Folgen

  • E239 - Iran and the End of Restraint w/ Trita Parsi and Akbar Shahid Ahmed

    E239 - Iran and the End of Restraint w/ Trita Parsi and Akbar Shahid Ahmed
    Mar 3 2026
    Subscribe now⁠ to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Danny and Derek are back with a two-part episode on the war with Iran. First, they speak with ⁠Trita Parsi⁠ of the Quincy Institute about the Trump administration’s decision to go to war, the belief that assassinating Ayatollah Khamenei would cause the regime to implode, the structure and failure of pre-war negotiations, the influence of Israeli officials and hawks, the potential for sending in ground troops, and the impact on Iranian society. They then speak with ⁠Akbar Shahid Ahmed⁠, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent at HuffPost, about the erosion of rules of engagement, the alignment of U.S. and Israeli military strategy, congressional inaction, compliant allies, and whether any realistic off-ramps remain. Read Akbar’s piece ⁠“Trump Says He Brought 'Justice' To Iran. His War Boosts Fears The U.S. Has Gone Rogue.”⁠ Keep up with Quincy’s work at ⁠Responsible Statecraft⁠ and ⁠Always at War⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    59 Min.
  • Special - Iran War: U.S. Jets Down, Gulf Oil Targeted, Lebanon Combat (Preview)

    Special - Iran War: U.S. Jets Down, Gulf Oil Targeted, Lebanon Combat (Preview)
    Mar 2 2026
    Subscribe now to hear the full episode and all of our breaking news specials. Danny and Derek give an update on the escalating regional conflict. They discuss the reported downing of three American F-15s over Kuwait, Israeli and U.S. operations inside Iran and Tehran’s missile retaliation, Hezbollah’s rocket fire and Israel’s strikes in Lebanon, attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure and the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump’s shifting timeline and openness to ground troops, and the regional and domestic political fallout of the war so far. Note: Iran denies that they attacked Saudi oilfields. Recorded early mid afternoon, March 2, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    5 Min.
  • Special - Ayatollah Khamenei is Dead and the Iran War Spreads w/ Séamus Malekafzali (Preview)

    Special - Ayatollah Khamenei is Dead and the Iran War Spreads w/ Séamus Malekafzali (Preview)
    Mar 1 2026
    Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our breaking news specials. Danny and Derek welcome back to the show Séamus Malekafzali to talk about the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s temporary leadership council and uncertainty around succession, continued U.S.–Israeli escalation and Iranian counterstrikes, the absence of a coherent American endgame beyond capitulation and regime change, and Israel’s use of the war to intensify restrictions and violence in Gaza and the West Bank. Recorded early Sunday afternoon, March 1, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    8 Min.
  • Special - The U.S. and Israel Attack Iran (Preview)

    Special - The U.S. and Israel Attack Iran (Preview)
    Feb 28 2026
    Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny and Derek discuss the U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iran today, the goal of regime change, mass civilian casualties including a strike on a girls’ elementary school, Iran’s retaliation and threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, the status of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the risk of a widening regional war. Recorded midday, Saturday, February 28, 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    7 Min.
  • News - Iran Talks Under Strike Threat, Mexico Cartel Killed, Pakistan Attack in Afghanistan

    News - Iran Talks Under Strike Threat, Mexico Cartel Killed, Pakistan Attack in Afghanistan
    Feb 27 2026
    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Warner Brothers shamefully won’t consider Danny and Derek’s aggressive offer. In this week’s news: U.S.-Iran nuclear talks resume in Geneva amid reports that the White House is weighing strike options (0:54), plus Trump claims in his State of the Union that Iran is building nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (9:58); on the fourth anniversary of the Ukraine invasion, the EU fails to advance new Russia sanctions and a Ukraine loan package due to Hungarian interference (12:28); fighting again intensifies in the eastern DRC (15:53); Mexican authorities kill alleged cartel leader El Mencho, triggering widespread violence (18:49); the Committee to Protect Journalists reports a record number of media workers killed in 2025, mostly killed by Israel (22:07); the UAE backs construction of Israeli-controlled camps in Rafah (23:25); the U.S. extends consular services to West Bank settlements (25:34); the so-called Islamic State declares a “new phase” of operations in Syria (27:37); Pakistan launches cross-border strikes into Afghanistan amid renewed tensions (29:16); the RSF massacres civilians in North Darfur (31:44); a diplomatic spat erupts between Washington and Paris over rhetoric on left-wing violence (33:22); Cuba faces a firefight off its coast and limited U.S. easing of fuel restrictions for private firms (35:44); Trump proposes sending a hospital ship to Greenland (38:51); and the Supreme Court overturns Trump’s tariffs as the administration moves to reimpose duties via alternative means (41:14). Grab a copy of Danny and Michael Brenes’ edited volume Cold War Liberalism: Power in a Time of Emergency. Use the discount code BESSNER26. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    49 Min.
  • E238 - On the Brink with Iran w/ Dalia Dassa Kaye

    E238 - On the Brink with Iran w/ Dalia Dassa Kaye
    Feb 24 2026
    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Derek and Danny are joined by Dalia Dassa Kaye to talk about the decades-long hostility between the U.S. and Iran and the current escalation between the two countries. They talk about the odds of war and the absence of clear objectives; talk of “regime change”; the legacy of the hostage crisis and the Iran-Contra hangover; the domestic incentives that make diplomacy “too costly”; the post-9/11 opportunity to mend relations and how it collapsed after the “Axis of Evil” speech; how U.S. leaders frame Iran as uniquely fanatical and unchangeable; and how Israel’s interests and domestic U.S. politics constrain policy change. Read Dalia’s book Enduring Hostility: The Making of America's Iran Policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    1 Std. und 9 Min.
  • Bonus - The SDF After Bashar Al-Assad w/ Alexander McKeever (Preview)

    Bonus - The SDF After Bashar Al-Assad w/ Alexander McKeever (Preview)
    Feb 22 2026
    Subscribe now for the full episode. Derek speaks with Alexander McKeever, publisher of This Week in Northern Syria, about the defeat of the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) autonomous project and its integration into the new Syrian state. They discuss the fall of the Assad regime, the March 2025 integration agreement between Damascus and the SDF, the breakdown of negotiations and January fighting in Aleppo, the rapid collapse of SDF control in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, tribal defections and grievances against the autonomous administration, and the uncertain future for Kurdish rights under the centralized Syrian government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    10 Min.
  • News - Iran War Threat, UN Report on Israel Ethnic Cleansing, U.S. Withdraws From Syria

    News - Iran War Threat, UN Report on Israel Ethnic Cleansing, U.S. Withdraws From Syria
    Feb 20 2026
    Subscribe now to skip the ads. Join our Discord. Danny and Derek have been disqualified from the Games for incessant podium crashing. In this week’s news: tensions rise between the United States and Iran with reports of likely military strikes by the U.S. (1:32 ); Trump announces Gaza “Board of Peace” funding and troop details (11:39), Hamas refuses to disarm absent Palestinian statehood (15:31), and the UN Human Rights Office says that Israel is committing ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank (17:12); the Wall Street Journal reports the United States withdraws from Syria (21:00), Cambodia’s prime minister accuses Thailand’s military of occupying Cambodian territory (23:54); a UN investigation finds evidence of genocide in Sudan by the RSF (26:51); the U.S. deploys military personnel to Nigeria (28:38); another round of Ukraine peace talks makes little progress (31:01); British police arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, former prince, on suspicion of misconduct in public office tied to Jeffrey Epstein (34:00); Peru’s congress removes President José Heri amid ongoing instability (36:20); Cuba’s fuel crisis worsens as the U.S. blockade restricts oil supplies (39:09); Marco Rubio and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez deliver Munich Security Conference speeches (41:26); and the EPA rescinds the 2009 endangerment finding as the administration rolls back more U.S. climate regulation (44:51). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    50 Min.