Background Briefing: August 27, 2026
A Report From Nepal on the Horrific Wall of Water That Swept Away Thousands of Lives
We begin with the horrific wall of water that swept away hundreds if not thousands of lives in Nepal and Tibet as a result of a glacier collapsing in the Hindu Kush Himalayas due to climate change. Joining us from Nepal is Manju von Rospatt, a Kathmandu-based former research fellow at the Nepal Economic Forum and a freelance journalist. Her research focuses on international affairs, photography, arts and culture, and the politics of identity, migration, and borders. She has an MA in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, focusing on social policy.
Click here to donate to the Prime Minister’s disaster relief fund in Nepal.
How Biden Lost Our Moral Authority in the Middle East Then Trump Destroyed Our Military Power and Credibility
Then we get an assessment of the one-two punch to U.S. power and credibility in the Middle East after Biden’s failure to stop Israel’s assault on Gaza swept away any residual U.S. moral authority and Trump’s debacle in Iran has shattered the illusion of American Military omnipotence. Joining us is Marc Lynch, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University, where he is the director of the Project on Middle East Political Science. He is the author of The New Arab Wars: Uprisings and Anarchy in the Middle East and a co-editor of The One State Reality: What Is Israel/Palestine? And he has an article at Foreign Affairs we discuss, “The End of the American Middle East: Iran and the Last Gasp of a Failed Order.”
META’s $18 Billion Settlement After Decades of Damage to Children and Teens By Its Social Media Platforms
Then finally we speak with J.B. Branch, the Big Tech accountability advocate for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. He leads Public Citizen’s advocacy efforts on artificial intelligence accountability, consumer data and privacy rights, tech product safety, platform oversight, and child online safety protections. Previously, he advised the Department of Justice on privacy concerns surrounding locative devices and registries for people with Autism and held a legal fellowship with the Center for AI and Digital Policy where he promoted AI policies that ensured democratic values. We discuss the $18 billion settlement META has offered after decades of damage done to children and teens by its social media platforms.