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Trump’s Self-Inflicted Iran Quagmire (Robert Wright & Zaid Jilani)
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Trump’s Self-Inflicted Iran Quagmire (Robert Wright & Zaid Jilani)

This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content. To set that up, simply grab the RSS feed from this page (by first clicking the “...” icon on the audio player) and paste it into your favorite podcast app. If you have trouble completing the process, check out this super-simple how-to guide.

0:00 Teaser
0:49 Zaid’s Substack and spicy-take history
3:16 Zaid: Iran has outplayed Trump and Bibi
10:17 10/7 as turning point
13:50 Did—and does—Israel want regime collapse in Iran?
20:15 Israel’s security dilemma(s)
27:13 How Trump blundered back into war
33:57 Will the war end well for anyone?
37:44 Heading to Overtime

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Zaid Jilani (https://www.theamericansaga.com/). Recorded July 14, 2026.

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Zaid’s newsletter on Substack:

Overtime titles:

The Center for American Progress saga.
Is speech policing rocket fuel for radicalization?
Zaid’s side gig.

Overtime video:

This post is for paid subscribers