Episode

The Escalation Trap: Why the Iran Conflict Could Get Much Worse

Podcast: The Smerconish Podcast
Published: May 27, 2026
Duration seconds: 1172
Processing state: not_requested
Canonical source: https://www.siriusxm.com
Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/sxm.simplecastaudio.com/d49edecb-af71-4e40-b63b-f7bdc3faae1b/episodes/fddd93cf-e473-431b-be60-89e5b571d2aa/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=d49edecb-af71-4e40-b63b-f7bdc3faae1b&awEpisodeId=fddd93cf-e473-431b-be60-89e5b571d2aa&feed=Dv1m2CJC
JSON: /v1/public/podcasts/the-smerconish-podcast-4474155/episodes/the-escalation-trap-why-the-iran-conflict-could-get-much-worse
Markdown: /podcast/the-smerconish-podcast-4474155/the-escalation-trap-why-the-iran-conflict-could-get-much-worse.md

Actions

POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-smerconish-podcast-4474155/episodes/the-escalation-trap-why-the-iran-conflict-could-get-much-worse/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-smerconish-podcast-4474155/the-escalation-trap-why-the-iran-conflict-could-get-much-worse.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

Michael speaks with University of Chicago political scientist Dr. Robert Pape about the growing conflict with Iran, rising oil prices, and the strategic dangers of what Pape calls the “Escalation Trap.” From the Strait of Hormuz to the risks of ground operations and global economic fallout, Pape argues the U.S. may have underestimated both Iran’s capabilities and the long-term consequences of military escalation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.