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Journalist Lily Lynch, a Balkans and Turkey specialist, examines Serbia’s student-led electoral breakthrough, Vučić’s defeat, leaderless organizing, Palestine, and the challenges of governing after protest. Brazil analyst Brian Mier explores Lula’s victory amid U.S. pressure, Silicon Valley influence, Bolsonaro’s coup legacy, rare-earth interests, grassroots mobilization, and the risks facing Brazil’s democracy.

Shireen al-Adeimi, a Yemeni American scholar at Michigan State University, traces Yemen’s turbulent history from ancient tribal society and British rule to the imamate, revolution, unification, and today’s wars. She discusses Saudi intervention, Ansarullah’s origins and governance, southern separatism, and the humanitarian catastrophe. Plus, John reports on a grueling New Zealand ultramarathon around volcanic Lake Taupo.

Thomas Frank, the historian, journalist, and author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?, explores the corporate mythology of creativity and innovation. He traces its roots from advertising culture to Reaganomics and Obama’s tech optimism, revealing how it helped marginalize unions and mask inequality. Frank and Mark Ames also examine AI’s threat to creative work, the bleak economics of culture, defense contractors’ innovation branding, and the value of nostalgia and critical thinking.

Michael Woldemariam, a University of Maryland scholar of African security and author of Insurgent Fragmentation in the Horn of Africa, examines the region’s volatile power struggles. He traces Eritrea’s independence, the Tigray War, battlefield reversals, drone warfare, and deepening political fractures. The conversation also explores Ethiopia’s port ambitions and how renewed conflict could spill into Sudan and beyond.

An in-depth tour of the Ukraine war through battlefield maps, geolocation, and open-source intelligence. The discussion examines misinformation, harassment, Starlink’s military role, drone-dominated combat, shifting armor tactics, casualty propaganda, Russia’s attritional strategy, missile warfare, and the state of major fronts, including the Lyman counteroffensive.

A deep dive into Iraq 23 years after the invasion, from oil dependence and Hormuz disruptions to drone warfare by Iran-aligned resistance groups. The discussion examines Lebanon’s devastated ceasefire, Netanyahu’s political resilience, and Israel’s rightward consensus. It also traces sanctions, occupation, detention, sectarianism, Kurdish politics, and the war’s lasting human and imperial costs.

Brian Mier, a journalist and Brazil correspondent, examines Brazil’s high-stakes presidential election and the forces shaping it. He discusses Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro’s competing voter bases, Bolsonaro’s MAGA-aligned politics, attacks on Brazil’s judiciary, and the Banco Master scandal. He also details the military-backed coup plot, assassination plans, and the broader role of U.S. and international interference.

Annibale, an independent historian and military analyst, joins John Dolan and Mark Ames to examine Gulf oil flows, Europe’s diesel crisis, Qatar’s LNG losses, and the costly maritime strategy around Iran and the Houthis. They also revisit Finland’s alliance with Nazi Germany, its occupation of Karelia, prisoner deaths, Jewish refugee policy, Waffen-SS ties, the Lapland War, and the mythology surrounding Finnish wartime neutrality.

Co-hosts John Dolan & Mark Ames

Co-hosts John Dolan & Mark Ames