American Prestige

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Derek is monitoring The Situation, so Always at War’s Alex Jordan is back to deliver the news with Danny. This week: Trump extends the Iran war without an exit plan (4:02); the U.S. weighs a commando raid to seize Iranian uranium (10:04); Iran threatens U.S. companies after striking a Kuwaiti tanker (13:17); the Hormuz closure drives shortages and price shocks across the global economy (18:43); Europe sees NATO tensions rise as France blocks U.S. overflights and Trump threatens Ukraine aid (22:20); Israel deepens its occupation of southern Lebanon and kills UN peacekeepers (26:42); in Gaza, the Board of Peace proposes faction disarmament before reconstruction (29:28); Israel passes a race-based death penalty law for Palestinians (32:07); a Russian tanker reaches Cuba with oil despite the U.S. blockade (34:17); the U.S. and China prepare a summit amid wider global tensions (36:39); in Sudan, the RSF seizes Kermuk in Blue Nile state (39:13); South Sudan’s peace process collapses as elections lose credibility (40:14); and the UK cuts aid to Africa to fund higher defense spending (41:55). Don’t forget to check out our new miniseries, Marx Prestige. New episodes out weekly! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This a preview. To hear the full episode, subscribe now! Danny and Derek speak with Hasan Piker about his recent trip to Cuba and the broader political moment in the United States. They talk about the Democratic Party’s internal crisis and relationship to the media, his role in intra-party debates, left populism and electoral strategy, the Cuba aid flotilla and the effects of U.S. sanctions, the material impact of the blockade on Cuban society, and the prospects for future U.S.-Cuba relations. Don't forget to check out our new series, ⁠Marx Prestige⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In lieu of a standard episode today, we are premiering the first episode of Marx Prestige, a series where Danny, Derek, and historian Andrew Hartman discuss Karl Marx and how the philosophy and politics he created shaped and reshaped the United States. Subscribe now at the annual tier for free access to series like this one! In this first episode of Marx Prestige, Danny, Derek, and Andrew Hartman talk about how Karl Marx understood the United States as a testing ground for capitalism and democratic development in the nineteenth century. They delve into the reception history approach to Marx in America, Marx’s early views on American democracy and capitalism, his writings on the Civil War and slavery, the transition in Marx’s thought from philosophy to political economy, Reconstruction and its limits, early American interpretations of Marx, and the emergence of Marxism in the late nineteenth century. Be sure to check out Andrew's Book ⁠⁠Karl Marx in America⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny and Derek speak with Sina Azodi about the first month of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and why expectations of a rapid Iranian collapse have failed. They talk about the failure of expectations of a quick Iranian surrender, Iran’s asymmetric response strategy, energy and economic choke points, the influence of the IRGC, the historical context of U.S.-Iran relations, domestic political dynamics and public sentiment inside Iran, diaspora politics, and what lies ahead for Iran’s nuclear program. Be sure to grab a copy of Sina’s book Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran, and the Nuclear Question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny and Derek speak with writers China Miéville (the forthcoming The Rouse) and Richard Seymour (Disaster Nationalism) about the changing character of the U.S. empire and global politics. They discuss the war with Iran as an expression of imperial decline, the absence of a coherent strategy in U.S. foreign policy, the collapse of ideological justification for war, the shift toward raw power politics, the relationship between the U.S. and Israel in this conflict, the weakening of liberal hegemony, and the broader implications for global capitalism and conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for access to all of our specials and to avoid ads. Derek speaks with journalist Afeef Nessouli about Israel’s war on Lebanon and the political and social consequences. They talk discuss Israeli airstrikes and the ground invasion in southern Lebanon, mass displacement and humanitarian conditions, destruction of infrastructure and barriers to evacuation, Hezbollah’s role as both military and political organization, public opinion toward Hezbollah, the weakness of the Lebanese government, sectarian tensions and external manipulation, and grassroots relief efforts amid the crisis. You can support affected Lebanese people at local organizations like Ahla Fawda, Nation Station and Truth Be Told. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny and Derek join Mark Ames and John Dolan for the first AP–⁠Radio War Nerd⁠ crossover episode discussing, you guessed it, Iran and geopolitics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to skip the ads and for access to all of our episodes. Just a reminder: there was too much Iran news to fit into this episode, so we gave it a standalone special you can find here. Otherwise, this week around the world: in Israel-Palestine, the Gaza Board of Peace negotiates a Hamas disarmament agreement (1:54) while the West Bank sees settler violence surge around Nablus (3:35); Pakistan resumes its war with Afghanistan after the Eid ceasefire expires (7:09); Trump reschedules his China trip for May (8:26); in Sudan’s Blue Nile State, RSF and SPLM-N militants seize Kormuk as Chad boosts its border military presence after Sudan spillover violence (11:19); in Ukraine, Russia launches a massive drone barrage as a new offensive begins (14:14), the United States ties security guarantees for Ukraine to territorial concessions (16:04), and Russia reportedly offers to end support for Iran in exchange for the U.S. ends support for Ukraine (19:00); Denmark’s snap election leaves Mette Frederiksen weakened, but still in contention to govern (21:46); Raul Castro joins Cuba’s talks with the United States (23:55); in Ecuador, a U.S.-backed operation reportedly destroys a dairy farm instead of a drug camp (27:12); the UN General Assembly condemns the transatlantic slave trade, the United States votes no (29:56); Trump pays TotalEnergies to halt East Coast wind projects (31:22). Be sure to check out our new series premiering Tuesday, Marx Prestige. Listen to the trailer here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny and Derek give you the latest on the war on Iran. They discuss Trump’s failed peace proposal and shifting threats, mediation attempts involving regional actors, Iran’s strategic position and deterrence problem, US troop deployments and potential military options, Israeli operations in Iran and Lebanon, Trump’s claims about regime change and a mysterious “present,” reports of a possible Diego Garcia attack, sanctions relief on Iranian oil, and global economic effects including disruptions to the helium supply. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more episodes. Danny and Derek welcome back to the show historian Udi Greenberg to talk about Israeli public opinion, politics, and its strategy vis-à-vis the war with Iran. They discuss the overwhelming public support for military operations, the underlying strategic consensus across Israeli politics prioritizing military dominance over negotiation, the absence of meaningful debate over a two-state solution or Palestinian sovereignty, the stability of Israeli domestic political divisions despite the war, how media and military messaging shapes public perception, and the relationship between Israeli strategy and continued U.S. support. Don't forget to mark your calendars for our series Marx Prestige, coming March 31. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming March 31: Marx Prestige, a series where Danny and historian Andrew Hartman discuss Karl Marx and how the philosophy and politics he created shaped and reshaped the United States. Annual subscribers will get free access, so be on the lookout for an email with instructions! Be sure to check out Andrew's book ⁠Karl Marx in America⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny and Derek speak with Sam Biddle of The Intercept about the role of AI in modern warfare, including the current Iran conflict. They talk about Palantir’s Maven system, LLMs in target selection, the use of Claude in airstrike planning, the integration of drone, satellite, and intelligence data, the acceleration of targeting and strike decisions, large-scale target lists, risks from outdated or misinterpreted intelligence, the limits of human review in the kill chain, and the absence of meaningful guardrails on this technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our specials. Danny and Derek give an update on the conflict in Iran. They talk about the overall state of the war, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, casualty figures across multiple countries, the prospect of a ground invasion, the state of Iran’s leadership, the strike on South Pars and its effects on Gulf energy infrastructure, Iran’s attacks on Israel, Israeli public support for the war, and polling on American support for the intervention. Watch our video exclusive with Samuel Moyn about Jürgen Habermas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Derek wore his Fitbit to a CIA black site, both exposing the security state and meeting his daily step goal. This week’s news: in the Iran war, Israel assassinates Ali Larijani and other senior Iranian officials (1:15), U.S. allies refuse Trump’s demand that they help reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force (5:41), and the Pentagon seeks roughly $200 billion for the war (8:32) as it considers new deployments to the region (13:27); in southern Lebanon, the IDF begins its ground invasion (14:41); Israel continues killing people in Gaza during the supposed ceasefire while Rafah reopens for medical evacuations after pressure from Hamas (17:31); Afghanistan and Pakistan agree to a five-day Eid ceasefire (21:30) as the two countries dispute the circumstances Pakistani airstrike in Kabul (22:57); Trump postpones his planned trip to China as the Iran war consumes Washington’s attention (25:22); in Sudan, the RSF retakes the strategic town of Bara (27:39); the Trump administration reportedly threatens to cut PEPFAR and other health aid to Zambia unless it gets favorable mineral concessions (29:37); Russia increases its support for Tehran with drone tactics, technology, and possible intelligence sharing (33:45); the United States reopens its embassy in Venezuela as normalization moves ahead (37:11), plus Delcy Rodríguez replaces Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino with intelligence chief Gustavo González López (38:21); and Trump pressures Cuba’s leadership amid a grid collapse and reports of U.S. talks about political change (40:24). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to get all of our special episodes and skip the ads. Danny and Derek welcome back to the show Annelle Sheline to discuss the impact of the US–Israel war on Iran on the Gulf states. They talk about how the conflict developed and why Gulf governments anticipated Iranian retaliation, the limits of US security guarantees, the risks to energy and desalination infrastructure, the vulnerability of the Gulf’s economic model relying on stability and foreign investment, and the potential postwar regional order if Iran survives weakened but intact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes! Writer and former U.S. Army intelligence officer Harrison Mann joins the show to talk about the U.S–Iran war and what a ground invasion could actually look like. They discuss Harrison’s resignation from the Defense Intelligence Agency over U.S. support for the Gaza genocide, his assessment of the first weeks of the conflict with Iran, internal divisions within the military and intelligence community, and the risks of shifting the rules of engagement and permissive attitudes toward civilian casualties. They then explore potential ground invasion scenarios, including special raids on nuclear facilities, the proposal to seize Kharg Island, the feasibility of occupying territory along the Strait of Hormuz, and the broader trajectory of the conflict. Read Harrison’s piece “I Was a US Intelligence Analyst. Here's What a Ground Invasion of Iran Could Look Like.” Sign Win Without War's petition to Congress against spending more taxpayer dollars on the Iran war via an upcoming supplemental funding bill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our specials. Danny and Derek discuss the latest developments in the war in Iran, including the U.S. bombing military targets on Kharg Island; Iran’s retaliation in the UAE and strategy around the Strait of Hormuz; the status of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei after reportedly sustaining wounds; Israel’s possible plan to occupy southern Lebanon and reports of interceptor shortages; China’s muted response to the war; and the U.S. deploying Marines to the region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode and all of our bonus content. Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast political scientist Robert Pape to talk about the theory and history of air power. They discuss how ideas of air superiority shaped modern military doctrine and the belief that air power alone can coerce or topple regimes. They then focus on the war with Iran, including the U.S. strategy falling into the “smart bomb trap,” Iran’s strategy of horizontal escalation, the use of precision drones, the risks surrounding dispersed nuclear material, and the potential economic and geopolitical shocks as the conflict expands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to get access to all of our special episodes. Danny and Derek speak with Spencer Ackerman, writer of ⁠Forever Wars⁠ newsletter and author of ⁠Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America⁠ about the war in Iran, how it emerges from recent history, its military aspects, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our breaking news specials. We’re putting out, what, an episode a day at this point? But the news roundup must go on. This week: In the Iran war, casualty and displacement figures rise across Iran and Lebanon (1:20), Iran mines and threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz (4:31), Iranian officials threaten to expand the war by targeting financial institutions across the Gulf (7:47), and new supreme leader Mustafa Khomeini delivers his first address (10:27); in Gaza, aid shortages deepen as food supplies run low (16:01); escalating drone warfare hits markets, towns, and civilian targets in Sudan (17:19); in Mali, the U.S. moves to restore counterterrorism cooperation and reconnaissance flights with the ruling junta (22:20); new warnings of conflict emerge in Ethiopia’s Tigray region (24:51); Nepal’s Rastriya Swatantra Party secures a landslide victory in the latest elections (28:26); in Ukraine, the UN accuses Russia of committing a crime against humanity through the forced transfer of Ukrainian children (30:07); far-right politician José Antonio Kast takes office as president of Chile following the end of Gabriel Boric’s term (31:31); in Haiti, human rights groups warn about civilian harm from an expanding drone campaign targeting gangs in Port-au-Prince (34:05); and in these United States, investigations into the Minab elementary school strike raise questions about the use of AI-assisted targeting in U.S. military operations (35:41), plus Donald Trump hosts the first “Shield of the Americas” summit at his Doral resort (39:44). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to get all of our breaking news specials. Derek welcomes back legal scholar Maryam Jamshidi to discuss the legal aspect of the U.S.–Israel war on Iran. They talk about the administration’s shifting legal justifications, why the administration’s claims about Iranian threats and nuclear weapons fail under international law, the legal limits of self-defense, how the conflict fits within the laws of war, and the broader humanitarian and political consequences of the war for Iranian civilians and the country’s future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our breaking news specials. Danny and Derek give an update on the war in Iran and the region. They discuss Israeli strikes on fuel depots outside Tehran and the growing civilian toll, the pace of Iranian missile and drone retaliation against Israel, the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader, and the regional expansion of the conflict including ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Note: After the time of recording, ⁠CNN confirmed⁠ that Iran is placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Danny and Derek speak with historian Alfred McCoy about how the Cold War operated as a global conflict influenced by decolonization, covert action, and geopolitical strategy. They discuss the role of individual intelligence operatives as “men on the spot”; Cold War rivalry and the collapse of European empires; how conflicts across Asia, Africa, and Latin America produced much of the war’s violence; the development of U.S. containment strategy and covert action institutions; and Iran as flashpoint in Cold War and post-Cold War geopolitics, and how Alfred interprets these conflicts through a lens of imperial decline and strategic chokepoints like the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz. Buy Alfred’s book Cold War on Five Continents! Reading recommendation: The Cold War's Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long Peace by Paul Thomas Chamberlin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny and Derek welcome back historian Djene Bajalan to talk about the Iran War and whether the U.S. and Israel are attempting to destabilize the Iranian state by opening a Kurdish front. They discuss debates over Israeli strategy being aimed at regime collapse, whether the United States and Israel are pursuing different objectives in the conflict, and the strategy behind attempts to destabilize Iran through peripheral pressure. They also get into reporting about a potential Kurdish front, including the roles of Iraqi Kurdish authorities, Iranian Kurdish militias in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the limits of Kurdish military capacity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now⁠ to skip the ads and get all of our breaking news specials. Derek welcomes back Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder and CEO of the Bourse and Bazaar Foundation and professor at Johns Hopkins University, to discuss the economic consequences of the Iran war and its implications for the Gulf and the global economy. They discuss Iran’s strikes on Gulf infrastructure, disruptions to shipping and energy routes through the Strait of Hormuz, risks to logistics hubs like Dubai and Doha, rising oil prices, the vulnerability of global supply chains, and the potential long-term economic impact of the conflict on the Gulf. Read Esfandyar’s article in Foreign Policy, “The Iran War Is Jeopardizing the Entire Global Economy.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for access to all of our breaking news specials. Danny and Derek discuss the escalating war with Iran, including the expanding U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign, the reported U.S. strike on an Iranian school, America sinking the Iranian ship IRIS Dena, Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting oil shock, Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, and the Trump administration’s demand for Iran’s unconditional surrender as the conflict shows signs of lasting for months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices