The Ikarus Inspired Podcast

Iran Fires at Israel, Armenia's Election Results & French Open Titles

In this week's casual news recap I share three stories I've been focusing on. What news stories have YOU been following this weekend? Drop them in the comments!!My Three Stories: 🚨 Iran-Israel Escalation: Following Israeli strikes on Hezbollah positions across southern Lebanon and a ceasefire-breaking attack on Beirut, Iran launched its first wave of missiles at Israel since April. With Israel threatening retaliation, Trump urging Netanyahu to stand down, and Iran warning it could block the critical Bab al-Mandab Strait, we unpack the fragile power dynamics at play — and why a lasting ceasefire still feels far off.🗳️ Armenian Parliamentary Election: Armenia holds its first general election since the 2023 ethnic cleansing of Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has declared early victory, but with coalition complications ahead and a constitutional referendum looming, his path to a peace deal with Azerbaijan is anything but simple. We also question whether the Western media's "Russia vs. West" framing is really the whole story.🎾 French Open 2026: Alexander Zverev finally breaks through to win his first Grand Slam, and 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva claims the women's title in a tournament full of major upsets. Get full access to athanasios at athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe [https://athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Monarchy vs Democracy Explained

Democracy vs. monarchy — which political system actually holds up under scrutiny? If you've never questioned democracy, this episode will.Filip (Pensive Pages [https://substack.com/profile/458789011-pensive-pages]) and I spend two hours doing something most political conversations won't — genuinely stress-testing the assumptions you've inherited about how society should be governed. Whether you're a firm believer in democracy or you've always had doubts, you'll walk away thinking differently. It's a philosophical debate that goes back centuries, and it's one you deserve to hear. Get full access to athanasios at athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe [https://athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

A "Baptism of Blood"

In this episode, I use a classic Bulgarian novel by Ivan Vazzoff, called "Under the Yoke," to talk about what it means to kill another individual or animal. I talk about how technology, drones, and artificial intelligence has been designed to prevent humans from feeling the usual emotion and trepidation towards killing that has prevailed for centuries. That feeling of fear and trembling is a "Baptism of Blood," which is a term taken directly from the novel. Why is it a baptism to kill another man, because once you do so, you supposedly are cleansed from the moral codes that have so sanctimoniously defined our human civilization and life. To use a Lockean and Hobbesian term, you are now out of the social contract and into the state of nature. A baptism with Holy Water is a convenient with God, a cleansing of one’s sins and the providing of a clean state for those participating in the act. To murder someone, especially in the way that the three men have done, face to face, only a few paces away, looking them dead in the eye, reverses that covenant, it is thought, and establishes a new one with blood – whereby the sanctity of life carries slightly less weight and taking the blood of another is possible. Now to do so, to actually follow through on the act of these Bulgarian men is difficult, painful and scary – that is why they were petrified, “terrified” when they were given these orders. Man does not naturally, when he considers the totally of the action, want to take the life of another, but only does so, when he’s pushed into extraordinary circumstances or those circumstances fall upon him. But once he do so, it opens up a new world, a new baptism that is hard to come back from. Now to pivot slightly, what I have observed is that in modern times, we have set up our world in such a way as to make the baptism less painful, less difficult, less human. The mass killers of our world are not bandits, not criminals, not individuals or the mafia, but rather governments whose deployment of warfare with drones, artificial intelligence weapons, bombs, long range missiles, and all the rest etc etc… make it easy not to feel the real impact of killing hundreds if not thousands of people – and this is dangerous because as soon as you start reducing the price of the baptism in blood and make it more accessible to many – the more and more people that will take that oath whether they realize it or not – and not find a way back through repentance – the only means back from the blood baptism because they have and would not have understood the severity of the oath that they took. And we do it with animals, which perhaps we consider the killing of less severe – for food I mean – we allow ourselves to participate in the slaughter en mass by designing machines and systems to do all the work. Very few people grasp the full meaning of buying a chicken breast or a steak from a store and perhaps they would if they were forces to kill and produce it themselves. Get full access to athanasios at athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe [https://athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Scottish and UK elections Live Reactions

As results roll in from the UK’s May 2026 local, Scottish, and Welsh Parliament elections, Matthew Brown [https://substack.com/profile/85217574-matthew-brown] and I break down what the numbers really mean for British politics. Reform UK is surging, Labour and the Conservatives are hemorrhaging seats, and the Greens are making inroads with younger voters — so is the traditional two-party system finally dead? Drawing on their years living in Edinburgh, we discuss the rise of Reform UK and what’s driving working-class voters away from the Tories, the SNP’s grip on Scottish politics despite growing incumbent fatigue, the possibility of a Scottish independence referendum, the NHS crisis and why no party seems to have a real answer, and why voter disillusionment is at an all-time high across England, Scotland, and Wales. Whether you’re a politics junkie or just trying to make sense of a rapidly shifting British political landscape, this is a candid, unscripted conversation that cuts through the noise. Get full access to athanasios at athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe [https://athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Greek Mythology: Hera

In this episode of The Ikarus Inspired Podcast, I explore the mythology of Hera — Greek goddess of marriage, women, and family — and unpacks the deeply human psychology beneath her legendary jealousy. From her persecution of Zeus’s lovers like Io and Echo, to her role in the Trojan War, Hera’s stories reveal a universal fear: the collapse of the kingdoms we build around our identity, status, and relationships. Drawing on pop culture references like Two and a Half Men and the philosophy of Voltaire and Nietzsche, this episode asks: what do we do when the structures that give our lives meaning start to fall apart? Whether you’re a mythology enthusiast, a psychology nerd, or simply someone navigating change, this episode offers timeless insight wrapped in an ancient story. Topics covered: Greek mythology, Hera, Zeus, Trojan War, psychology of jealousy, fear of replacement, Nietzsche, finding meaning, identity and status. Get full access to athanasios at athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe [https://athanasiosjcy.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]