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.)

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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)

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We discuss lessons learned from reading We, weaponized immigration as a socialist tactic, weaponized surrogacy, and the fight against globalism.

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As CJ continues to struggle to navigate his family’s ongoing difficulties, he FINALLY managed to record a new DHP episode.

This is a follow-up to the previous DHP episode (#283 “We Are Ruled by Psychopaths”), in which he delves into some topics not covered much, if at all, in that episode, including but not limited to: the difficulty of defining ‘psychopath vs. sociopath,’ reasons that non-psychopathic people might in some situations behave very similarly to a psychopath, the ‘Lucifer effect,’ how institutions tend toward psychopathic behavior, and more.

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CJ’s Picks (Amazon Affiliate links to books referenced in this episode)

• Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert Hare

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A single clip can reveal the whole playbook. When a powerful senator calls military aid to Israel his “baby,” it says everything about priorities, leverage, and who pays the price. We pull the thread from that moment into the reality on the ground in Gaza, where a supposed ceasefire overlaps with daily killings and a systematic assault on healthcare. Detained physicians describe torture and maiming that read less like isolated abuses and more like a strategy to make Gaza unlivable. Pair that with efforts to block international medical work and you get collapse by design, not accident.

We also tackle the battlefield of narratives. For years, Gaza’s death tolls were dismissed as propaganda. Now, with the IDF effectively acknowledging those figures, the numbers stand—and so does the moral weight behind them. Meanwhile, legacy outlets still reach for soft phrasing, telling readers a ceasefire is being “tested” while children are buried. That language isn’t neutral; it shapes consent. The question is whether accuracy can survive the pressure to keep audiences comfortable.

Then we turn to Iran, where swagger and strategy collide. We dissect claims about a near-term nuclear bomb, point to inspections and intelligence, and examine how a cheap Iranian surveillance drone downed by an F-35 exposes a losing economic logic for endless escalation. With carriers near the Strait of Hormuz and merchant vessels as potential triggers, miscalculation could do what no speech intends: start a war. Add in maximalist U.S. demands—from missile limits to severing regional ties to dismantling civilian enrichment—and it’s clear why talks stall. These aren’t guardrails; they’re tripwires.

We close by pushing back on a convenient myth that Americans don’t care about the Epstein files. Crimes against children cut across ideology, and accountability still matters. We’re lining up a guest to go deeper and separate signal from noise as more documents surface. If you value frank analysis over spin—on Gaza, Iran, media narratives, and elite impunity—this conversation is for you.

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