Episode
Radio Ranch with Roger Sayles REPLAY 092226 - The Middle East, the State Department, and an Unexpected New Voice
- Published
- Sep 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 7641
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Summary
With Paul postponed until tomorrow, I spent this live midweek conversation catching up with Chris, Jack, Shane, Doug, and the audience on several threads that matter to our community. The biggest development was a serendipitous one: at our weekly Ecuador lunch gathering, I met Cory, a retired U.S. State Department veteran with deep Middle East experience who now does radio locally. We talked about citizenship, passports, Foggy Bottom, and the possibility of bringing his perspective onto the show. If that comes together, it could add real firsthand insight to many of the questions we’ve been wrestling with for years. We also ranged across current events, including Notre-Dame, the Yellow Vests, Mike Pompeo’s remarks about the CIA, and the larger problem of propaganda, language, and legal misunderstanding. In the second half, the conversation loosened into life in Ecuador itself: our Tuesday patriot lunches, expat community, travel logistics, cost of living, culture, siesta, immigration, and why this part of the world has become such a meaningful base of operations and fellowship for many of us. It was a wide-open roundtable, but one tied together by a common theme: truth-seeking, good company, and the value of finding serious people in unexpected places. Global Voice Radio: http://globalvoiceradio.net/ The Matrix Docs: http://globalvoiceradio.net/matrix Radio Rach Archives & Live Streams: http://radio.globalvoiceradio.net/ Radio Ranch on Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/Radio-Ranch-id1463869 U.S. Department of State Travel / Consular Affairs: https://travel.state.gov/en.html Mike Pompeo at Texas A&M (archived State Department remarks): https://2017-2021.state.gov/remarks-at-texas-am-wiley-lecture-series/ U.S. Military Academy West Point Cade…