Day: July 30, 2026

Reviving Their War on Yemen, an Incensed Saudi Leadership Strikes Back at the Houthis

We begin with Saudi Arabia’s angry and incensed leadership escalating their attacks on the Houthis and Yemen following strikes by the Houthis on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and strikes by Iranian proxies on Abqaiq, the huge Saudi oil refining and distribution complex. Joining us is Juan Cole, a professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan. He is also the author of the blog Informed Comment at JuanCole.com and the author of Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires and most recently, Gaza Yet Stands. We discuss his latest articles at Informed Comment, “New War on Saudi Refineries by Iran Allies” and “Houthis aim for Red Sea Tolls, May Have Hit Ship in Egypt.”

Yesterday’s Unseemly Grilling of Fauci by Republican Junkyard Dogs

Then we look into similarities between Stalin’s show trials and yesterday’s unseemly grilling of Dr. Anthony Fauci by Republican junkyard dogs; most notably the senate’s village idiot Tommy Tuberville, the fan of January 6 insurrectionists Josh Hawley and Bernie Moreno the car dealer who used the F word in denouncing an 85 year old civil servant who dedicated his career to healing the sick and saving lives. Joining us to discuss how low the most exclusive club in the world has sunk is Larry Tye, a prize-winning journalist formerly at the Boston Globe and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Satchel, as well as The Father of Spin, Home Lands, and Rising from the Rails. His latest book is Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy.

Similarities Between Stalin’s Show Trials and Rand Paul’s Ambush of Fauci

Then finally we assess whether the Republicans can pull off a new Red Scare and speak with Clay Risen, a reporter and editor at The New York Times, and the author of The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century, a finalist for the Gilder-Lehrman Prize in Military History. A member of the Society of American Historians, he is also the author of two other acclaimed books on American history, A Nation on Fire and The Bill of the Century. We discuss his latest book, Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America.