Pod Save the World 

Ben and guest cohost Alyona Minkovski, PSTW's senior producer, try to make sense of the many contradictions and threats coming from President Trump and his administration on Iran, like reports that he wants to make the Strait of Hormuz everyone else’s problem to solve, and claims that regime change has already happened. Then they juxtapose the incoherence with the very real consequences of the war on people's lives, from American troops being deployed to the Middle East, to the normalization of targeting civilian infrastructure. They also defend Spring Breakers featured in a Fox News segment, call out Pete Hegseth for personally interfering in the military promotions of women and black soldiers, ask how the increasingly spotty internet connection in Moscow could affect support for Putin, question the US policy towards Cuba, and do a special reading from former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

At the end of the show, Ben speaks with Nika Kovač, Slovenian activist and founding director of My Voice My Choice, about private intelligence agency Blackcube’s interference in Slovenia’s election, the outlook for the government following very close results, and what she’s learned from years of opposing authoritarianism.

Preorder Ben’s book All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches and subscribe to his Substack https://benrhodes1.substack.com/p/notes-on-the-stories-we-tell?r=7jalf&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay&utm_source=ig&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnk2XQpGCmzcvVGkeFlK9dqpiOZOtrjYa6vZNZOGIUYKNGWNuwRdTS-TcWTxc_aem_CO-34uPQ7U7nZXxTI-IbdQ&triedRedirect=true.

CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS:
ZBIOTICS: https://zbiotics.com/PSTW CODE: PSTW
SQUARESPACE: https://squarespace.com/world
HELIX: https://helixsleep.com/world
SIMPLISAFE: https://simplisafe.com/crookedworld
SUNDAYS FOR DOGS: https://sundaysfordogs.com/world50 CODE: WORLD50

CHAPTERS
0:00 - Tommy on Spring Break
4:51 - Hegseth Briefing On Iran War
14:52 - Rubio and Regime Change
19:43 - Ad Break
22:17 - American Frustration With Foreign Policy Lies
24:58 - More Troops Deployed to Middle East
39:08 - Spring Breakers
46:11 - Ad Break
48:56 - Trigger Happy Pete Hegseth
56:41 - An Update on Russia
1:05:59 - Trumps Talks Cuba, Oil
1:15:52 - Ad Break
1:17:17 - Interview with Nika Kovac

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

311 34

And it's all his fault.

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

603 17

Why?

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

385 8

The corruption stinks.

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

217 5

"It's either the dumbest f*cking plan, ever, or the dumbest f*cking war, ever." - Ben Rhodes

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

1.1K 75

Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes discuss the growing revolt inside European Right against Donald Trump.

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

4.7K 613

Floating War Crimes?

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

581 23

It's all psychological.

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

437 4

In the past few days, Donald Trump went from threatening to obliterate Iran's power plants to announcing a surprise diplomatic reprieve and declaring that the war has been won. This episode breaks down the whiplash: what actually happened, whether the talks are real, why an agreement between the US and Iran will be extraordinarily hard to reach, and why $580 million worth of energy trades just minutes before Trump's announcement reek of insider trading and corruption. Ben and Tommy also cover: the US allowing Iran to sell $14 billion worth of oil, Iran firing missiles at a joint US-UK military base, Israel's creeping occupation of southern Lebanon, signs that Trump is actually harming far-right parties in Europe, and how a workout app put a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at risk. Then Tommy talks with Edward Fishman, the author of Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare, about the ballooning economic cost of war with Iran and how it’s revealing America’s economic vulnerabilities.

Preorder Ben’s book All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches (Barnes & Noble, Bookshop) and subscribe to his Substack here.

CHECK OUT THESE DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS
HIMS: https://www.hims.com/WORLD
HELIX: https://www.helixsleep.com/world
FACTOR: https://www.factormeals.com/pstw50off Code: pstw50off
SQUARESPACE: https://www.squarespace.com/WORLD
WISE: https://www.wise.com
STRAWBERRY.ME: https://www.strawberry.me/world

CHAPTERS
0:00 - Intro
5:15 - Trump filp-flops on Iran
14:46 - Ad break
17:06 - Trump's Iran deal
32:42 - U.S. troops en route
36:13 - Iran missile capabilities
41:17 - Ad break
43:59 - Lebanon updates
49:26 - European far-right political parties
57:37 - Strava hack
1:01:21 - Ad break
1:03:42 - Runaway Country
1:04:39 - Edward Fishman interview

Want Pod Save the World ad-free? Subscribe to Friends of the Pod: https://www.crooked.com/friends

Photos courtesy of AP Photo Archive

Crooked Media believes that we need a better conversation about politics, culture, and the world around us—one that doesn’t just focus on what’s broken, but what we can do to fix it. We are a media network that showcases stories, voices, and opportunities for activism that inform, entertain, and inspire action, because it’s up to all of us to do our part to build a better world.

That’s it. End of mission.

Learn more about us at crooked.com

5K 676