The Kyle Anzalone Show with Dave Smith on the Midterm Elections and the Iran War

Larry Johnson: The Ceasefire Is Collapsing as Chaos Breaks Out in Strait of Hormuz

One bad assumption can start a bigger war, and nowhere is that clearer than the Strait of Hormuz. Kyle sits down with Larry Johnson to sort through the morning’s flood of claims and counterclaims: reported Iranian missile and drone attacks, damage to Gulf oil facilities, U.S. strikes at sea, and the growing risk that escalation turns into a sustained U.S. air campaign against Iran. We focus on what can be verified, what is propaganda, and what the military movements suggest is coming next. We also get practical about what “control of the strait” really means. If ships are staying hundreds of miles offshore to avoid Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, can a naval blockade be more talk than reality? Larry lays out the layered threats that make the waterway so hard to “open” quickly: mines, mini submarines, underwater drones, fast attack craft, coastal cruise missiles, and the limits of vessel boarding at scale. For anyone searching Strait of Hormuz analysis, U.S. Navy capabilities, or Iran escalation risk, this is a grounded look at geography and logistics rather than slogans. Then we connect the battlefield to your wallet. We talk oil supply disruption, why missing barrels compound over weeks, how gas prices react, and why sanctions and currency shifts like yuan-based oil payments can reshape global energy markets. We close by looking at the shrinking space for diplomacy, Iran’s negotiating posture on nuclear enrichment, and the political pressures leaders face when they need an off ramp. Subscribe for more deep dives, share the episode with a friend who follows geopolitics, and leave a review telling us what question you want answered next.

The Kyle Anzalone Show with Richard Medhurst: Trump Turned the American Empire Into a Pirate State

A journalist can be jailed, raided, and investigated for more than a year without ever being charged and that’s not a glitch, it’s the point. I sit down with investigative journalist Richard Medhurst to talk about his legal situation spanning the UK and Austria, where authorities have attempted to frame journalism as terrorism. We dig into what that kind of pressure does to reporting, academic work, and basic free speech, especially when the topic is Gaza and Western foreign policy. Then we zoom out to the story Richard says most people are missing: the energy war underneath the news. He argues the U.S. is executing a coherent strategy to dominate global oil and gas supply, protect dollar power, and reshape who gets energy and at what price. We walk through strikes on Russian tankers, refineries, and export hubs, disruptions to LNG flows impacting China, and why “economic defeat” and “military humiliation” aren’t the same thing in long-term geopolitical planning. We also look at Europe’s role in replacing Russian gas, the Mediterranean gas deals tied to major corporations like Chevron, and the debate over whether Israel drives U.S. decisions or functions as a proxy within a larger corporate-led project. Finally, Richard brings firsthand context from Vienna and the IAEA, explaining how Iran has repeatedly offered nuclear off-ramps while the West escalates with sanctions and condemnation. If this gave you a new lens on press freedom, energy geopolitics, the petrodollar, and U.S. foreign policy, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review with the one claim you think people most need to argue about.

The Kyle Anzalone Show with Jim Webb: Hegseth Lashes Out at Congress, Admits Truth About Iran War

“Iran’s nuclear program was obliterated” is a bold claim to make under oath, especially when the same testimony implies Iran’s ambitions remain. We sit down with Jim Webb to pull apart the contradictions, the messaging, and the strategy vacuum that shows up when leaders sell total victory while hinting we may need the next round of strikes. We get into the details most coverage skips: what uranium enrichment levels do and don’t mean, how the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty shapes the argument, and how the U.S. exit from the JCPOA changed Iran’s incentives. From there, we stress-test the scare stories by looking at deterrence and mutually assured destruction, then compare the “North Korea path” framing with the darker lesson many governments took from Libya: give up your leverage and you might not survive. The second half turns practical and blunt. We talk about the Strait of Hormuz, global oil prices, and what a real negotiation might require, including the controversial question of U.S. military bases in the Middle East and whether they deter conflict or simply create targets and hostages. We also break down reports of deploying Dark Eagle hypersonic missiles, shrinking standoff-munitions inventories, and what it signals when targets move inland and our “easy options” disappear. If you care about U.S. foreign policy, Iran negotiations, Middle East escalation risks, and the real state of American military capacity, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review with your answer: what would a realistic endgame with Iran look like?

The Kyle Anzalone Show with Dave Smith on the Midterm Elections and the Iran War

Trump’s second term was supposed to be the reset: less chaos, fewer neocons, and a renewed focus on problems at home. Instead, we’re watching an Iran conflict spiral while the administration sells the public a fantasy of easy wins and controlled escalation. I’m joined again by Dave Smith from Part of the Problem to revisit the 2024 election hangover and the uncomfortable question hanging over the right: was backing Trump a strategic mistake? We talk through what a Harris presidency might have meant for censorship, the border, regulation, and war, then pivot to what’s undeniable now: the incentives around Trump have changed, and his decision-making looks driven by perception and ego more than principle. From there we get into the real stakes of the Iran war, including why “regime change by air” is a long-shot story, how the Strait of Hormuz turns foreign policy into immediate pain at the pump, and why ending the war could still look like historic humiliation. We also connect the dots to the midterms, Democratic messaging on Gaza and Israel, rising calls for tech censorship against antiwar voices, and the baffling White House security incident that kicked off a wave of conspiracy talk. If you want clear-eyed political analysis that doesn’t treat propaganda as news, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

The Kyle Anzalone Show with Larry Johnson: Midterm, Markets, and Missiles

The scariest part of the U.S.-Iran standoff isn’t the loud headlines. It’s the quiet math of distance, missiles, and leverage at the Strait of Hormuz. We sit down with Larry Johnson to unpack Iran’s reported “new” framework and why it may be the same core message: lift the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, and Iran controls access through Hormuz while allowing shipping to move. From there, we get brutally practical about what the U.S. can and cannot do militarily. Carrier strike groups have to operate far offshore to avoid Iranian cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones, which pushes Washington toward standoff weapons like Tomahawks and JASSMs. That sounds clean until you ask the real question: what happens when those stockpiles are running thin and you still want credible deterrence against bigger priorities like China? We also talk about reports of improving Iranian air defenses, why that could force even more reliance on standoff munitions, and how reputational damage compounds when adversaries see limits in U.S. power projection. On the geopolitical front, we explore Russia and China’s likely role in intelligence support and why diplomacy through intermediaries matters as much as public posturing. And yes, we react to the claim that Iran’s oil system is days from catastrophic pipeline failure, and what it says about the quality of intelligence feeding top decisions. If you want clear-eyed analysis of the U.S.-Iran conflict, the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions and blockade dynamics, missile stockpiles, and the future of aircraft carriers in modern warfare, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s your read on where this goes next?