PROF. Mohammad Marandi joins Kyle live from Moscow. His Internet connection is a little sketchy but the audio is fine. Be sure to comment to help us with the YT algorithm.

What if the real battlefield isn’t a border but a bottleneck? We sit down with Professor Mohammad Marandi to examine how Iran calculates risk, leverage, and legitimacy across a map defined as much by energy corridors as by military bases. From the broken promises of the JCPOA to the aftershocks of a 12-day war, we trace why Tehran insists on a narrow negotiating lane—nuclear assurances only—while locking every other door.

Marandi argues that missiles, drones, and regional alliances won’t be traded for sanctions relief, pointing to lessons from Syria and recent clashes that, in Iran’s view, validated conventional deterrence. He walks through why trust collapsed: inconsistent U.S. compliance, shifting goalposts, and the absence of automatic penalties when commitments are breached. The proposed fix is mechanical rather than symbolic—snap, balanced consequences for violations that make cheating too costly. Alongside this, we explore Iran’s stated religious and strategic opposition to nuclear weapons, paired with an explicit caveat about existential threats that functions as deterrence without overt weaponization.

The most provocative claim centers on geography and economics. Iran’s core deterrent, he says, is aimed at the Persian Gulf, not Israel: dense, vulnerable infrastructure, U.S. bases within range, and shipping lanes that tie oil and gas to global stability. A major war would rupture supply chains, spike markets, and outpace neat military outcomes. That logic, combined with a domestic pivot toward BRICS and the SCO, sets the political price for any new deal. Expect discussions to focus on recognition of enrichment rights, rigorous but bounded inspections, and automatic reciprocity for noncompliance—nothing more on missiles or allies.

We close by testing media narratives of Iranian fragility against mass mobilizations at home and a wider global mood swing on Israel-Palestine. Agree or challenge these assessments, the takeaway is the same: any agreement that lasts must align with how power, risk, and credibility are actually distributed on the ground and at sea. If this conversation sharpened your view, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review with the one clause you believe any durable deal must include.

John joins me to read and comment on the book Rules for Radicals. In this episode we read The Prologue in preparation for diving into Alinsky’s work.

Download Audio.

Scott interviews Charles Goyette about his new book, Empire of Lies: Fragments from the Memory Hole.

Discussed on the show:

• Empire of Lies: Fragments from the Memory Hole by Charles Goyette
• “Where in the Constitution is ‘the interagency’ anyway?” (The Blaze)

Charles Goyette is a New York Times Bestselling Author and award-winning talk show host.

Audio cleaned up with the Podsworth app: https://podsworth.com

Use code HORTON50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings, sound like a pro, and also support the Scott Horton Show!

For more on Scott’s work:

Check out The Libertarian Institute: https://www.libertarianinstitute.org

Check out Scott’s other show, Provoked, with Darryl Cooper https://youtube.com/@Provoked_Show

Read Scott’s books:

Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine https://amzn.to/47jMtg7 (The audiobook of Provoked is being published in sections at https://scotthortonshow.com)

Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism: https://amzn.to/3tgMCdw

Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan https://amzn.to/3HRufs0

Follow Scott on X @scotthortonshow

And check out Scott’s full interview archives: https://scotthorton.org/all-interviews

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Incorporated https://rrbi.co Moon Does Artisan Coffee https://scotthorton.org/coffee; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom https://www.libertyclassroom.com/dap/a/?a=1616 and Dissident Media https://dissidentmedia.com

You can also support Scott’s work by making a one-time or recurring donation at https://scotthorton.org/donate/https://scotthortonshow.com or https://patreon.com/scotthortonshow

Headlines keep colliding: sudden airspace closures, a foreign leader urging new wars, and a deluge of Epstein revelations that raise more questions than answers. We cut through the noise to map the pattern—who benefits from distraction, why certain names stay hidden, and how selective secrecy corrodes the rule of law and our shared sense of justice.

With Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, we examine the stakes of the Epstein files beyond the horror of child sex trafficking: alleged blackmail, influence peddling, insider trading, and a culture of impunity for elites. We contrast how local law enforcement handles similar crimes with how federal power seems to shield the well-connected, and we explore what that double standard does to public trust. On the domestic front, we look at job-market friction, surging applicant pools, and why rising gold and silver hint at dollar risk and policy uncertainty—economic signals that don’t match the official happy talk.

Abroad, we confront the moral and strategic costs of Gaza, U.S. complicity in escalating violence, and renewed talk of strikes on Iran. “Limited” actions rarely stay limited; supply routes, oil flows, and regional deterrence hang in the balance. We discuss the very real risk of miscalculation and what it would take to step back from the brink. Finally, we outline a path that could actually restore confidence: protect victims but fully name co-conspirators, fire officials who misled Congress, prosecute crimes without fear or favor, and prioritize diplomacy over performative force.

If you’re tired of euphemisms and ready for clarity, this conversation connects the dots and offers a concrete checklist for accountability at home and restraint abroad. Listen, share with someone who cares about justice, and leave a review telling us the one action you most want leaders to take now.

What happens when a “surgical strike” meets a country that’s spent years hardening its air defenses, extending missile range, and practicing asymmetric warfare? We sit down with Larry Johnson to test the myths, map the ranges, and weigh what a U.S. or Israeli hit on Iran would truly unleash. From carrier standoff distances and Tomahawk limits to GPS disruption and Russian-made air defenses, we break down the real capabilities and constraints that rarely make it into headlines—and why quick wars promised from podiums so often become long, costly stalemates.

The conversation widens to Israel’s calculus and the political push in Washington. Can Jerusalem act alone if Iran crosses a ballistic red line? Johnson argues the “12-day war” already answered that: retaliation arrived within hours, pressure mounted by day six, and only a quiet workaround ended the exchange. We also unpack the emerging China–Russia–Iran defense ecosystem—3D radar, GPS jamming, naval drills—that raises the cost of any strike and heightens the chance of spillover into the Gulf, the Red Sea, and global energy routes. Deterrence by threat of nukes sounds simple; in a crowded neighborhood of nuclear and near-peer powers, it’s a dangerous bet.

With the last U.S.–Russia arms control guardrail gone, tensions don’t just simmer—they set the stage for miscalculation. Johnson lays out how New START’s collapse, escalating sanctions, and unkept diplomatic signals leave Moscow convinced that only battlefield facts count. That leads us to Ukraine’s outlook: dwindling manpower, training pipelines under missile threat, and a Russian campaign that advances by attrition and pressure. We explore why Odessa remains pivotal, how air defense shortages compound losses, and what a negotiated end might look like when one side insists on new borders and the other can’t regenerate combat power fast enough.

If you value clear-eyed analysis over slogans, this deep dive connects the dots between Iran, Israel, Russia, China, and Ukraine with a focus on capabilities, logistics, and consequences. Follow the show, share this episode with a friend who tracks geopolitics, and leave a review telling us where you think the off-ramp lies.

Headlines shifted by the hour, but the stakes stayed high. We start with the last U.S.-Russia arms control guardrail, New START, and ask a simple question with massive consequences: extend the treaty and keep limits plus inspections alive, or gamble everything on a brand-new deal that tries to rope in China. We break down why a percentage-based framework is the only way Beijing would ever talk, and why tearing up what remains of verification invites a quiet arms race and louder miscalculation.

Then the ground moves under Washington’s feet. The Epstein emails aren’t just lurid; they expose how influence launders reputations and how elites normalize the indefensible. We talk names, patterns, and the corrosive effects of a culture that treats accountability as optional when a donor or fixer is involved. Trust in institutions doesn’t recover on its own; it’s rebuilt with transparency and consequences, not curated outrage.

Media independence is next on the line. A push to refit Stars and Stripes into a Pentagon PR vehicle would smother the reporting that actually helps service members: unsafe housing, contaminated water, VA gaps, recruitment realities. When oversight is replaced by messaging, readiness suffers. Troops and families deserve facts, not slogans.

Finally, the drumbeat around Iran grows louder. Talks relocate, terms shift, and a regional buildup accelerates. We run the numbers on cost asymmetry—a $20,000 drone versus a $2 million missile—and ask who benefits from demands designed to be rejected. If goalposts keep moving from nuclear limits to missiles to proxies, we’re not negotiating; we’re staging a lane to escalation. The smarter path is clear: lock in New START, protect independent reporting, treat the Epstein disclosures as a mandate for real accountability, and put disciplined diplomacy ahead of theatrics.

If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review with your take: extend New START or start over—what’s the wiser move right now?

This DHP episode features the audio of the third episode of Brave the New World, a new weekly current events & media analysis show that CJ is cohosting with his friend Matt Carano.

Join CJ & Matt as they discuss some of the recent Epstein-related revelations & their implications for the past, present, & future of the US (& the world.)

Like this episode?

Support the Dangerous History Podcast via Patreon

You can also throw CJ a $ tip via Paypal here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=D6VUYSYQ4EU6L

Throw CJ a $ tip via Venmo here:

https://www.venmo.com/u/dangerousmedia

Or throw CJ a BTC tip here:

bc1qfrz9erz7dqazh9rhz3j7nv696nl52ux8unw79z

Links

• Brave the New World on Youtube
• Brave the New World on Apple Podcasts
• Brave the New World on Spotify
• The Dangerous History Podcast Youtube Channel
• Follow CJ on Twitter/X
• Follow the DHP on Facebook
• Hire CJ to speak to your group or at your event
• Other ways to support the show

As a result of expanding cooperation, human beings, unlike lower animals, compete to produce, not to consume. Mises expressed this with my favorite sentence in Human Action: “The fact that my fellow man wants to acquire shoes as I do, does not make it harder for me to get shoes, but easier.” The expansion of cooperation also means dealing with strangers at great distance — a further incentive for world peace and harmony.

– Sheldon Richman, What Social Animals Owe to Each Other (p. 31)

Watch on Odysee

BitChute

Rumble

X

Spotify