American Prestige

E238 - On the Brink with Iran w/ Dalia Dassa Kaye

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

Bonus - The SDF After Bashar Al-Assad w/ Alexander McKeever (Preview)

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

News - Iran War Threat, UN Report on Israel Ethnic Cleansing, U.S. Withdraws From Syria

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

E237 - Inside the American War Machine w/ Ben Freeman and William Hartung

Subscribe now to skip the ads. Derek and Danny are joined by Bill Hartung and Ben Freeman to discuss the system that drives permanent war for the United States. They talk about the growth of the Pentagon budget and the bipartisan politics of defense spending; the U.S. dominating the global arms trade and the prevalence of U.S. weapons around the world; the rise of defense tech companies and the relationship between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon; the structure of defense lobbying, foreign government lobbying for arms sales, and how contractors benefit; think tank funding, Pentagon involvement in Hollywood and gaming; and public opinion, the national debt, and whether structural change is possible. Read their book The Trillion Dollar War Machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonus - Homeland Empire and Trump 2.0 w/ Nikhil Pal Singh (Preview)

Subscribe now for the full episode. Nikhil Pal Singh joins Danny and Derek to discuss Trump’s second term and the consolidation of executive power. They talk about how Trump’s second term differs from the first; revenge politics and the liberal “lawfare” frame; mass deportation and the war on migrants; “domains of rightlessness” and undocumented people as a lever to expand state power; the imperial presidency and unitary executive theory; how the carceral state and the war on terror laid the groundwork for Trump 2.0; the breakdown of postwar liberal anti-fascist constraints and the collapse of the Nazi taboo; and China and spheres of influence. Read Nikhil’s essay “Homeland Empire.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices