus bonus Russian hit song "One Like Putin". Your internal soundscape may never be the same. The second country in American Diplomat's series, "Is It Happening Here?"
Pete visits the Huarani Indians, botches up a boar hunt, drinks the mystery drink chicha, and receives upon his departure a marriage proposal, ambiguously addressed either to himself one of the other fine young gringos.  Follows first episode, titled "Cowboys and Indian at the Embassy."
Embassy death squads?  Sure, I made that up!  ~ Moi, Huarani Indian and tribal ambassador

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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