Is the War in Iran Spiraling Out of Control?

This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch discuss the escalating war with Iran and whether President Donald Trump has any way to bring the conflict under control. The panel examines the deaths of American service members, rising gas prices, attacks on civilian infrastructure, and the lack of a clear objective for a war that has continued despite repeated attempts at ceasefires.

Next, the editors discuss Trump’s new tariffs on Brazil and the increasingly incoherent use of trade policy to pursue unrelated political goals. They then examine Trump’s primetime address on election security and whether his efforts to change election rules ahead of the midterms should be taken seriously. The panel also considers the growing popularity of democratic socialism, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political appeal, and why voters who support free markets may still embrace socialist politicians. Finally, a listener asks whether fears about artificial intelligence amount to a moral panic.

0:00—Iran war intensifies

12:53—Brazil tariffs and trade war escalation

27:56—Trump’s primetime address

38:34—Listener question on AI moral panic

47:44—Mamdani’s rising popularity

55:08—Weekly cultural recommendations

Mentioned in the podcast:

“The Iran War Is Back, Sort Of,” by Matthew Petti

“As U.S. Starts ‘New’ Iran War, Lawmakers Want Answers About Deadly Elementary School Strike,” by Meagan O’Rourke

“Meet the New War,” by Liz Wolfe

“America Has a Huge Trade Surplus With Brazil. Trump Just Put 25% Tariffs on Brazilian Goods Anyway,” by Eric Boehm

“Trump’s Attacks on Free Trade Have Actually Made It More Popular With Voters,” by John Mueller

“The Most Corrupt Presidency in American History, by the Numbers,” by Matt Welch

“Election Vulnerability,” by Liz Wolfe

“Trump Threatens To Revoke ABC and NBC Licenses for Not Broadcasting His Election Speech,” by Joe Lancaster

“Election interference by foreigners: An assessment,” by John Mueller

“AI Is the Democratic Party’s Next Villain,” by Eugene Volokh

“Labor Unions Hate Robots—and It’s Stopping Democrats From Delivering on Affordability,” by Peter Suderman

“The Age of Stupid—and Self-Serving—AI Regulation Is Here!” by Nick Gillespie

“Is AI Really Taking All the Jobs? Anthropic Co-Founder Jack Clark Reveals the Data,” by Nick Gillespie

“Working Class Hero,” by Liz Wolfe

“The ‘Free Market’ is More Popular than ‘Capitalism,'” by Ilya Somin