From MAGA loyalist to antiwar dissident – is Tucker Carlson’s pivot sincere or a savvy reinvention?
Longtime Donald Trump supporter Tucker Carlson has broken with the president on some key issues, becoming one of the country’s staunchest critics of the US relationship with Israel. Carlson is engaging with voices he once criticised, like The New York Times, and his rising popularity has fueled speculation in Washington, DC that he could try to ride that momentum all the way to the White House.
Contributors: Wajahat Ali – Cohost, Democracy-ish Podcast Briahna Joy Gray – Host, Bad Faith Podcast Ana Kasparian – Executive producer and host, The Young Turks Jude Russo – Managing editor, The American Conservative
On our radar
In the United Kingdom, days after a knife attack in north London left two Jewish men in hospital, much of the country’s political and media class settled on a narrative that anti-genocide protests and the only Jewish leader in British politics, Zack Polanksi, were to blame. Meenakshi Ravi dissects the media coverage.
Greater Israel: How a fringe settler fantasy went mainstream
Israel’s settler movement has moved from the fringes to having influence over key Israeli institutions, including the media, where a constellation of voices is pushing for Israel to conquer new territory. The Listening Post‘s Tariq Nafi reports on the rapid normalisation of the idea of a “Greater Israel”.
Redi Tlhabi speaks to Professor Robert Pape on the rise of political violence in the US.
After the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, has the US entered a new age of political violence? The third alleged attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump in recent years follows a series of politically motivated violent incidents last year, including the assassinations of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and Democratic state legislator Melissa Hortman. What is causing the increase in political violence in America? And how much is the Trump administration driving the politically divisive atmosphere with violent rhetoric and lethal foreign policy?
This week on UpFront, Redi Tlhabi speaks with Robert Pape, professor of political science at the University of Chicago and author of the upcoming book “Our Own Worst Enemies: America in the Age of Violent Populism”.
Another assassination attempt on Donald Trump reveals mistrust in the media and conspiracy theories fill the gap.
An assassination attempt at the White House correspondents’ dinner underscored the spectacle, chaos and violence that have defined Donald Trump’s second presidency.
As journalists rushed to report what had happened, a parallel narrative of conspiracy was already taking shape online. Conspiracy theories get far more currency than they merit – and they are a by-product of an information landscape that has been muddied by Trump.
Contributors: John Nichols – Executive editor, The Nation Niall Stanage – White House columnist, The Hill Amber Duke – Editor-in-chief, Daily Caller Suzanne Kianpour – Cohost, Global Power Shifts podcast
On our radar
Russia’s effort to tighten internet restrictions and throttle Telegram has caused a furious public backlash. The uproar has forced President Vladimir Putin to admit the measures went too far. Ryan Kohls reports.
Israel’s information war on Lebanon
Throughout two years of war, Israeli forces have used drones, AI-powered targeting and the infiltration of Lebanese communications devices and the networks they rely on – to control the population, spread terror and kill people. And it has escalated its information war, using all kinds of propaganda to deepen fear and divisions within Lebanese society. We speak to Justin Salhani about the tactics Israel is using in Lebanon.
Featuring: Justin Salhani – Senior producer, Al Jazeera Digital
US-Israel war on Iran drives up fuel and food costs, putting 32.5 million people at risk of poverty worldwide.
Fuel costs more. Food is harder to get or afford. Jobs are disappearing. Remittances are drying up.
These are the consequences of the United States-Israel war on Iran – felt not only in the Middle East but also in the fields and homes of Africa and Asia.
Countries in the Global South are particularly vulnerable to the economic fallout because of their dependence on imports from the Gulf.
The United Nations warned that the conflict could push as many as 32.5 million people globally back into poverty.
The war is weakening economies that were already fragile. Governments are scrambling, and international aid is becoming scarce.
We explore why water infrastructure is increasingly being targeted in the midst of war and conflict.
Water sustains life, but what happens when it is weaponised? In the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran, desalination plants supplying millions in the Gulf have become targets. This reflects a growing pattern: water infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable as global scarcity intensifies. The United Nations warns of looming “water bankruptcy” driven by climate change and rising global demands, including AI data centres.
Presenter: Stefanie Dekker
Guests:
Kaveh Madani – Director, UNU Institute for Water, Environment & Health
Zeina Moneer – Environmental policy and climate programmes expert
Political scientist Vali Nasr argues that US and Israeli military options ‘have come up short’.
Despite on-again, off-again negotiations, the United States has no other option but to pursue a diplomatic solution with Iran, argues Vali Nasr, professor of international affairs and Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Nasr tells host Steve Clemons that the US-Israel war on Iran has shown the limits of military force.
“You don’t go to the table to demand surrender. The other side is not going to surrender because they haven’t lost. So you have to cut a deal,” Nasr said, adding that Iran’s objective is to make sure the US and Israel understand that “war with Iran isn’t easy”.
Redi Tlhabi speaks to economist Mariana Mazzucato on the Iran war’s economic fallout and who’s really paying the price.
The world is reckoning with the biggest oil supply disruption in history, one that has sent energy prices soaring, rattled stock markets and exposed the deep vulnerabilities of economies still hooked on fossil fuels. While millions face higher fuel and energy bills, top oil and gas companies are reportedly profiting about $30m per hour since the war began.
This week on UpFront, Redi Tlhabi speaks with renowned economist Mariana Mazzucato about what a genuine green industrial strategy looks like, why the World Bank has fallen short, and how her concept of the “common good economy” offers a new compass for governments navigating crises.
The Iran war has deepened the damage to its sanctions-hit economy, but oil revenues have provided a crucial cushion.
The US has spent decades trying to squeeze Iran economically. Six weeks into the Middle East conflict, Tehran is still standing. US and Israeli attacks on infrastructure, industry and trade have damaged Iran’s sanctioned economy even further.
But oil revenues have kept flowing, giving the regime a financial cushion.
The Strait of Hormuz is now at the centre of this economic battle; whoever controls it controls the pressure.
At the negotiating table, sanctions relief, billions in frozen assets and war reparations are all at stake.
Meanwhile, millions of Iranians are bearing the brunt of inflation, shortages and a collapsing currency.
A US move to block the strait has intensified a broader struggle over who controls access and under what terms.
Now, the United States is the one shutting the Strait of Hormuz, even as President Donald Trump was calling for it to reopen just a few days ago. He said ships entering or leaving Iranian ports would be stopped by the navy after talks between Tehran and Washington fell apart.
However, this is not just about a blockade. Iran is tightening its grip on the strait, demanding the right to impose tolls on ships passing through it.
The ripple effects could go beyond energy and trade flows, challenging the dominance of the US dollar in global shipping.
The WHO has warned of ‘catastrophic’ risks if radioactive release occurs.
Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has been targeted four times since the United States-Israel war on Iran began more than a month ago.
And the World Health Organization (WHO has warned of “catastrophic” risks if a radioactive release occurs.
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Tehran has accused the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog of inaction – an allegation that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rejects. But it does acknowledge that the situation is of deep concern.
Why are the attacks happening, and what risks do they pose?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Tariq Rauf – Former head of verification and security policy coordination at the IAEA
Abas Aslani – Senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies
Alicia Sanders-Zakre – Head of policy at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Conditions in Gaza worsen amid the United States-Israel war on Iran.
Humanitarian conditions in Gaza remain dire, despite the “ceasefire” that came into effect in October.
For months, the Israeli military has violated the agreement – carrying out air strikes and limiting the entry of aid.
But the situation got worse when Israel and the United States launched their war on Iran on February 28.
The Rafah border crossing was closed again. And deliveries of food, fuel and aid were further restricted.
With the Iran war disrupting global supply chains and the United Nations warning of threats to food security, what are the implications for Palestinians in Gaza?
Presenter: Imran Khan
Guests:
Dr Mohammed Tahir – Orthopaedic surgeon who has worked extensively in Gaza
Alex de Waal – Executive director of the World Peace Foundation
Xavier Abu Eid – Political analyst and former communications director for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
US political scientist John Mearsheimer argues that Israel – not Iran – is the Middle East country that is ‘highly aggressive’.
The greatest threat to stability in the Middle East is not Iran, but “the US working closely together with Israel”, argues United States political scientist John Mearsheimer.
Mearsheimer tells host Steve Clemons that the notion that the US and Israel are making a safer, more stable Middle East is “ludicrous”. And the idea that Iran is “the great destabiliser” in the region is “a myth that the US and Israel purvey”.
After US President Donald Trump insisted that “We have all the cards; they have none”, Mearsheimer says the exact opposite is true – “and that’s why we are in desperate straits”.
