Pushkin.

Hey everyone, it's Leon Nefok.

Before we get into the show, I wanted to say a few introductory words about the Iran-Contra scandal

and about this season of fiasco,

which originally came out five years ago.

It was February of 2020, the final year of the first Trump administration.

It was also right before COVID hit.

And once it did, I remember thinking that the events of Iran-Contra felt a little remote.

The Cold War, Ronald Reagan, the Ayatollah, Homanie.

In the midst of a pandemic, it felt like a dispatch from a different universe.

And it just didn't hit the same as, say, a podcast about Watergate released at the height of the

Mueller investigation.

I hadn't re-listened to this season since we turned it in, and when I started working

with Pushkin on this new edition, I was a little nervous to revisit it. But then I did, and

to my surprise, what I heard made so much more sense to me

in 2025 than it did the first time around. Now, if you've listened to any of my other

history podcasts, you know I don't like to lay it on super thick when it comes to pointing out

the echoes between then and now. It's usually unnecessary, at least if you're doing it right.

But after going back and listening to these eight episodes earlier this year,

I was moved to try and sound out what it is that makes this story feel so deeply familiar in this moment.

One thing is that the events that make up Iran-Contra moved both incredibly fast and slow.

The whole thing unfolded over the course of more than a decade.

...