Introducing Fiasco: Iran-Contra
Deep Background with Noah Feldman
Pushkin Industries
4.4 • 848 Ratings
🗓️ 3 April 2025
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Host Leon Neyfakh transports listeners into the day-to-day reality of our country’s most pivotal historical events, bringing to life the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present. Fiasco: Iran-Contra exposes a secret war, a secret deal, and a scandal that threatened to destroy Ronald Reagan’s presidency—until it didn’t.
Fiasco: Iran-Contra begins on April 7, available wherever you get your podcasts. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear the entire episode, ad-free, starting April 7. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.
Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Pushkin. |
| 0:07.0 | In the fall of 1986, Ronald Reagan found himself at the center of a massive scandal that looked like it might bring down his presidency. |
| 0:23.5 | Did you make a mistake in sending arms to Tehran, sir? |
| 0:24.5 | No. |
| 0:29.8 | It involved secret arms trafficking in Iran, a covert war in Nicaragua, |
| 0:33.3 | an attempt to buy back American hostages in Lebanon, |
| 0:37.7 | and the destruction of lots and lots of evidence in Washington, D.C. |
| 0:40.8 | And I'm not taking any more questions in just a second. |
| 0:44.7 | It became known as the Iran-Contra affair. |
| 0:51.7 | I'm Leon Nefok, co-creator of Slow Burn. |
| 0:58.5 | In my podcast, Fiasco, Iran-Contra, you'll hear all the unbelievable details of a scandal that captivated the nation nearly 40 years ago, but which few of us still remember today. |
| 1:05.6 | They were lying to the press, they were lying to the public, they lied incessantly to each other. |
| 1:11.4 | I later learned that he had suicide pills, and I had nothing. |
| 1:15.5 | And then you proceeded to remove documents from your boots and from other parts of your clothing. |
| 1:21.7 | That's correct, sir. |
| 1:22.9 | The reason I destroyed documents, that was not the question. |
| 1:25.9 | It was against the law. |
| 1:28.1 | I brought it home and put it in a can and lit a match to it. |
| 1:32.7 | From prologue projects and Pushkin Industries, this is Fiasco, Iran Contra. |
| 1:38.6 | The things that happened were so bizarre and insane, I can't begin to tell you. |
| 1:44.7 | Please do. |
| 1:58.1 | Subscribe to Pushkin Plus to binge the entire season of Fiasco, Iran-Contra, ad-free, starting April 7th. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Pushkin Industries, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Pushkin Industries and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.