Nutshell Politics

In this week's episode, we discuss the relationship between the United States and Iran. We start by briefly touching on the history of the relationship going back to the 1950s, but then focus on the sharp rise in tensions just in the last couple weeks, culminating in Iran shooting down a US drone and America's response.

In this week's episode, we examine the upcoming conference in Bahrain, hosted by the United States, to improve the Palestinian economy & infrastructure as the first step toward peace. The Palestinians aren't showing up, but what Arab states are planning to attend? What does that mean? What implications does this have for the region? And why is this such a big deal, regardless of success?

In this week's episode, we pay tribute to the 75th anniversary of D-Day by briefly discussing that fateful day when the Allied forces kicked off the invasion into Normandy.

In this week's episode, we take a look at the unusual case of John Walker Lindh, the man known infamously as the "American Taliban". Convicted of aiding terrorists and captured in Afghanistan after 9/11, Lindh was released from federal prison after serving 17 years (with 3 years of upcoming probation). We discuss who Lindh was/is and some of the concerns surrounding his release, as well as briefly touching on the implications for our democracy surrounding what to do next.

In this week's episode, we take a look back at one of the most popular Nutshell Politics episodes, from back in August, where we discussed the Kurdish people, their history, their culture & religions, and their role in the Middle East today. Enjoy!

In this week's episode, we examine a recent ISIS video, depicting their leader, al-Baghdadi. So just who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? And what does his emergence in a recent video--the first in 5 years--mean?

In this week's episode, we take looks at several important elections around the world that have either happened recently or are upcoming, from Ukraine to India to the European Parliament. What are important about them? What makes them unique or influential? What do we need to keep an eye on going forward?

In this week's episode, we look at recent escalations of conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territory in Gaza. What is happening? What sparked it? What to expect going forward?

In this week's episode, we look at the recent terrorist attack in Sri Lanka, as well as some of the context behind the violent history of terrorism in the island country.

A look back at one of my more popular episodes where--as a tribute to the late Stan Lee--we examined the unusual intersection between superheroes and politics. Stan Lee forever changed the way society views superheroes and left his mark on an whole field of literature. So with Avengers: Endgame coming out this week, we took a look at how superheroes have impacted, and been impacted by, international politics from Captain America punching Hitler to Hydra to Stan Lee's own military service.