As Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues and Lebanon faces ongoing aggression and political pressure to capitulate, many people are grappling with fear, exhaustion, and despair. But what if hopelessness itself is part of the strategy? Psychoanalyst and author Lara Sheehi joins Dispatches with Rania Khalek to discuss the psychological dimensions of fascism, empire, colonial violence, and resistance — from Israeli psychological warfare and sexual humiliation as a tool of domination, to the weaponiza...
May 26, 2026•1 hr 4 min
The U.S. and Israel launched a massive war on Iran expecting quick capitulation. Instead, Iran absorbed the assault, retaliated across the region, and exposed major limits to American and Israeli power. Now the Trump administration appears to be searching for an off-ramp while Israel continues pushing for escalation, including in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz crisis, sanctions, economic warfare, and the risk of a wider regional conflict continue to threaten the entire Middle East. To ...
May 12, 2026•35 min
The Trump administration has announced a new military operation in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran is warning that any unauthorized U.S. presence will be treated as hostile. At the same time, Washington is rejecting key parts of Iran’s proposal to end the war, including sanctions relief and limits on the blockade. So what is this “ceasefire,” really? Is Iran actually weakened, as Trump claims — or has the war strengthened internal support for resistance? And is the next round already underway? ...
May 05, 2026•1 hr 8 min
As war spreads across Lebanon and Iran, the U.S. and Israel claim they are making progress. But on the ground, the picture looks far more complicated. After a supposed pause in fighting and failed negotiations, Israel escalated dramatically, launching massive strikes on Beirut while continuing its ground invasion in southern Lebanon. At the same time, Iran has held firm in negotiations, raising questions about whether Washington’s strategy is working. So who’s actually winning? In this episode o...
Apr 14, 2026•1 hr 6 min
As Israel escalates its war on Lebanon, one narrative dominates: that Hezbollah is the cause of the conflict. But that story erases decades of history. Long before Hezbollah existed, southern Lebanon was already a frontline of anti-colonial struggle led by Palestinian fighters, Lebanese leftists, and marginalized communities resisting Israeli aggression and internal neglect. In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with scholar Nate George about: THE ORIGINS OF RESISTANCE IN SOUTH LEBA...
Apr 10, 2026•1 hr 9 min
Donald Trump has issued a shocking ultimatum to Iran: submit, or face the destruction of its civilian infrastructure and the total devastation of the country within hours. As Washington and Tel Aviv escalate their war threats, Iran says it will retaliate in kind with potentially catastrophic consequences for Israel, the Gulf, and the wider region. Meanwhile, Israel continues its assault across the region: threatening Tehran with the Dahieh doctrine, demanding unilateral disarmament from every fo...
Apr 07, 2026•59 min
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has entered its second month, and despite repeated assassinations, attacks on infrastructure, and growing civilian casualties, Iran has not collapsed. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is threatening to take Iran “back to the Stone Age,” floating the seizure of oil infrastructure, Kharg Island, and even a military reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, all while claiming negotiations may be underway. So what is actually happening inside Iran? Is Tehran looking for a way out, or pr...
Apr 02, 2026•33 min
Journalist and lawyer Dimitri Lascaris just returned from Iran, where he traveled from Tehran to the Strait of Hormuz, witnessing firsthand the impact of the US-Israeli war. From hospitals treating the wounded to the world’s most important oil chokepoint, Lascaris saw a side of this war that Western media is barely covering. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most critical waterways on earth, responsible for a massive share of global energy flows. But today, it has become a frontline in a rapidl...
Apr 02, 2026•32 min
Speaking from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent and columnist Ali Hashem explains how Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq are all part of a single, interconnected battlefield, a coordinated confrontation between the axis of resistance and the United States and Israel. That means what happens in Lebanon is directly tied to what happens in Iran, and vice versa. Despite months of attacks, Hezbollah remains operational and has restored its ability to strike deep into Israel, underscoring that this front i...
Apr 01, 2026•25 min
As the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran escalates into a second month, the situation is becoming increasingly unpredictable and uncontrollable. Iranian missiles are hitting Israeli targets at higher rates than expected, while the U.S. is deploying massive firepower, including 2,000-pound bombs. At the same time, conflicting signals are emerging from Washington, with reports that Trump may be seeking an off-ramp even as the war intensifies. So what is the strategy? Who is actually winning? And how far co...
Mar 31, 2026•26 min
As Israel expands its war across the region, Lebanon is once again in the crosshairs. Israeli officials are openly calling for pushing the border to the Litani River, annexing southern Lebanon, and preventing displaced civilians from returning. At the same time, the country is being bombed, depopulated, and pushed toward internal collapse. So what is Israel actually trying to achieve? In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek speaks with Karim Makdisi, co-host of the Makdisi Street podcast and...
Mar 27, 2026•59 min
The United States and Israel are pushing the region toward a dangerous escalation with Iran, threatening strikes on energy infrastructure and even raising the possibility of a ground invasion. But Iran isn’t backing down. As the war expands across the region and the global economy, the risk of a wider conflict is growing by the day. So what is the real strategy here? Is this brinkmanship, or the early stages of a war that could spiral far beyond anyone’s control? Have the U.S. and Israel fundame...
Mar 24, 2026•34 min
In week 4 of the U.S.-Israeli war of aggression on Iran, the global economy has been pushed to the brink. Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz shows just how key it is to global energy markets, supply chains, and food systems, putting millions at risk. So what happens when the U.S. no longer has a monopoly on economic coercion? Has Trump overplayed his hand? Are we witnessing the limits of American power and the beginning of a more chaotic global order? To break it all down, Rania Khalek is...
Mar 23, 2026•53 min
Three weeks into the war on Iran, the conflict is expanding more than ever. The Strait of Hormuz is closed, energy infrastructure is under attack, and U.S. bases are increasingly vulnerable. Israel and Washington are escalating. According to Middle East expert Vali Nasr, this is actually all part of Iran's strategy. Iran isn’t trying to win quickly. To “win” is to survive — and for that it wants to make the war longer, more expensive, and politically unsustainable for the United States. In this ...
Mar 20, 2026•48 min
Israel has expanded its war across the region, bombing Lebanon and Iran while preparing a potential ground invasion into southern Lebanon. Israeli officials claim the goal is simply to create a “buffer zone” for security. But many Israeli politicians and commentators are openly discussing something much bigger: territorial expansion to the Litani River and beyond. This is not about security, it’s part of much longer historical Greater Israel project On this live episode of Dispatches, Rania Khal...
Mar 17, 2026•1 hr 10 min
The war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran could send shockwaves through the global economy. Energy markets, shipping routes, fertilizer supply, and cloud infrastructure are all at risk. Even a short disruption could drive inflation, food shortages, and economic instability worldwide. Rania Khalek speaks with economist Yanis Varoufakis, former Finance Minister of Greece, about why this conflict could become one of the most economically disruptive wars in decades....
Mar 11, 2026•52 min
As war between Iran, Israel, and the United States escalates, what’s actually happening on the battlefield, and how is the conflict being viewed inside the U.S. military itself? On this live episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by two guests to break down both the military realities of the war and the growing opposition to it inside the United States. Jon Elmer, contributing editor at The Electronic Intifada, joins the show to analyze the military dynamics of the US-Israeli war on Iran ...
Mar 09, 2026•1 hr 24 min
As Israel expands its war on Iran and U.S. officials float the possibility of American boots on the ground, what is really happening behind the headlines? Iran expert at Johns Hopkins Vali Nasr joins Rania Khalek to explain: Why Iran prepared for decapitation strikes Why “regime collapse” is far from guaranteed How global oil supplies “have become a battlefield” Why Trump may already be looking for an off-ramp The growing divide between U.S. and Israeli war goals The chances this conflict could ...
Mar 03, 2026•43 min
Mike Huckabee’s reference to borders stretching “from the Euphrates to the Nile” has sparked a diplomatic firestorm across the Middle East. Even governments that normalized relations with Israel — including the UAE — publicly condemned the remarks. Why did this rhetoric hit such a nerve? And is it really new, or just unusually blunt? At the same time, tensions between Israel and Saudi Arabia are rising, fractures between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are deepening, and the risk of a U.S.–Iran war looms i...
Feb 24, 2026•35 min
At the Munich Security Conference, Marco Rubio said the quiet part out loud. No more “rules-based order.” No more liberal pretense. Just open coercion. After Gaza — after a genocide livestreamed for the world — U.S. empire isn’t even pretending anymore. In this episode of Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by Dylan Saba — attorney with Palestine Legal and co-host of Turbulence — to unpack what this moment represents: • Gaza as the capstone of the War on Terror • The return of gunboat diplomacy •...
Feb 19, 2026•49 min
The United States is mobilizing for a new war on Iran — repositioning military forces, floating assassination threats, and insisting on negotiations at the same time. As this military buildup intensifies, Western media is reviving a familiar propaganda narrative: that Iran is collapsing, its government has lost control, and foreign intervention might actually help. To cut through the noise, Rania Khalek is joined by Navid Zarrinnal, an Iranian-American academic and host of The Colony Archive, sp...
Feb 05, 2026•53 min
Join Rania Khalek and Zoe Alexandra for a special live show as Minneapolis erupts after Border Patrol agents killed nurse and legal observer Alex Pretti, just hours after a historic general strike shook the state. Zoe will report from Minneapolis as protests surge nationwide and fury at ICE and federal occupation explodes. With special guests, Rania and Zoe will discuss the Democrats’ weak response, the connections between imperial violence from Gaza to Minnesota, and the rising calls to defund ...
Jan 27, 2026•1 hr 24 min
Rania Khalek is joined by former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber, whose recent Mondoweiss article, "Ushering in the age of impunity: Venezuela, Palestine, and the end of international law," unpacks how recent U.S. aggression from Venezuela to Gaza signals a dangerous unraveling of the post-World War II legal order. We’ll discuss: • What the U.S. attack on Venezuela reveals about the limits of global legal restraints. • How the violence in Palestine fits into a broader pattern of unchecke...
Jan 13, 2026•1 hr 4 min
The U.S. military raid on Venezuela on January 3 shocked the world. On Dispatches, Rania Khalek is joined by Jorge Arreaza, Venezuela’s former foreign minister, to explain what actually happened and to respond directly to U.S. media narratives about “betrayal,” regime change, and control.
Jan 13, 2026•52 min
Rania Khalek is joined by journalist and political economist Ben Norton, editor of the Geopolitical Economy Report, to break down why the Trump administration attacked Venezuela—and what comes next. Norton explains how Trump’s bombing of Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro are not isolated acts, but part of a broader U.S. imperial offensive in Latin America. The goal: control strategic resources like oil, gas, rare earths, and critical minerals, reassert U.S. dominance in the...
Jan 08, 2026•1 hr 35 min
Rania Khalek is joined by Zoe Alexandra of People’s Dispatch and special guests for a live episode of Dispatches examining the Trump administration’s unprecedented attack on Venezuela. The US has invaded and bombed Venezuela, kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and is openly threatening to expand its campaign against Venezuela’s neighbors and allies. We break down the lies used to justify this aggression — and what comes next.
Jan 07, 2026•1 hr 33 min
A DSA member just won one of the most significant left-wing electoral victories in recent memory with Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York — despite red-baiting, anti-Palestinian smears, and a full-on campaign to demonize socialism. But that victory has raised big questions: Why keep Jessica Tisch as NYPD commissioner? Why discourage a primary against Hakeem Jeffries — and then endorse him for Speaker? What does accountability look like when socialists actually win power? To unpack all this, Rani...
Dec 09, 2025•48 min
As the world slides deeper into imperial rot — from Trump’s transformation of the U.S. into a Department of War state, to Europe’s political collapse, to global leaders shamelessly bowing to Washington — a socialist shockwave has erupted in New York City: Zohran Mamdani has just won the mayoral race while proudly defending Palestine. What does this contradiction reveal about the global moment we’re living in? Yanis Varoufakis — economist, political leader, former Greek finance minister, and auth...
Nov 22, 2025•40 min
As Israel continues its relentless assault on Gaza, killing and starving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with Western backing, even during so-called ceasefires, one thing has become clear: this isn’t just about Palestine. It’s about Western supremacy, empire, and the racism that underpins them both. To discuss this, Rania Khalek is joined by Dr. Ghada Karmi — academic, physician, and Nakba survivor — who has written powerfully about how Western imperialism, Arab complicity, and Zionism’s o...
Nov 14, 2025•45 min
Dozens have been killed in U.S. airstrikes on boats off the Venezuelan and Colombian coasts. The Trump administration claims it’s targeting drug traffickers — but there’s no evidence. And now they’re threatening airstrikes inside Venezuela. U.S. warships now encircle Venezuela, joined by 10,000 troops and the Navy’s largest aircraft carrier. This is a war in slow motion, justified by recycled lies, CIA covert ops, and billionaire-backed propaganda. Rania Khalek speaks with Zoe Alexandra, managin...
Nov 10, 2025•57 min
