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On this episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and
RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Joby Warrick
about his compulsively readable new book, “The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the World’s First Super-Terrorist.”
With the news round-up, Zane and Varney discuss a New York Times article that suggests Vice
President J.D. Vance may be highlighting obstacles to the Iran effort; a Wall Street Journal story
about an AI researcher who warns computers could destroy humanity; an X post reporting
evidence that the Journal piece could be part of an orchestrated campaign against AI; and Paul
Sperry’s exclusive article in RCI detailing the government’s decision to parole at least three of
the 15 terrorist detainees still held at Guantanamo Bay – men the government labels “high-value
detainees” and “forever prisoners.”
00:00 Cold Open: An Earlier Age of Terrorism
00:50 Welcome & Guest Tease: Joby Warrick on "The Jackal"
01:40 News Roundup: NYT's J.D. Vance "Unvarnished" Iran Intel Story
05:26 Is an AI Doomsday Coming? An Anthropic Researcher's Resignation
09:58 Can AI Regulation Actually Work?
12:16 Gitmo's "Forever Prisoners" May Be Released (Paul Sperry Exclusive)
15:54 Introducing Joby Warrick and Why He Wrote "The Jackal"
19:18 Who Was Carlos the Jackal? Origins and the 1975 OPEC Raid
25:11 The Hijacking Era and How Carlos Evaded Capture for Decades
30:56 State Sponsors, the Palestinian Cause, and Strange Bedfellows
37:05 Interrogating Terrorists, Modern Mercenary Attacks, and Meeting Carlos in Prison
Articles Discussed in This Podcast:
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Contact us with your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]
On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney mark Labor Day by giving their guests the week off. In an extended news round-up, Zane and Varney discuss two articles on the Iran conflict – a Tablet article detailing Trump’s evolving strategy and an AP piece on how the Pentagon’s latest precision missiles are not so precise.
Turning their attention to the changing world of journalism, they discuss a Semafor story describing how online ‘ghost creators’ are pushing fake news and a Columbia Journalism Review report on how New York City’s Mayor is shaping the news by paying social media influencers. Finally, Zane and Varney look at two articles related to the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
00:00 Cold Open: The Mamdani Influencer Story
01:16 This Week on RealClearInvestigations.com
02:00 Trump's Iran Strategy: A Third Way Between Bush and Obama (Tablet/Michael Doran) 06:18 AP's Investigation Into U.S. Precision Munitions & Pentagon Contracting
11:47 Semafor: The Rise of AI-Scripted "Ghost Creator" Influencers
12:44 Columbia Journalism Review: Mamdani's Paid Influencer Network
17:10 9/11 at 25: The Human and Economic Toll
19:44 Douglas Murray on Why Conspiracy Theories Endure
24:57 Who Falls for Conspiracy Theories — and Which Side Does It More?
Articles Discussed in This Podcast:
Sign up for the RealClearInvestigations Newsletter.
Watch each episode on the RealClearPolitics YouTube Channel
Contact us with your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]
On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with sports columnist Matt Calkins, who resigned from the Seattle Times after the newspaper killed his column that argued it is not hateful to oppose biological men playing women’s sports.
On the news round-up, Zane and Varney discuss a series of stories on the media including: a PJ Media piece on California’s chilling new law Republicans have dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act”; a Washington Free Beacon analysis showing how the New York Times uses the term Islamophobia to delegitimize viewpoints and shut down debate; and an arbitrator’s ruling that the Washington Post must rehire an opinion columnist the paper had fired for inflammatory tweets regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
00:00 Cold Open: "I Don't Think I Can Do It Anymore"
00:32 Welcome & Intro to This Episode
00:41 News Roundup: California's "Stop Nick Shirley Act"
06:34 The NYT's "Islamophobia" Label (Washington Free Beacon)
09:18 WaPo Arbitrator Reinstates Columnist Fired Over Charlie Kirk Tweets
13:35 Introducing Matt Calkins
13:37 The Column That Got Him Fired: Sophie Cunningham & Trans Athletes
18:37 Three Previous Columns the Seattle Times Spiked
22:06 Inside the Newsroom: Book Clubs, Activism & the Overton Window
27:17 Is Seattle Sports Media Just Reflecting the City?
32:57 The Decision to Resign
35:17 Seattle Times vs. San Diego Union-Tribune
37:02 Why Newsrooms Keep Losing Readers
39:31 Is the Trans-in-Sports Debate Media-Driven?
42:43 What's Next for Matt Calkins (Substack)
43:44 Closing & Thanks
Articles Discussed in This Podcast:
Sign up for the RealClearInvestigations Newsletter.
Watch each episode on the RealClearPolitics YouTube Channel
Contact us with your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]
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