Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

J.G.

A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view.

  1. -2 H

    Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History w/ Vali Nasr

    In this episode of Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael, I speak with renowned foreign policy expert Vali Nasr about his book Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History. We examine the historical roots of Iran’s political and strategic thinking, from the Persian Empire to the modern Islamic Republic, and explore how ideology, geopolitics, and domestic politics shape Iran’s approach to the world. Nasr explains how Iran perceives the United States and its foreign policy, and how this perception informs Tehran’s dealings with the U.S., its own diplomacy, and its long-term strategy. He also offers a reassessment of the 1953 Iranian coup d’état, arguing that while the U.S. supported it, the coup itself emerged organically from Iranian political dynamics. And yes, we will discuss the issue of Iran and its nuclear program, including what the strike against Fordow nuclear site entails for Iran.

    1 h 8 min

  2. -3 J

    Israel’s Bombing, Europe Recognizes Palestine, Gulf States Fear Israel > Iran w/ James Dorsey

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ Apologies for background, but it was raining at Dorsey's house in Singapore. On this edition of Parallax Views, Israel continues bombing Gaza, Houthis launch a drone strike on the Israeli city of Eilat, Israel conducts airstrikes in Doha, Qatar, the Gaza aid flotilla is being swarmed by Israel according to crew, and European states are recognizing Palestinian statehood. A lot is going on in terms of the Middle East and especially Israel Palestine. James M. Dorsey of the Turbulent World blog/Substack, a longtime scholarly commenter on the Middle East, returns to break it all down and discuss a number of topics including the two-state solution vs. the one-state solution vs. the one-state reality, Gulf and Arab states now seeing Israel as a bigger security threat than Israel, Israel's attack on a compound in Gaza that killed members of the Doghmush clan and its implications, Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard's Knesset run, problems with the Palestine Authority, Israel's West Bank annexation plans, and much, much more.

    1 h 14 min

  3. 18 SEPT.

    Peril, Promise, & Populism in Trump's Age of Zombie Neoliberalism & Neoconservatism w/ Samuel Moyn

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, a previously unreleased conversation from July 2025 with Yale historian and legal scholar Samuel Moyn returns to the program to unpack the arguments in his recent Guardian article, “America is over neoliberalism and neoconservatism. Trump is not.” Moyn argues that while Donald Trump has often been portrayed as an unprecedented break with American politics—whether as a populist challenger to the status quo or as an authoritarian threat—the reality is more complicated. Yes, Trump has moved in an authoritarian direction, from mass immigration roundups to open pandering to extremist forces. But at the same time, his administration has doubled down on the “zombie ideologies” of the past fifty years: neoliberalism in domestic policy and neoconservatism in foreign policy.

    1 h 7 min

  4. 18 SEPT.

    Parallax Views X This is Revolution: The Charlie Kirk Assassination

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, a cross-over episode w/ Jason Myles' This is Revolution that was recorded last Thursday on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and what political violence in America means in the 21st century. This was recorded before many of the facts in the case were public, and deals more with the nature of political violence and its potential consequences in this turbulent moment of America's history.

    1 h 31 min

  5. 8 SEPT.

    Gaza, The Great Game, and the Haifa Pipeline Scheme w/ Charlotte Dennett

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this episode of Parallax Views, Charlotte Dennett, author of Follow the Pipelines: Uncovering the Mystery of a Lost Spy and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil, unpacks the high-stakes geopolitical and economic forces behind the war in Gaza. Drawing on decades of research—including declassified CIA documents connected to her father’s post-WWII counterintelligence work in the Middle East (who died in a mysterious plane crash)—Dennett explores how energy interests, infrastructure projects, and pipelines have shaped conflicts from the Arabian Peninsula to the Eastern Mediterranean in what she calls "The Great Game for Oil. We discuss the so-called “Gaza post-war plan,” the IMEC pipeline linking India to Haifa, and how longstanding ambitions to transform Israel into a regional energy corridor intersect with war, displacement, and geopolitics. Dennett also traces surprising links between conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and the broader web of financial, intelligence, and political interests that underlie modern crises. Topics include: How energy infrastructure has influenced decades of Middle East policy. The “costs", including depopulation and military campaigns, associated with securing oil and gas reserves. The intersection of geopolitics, corporate interests, and intelligence operations from WWII to today. Connections between global conflicts, including Gaza and Ukraine, and "The Great Game for Oil". The GREAT (Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation) Trust plan And... The Jeffrey Epstein connection? Supplementary Materials and Images to Help You Understand This Episode: Image: Rendering of the GREAT Trust "Day After" plans for Gaza Image: Netanyahu presenting controversial maps at the UN, Sept 2023, surprising delegates by omitting Palestine. The “curse” represents the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” while the “blessing” shows what appears to be the route (by red arrow) of the IMEC pipeline connecting India to Saudi Arabia and the port of Haifa. Links: The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: Connectivity in an era of geopolitical uncertainty - Atlantic Council Let's Call the 'GREAT' Gaza Post-War Plan Exactly What It Is: Ethnic Cleansing - Zeteo Netanyahu Presents Controversial Maps at UN, Surprising Everyone by Omitting Palestine | India.com

    1 h 23 min

  6. 4 SEPT.

    Shift in U.S. Opinion on Israel? + The Gaza GREAT Trust Plan Exposed w/ Richard Silverstein

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window for the best financial and trading newsletter around: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, Richard Silverstein joins us to discuss his reporting for Jacobin on the dramatic shift in American public opinion on Israel amid the ongoing civilian casualities in Gaza. For the first time ever, polls show more Americans support Palestinians than Israel, with majorities opposing U.S. arms shipments and the Democratic Party’s unconditional support for the Israeli state. Silverstein breaks down the IDF’s leaked internal report admitting failures in Gaza, highlighting poor strategic planning, ineffective operations, and the resilience of Hamas despite massive Israeli assaults. He also analyzes the so-called GREAT Trust plan— a postwar scheme framed as reconstruction but effectively a Trump-backed grift, offering Palestinians just $5,000 to leave while opening Gaza to luxury resorts, high-tech investments, and U.S.-administered “trusteeship” oversight, enriching private investors while displacing millions. We explore how these developments are reshaping U.S. politics, divisions within the Democratic Party, and the broader implications of it all.

    1 h 6 min

  7. 2 SEPT.

    Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land w/ Ross Halperin

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews Also visit our returning sponsor Mike Swanson's Wall Street Window: https://wallstreetwindow.com/ On this edition of Parallax Views, J.G. Michael speaks with journalist and author Ross Halperin about his new book Bear Witness: The Pursuit of Justice in a Violent Land. Halperin takes us deep into the Honduran barrio of Nueva Suyapa, where poverty and gang violence created a landscape of fear and impunity. At the heart of his narrative are Kurt Ver Beek, an American sociologist, and Carlos Hernández, a Honduran educator, who together founded the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ). Rejecting traditional models of charity, ASJ pursued justice through daring, sometimes clandestine, methods—taking on gangs, corrupt officials, and a failing state. We discuss the book’s central themes: the moral compromises of activism, the dangers of confronting entrenched power, the role of faith in motivating social justice, and the question of whether justice is possible in places where institutions have collapsed. Along the way, we examine how Halperin’s reporting complicates tidy narratives about NGOs, reform, and the global fight against corruption. Bear Witness has already drawn praise from writers like David Grann and Larissa MacFarquhar for its gripping, ethically charged storytelling. In this conversation, Halperin reflects on the limits of reform, the risks of speaking truth in violent lands, and what it really means to “bear witness.”

    1 h

  8. 27 AOÛT

    American-Made: Trump, Constitutional Crisis, and Liberal Collapse w/ Daniel Lazare

    👉 Pitch in on Patreon and fuel the future of free-thinking conversations. On this edition of Parallax Views, journalist and author Daniel Lazare, author of The Frozen Republic: How the Constitution is Paralyzing Democracy, joins the show to dissect the forces behind Trumpism and the broader American political landscape. They explore why Lazare believes Trump is not a fascist, despite popular claims, and what his rise reveals about the collapse of liberal institutions. This does not, however, mean that Lazare think Trump is benign. Nor is he claiming that Trump isn't authoritarian. But the analysis can't of Trump, he argues, can't claim that the phenomena of Trumpism is alien to America. Lazare explains how the U.S. Constitution, far from being inherently protective of democracy, contains authoritarian mechanisms that have enabled the concentration of power. The conversation also delves into Trump’s foreign policy, drawing parallels with Putin’s consolidation of power and the revival of Teddy Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” approach in a multipolar world. Lazare analyzes how neoliberal elites and cultural movements intended to strengthen their position have inadvertently fueled working-class resentment, contributing to Trump’s appeal. This episode is a deep dive into the structural forces shaping contemporary American politics, the myths of “alien fascism,” and the real threats to democracy that come from within. Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews

    1 h 7 min
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À propos

A podcast where politics, history, and culture are examined from perspectives you may not have considered before. Call it a parallax view.

Informations

  • Créateur
    J.G.
  • Années d’activité
    2018 - 2025
  • Épisodes
    960
  • Classement
    Contenu explicite
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2018 All rights reserved.
  • Site Web de l’émission
    Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

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