{"podcast":{"title":"Geopolitical Cousins","slug":"geopolitical-cousins-7251738","podcast_index_feed_id":7251738,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/geopolitical-cousins/","website_url":"https://geopolitical-cousins.captivate.fm","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/1345c6ae-b41d-42e6-9fd1-5084f8548ff0/3Egz_32uppCB8TuhRh-V_E0d.png","author":"Jacob Shapiro & Marko Papic","episode_count":66,"summary":"Geopolitical Cousins throws together analysts Jacob Shapiro and Marko Papic for some of the most in-depth, off-the-wall geopolitical analysis in the world.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-11T02:17:22.178041+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/geopolitical-cousins-7251738"},"episode":{"title":"The Iranian Leviathan Loses Its Head","slug":"the-iranian-leviathan-loses-its-head","published_at":"2026-03-01T22:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/geopolitical-cousins-7251738/the-iranian-leviathan-loses-its-head","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/geopolitical-cousins-7251738","url":"https://geopolitical-cousins.captivate.fm/episode/the-iranian-leviathan-loses-its-head","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/5bf0d382-8a49-47f1-adfd-33493f88ce13.mp3","summary":"The US and Israel struck Iran. Khamenei is dead. Marco got the biggest break of his career. And yet... the Islamic Republic lives on. The lads spend this episode digging into why this operation is less transformative than Twitter would have you believe. History is clear: America doesn't have a great track record of turning regime change into geopolitical wins - Iraq, Libya, Syria, Venezuela... Iran will get a new Supreme Leader, probably a so-called \"pragmatist\" who was sanctioning protesters six weeks ago, but the operation won't end when Trump decides that it ends. So temper the triumphalism and strap in for another fun episode of \"America Intervenes Without Doing the Math Beforehand.\" -- Timestamps: (01:01) - The Most Important Geopolitical Development This Week (02:51) - Seguing Into Iran War (04:48) - Regime Change Reality Check (10:56) - Decapitation Strike Fallout (12:20) - Saudi Angle And Gulf Targets (13:50) - Hormuz And Market Shock (19:26) - Drone War Asymmetry Risk (22:46) - Trump Regime Calibration (25:41) - Why Trump Could Do It (33:02) - Is Iran A US Threat (35:01) - Multipolar Message To World (38:58) - Unipolar Limits (40:24) - Deterrence Arms Race (41:49) - Multipolar 19th Century (44:24) - Is It About China (47:46) - Strait of Hormuz Signal (49:33) - Russia Oil Windfall (51:31) - Missiles and Deal Logic (53:58) - Eurasian Conflict Crescent (55:53) - Iran Civil War Risk (01:00:22) - Revolution Timing Debate (01:05:17) - Israel Factor in Uprisings (01:10:24) - Purim and Perceptions (01:12:16) - Ahmadinejad Legacy (01:15:44) - Wrap Up and Sign Off -- Referenced in the Show: -- Geopolitical Cousins is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com -- Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering…","meta_description":"The US and Israel struck Iran. Khamenei is dead. Marco got the biggest break of his career. And yet... the Islamic Republic lives on. The lads spend this…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4566,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/geopolitical-cousins-7251738/episodes/the-iranian-leviathan-loses-its-head/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/geopolitical-cousins-7251738/the-iranian-leviathan-loses-its-head.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}