We’re joined by NBC News contributor Hooman Majd. Is this regime change or an "adjustment?" Also, Khamenei succession rumors, the girls’ school bombing narrative, and...is Ahmadinejad still alive?
Here’s the thing- I know the guys positions well enough to know they don’t buy into the bullshit, so I’m not worried they are trying to smuggle in any of this guys views to their audience. It’s helpful to hear a sane version of what I consider an insane position regarding Iran. And I’d rather hear it here than anywhere else.
This is what I hand these guys ten bucks a month for. I appreciate that they don't follow that bullshit "combative" communication strategy. This is how an interview is supposed to sound. Not like a handful of howler monkeys.
I appreciate what you’re saying. But now that the guys have a whole bunch of new followers, I’m not sure they can continue to take it for granted that we all know where they stand in opposition to some of the things their guests say. It might mean they need to push back a little harder than they’ve done in the past.
We've spent the past two episodes talking about this subject, and spent a good deal of this one pushing back. We trust the audience enough to not constantly clear our throats.
My remark was just general and it wasn’t meant to be at all pointed. Your longtime listeners know you quite well, but now that you do fewer just-the-three-of-you eps, your newer fans might take your opinions as aligning with your guests. Not a criticism, so much as something to keep in mind. ✌️
I honestly do not get where so many people are getting these conclusions other than they were looking for something that confirmed their priors, seized on it, and denounced the guy utterly.
I think you and Michael handled this interview extremely well.
Yeah, I made it about 10 mins in, was not impressed, paused it to run an errand, then never restarted. Just scrolling the comments now to see if I should bother. Doesn't look like it.
Despotic, theologic, thuggish ruling factions move their weapons under schools and mosques in order to pull at the heartstrings of reporters like this guy.
I don't trust anyone who Mahmoud Ahmedinejad would trust as his translator. What an absolute scumbag. (Not complaining about the guest choice - I'm happy for TFC to expose me to a wide range of scumbags!)
That's not at all what I got out of the whole story that he ended up reciting, but, I guess people have really low bars for getting offended and quitting.
I like that each episode is taking a slightly different perspective on this. We've gotten the pro-Israeli side, the constitutionalist libertarian side, and now the regime apologist point of view. I don't think you need to bring on a full-throated Trump supporter, however, I do think you would be remiss if you didn't bring on an anti-regime Iranian, someone who wants revolution and is happy about this. It doesn't have to be a super-hottie like Elica Le Bon, but someone with her general position I think would be good, just to round everything out.
One point of order: if you think THIS guy is a regime apologist, you need to get around more. I know the guys aren't going to get Mohammed Vall or whomever (and even he is a reporter who is ensconced in the country) on, but there are WAY more apologist people on that I could suggest just from the last several days of watching Al Jazeera. Consequently, they could stock each of those categories, as well.
I listened to the whole thing. Being exhaustively exposed to opposing arguments is how someone really comes to understand their own position.
Maybe the most important and lasting thing I learned in high school was in debate club: you don't really understand your own position if you can't articulate the opposing position better than the opposition can.
If you're gonna do the "there are almost 10,000 Jews in Iran, a lot of people don't know that" schtick, you should probably also provide the necessary colour on how they're effectively dhimmi as a matter of survival.
As someone who lived in Tehrangeles, and who now lives in a community on the East coast with a lot of Persian Jews, (our babysitter is Persian) I can tell you the fear they have on behalf of their family/relatives in Tehran (and shiraz or Isfahan, in the old days) is constant. They are still proudly culturally Persian/Iranian and even used to visit, but they report that their visits drastically decreased well before Oct 7; It just was not safe or welcoming anymore at a regime level.
It's fascinating to me how many subscribers actually expect the boys to be reflexively judgmental and dismissive towards people who hold differing opinions. There are a million places to get that kind of shallow content. Why subscribe and, on top of it, complain? They're not just TRYING to be different. They ARE different and that's why I subscribe.
Echoing other comments of appreciation for facilitating insightful discussion of opposing views with both today’s discussion and previous interview with Nadav Eyal. Keep up the good work on this important platform….wishing it was the standard for current era of journalism and news commentary.
And that plays into LadyG’s aspersions of “The Mullahs.”
At some point, when you’ve hitched your cart to a group that’s undeniably-evil, there’s no retreat.
As someone who had a parent considered “white-enough” to not be bothered by Southern Democrats, I absolutely empathize with the sentiments. But it also speaks to why people hold Shah Jr. at arm’s length.
I do have to wonder after listening whether dissolution might work. I remember the dire warnings about the breakup of Yugoslavia. As my wife’s Montenegrin dog stares at me, I’m less convinced that there n is es to be a monolithic central government for success.
Here’s the thing- I know the guys positions well enough to know they don’t buy into the bullshit, so I’m not worried they are trying to smuggle in any of this guys views to their audience. It’s helpful to hear a sane version of what I consider an insane position regarding Iran. And I’d rather hear it here than anywhere else.
This is what I hand these guys ten bucks a month for. I appreciate that they don't follow that bullshit "combative" communication strategy. This is how an interview is supposed to sound. Not like a handful of howler monkeys.
I don't know. I wouldn't mind a "Batya-level" episode once every month or two.
I'm not one for confrontation. Makes me queasy.
I appreciate what you’re saying. But now that the guys have a whole bunch of new followers, I’m not sure they can continue to take it for granted that we all know where they stand in opposition to some of the things their guests say. It might mean they need to push back a little harder than they’ve done in the past.
We've spent the past two episodes talking about this subject, and spent a good deal of this one pushing back. We trust the audience enough to not constantly clear our throats.
It’s good to hear multiple sides of an issue!
My remark was just general and it wasn’t meant to be at all pointed. Your longtime listeners know you quite well, but now that you do fewer just-the-three-of-you eps, your newer fans might take your opinions as aligning with your guests. Not a criticism, so much as something to keep in mind. ✌️
If the instagram comments are any indication, there’s just no hope for some of them.
There has been a rising tide of ideological zealots who have hopped on and we could do with shedding them.
I honestly do not get where so many people are getting these conclusions other than they were looking for something that confirmed their priors, seized on it, and denounced the guy utterly.
I think you and Michael handled this interview extremely well.
Maybe they trust their audience, even the new ones, to think critically about what they hear.
Where was the bullshit? He seemed pretty tame to me?
This is a great point!
Yes 👏
In the first two minutes: "Tehran is being gazafied"
Yeah I am not sitting through an interview of this asshole
Yeah, I made it about 10 mins in, was not impressed, paused it to run an errand, then never restarted. Just scrolling the comments now to see if I should bother. Doesn't look like it.
Despotic, theologic, thuggish ruling factions move their weapons under schools and mosques in order to pull at the heartstrings of reporters like this guy.
I’m actually happy Khamenei is dead. Wish we still had a Congress that did things, but he’s dead and that’s a good thing!
I don't trust anyone who Mahmoud Ahmedinejad would trust as his translator. What an absolute scumbag. (Not complaining about the guest choice - I'm happy for TFC to expose me to a wide range of scumbags!)
Definitely agree, including "I'm happy for TFC to expose me to wide range of scumbags!"
That's not at all what I got out of the whole story that he ended up reciting, but, I guess people have really low bars for getting offended and quitting.
At a bar trivia in Astoria the other night, there was a team called Ayatollah Once, Ayatollah a Thousand Times. Got a good chuckle out of that one.
Right up there with the "Ayatollah Assaholla" shirt briefly seen in The Simpsons.
Which you can buy btw: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1519284677/ayatollah-assaholla-tshirt-the-simpsons?ref=elp_anchor_listing&bes=1&sts=1
I may be getting this for my birthday (my youngest can't keep a secret)!
Good pushback to the everlasting death wishes for Israel. Can you imagine a neighbor 100x your size who wishes you dead at all the PTA meetings?
I mean to be 100x me would be pretty hard. But I had a fat neighbor who couldn't fight who wanted to fight me. I deeply enjoyed his fear and contempt.
Why would anyone ever want to fight you, Ben?
Most negative gym interaction I ever had at Physiq fitness in Salem Oregon
Gazafied. Smh
"The Jews" in 3, 2...
😂 right out of the gate
Next have an Iranian on who had to flee Iran after the revolution.
See my above post!
I like that each episode is taking a slightly different perspective on this. We've gotten the pro-Israeli side, the constitutionalist libertarian side, and now the regime apologist point of view. I don't think you need to bring on a full-throated Trump supporter, however, I do think you would be remiss if you didn't bring on an anti-regime Iranian, someone who wants revolution and is happy about this. It doesn't have to be a super-hottie like Elica Le Bon, but someone with her general position I think would be good, just to round everything out.
Or just get Elica LeBon, the super hottie. Moynihan would love it. And she’s super smart. Two birds, one stone.
It would be a way to get me to actually watch this show instead of just listening on Spotify.
One point of order: if you think THIS guy is a regime apologist, you need to get around more. I know the guys aren't going to get Mohammed Vall or whomever (and even he is a reporter who is ensconced in the country) on, but there are WAY more apologist people on that I could suggest just from the last several days of watching Al Jazeera. Consequently, they could stock each of those categories, as well.
Some useful critiques buried in there, but Majd’s consistent use of “Supreme Leader” rings too much like “The Führer” for me.
He states that Iran has not declared war on the U.S. What were the decades of calls “Death to America“ about?
What is the killing of 250 marines in Lebanon?
The attacks on U.S soldiers in Iraq. (They were not in Iran)
Is operating a global terror network that aimed to attack and undermine American interests not an act of war?
But, you see, the UN is where war is declared! (wtf was that nonsense?)
There are a lot of people in the comments who don't seem to understand how TFC approaches interviews and choice of guests.
Long-time listeners have no interest in an echo chamber.
This is excellent stuff, well worth listening to, in part *because* it's so insane and revealing.
It's a hard listen though. I had to use the show notes and skip around a bit. I am heartened that this is the "most sane" regime argument I've heard.
I listened to the whole thing. Being exhaustively exposed to opposing arguments is how someone really comes to understand their own position.
Maybe the most important and lasting thing I learned in high school was in debate club: you don't really understand your own position if you can't articulate the opposing position better than the opposition can.
Yeah, I don’t get the whole rage quitting thing. Maybe listen and think about why whatever this person said pisses you off so much.
Thinking is way, way out of fashion.
If you're gonna do the "there are almost 10,000 Jews in Iran, a lot of people don't know that" schtick, you should probably also provide the necessary colour on how they're effectively dhimmi as a matter of survival.
As someone who lived in Tehrangeles, and who now lives in a community on the East coast with a lot of Persian Jews, (our babysitter is Persian) I can tell you the fear they have on behalf of their family/relatives in Tehran (and shiraz or Isfahan, in the old days) is constant. They are still proudly culturally Persian/Iranian and even used to visit, but they report that their visits drastically decreased well before Oct 7; It just was not safe or welcoming anymore at a regime level.
It's fascinating to me how many subscribers actually expect the boys to be reflexively judgmental and dismissive towards people who hold differing opinions. There are a million places to get that kind of shallow content. Why subscribe and, on top of it, complain? They're not just TRYING to be different. They ARE different and that's why I subscribe.
Same frustration. It's amazing.
Echoing other comments of appreciation for facilitating insightful discussion of opposing views with both today’s discussion and previous interview with Nadav Eyal. Keep up the good work on this important platform….wishing it was the standard for current era of journalism and news commentary.
16 minutes in and he is apologizing for the regime and praising them for allowing “social freedoms “ - outrageous
And that plays into LadyG’s aspersions of “The Mullahs.”
At some point, when you’ve hitched your cart to a group that’s undeniably-evil, there’s no retreat.
As someone who had a parent considered “white-enough” to not be bothered by Southern Democrats, I absolutely empathize with the sentiments. But it also speaks to why people hold Shah Jr. at arm’s length.
I do have to wonder after listening whether dissolution might work. I remember the dire warnings about the breakup of Yugoslavia. As my wife’s Montenegrin dog stares at me, I’m less convinced that there n is es to be a monolithic central government for success.