{"podcast":{"title":"Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy","slug":"best-of-the-left-leftist-perspectives-on-progressive-politics-news-culture-economics-and-democracy-457587","podcast_index_feed_id":457587,"rss_url":"https://hippiesympathizer.libsyn.com/mp3.rss","website_url":"https://www.bestoftheleft.com/listen","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/a/7/a/a/a7aad30e2da4890d/BotL_Scaled_up_Portrait_Logo.jpg","author":"Jay Tomlinson","episode_count":200,"summary":"Expertly-curated progressive politics, news, and culture produced by leftist humans, not algorithms or AI. This is an award-winning podcast that dives deeply into a wide range of national and international issues facing society and governments. We draw from hundreds of sources of progressive news and commentary. Est. 2006. Save time by listening to a range of perspectives on a focused topic in each episode and be introduced to new sources you will not have come across on your own!","last_synced_at":"2026-06-07T02:20:28.101189+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-left-leftist-perspectives-on-progressive-politics-news-culture-economics-and-democracy-457587"},"episode":{"title":"#1777 How Christian Nationalism, Oil, and Zionism Built The War Against Iran","slug":"1777-how-christian-nationalism-oil-and-zionism-built-the-war-against-iran","published_at":"2026-03-16T00:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-left-leftist-perspectives-on-progressive-politics-news-culture-economics-and-democracy-457587/1777-how-christian-nationalism-oil-and-zionism-built-the-war-against-iran","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-left-leftist-perspectives-on-progressive-politics-news-culture-economics-and-democracy-457587","url":"https://www.bestoftheleft.com/1777","audio_url":"https://pdrl.fm/829673/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/hippiesympathizer/1777_Iran_Israel_US.mp3?dest-id=22784","summary":"Air Date: 3/15/2026 Today we examine how a century of foreign intervention created incompatible national memories between the US and Iran and how Netanyahu exploited that history to maneuver Trump into a war he didn't understand, promising a quick decapitation strike while knowing full well it would become a months-long regional conflict, at minimum. Be part of the show! Leave a voice message , message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01 , or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube ! BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community ! TOP TAKES KP 1: Understanding America's Complicated Relationship with Iran - Velshi - Air Date 3-1-26 KP 2: Can Israel & the U.S. Sustain Iran's Military Power? (with Alastair Crooke) - The Chris Hedges Report - Air Date 3-6-26 KP 3: Who Gets to Have Nuclear Weapons and Why? | Start Here - Al Jazeera English - Air Date 7-30-25 KP 4: Why the F#!@ Are We at War with Iran? with Reza Aslan - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 3-6-26 KP 5: 100-Year History of US Meddling, Coups and Wars in the Middle East | Roy Casagranda - UNAPOLOGETIC with Ashfaaq Carim - Air Date 11-25-24 (00:46:57) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Bombs Don't Liberate: How War Destroys Iran's Real Democracy Movement DEEPER DIVES (00:56:48) SECTION A: BOMBS AWAY (AGAIN) A1: Mehdi Slams Trump's Illegal Iran War - Zeteo - Air Date 3-5-26 A2: 'Iranians Want to Be Bombed'? Inside the Propaganda Campaign for War - BreakThrough News - Air Date 3-7-26 A3: John Mearsheimer: No Winning in Iran for the U.S. - Daniel Davis / Deep Dive - Air Date 3-8-26 A4: \"Stop This Bloodshed\": Israeli Lawmaker…","meta_description":"Air Date: 3/15/2026 Today we examine how a century of foreign intervention created incompatible national memories between the US and Iran and how Netanyah…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":13454,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/best-of-the-left-leftist-perspectives-on-progressive-politics-news-culture-economics-and-democracy-457587/episodes/1777-how-christian-nationalism-oil-and-zionism-built-the-war-against-iran/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-left-leftist-perspectives-on-progressive-politics-news-culture-economics-and-democracy-457587/1777-how-christian-nationalism-oil-and-zionism-built-the-war-against-iran.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}