{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/3dd76634-7b1c-45c2-a9cf-2f6f96d4e0b4/67a68cfd3eadb4f808b21bbb?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"The End of U.S. Soft Power","description":"<p><strong>Listen to this episode commercial free at </strong><a href=\"https://angryplanetpod.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>https://angryplanetpod.com</strong></a></p><p><br></p><p>U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the interim head of USAID, for however much longer the agency lasts. For 60 years, the massive bureaucracy was a vehicle for American soft power abroad. Trump, Elon Musk, and all their creatures don’t like it. It might soon be gone.</p><p><br></p><p>Nicole Widdersheim is the deputy Washington director of Human Rights Watch with a long history of humanitarian work. She’s here on Angry Planet today to walk us through this new era of the American Empire.</p><p><br></p><ul><li>A brief history of USAID</li><li>The size and cost of USAID</li><li>Critiquing a bureaucracy</li><li>People like you when you give them stuff</li><li><a href=\"https://2017-2020.usaid.gov/documents/1866/diplomacy-development-defense-planning-guide\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Defense, diplomacy, development</a></li><li>The real world consequences of the ending of foreign aid</li><li>A mallet, not a scalpel</li><li>Supporters need to get cynical</li><li>USAID did a bad job of defending itself</li><li>Americans don’t care about the human cost</li><li>The Glorious Republic of Jasonvania wants food aid</li><li><a href=\"https://thediplomat.com/2022/03/living-and-dying-for-rice-in-north-korea/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Congressionally approved rice to North Korea</a></li><li>It turns out the cruelty is, in fact, the point</li><li><a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/at-usaid-waste-and-abuse-runs-deep/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep</a></li><li>No one read those reports on Afghanistan</li><li><a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/china-debt-banking-loans-financial-developing-countries-collapse-8df6f9fac3e1e758d0e6d8d5dfbd3ed6\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">How China’s “Belt and Road” actually works</a></li><li><a href=\"https://northdenvertribune.com/neighborhood-news/musk-and-trump-combine-to-shaft-us-farmers/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The end of USAID will screw over American farmers</a></li><li>Trumpism is a lack of consistency&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p>","author_name":"Matthew Gault and Jason Fields"}