The Daily - ‘The Opinions’: General Stanley McChrystal on Iran

Did President Trump fall for the myth of surgical warfare? Gen. Stanley McChrystal joins the columnist David French, both veterans of the Iraq War, to discuss what may have been overlooked in the planning of Operation Epic Fury. McChrystal, who retired from the Army in 2010, argues that the United States often overestimates the decisive power of aerial bombing while underestimating the weight of historical grievance. And the general weighs in on the current culture of bravado coming from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

This conversation was recorded on Friday, March 20. 

Thoughts? Questions? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com

This episode of “The Opinions” was produced by Derek Arthur and Victoria Chamberlin. It was edited by Kaari Pitkin and Alison Bruzek. Mixing by Isaac Jones and Pat McCusker. Fact-checking by Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker and Michelle Harris. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta and Kristina Samulewski. The deputy director of Opinion Shows is Alison Bruzek. The director of Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.


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WSJ What’s News - What’s News in Markets: The War Trade, Megadeals and a Sneaker Slowdown

Why are oil prices and oil stocks moving in opposite directions? And are megadeals a recipe for buyer’s remorse? Plus, get ready for one of the biggest IPO of all time. Host Imani Moise discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them.

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WSJ Your Money Briefing - What’s News in Markets: The War Trade, Megadeals and a Sneaker Slowdown

Why are oil prices and oil stocks moving in opposite directions? And are megadeals a recipe for buyer’s remorse? Plus, get ready for one of the biggest IPO of all time. Host Imani Moise discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them.


Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter.

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Serious Inquiries Only - SIO509: What Project Hail Mary Gets Right (And Very Wrong…) About Biology

Everyone's favorite biologist and dinosaur enthusiast Dr. Eric Jaffe is back! Project Hail Mary is a very fun, and quite good, sciency movie that is cleaning up at the box office right now. You should see it! Eric is going to take us through the biology of the movie (and book) and what it gets right, and what it gets quite wrong.

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Was it Worth it, Pam?

It was a rough week for two of the top lawyers in the Trump administration, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer pair ... Ever since Donald Trump’s return to office and the installation of his (second choice) Attorney General, we’ve been tracking the toxic combination of incompetence and cruelty at the Department of Justice. Pam Bondi, Trump’s hand-picked attack dog for Attorney General, finally reached the point of no return. She’s out, and Todd Blanche is in … for now. Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discuss AG Bondi’s legacy, and why she may still be dragged before congress to answer for the DOJ’s mishandling of the Epstein Files. Meanwhile, over at One, First Street, Mr. Trump became the first sitting president to show up live and in person to oral arguments, in a woefully misguided possible attempt to intimidate “his” justices into buying his nonsensical theory about birthright citizenship. John Sauer, his Solicitor General, flopped and flailed, and revealed a fundamental flaw at the heart of the second Trump presidency: if loyalty is the only test, you might fail a bunch of other, more significant, tests. Finally, Dahlia and Mark unpack the thorny and confusing 8-1 decision from the High Court in Chiles v. Salazar, taking a huge bite out of conversion therapy bans, and what that means for LGBTQ youth and the First Amendment. 


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More or Less - How likely is ‘likely’?

When you’re listening to the news, you will often hear words that are meant to communicate the probability of something happening.   A terrorist attack is “a realistic possibility”, the spread of a certain strain of virus is “highly likely", the relegation of your favourite football team is “possible”.

But when you hear these terms, do you really know what kind of probabilities they’re trying to convey? Do you know how likely “likely” is? Or what probability “probable” is meant to get across?

In some cases, it seems you probably don't.

Professor Adam Kucharski, author of Proof, the Uncertain Science of Certainty, designed a quiz to work out the actual probabilities of the language we use to convey risks.

The data he got back shows how sometimes these words mean very different things to different people.

If you want to try the quiz for yourself, head over to https://probability.kucharski.io/

Email the More or Less team: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

CREDITS:

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Richard Vadon

It Could Happen Here - It Could Happen Here Weekly 226

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. 

- The Trans Panic Clickbait Economy

- Talking to Venezuelans About Venezuela

- Strange People on the Hill: An Interview with Michael Edison Hayden

- Slouching Towards Gallipoli: How The U.S. Might Be Losing To Iran

- Executive Disorder: Tariff Refund Disaster, DHS Citizenship List, Idaho Bathroom Bill, Two Bombing Plots

You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today!

http://apple.co/coolerzone

Cool Zone is nominated for 3 Webby Awards! Submit your votes by April 16th!

Behind the Bastards - https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/features/experimental-innovation 

It Could Happen Here - https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/limited-series-specials/news-politics 

Migrating to America - https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/limited-series-specials/documentary 

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Talking to Venezuelans About Venezuela

https://www.instagram.com/e.m.arian

Strange People on the Hill: An Interview with Michael Edison Hayden

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/michael-edison-hayden/strange-people-on-the-hill/9781645030607/ 

Executive Disorder: Tariff Refund Disaster, DHS Citizenship List, Idaho Bathroom Bill, Two Bombing Plots

https://open.substack.com/pub/shatterzone/p/the-trans-panic-clickbait-economy?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web 

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Global News Podcast - US in desperate search for missing aviator in Iran

American forces are searching for a missing crew member after a US fighter jet was downed in Iran. Iranian state media says Iran's security forces are also looking for the aviator. Iran is also claiming to have shot down a second US warplane over the Gulf. US media say the A-10 combat plane was shot at near the Strait of Hormuz during a search-and-rescue mission for the first downed aircraft. The pilot ejected and was rescued. Also in the podcast, Cuba begins releasing more than 2,000 prisoners as US pressure mounts. We'll hear about the Oscar winning documentary focusing on the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. Why the recent Winter Olympic Games in Italy are being called the cleanest on record - but could this change? And the crew of Artemis II take 'spectacular' image of Earth.

The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk