Episodes
Reading the feed…
Reading the feed…
Gas prices don’t rise in a vacuum. They rise when chokepoints tighten, reserves drain, and officials pretend the pain will stay contained. We sit down with Larry Johnson of Sonar21 to pressure-test the story you’re being sold about the war with Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and why “it’s only $4 a gallon” can quickly turn into a very different reality when global oil supply, diesel, and aviation fuel get squeezed. From there, we connect the dots to US military readiness in plain terms: reports of Iran downing a large number of US Reaper drones, the growing strain on air and missile defenses, and
A US aircraft carrier packed with 5,000 sailors is not supposed to become a story about empty shelves, broken plumbing, and desperate messages to families. We start there because the USS Abraham Lincoln reports don’t just raise moral alarms, they raise a strategic one: if extended deployments are pushing crews to the edge, what does that say about America’s ability to sustain a long pressure campaign and naval blockade tied to the US-Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz? From that human reality, we widen the lens to the region’s shifting center of gravity. We dig into the Mecca Agreement and what
A president who craves praise is easy to steer, and Charles Goyette argues that’s exactly the danger facing US foreign policy right now. I’m joined by the New York Times best-selling author and Libertarian Institute writer to unpack his “mousetrapped” thesis: how Benjamin Netanyahu can use flattery, timing, and intelligence claims to nudge Donald Trump toward bigger risks in the Iran conflict. We walk through the mechanics of influence, including a reported decoy travel maneuver and why low-confidence intelligence can still change presidential behavior when fear and ego are involved. From the
Trump says the war is going great and the “bully of the Middle East” is no longer in charge. We’re not buying slogans, so we pull the thread on what “going great” is supposed to mean when U.S. munitions stockpiles are thinning, regional bases are taking hits, and the Strait of Hormuz still looks anything but normal for global shipping. If you care about U.S. foreign policy, oil prices, and the real costs of escalation with Iran, this conversation is built for you. I’m joined by writer Nolan Denaro, whose recent reporting cuts through the talking points. We unpack why polling shows this conflic
A threat is not a strategy, and it definitely is not a negotiating position. We sit down with Ambassador Chas Freeman to unpack why talk of “decapitation,” demands for compensation, and shifting US red lines do not move Iran toward a deal, they push everything toward attrition and escalation. Freeman argues credibility is the real currency of diplomacy, and once a country’s signature stops meaning what it says, rivals and allies start planning around that reality. We dig into the memorandum of understanding that was supposed to set basic terms for de-escalation, including constraints on threat
The fastest way to understand a crisis is to stop arguing about talking points and look at what is physically happening. Today we do exactly that with Larry Johnson as LtCol. Karen Kwiatkowski fills in for Kyle, starting with the Strait of Hormuz and the hard question behind every headline: is it actually open, and who controls passage right now? We point listeners to real-time ship tracking, then walk through what the traffic patterns imply for global oil prices, shipping risk, and the credibility gap between public claims and observable reality. From there, we dig into Tehran’s power structu
“Golden age” is an easy line to sell. Living through the consequences of a war of choice is harder. We’re joined by Col. Lawrence Wilkerson for a blunt look at where the United States stands as the Iran conflict drags on, and why the economy, the military, and public trust can’t be separated when policy decisions start compounding. We talk through the gap between political messaging and real constraints: munitions shortages, JDAM kit limitations, and a defense industrial base that can’t simply surge precision weapons overnight. Wilkerson explains why rare earth metals and critical inputs like
If you’ve ever watched an AI tool answer a complicated question with total confidence, you’ve felt the power problem hiding in plain sight. We sit down with journalist Nick Cleveland-Stout of Responsible Statecraft and Drop Site News to trace how Israeli influence operations are pushing narratives about Gaza directly into the systems people now use as “truth machines,” from chatbots to AI-powered search. We break down the reporting on millions spent to shape chatbot responses, including networks of pro-Israel websites designed to be scraped, cited, and absorbed into training data. Nick explain
A progressive primary upset turns into something much bigger when you follow the money and the message. We’re rolling solo and starting with what last night’s results suggest about where U.S. politics is heading: foreign policy is no longer a side issue. When wars drag on, when Israel and Iran dominate headlines, and when voters feel the cost through inflation and gas prices, they vote accordingly. I also unpack why the “jihadist” and “communist” scare talk misses the actual story, and how race-first politics on both fringes poisons any real populist reform. Then we pivot to a story that shoul
“We don’t want regime change… but the regime has to change.” That line tells you almost everything about how Washington talks itself into bigger wars, and why the US Iran conflict keeps drifting from one stated goal to the next. We sit down with Lt Col Karen Kwiatkowski to sort out what’s real, what’s posturing, and what the incentives look like behind the curtain as Trump alternates between strike threats and sudden stand downs. We dig into the reported faction fight inside the White House between escalation minded voices and officials trying to slow the spiral, plus the hard constraint nobod
A viral interview raises an uncomfortable question: what does it mean when a high-profile US political influencer sits down with a commander tied to the Azov movement and the “clean up the optics” answer is basically no? We take that clip seriously, not as clickbait, but as a window into how the Ukraine war is sold to the public, how propaganda works when facts are inconvenient, and why the neo-Nazi imagery controversy never actually went away. From there, we pull on a bigger thread that keeps showing up in foreign policy: the push to connect wars into one narrative. We talk about the incentiv
Missiles in the air, oil markets on edge, and a White House that still can’t answer the simplest question: what’s the plan? We start with reporting from foreign correspondent Trey Yingst on US forces having only minutes to intercept incoming Iranian ballistic missiles, then I lay out why “shock” at Iranian retaliation doesn’t make sense in a war the US chose to escalate. When leaders talk like this is a surprise, it’s usually a cover for something else: drift, misreads, or a narrative meant to keep the public on board. From there, I get into Trump’s increasingly volatile rhetoric and an NBC Ne
The story most people miss about a widening Middle East war isn’t just who fires the next missile, it’s who can absorb the retaliation after they do. I’m solo today, moving fast through the latest escalations and then slowing down where it matters: the strategic constraints that make “hit them harder” sound simple while turning into a nightmare for bases, allies, and civilians across the region. We talk Iran, US Central Command messaging, and the way regional dynamics can cascade when Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s Ansar Allah, and Iraqi militias all become part of the same retaliatory map. From attack
Ukraine can look stable on a map while collapsing through its supply lines and that’s where we start. Zelensky claims his relationship with Donald Trump has “absolutely changed” after a private meeting, but we stress-test that optimism against a tougher metric: what the United States is actually providing in money, weapons, and air defense right now, and what it can realistically sustain. From there, we dig into Russia’s ramped-up posture and why the Black Sea may matter more than another small shift in the Donbas. Larry Johnson explains the stepped-up strikes on Kiev and the strategic impact
A nuclear power deal can sound like paperwork until the fine print turns into a proliferation crisis. We sit down with Jon Hoffman of the Cato Institute to unpack the reported US Saudi nuclear agreement and the real meaning of a “Section 123 agreement” under the Atomic Energy Act. The headline question is simple and unsettling: does this cooperation keep a civilian program civilian, or does it open the door to Saudi uranium enrichment and a future regional arms race? We also dig into why the timing is so politically loaded. The original framework was tied to Saudi Israel normalization and the
A single line in a must-pass defense bill can change U.S. foreign policy for years, and most people will never hear about it until it is too late. We dig into Section 219 of the NDAA and why critics say it moves beyond “supporting Israel” into something far more permanent: structural military integration that could lock U.S. decision-making to Israeli security priorities. I’m joined by David Benner of Liberty Vault to unpack what that kind of legal and bureaucratic merger could mean for sovereignty, accountability, intelligence risk, and the ability of voters to actually steer policy. From the
The story we’re being sold about Iran doesn’t survive contact with the facts: if Iran’s military is supposedly “obliterated,” why are US bases still getting hit and US troops still dying? We unpack that disconnect with Larry Johnson, walking through the mechanics of Iran’s survivable deterrent from underground ballistic missiles to a layered Strait of Hormuz defense that mixes mines, small submarines, underwater drones, fast boats, coastal cruise missiles, and aerial drones. When the threat network is built to hide, move, and reappear, victory slogans don’t matter nearly as much as geography a
If you think the war is basically over because someone said Iran was “decimated,” slow down and do the math. We bring back author and longtime war and strategy teacher Michael Vlahos to dissect the claims coming out of Washington, including a clip of the Secretary of War projecting confidence about Iranian losses and U.S. stockpiles. Then we translate the language of victory into capabilities, inventories, and what actually changes on the battlefield. We dig into the shock factor that keeps showing up in this conflict: Iran’s growing missile accuracy. Michael explains why guidance systems and
Trump’s posture on Iran is getting judged from an unexpected angle, and we dig into why. We react to Tucker Carlson calling Trump “weak” not for avoiding intervention, but for failing to stand up to allies, especially Israel, as the conflict widens. From there, we lay out a clear case for shared responsibility at the top: pressure from partners can be constant, but a US president still decides whether to provide refueling planes, intelligence sharing, maintenance support, and missile defense that make sustained operations possible. We also walk through the memorandum of understanding and why i
A single yes or no question can expose an entire political strategy. We sit down with activist and independent journalist Misty Winston to unpack why so many Democratic leaders can’t answer plainly when Israel and Palestine comes up, especially on the hardest point: do Palestinians have a right to resist an occupying military, and what standard should apply when civilians versus soldiers are involved? We react to the viral independent media grilling of Rep. Ro Khanna and talk about why long form interviews on YouTube are changing the game. Misty breaks down the generational split inside the De
A 500% tariff on anyone who does business with Russia sounds like “strength” until you follow the blast radius. We walk through the revived Graham sanctions bill and why secondary sanctions can punish far more than the intended target, from US partners and global trade to everyday Americans who feel the ripple in prices, shipping, and energy markets. Along the way, we ask a blunt question that Washington often dodges: if sanctions are supposed to change behavior, what do we do when years of draconian restrictions don’t end the war or deliver a settlement? Kelly joins me to unpack how sanctions
The official story is simple. The timeline is not. We take a hard look at the reporting around Senator Lindsey Graham’s death and ask a basic question that gets skipped too often in political news: does the schedule even work. With Larry Johnson back on the show, we walk through the travel route to Kyiv, the time zone math, and why conflicting accounts keep surfacing when high profile foreign policy figures are involved. Then the focus shifts to the West Bank after Representative Ro Khanna says he was detained by Israeli settlers armed with American made rifles, with the IDF continuing the det
Calling it a “lab leak” makes the story feel tidy, but the real scandal might be the system that makes lab-origin disasters plausible in the first place. We sit down with independent journalist Sam Husseini to unpack gain-of-function research, why “potentially pandemic pathogens” are funded and defended, and how a small circle of incentives, prestige, and national security framing can turn high-risk virology into business as usual. We also dig into why Sam avoids the word “unintentional” and why the most important question isn’t only where a virus started, but what oversight failed and what ev
A US president casually threatening to cut off trade with Spain is not normal “tough talk” it’s a signal flare for how unstable alliance management can get when policy is driven by impulse. We walk through Trump’s comments from the NATO summit and what a real break with a NATO partner would mean, then zoom out to the deeper issue underneath the drama: the attempt to force allies toward a 5% of GDP defense spending target and the reality that most countries cannot reach it without huge political and economic fallout. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson joins us to connect the dots between Europe’s long
Trump goes from ceasefire language to “it’s over” in a matter of hours, and the Strait of Hormuz becomes the pressure point again. Host Kyle Anzalone and guest LtCOL Karen Kwiatkowski walk through the reports of Iranian shots at transiting ships, the follow-on CENTCOM strikes, and what it means when a president talks like a full-scale war is on the table while the Pentagon still faces real constraints in ships, air defense, and weapons stockpiles. If you’re trying to understand Iran, US military posture, and how quickly an MOU can unravel, this conversation lays out the incentives and the red
