The “Spicy Tyler” Edition

This week, Alan, Quinta, and Scott were joined by Lawfare managing editor Tyler McBrien to hash through the week's big national security news, including:

• “Bad Vlad’s Sad Grab Has Leningrad a Tad Mad.” Russian President Vladimir Putin seems intent on escalating the conflict in Ukraine, as he’s mobilized thousands of civilian conscripts and is on the verge of incorporating separatist parts of the country into Russia following a sham referendum. But will the Russian people stand for these new actions? And what will they mean for the future of the conflict?
• “What’s Farsi for Riotgrrrl?” Young Iranians have taken to the streets for women’s rights following the apparent killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by religious police for failing to adequately cover her hair. Could this be a real threat to the Iranian regime? And what will it mean for hard-line President Raisi and the ailing Ayatollah Khameini?
• “Cannon as Anticanon.” Everyone’s favorite federal district court judge Aileen Cannon has had the part of her order requiring that a special master review even classified records seized from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate slapped down by the 11th Circuit. Where is the case—and the broader investigation—likely to go from here?

For object lessons, Alan recommended the long awaited mainstream press treatment of the Hunter Biden laptop story (over Quinta's reservations). Quinta memorialized "Wolf Hall" author Hilary Mantel, who recently passed away. Scott celebrated the Renaissance of fantasy television by giving his stamp of the approval to the debut season of Rings of Power. And Tyler endorsed both the solo movie date and the documentary Riotsville, USA that he recently took in.

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