World XP Podcast

Middle East Expert: The Iran War Is Likely to Escalate Again | Simon Waldman

NEW EPISODE LIVE 1 PM EST!! Is another escalation with Iran becoming a question of when rather than if?

King’s College London Defence Studies lecturer and Middle East scholar Simon Waldman returns to the show to break down the current situation in the region, why he believes the present balance is unlikely to hold indefinitely, and how rapidly changing military technology could make the next major conflict look very different from the wars of the past.

We discuss drone warfare, low-yield nuclear weapons, America’s changing role as a superpower, the limits of disengagement, and whether modern governments have lost the ability to think strategically over the long term. Then we go back through the history that produced the modern Middle East — from Suez and Nasser to the 1967 and 1973 wars, the rise of the PLO, Camp David, the Iranian Revolution and the beginnings of modern international terrorism.

FULL EPISODE HERE

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Simon’s Links:

Amazon link to Looking For Elsewhere: The Jews of Turkey Then and Now:
UK: https://amzn.eu/d/0gKyuvNG
USA: https://a.co/d/088t99LR
Canada: https://a.co/d/0hQ4vVkt

Substack: https://simonwaldman.substack.com/

X: https://x.com/SimonWaldman1

Simon Waldman is a lecturer and tutor at King’s College London where he has taught for around 12 years while also doing some think-tank work in between. He is a regular contributor to Haaretz, Israel’s leading liberal daily as well as other international outlets. He is the author of, Anglo-American Diplomacy and the Palestinian Refugee Problem and The New Turkey and Its Discontents.

His latest book is called, Looking For Elsewhere: The Jews of Turkey Then and Now, an exploration into the Jewish community in Turkey and why many Jews to leave a country that for centuries they had called home. It is released in July and available for pre-order on Amazon, Blackwells, Barnes & Noble, and all good bookstores.
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#MiddleEast #Iran #Geopolitics #history #worldxppodcast

Why a Top Hedge Fund Manager Isn’t Panicking About the Economy | Samir Varma

NEW EPISODE LIVE 1 PM EST!! Is the financial system actually on the verge of collapse — or have we become addicted to predictions that everything is about to fall apart?

Physicist and hedge fund manager Samir Varma returns to the show to cut through the economic doom and explain what he thinks is actually happening underneath the headlines.

We discuss why Americans can be prosperous without feeling prosperous, what could actually lower housing costs, why Samir thinks the Federal Reserve meddles too much, how tariffs and trade wars affect consumers, whether the dollar will eventually lose its reserve-currency status, what another major financial crash would really mean, and how ordinary people can protect themselves by investing over the long term. We also get into AI, scientific innovation, surveillance, government incentives, and what would actually make Samir start worrying about America’s economic future.

EPISODE HERE

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Samir’s Links: https://samirvarma.com/

https://www.substack.com/@samirvarma

Samir is an Author, Physicist, Entrepreneur, Inventor, and Hedge Fund Manager. He has a PhD in Theoretical Physics from The University of Texas. The incomparable E.C.G. Sudarshan was his advisor and Nobelist Steven Weinberg was on his dissertation committee. He is the author of The Physics of Free Will: How Determinism Affects Everything from The Future of AI to Traffic to God to Bees. He is working on a second book tentatively titled, I Wish I Had Known That about economics, finance and politics.

In his spare time he enjoys playing guitar and squash. For computationally irreducible reasons, he has a particular fondness for detective and spy stories, and is obsessed with the music of The Beatles and Pink Floyd.
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#Economics #Investing #financialmarkets

How We Convince Ourselves We’re Right | Jay Shapiro

NEW EPISODE TOMORROW 1 PM EST!! What if the most dangerous lies are the ones you don’t even realize you’re telling yourself?

Documentary filmmaker, author, and Dilemma Podcast host Jay Shapiro joins the show to explore cognitive dissonance, moral integrity, and why human beings are remarkably good at rationalizing their own beliefs and behavior.

We discuss the psychology experiment behind his new book Insufficient Rewards, why people can genuinely believe their own rationalizations, the “honest hypocrite,” the rise and fall of the Intellectual Dark Web, what Jay has learned interviewing controversial thinkers, how history changes the way we judge moral decisions, and whether it’s possible to build a society that asks people to compromise their integrity less often.

Documentary filmmaker, author, and Dilemma Podcast host Jay Shapiro joins the World XP Podcast to explore cognitive dissonance, moral integrity, and how human beings can rationalize their way into genuinely believing things that conflict with their own values. We discuss the psychology of self-deception, why admitting hypocrisy can actually be a sign of honesty, the rise and decline of the Intellectual Dark Web, how history shapes our moral judgments, the aftermath of October 7 within Jay’s intellectual circle, and the ideas behind his new book, Insufficient Rewards: How We Traded Integrity for Comfort and Outsourced Morality to History.

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Insufficient Rewards: https://whatjaythinks.com/insufficient-rewards

Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@JayShapiroDilemmaPodcast

Jay Shapiro is an author, documentary filmmaker, and host of the Dilemma Podcast.
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#cognitivedissonance #moralphilosophy #truth #worldxppodcast

Why We Keep Missing the Only Moment That Matters | Yoav Avni

NEW EPISODE LIVE TOMORROW 1 PM EST!! What if the reason life feels like it’s moving so quickly is that we’re almost never actually living in the present?

Israeli novelist and translator Yoav Avni joins the show to explore our relationship with time, why we spend so much of life regretting the past or worrying about the future, and what it actually means to become more present.

We discuss his new time-travel novel Time Clocks, why literary translation is much more than replacing one word with another, whether AI should actually scare us, leaving a 20-year career in tech to pursue writing full time, rebuilding yourself after a major life crisis, and what everyday life currently feels like for him in Tel Aviv.

https://youtu.be/IPu_jPdpZ20

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Time Clocks: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/roundfire-books/our-books/time-clocks

Website: https://www.yoavavni.com/english.php

Yoav Avni is an Israeli author, translator, editor, and writing mentor, born in 1969. His fiction includes novels and short stories. His novels have been published by two of Israel’s leading publishing houses, Kinneret-Zmora-Bitan and Keter. One of them, Three Things for a Desert Island, became a national bestseller, and two of his books won the Israeli Geffen Award for Best Speculative Novel, often described as Israel’s equivalent of the Hugo Award.

His latest novel, Time Clocks, was published in Hebrew in December 2024 and is scheduled for international release in English on September 29, 2026, from Roundfire Books (UK/US). His novel Crossing a River Twice was first published in Hebrew in Israel in 2016 and is scheduled for English-language publication in the UK and the United States in 2027.
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#TimeTravel #ArtificialIntelligence #author #worldxppodcast

He Bet $40,000 on a 60-Person Trojan War Epic | Peter Barber

NEW EPISODE TOMORROW 1 PM EST!! Would you put $40,000 of your own money and two years of your life into a project with no guarantee anyone will care?

Peter Barber returns to the show to take us behind the scenes of Melody of War, his massive 30-song retelling of Achilles and the Trojan War. What began as Peter writing music alone has grown into a roughly 60-person operation involving more than 30 singers, visual artists, live musicians, lawyers, thousands of auditions, contracts, royalties and a relentless social-media campaign.

We discuss why he chose to bet on original music instead of simply maximizing his 500,000+ subscriber YouTube channel, how he manages a project this complicated, what happens if Hollywood eventually comes calling, and his long-term plan to build Songforge Studios into something much bigger than Melody of War.

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⁠@PeterBarber⁩ ⁠ – https://youtube.com/@PeterBarber?si=qvSNdjEkfsk7480N ⁠ ⁠

⁠⁨@SongforgeStudios⁩ ⁠ – https://www.youtube.com/@SongforgeStudios

The Bass Gang – https://youtube.com/@TheBassGangOfficial?si=NE22aN4Lc4gqQMDk

Peter Barber is an American opera singer, music producer, YouTuber, and podcaster. He is currently composing a 30 song musical titled “Melody of War”, scheduled for release Fall 2026. He has been a member of the Arizona Opera Studio, where he has performed Basilio in The Barber of Seville, Capulet in Roméo et Juliette, Masetto in Don Giovanni, and Colline in La Bohème. Peter has spent multiple summers performing with The Santa Fe Opera, the Aspen Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West. At this point, he has performed over 30 operatic roles. Outside of the opera world, Peter has grown a substantial audience on YouTube, surpassing 525,000 subscribers via musical analysis videos, music videos, and his podcast, Vocal Arts. He is also a founding member of award-winning musical group, The Bass Gang. They have released four EPs, as well as numerous singles, amassing over 25 million views/streams between YouTube and Spotify alone.

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#PeterBarber #GreekMythology #MelodyOfWar

Orthopedic Surgeon Explains What Athletes Get Wrong About Recovery | Dr. Matthew Buchanan

NEW EPISODE LIVE TOMORROW 1 PM EST!! When you get injured, should you completely rest it — or can too much rest actually make recovery harder?

Board-certified orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon Dr. Matthew Buchanan joins the show to explain what athletes often get wrong about injury recovery. We discuss why Achilles ruptures happen, what repeated ankle sprains can do long-term, how much pain is acceptable during rehab, when athletes should begin strengthening again, and how doctors determine whether someone is actually ready to return to competition. We also get into turf vs. grass, minimally invasive surgery, young-athlete injuries, and the mental side of being sidelined.

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Dr. Buchanan’s Links:

Website: https://www.nirschl.com/physicians/matthew-buchanan-md-foot-ankle-specialist-orthopedic-surgeon/

Website: https://www.washingtondcfootandankle.com/

Dr. Matthew Buchanan completed his Bachelor of Science degree at Duke University, earning the Dean’s List Award. He received his medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine where he was awarded the Department of Surgery Jonasson Prize for “Exceptional Performance and Dedication to Surgery”. Dr. Buchanan completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at West Virginia University where he served as Chief Resident. He then pursued further fellowship training in foot and ankle at the prestigious Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Dr. Buchanan has received numerous accolades, including selection by his peers as a Washingtonian Magazine Top Doctor and an Arlington Magazine Top Vote Getter: Best Orthopaedic Surgeon. Dr. Buchanan is an orthopaedic foot and ankle consultant to The Washington Ballet and served as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Georgetown University.

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#SportsMedicine #InjuryRecovery #Orthopedics #worldxppodcast

Why Dragon Myths Appear Across the World | Dave Stone

NEW EPISODE LIVE TOMORROW 1 PM EST!! Why do stories about dragons appear in cultures separated by thousands of miles and, in some cases, thousands of years?

Author and craftsman Dave Stone joins the show to explore the mythology behind dragons and serpents across the ancient world. We discuss recurring dragon myths from Europe to Asia, why Eastern and Western cultures came to view dragons so differently, whether these stories reflect a shared human archetype, what ancient people may have learned from mythology that modern society has forgotten, and how Dave’s nearly 30 years of stone carving led him down this unusual path of research.

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Dave’s Links:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/stonemadcrafts/

Dragons of the Deep: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/our-books/dragons-deep-origins-lore

Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dave-Stone/author/B0CND9YVYQ?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Eternal Echoes (Substack): https://davecstone.substack.com

Dave Stone is an artist writer and stone carver based in Scotland. As a craftsman he had carved pagan imagery for many decades – an endeavour that steered him into exploring symbols and their meanings, alongside the mythology that accompanies them. He has written two Self-Published books, Gods & goddesses of the Celtic Realms and Faeries of the Celtic Realms. His most recent book, Dragon of the Deep, is published by moon Books and he also maintains a weekly Substack called Eternal Echoes.

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#Mythology #Dragons #AncientHistory #worldxppodcast

Former Professor Explains Why Modern Society Can’t Keep Growing | Robert Jensen

NEW EPISODE LIVE TOMORROW 1 PM EST!! What if the biggest problem facing modern society isn’t capitalism versus socialism—but our refusal to accept that there are limits?

Former University of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen returns to the show to challenge the assumption that economic growth, energy consumption, and technological progress can continue indefinitely. We discuss whether free markets can really exist without government, why Bob distrusts both corporate and political concentrations of power, his radical proposal for reducing energy consumption, whether technology can actually solve ecological problems, and how to build a meaningful life even if the future looks increasingly uncertain.

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Robert’s Links:

Website: https://robertwjensen.org/

X: @jensenrobertw

Robert Jensen is Emeritus Professor in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin. His most recent book, This I Don’t Believe: A Fulfilling Life without Meaning, is out now. He is also the author of It’s Debatable: Talking Authentically about Tricky Topics (Olive Branch Press, 2024). Jensen is the coauthor with Wes Jackson of An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity (University of Notre Dame Press, 2022) and the editor of From the Ground Up: Conversations with Wes Jackson (New Perennials Publishing, 2022), based on the interviews from “Podcast from the Prairie.” Jensen’s other books include The Restless and Relentless Mind of Wes Jackson: Searching for Sustainability (University Press of Kansas, 2021); The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men (Spinifex Press, 2017); among others.

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#Sustainability #politicalphilosophy #climatechange #worldxppodcast

Expert Intelligence Analyst Explains How You’re Being Manipulated Online | Ryan McBeth

NEW EPISODE LIVE MONDAY 1 PM EST!! If something online immediately makes you angry, afraid, or desperate to share it — should that be your first clue that someone is trying to manipulate you?

Intelligence analyst and military commentator Ryan McBeth joins the show to break down how modern information warfare works, why propaganda can have the same strategic effect as a physical attack, how social media rewards emotional manipulation, and how AI is changing both warfare and intelligence analysis. We also get into Ukraine, Israel, drones, future military technology, and how Ryan decides what information he actually trusts.

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Ryan’s Links:

Substack: https://ryanmcbeth.substack.com/

X: @ryanmcbeth

YouTube: @ryanmcbethprogramming

IG: @therealryanmcbeth

Ryan McBeth is a cybersecurity and information warfare expert, software engineer, author, and retired U.S. Army infantryman. He holds degrees in computer science, engineering management, and cybersecurity, and previously developed C4ISR software used to identify and track national-security threats. Today, he analyzes cyber intelligence, online influence operations, military technology, and disinformation for a global audience, translating complex technical and security issues into clear, practical explanations.

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#InformationWarfare #MilitaryAnalysis #RyanMcBeth #worldxppodcast

From Ramadi to Capitol Hill: What America Keeps Getting Wrong | Jim Webb

NEW EPISODE LIVE TOMORROW 1 PM EST!! Why do major institutions keep repeating mistakes even when people inside them can see the failures coming?

Marine veteran, former Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer, and former RFK Jr. campaign advisor Jim Webb joins the show to share what he learned from combat in Ramadi, working inside Capitol Hill, and challenging political leaders behind closed doors. We discuss why he left the RFK campaign, what Washington is really like on the inside, how Marines adapted during the Iraq War, and why effective leadership requires more than simply identifying what is broken.

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Jim’s Links:

X: @JamesWebb_16

YouTube: @jimwebbpodcast

James (Jim) Webb is the Host of the Jim Webb Podcast (@jimwebbpodcast on X and YouTube). Jim is a 3rd-generation Marine who, following his service, has worked in policy, politics, and journalism. In 2005, he dropped out of college to enlist in the Marine Corps Infantry and fought in the “Battle of Ramadi” in 2006-2007. Following the completion of his degree, Jim worked on Capitol Hill for US Sen. Rand Paul, where he was assigned to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Later, he worked at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and as a Senior Policy Advisor for then-Presidential Candidate RFK Jr. James has also worked as a journalist for multiple outlets, including embedding with US troops across Afghanistan.

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#MarineVeteran #AmericanPolitics #Leadership #worldxppodcast