For a Q&A with Tom Cotton, the new senator from Arkansas, go here. It is an impressive half-hour from an impressive guy. He walks us around the world, or part of it: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia. Compared with Iran, everything else seems a bit small. But Iran is connected to much else.

We talk about the Bergdahl swap: President Obama’s trade of five Taliban leaders for a sergeant who “served the United States with honor and distinction,” according to the administration. We talk about Edward Snowden. Has he, too, served with honor and distinction? Yesterday, fans of his put up a bust of him in a New York park. Cotton is not a fan (and neither is the host, me).

Discussion turns to our defenses: Conservatives say that the cupboard is getting dangerously bare. Liberals and libertarians say, “Oh, come on, that’s what they always say, and there’s mountains of fat to cut.” Cotton has strong and informed views on the matter.

We talk about the remainder of Obama’s term — January 20, 2017, is a long way off, really. We touch on the state of the GOP: a basically united party or one riven by factions? And we end with a little basketball, for Cotton was a hoopster (a “high-school hero and college zero,” he says).

A conversation with Tom Cotton is refreshing, even when the news — e.g., our impending deal with Iran — is apocalyptic. Again, that link is here.