Just an observation... Because I have seen the the phenomena before...I would bet that Eli learned to smoke cigarettes at the same time he learned to smoke weed based on his propensity to hold the smoke in sometimes seemingly indefinitely. I could be wrong. In any case...I enjoyed these two together.

Matthew Lee is very informative, first diavlog I've seen with him and I'm about to go back and catch up on him. Hopefully they'll be with another partner though - Eli's very defensive about the U.S. government and he gets himself into traps by speaking moralistically (black & white) about other countries then turning around and saying 'well the U.S. isn't AS bad...' Maybe this reflects the kind of writing they're expected to do or whatever, I just think I know Eli's position at this point and would rather listen to others.

I would never have considered this pairing, but it was absolutely great. Kudos to whoever thought of doing it. It was also nice to see Matthew get some recognition from someone who works at a larger paper. I'll second Eli's exhortation: Matthew should write a book on the UN. And on a related note, it also sounded to me like good things could come from these two comparing notes and sharing sources.

Mr. Lake, a third reason why it is essential to have the UN, despite its record: 200 years ago, Kant established the formula to achieve world peace: Achive world freedom first, by forming a 'league of nations' begun by the very few free nations. Over time, eventually all of the members of such an organization would become free, because the free nations will always be the most prosperous. Kant's formula is working, albeit so slowly. So, we play for the long term--freedom--by tolerating the short term failures of the UN to build an enduring peace. Great duo; great dialogue; very informative and enlightening. Thank you.

Yes, and really nice that Eli recognized the depth of Matt's knowledge. This is definitely the one program on BHeads where all of us learn something new, interesting and important every week.

Great diavlog and great matchup. Eli was surprisingly good in this one and Matt is a great interviewer. Whatfur, Eli will probably claim he never inhaled...but we know better. He's admitted to having a sizable record collection. And the way he smokes a cigarette...well you do the math. Eli, what's up with throwing puppets and drum circles under the bus?

Quoting Whatfur: In any case...I enjoyed these two together.

Cigarettes and weed?

Agreed! This is an example of an inspired diavlog pairing that actually worked. I know bjkeefe disagrees, but I shudder at the notion of going to the well too often. It would be better for Lee, and bhTV, if he does the rounds of national security and foreign policy correspondents at the "big" papers.

Eli's soft realism-that IGOs facilitate states' moral legitimacy through recognition of international norms, and thus increase overall state power-is ultimately at odds with the concept of collective security underlying the UN. Lee points out an illustration of that problem when he discussed Beijing's and American vetoes on the UNSC and respective spheres of influence. The institution of the UNSC is a realist hedge on the UN. Reform starts with its abolition, or at least the diffusion of votes throughout the states with more equality.

"Hypocrisy is the beat!" Matthew Lee is a great reporter, and this combination was terrific. I really enjoy the U.N. Plaza and I don't listen to it that often, because the cadences of MG & ML have been, IMHO, hard to listen to, with lots of talking-over, and deference, "No, please..." So personally I would love, love to see more Lee & Lake, Lee & Jacqueline Shire, etc. That's on the medium. Substantively, I am really lost! And it's great! An hour of Lake & Lee, or Goldberg & Lee, I need to listen to it a couple times over to get a feel for the regional dynamics and the personalities being mentioned. This is Bloggingheads at its most fascinating and valuable, in my opinion. Two experts are going to talk dense, and the layman has to work to keep up.

Kevin, I agree. I have a tough time keeping it all straight, but it's a great challenge. Matt & Jackie Shire would be great too. One small complaint: Matt, your audio was VERY muddy on this particular diavlog.

Quoting uncle ebeneezer: One small complaint: Matt, your audio was VERY muddy on this particular diavlog.

Ahhhh, you rockers are all treble-deaf.

This was a great diavlog. Matthew Lee, awesome as always. It will be interesting to see him with other pairings. Still waiting for Mr. Lee to be able to address predatory lending/banking issues on bhTV. While I stated that I really liked the diavlog overall, it must be said that Mr. Lake was in full demonstration of some of the reasons I find him such a distasteful figure (as well as demonstrating some his positive characteristics.) It is one thing when Mr. Lake is spouting his arrogant, flippant, ideology driven rantings about Iraq, he at least has taken the time to try to understand what's going on there (of course, always through his own ideology tainted glasses, but still). On this All-Africa edition, Mr. Lake shows that he is more than happy to spout the same arrogant, flippant, ideology driven rantings about topics he doesn't know that much about. While there's benefit in having the usual diavlogs with Mr. Goldberg (someone who knows a good amount about the issues and has a certain pro-UN slant) as a partner for Mr. Lee, the benefits of having someone more ideological and willing to mix it up with Mr. Lee show forth in

Quoting bjkeefe: Ahhhh, you rockers are all treble-deaf.

Not all of us. But mine is starting to roll off @10khz ~ 6db/oct. after 52 anos. Deafness to surely ensue...

I agree with everyone I've read so far: A great pairing. Mark Goldberg always seems a bit impatient with Matthew's somewhat rambling approach to UN minutiae, and I think I've sometimes been caught up in that attitude myself. But now I realize that that's more a result of Mark Goldberg's approach, where he feels he should work methodically through a certain set of topics. When Matthew's interlocutor is willing to ramble with him, the diavlog works out really well.

BN: That's an interesting observation on the conversational dynamics. However, I'd say another piece was Matthew's more pronounced self-restraint here. Not sure if it was because he knows Eli less well, or because something about the Mark/Matthew pairing feels more to Matthew like he's being interviewed, or that Eli is better at holding the floor, or that Matthew felt like he had more questions to ask Eli than he does Mark, but in any case, it did seem to me like Matthew alone was part of the difference.

Quoting bjkeefe: BN:

That's an interesting observation on the conversational dynamics. However, I'd say another piece was Matthew's more pronounced self-restraint here. Not sure if it was because he knows Eli less well, or because something about the Mark/Matthew pairing feels more to Matthew like he's being interviewed, or that Eli is better at holding the floor, or that Matthew felt like he had more questions to ask Eli than he does Mark, but in any case, it did seem to me like Matthew alone was part of the difference.

I think you're probably right, Brendan. Anyway, the match-up worked very well for whatever reason.

Quoting Bloggin' Noggin: I think you're probably right, Brendan. Anyway, the match-up worked very well for whatever reason.

No disagreement at all there. This was one of the really good ones.