Iran Talks Stall, Hezbollah Drones Limit the IDF, Cuba Pretexts Build
Danny and Derek have reconciled with their disappointment in the new Star Wars film and can now bring you the news roundup.
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Iran Talks Stall, Hezbollah Drones Limit IDF, Cuba Pretexts Build / American Prestige
Danny and Derek have reconciled with their disappointment in the new Star Wars film and can now bring you the news roundup. This week: in Iran, talks stall as Trump weighs continuing the war (2:00), the Islamic Republic attempts to institutionalize control over the Strait of Hormuz (8:49), and fuel protests spread around the world (13:09); the IDF continues daily bombardments in Lebanon while Hezbollah drones restrict IDF ground operations (15:10); Trump considers a call with Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te (18:32); Xi and Putin stage an uneventful summit in Beijing (21:47); Sudanese forces gain ground in Blue Nile State (23:23); a U.S.-Nigerian operation kills an Islamic State leader (25:26); Ebola spreads from northeastern DRC (27:45); in NATO news, the U.S. reduces its forces in Europe (30:25); Labour challengers emerge against Keir Starmer (33:36); Peru confirms a Fujimori-Sanchez runoff in its presidential election (35:23); Washington manufactures new pretexts against Cuba (36:49); Trump seeks a permanent U.S. presence in Greenland (41:15); and “Golden Dome” costs are estimated to reach $1.2 trillion (43:55).
Note: After the time of recording, Donald Trump walked back his decision to reduce US troops in Poland. Additionally, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has changed due to Oman's interest in collecting "tolls."
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (R) meets Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi (L) in Tehran, Iran on May 21, 2026.
(Iranian Foreign Ministry / Handout / Anadolu via Getty Images)Danny and Derek have reconciled with their disappointment in the new Star Wars film and can now bring you the news roundup. This week: In Iran, talks stall as Trump weighs continuing the war (2:00), the Islamic Republic attempts to institutionalize control over the Strait of Hormuz (8:49), and fuel protests spread around the world (13:09); the IDF continues daily bombardments in Lebanon while Hezbollah drones restrict IDF ground operations (15:10); Trump considers a call with Taiwan’s president Lai Ching-te (18:32); Xi and Putin stage an uneventful summit in Beijing (21:47); Sudanese forces gain ground in Blue Nile State (23:23); a US-Nigerian operation kills an Islamic State leader (25:26); Ebola spreads from northeastern DRC (27:45); in NATO news, the US reduces its forces in Europe (30:25); Labour challengers emerge against Keir Starmer (33:36); Peru confirms a Fujimori-Sanchez runoff in its presidential election (35:23); Washington manufactures new pretexts against Cuba (36:49); Trump seeks a permanent US presence in Greenland (41:15); and “Golden Dome” costs are estimated to reach $1.2 trillion (43:55).
Note: After the time of recording, Donald Trump walked back his decision to reduce US troops in Poland. Additionally, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has changed due to Oman’s interest in collecting “tolls.”
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The Nation Podcasts
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
The History of the Jewish Bund w/ Molly Crabapple / American Prestige
Danny and Derek speak with artist and writer Molly Crabapple about her book on the history of the Jewish Labor Bund, Here Where We Live Is Our Country. They discuss Molly's personal connection to the story, the Pale of Settlement and Jewish emancipation, the founding of the Bund in 1897, the Bund's armed self-defense against pogroms, its fraught relationship with Lenin and the Bolsheviks, the Bund's rivalry with Zionism, the flourishing of Bundist culture in interwar Poland, and the lessons of the Bund’s story for the Jewish left today.
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