Global Roaming with Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald

Is the Middle East caught in an unstoppable 'escalation trap' of all-out war?

In just twenty four hours, a US submarine has torpedoed an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. Turkey, a NATO member state, has shot down an Iranian ballistic missile. And while Israel hammered Tehran and southern Lebanon with fresh rounds of strikes, Trump is considering arming Kurdish forces. The death toll is climbing into the thousands. In less than a week, has the US and Israel's military campaign against Iran spiralled into a war beyond anyone's control?  Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue return to Beirut to speak with Kim Ghattas about the rapidly escalating war in the Middle East, and whether Iran has already been caught in a self-perpetuating 'escalation trap'. Guest: Kim Ghattas, Lebanese-born journalist and Middle East expert based in Beirut, and author of Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East [https://www.google.com/search?q=Black+Wave%3A+Saudi+Arabia%2C+Iran%2C+and+the+Forty-Year+Rivalry+That+Unraveled+Culture%2C+Religion%2C+and+Collective+Memory+in+the+Middle+East&sca_esv=99ae616f7fa66d58&rlz=1C1GCEA_enAU1174AU1174&sxsrf=ANbL-n60YsiL9rYgPQYiHuPzgwDamh4KcQ%3A1772587328946&source=lnms&fbs=ADc_l-aN0CWEZBOHjofHoaMMDiKp0UJuhqwKhR0QUhF54-6jIYFfWbU_Clyew-1Wh7zkL7GXEIyGmuNECR0N8Mieh0vrbko1hIXGpe6KXjyGEMS8qrzHCiF_9USNQXt2LWKB5_zkChbh3eCp3Gr50zRL09xBCaq3XK375s4iCrZ35vzXA3XBH4mBiZ1qKRodxOtH57z6lxGByMaLyX5fm9Z1OIj-q_UgqQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhuaeyioWTAxW_RmcHHXpiKHwQgK4QegQIARAB&biw=1280&bih=551&dpr=1.5&mstk=AUtExfAn_Kfxh_Vv-dJiia4UEA2TSmw8oy_QT97Xxt_X0iD7uFyGrQ7dJVYZyA2SRLF0G8ks-P5EWMhLC6bbl23-kH5F80ZNiqwbd6dwp5CBpCWxHvPZ5XkhrTOZTIJHRYddV7ggxolHokqQ-tx9qa94F4Ad8hGHVvxx7lYIzzDmVhn6IqFFZKt882jaTzPNUw-HT4bD&csui=3] Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.au [global.roaming@abc.net.au] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

The three things history tells us happens after 'regime change'

Iran, Venezuela, Iraq, and Afghanistan all have something in common: They've been subject to foreign-imposed regime change by the United States. So as regional war spreads across the Middle East following another stunning Trump intervention, can 'regime change' ever work?  Alex Downes, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at The George Washington University, studies what happens when leaders are violently deposed by foreign nations. He speaks to Kylie Morris and Latika Bourke why peace and democracy are the least likely outcomes in Iran.  Guest: Alexander B Downes, author of Catastrophic Success: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Goes Wrong  Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.au [global.roaming@abc.net.au] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

How the MAGA-backed Warner Bros deal is a takeover of American culture

From Barbie to Casablanca, Warner Bros studios have fundamentally shaped western popular culture. So will its $110 billion dollar takeover by Paramount re-write the script for American cinema as we know it? And with Trump's least favourite cable news channel, CNN, also changing hands in the deal, who is the 'nepo baby' now in charge, what is his connection to MAGA? Geraldine Doogue and Latika Bourke are joined by legendary entertainment reporter Kim Masters, who first broke the news of a potential deal last year, to talk about David Ellison's journey from aspiring actor to media mogul; his controversial instalment of Bari Weiss at CBS; and what his political connections say about the shrinking free press.  Guest: Kim Masters, co-founder and writer for Puck Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.au [global.roaming@abc.net.au] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Has Trump thrust the US into another forever war?

It's been just three days since Israel and the US launched their war on Iran and Trump is already floating the possibility of deploying US troops on the ground, as so-called precision strikes on Iran spiral into far more dangerous regional conflict.   So, as casualties rise into the thousands and violence rips across the Middle East, what's driving the full-scale attack on Iran?   Today, as Israel launches flurries of missiles into Lebanon, hosts Hamish Mcdonald and Kylie Morris head to the streets of Beirut to speak with Al Jazeera's Heidi Pett as the situation unfolds. Guests: Heidi Pett, Al Jazeera correspondent reporting from Beirut Recommendations: Hamish -  Dictators & Demagogues 05: Iran's Ali Khamenei [https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/take-me-to-your-leader/ali-khamenei-iran/104292096], Take Me To Your Leader! Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.au Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Can Trump and Netanyahu bomb their way to regime change?

With Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dead, and Trump promising military operations will continue until "all objectives" are achieved, it's unclear what American and Israeli calls for regime change will lead to.  Hamish Macdonald, Geraldine Doogue and Latika Bourke (The Nightly) are joined by two guests to unpack the extraordinary attacks against Iran. From Abu Dhabi, Mohamad Ali Harisi shares his concerns from a shaken region. And from Washington DC, Barbara Slavin talks about who the Assembly of Experts could chose as the next Supreme Leader.  Guests: Mohamad Ali Harisi, foreign editor of The National; and Barbara Slavin, distinguished fellow at the Stimson Centre in Washington