Ep. 97: Seena's Back & So Is The Newsletter!
Hey FRs,
Long time, no see! Seena was sick; I was moving. Thank goodness for Travis T-Ceps Irvine carrying us along these last couple weeks. So what did we miss? I'm sure we didn't miss much, right?
Alright, alright, lots to cover this week. From a bleak assessment of the IRGC's upgraded role in Iran's power structure, to North Koreans in Ukraine, to Trump's refusal to accept defeat in the courts, Seena and Travis have you covered.
So, who is actually in control of Iran right now?
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, not any Supreme Leader, and that distinction matters more than the Wall Street Journal's coverage suggests. When Ali Khamenei was killed, the Assembly of Experts nominated his son Mojtaba as a placeholder. Not exactly a man of reason himself, but the IRGC is now installing former and current IRGC officials into every meaningful post regardless of what Mojtaba signs. The former Supreme Leader stifled the IRGC's worst instincts. No one is doing that now.
Why does the execution of Mehdi Farid matter so much?
Because the method reveals the ideology. Mehdi Farid, a political prisoner reportedly connected to Iran's January protests, was hanged by crane, a grotesque method that can take up to twenty minutes to kill someone. His family was also denied his body afterward, a cruel violation of Islamic burial practice.
Earlier this year, an Iranian parliament member said the quiet part out loud on state radio: anyone whose voice "echoes in line with the enemy" has an execution order waiting. This is not a theocracy anymore. It's an ideological military junta with no one left to slow it down.
How many troops from North Korea are fighting for Russia?!
Ukraine's government expects 30,000 to 50,000 North Korean troops to travel to Russia, a huge shift from the hundreds initially sent. North Korea is also reportedly sending crews to operate ballistic missiles, exploiting the exact air-defense gap Ukraine has been begging the US to help them fix for years. Iran's Shahed drone production continues flowing into this same supply chain. Three wars that started separately are now structurally the same war, sharing weapons, personnel, and a patron in Moscow who benefits from all of it staying unresolved. Somehow this crossing of the streams seems less fun than when Bill Murray was involved.
What is Trump's new executive order actually targeting?
He lost at the Supreme Court, but when did that ever stop him?
Especially when the executive order provides such a unique opportunity to double down and pivot at the same time. Two narrower orders on birth tourism and children of foreign government or "alien enemy" designated parents took effect on August 6th and will stay in force until a court blocks it, which could take weeks or months. The administration knows this. Delay is the strategy, and it's working.
The episode explores all this alongside some pretty good Travis puns and Seena zingers, so if you missed it, here ya go:
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