Oh, come on! We take a couple weeks off for the holidays, and the world goes nuts? Ben, Matt and Noel welcome you back to the first strange news segment of 2026. Tune in as the guys explore the unfolding chaos in Venezuela and abroad, the debate about the McRib, Uncle Sam's new interest in Russia's shadow fleet -- and so much more.
Plus: Paramount escalates its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. And Google parent Alphabet becomes the latest company to cross the $4 trillion mark. Alex Ossola hosts.
An artificial-intelligence tool assisted in the making of this episode by creating summaries that were based on Wall Street Journal reporting and reviewed and adapted by an editor.
As protests in Iran continue into their third week, the country's foreign minister claims the situation is "under total control". President Donald Trump has warned that the US could intervene and has "very strong options". In response, Iran says it's "prepared" for war, but "does not seek" it. Also: Myanmar is accused of genocide over attacks on the Muslim Rohingya minority in 2017. The chairman of the US Federal Reserve is facing legal action. He claims it's a political attack. Hamas says it's prepared to hand over power in Gaza -- but is it? We hear how the campaign to end child marriage in the US has some powerful opponents. And, the chimpanzee who beat humans at a memory test has died.
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So much of what's been going on in this country seems performative and almost cinematic that we might need to consider how much Hollywood and pop-culture fantasy in general is leaching into our reality. Give a listen.
President Trump’s growing frustration with the Federal Reserve’s commitment to political independence reached fever pitch over the weekend when Fed Chair Jerome Powell annouced the DOJ has opened a criminal investigation into the Fed. Powell called the probe “unprecedented” and said the Fed uses data, not politics, to make interest rate decisions. In this episode, we get context on the situation from economist Julia Coronado — including how the investigation could have an impact on financial markets.
Founding director of the Critical Theory Workshop and professor at Villanova University Gabriel Rockhill is out with a new book that calls out many of the intellectual fathers of the academic left as insufficiently imperialist and often funded by the CIA. How have we been mislead by the "compatible left" -- a cohort of leftists that support marxism only in theory while inveighing against actually existing socialism? Where do Slavoj Zizek & Noam Chomsky fall in this analysis? How do we identify the contemporary "compatible left" in our media and political environment, and if the deep state is so effective at coopting left movements, what can we possibly do to evade them and achieve revolutionary change? This is a sprawling, three-hour episode you wont want to miss.
In his first interview since taking office on 1 Jan, the new head of the UN refugee agency, Dr Barham Salih, speaks to the BBC about US concerns over the organisation’s effectiveness and his push for reform. Speaking during his first working visit to Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp, he stresses the continuing scale of global civilian displacement and the need for more efficient humanitarian responses. We also look at how social media platforms are helping young people across Africa use running to build community, connection and wellbeing in cities including Abuja and Nairobi.
Presenter: Charles Gitonga
Producers: Blessing Aderogba, Ayuba Iliya, Keikantse Shumba, Bella Twine, Priya Sippy
Senior Producer: Daniel Dadzie
Technical Producer: Terry Chege
Editors: Samuel Murunga and Maryam Abdalla
President Donald Trump says the US military is considering "very strong options" in Iran, as anti-government protests enter a third week. We'll hear from the organisation Iran Human Rights about how they are trying to find out how many people have been killed and injured amidst a government crackdown and communications blackout across the country.
Also on the programme: Jerome Powell, the chair of the US Federal Reservice, hits out at "unprecedented" probe by the US justice department; and we meet some domestic robots designed to take the drudgery out of housework.
(Photo: President Donald Trump looks on as he meets with members of the media aboard Air Force One en route from Florida to Washington on 11th of January, 2026. Credit: REUTERS/Nathan Howard)
