Pushkin.

Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite, The Big Short, Moneyball, and Liars Poker.

On the latest season of my podcast, Against the Rules, I'm exploring what it means to be a sports fan in America, and what the rise of sports betting is doing to our teams, our states, and ourselves.

I'm heading to Las Vegas and New Jersey and beyond

to understand America's newest form of legalized gambling.

Listen to Against the Rules on America's number one podcast network, IHeart.

Open your free IHeart app, search against the rules, and start listening.

From Pushkin Industries, this is Deep Background, the show where we explore the stories behind

the stories in the news. I'm Noah Feldman. Is Donald Trump leading us into war with Iran?

One of the signature accomplishments, maybe the signature accomplishment of Barack Obama's

administration and foreign policy, was a complex, multi-party deal between the United States

and Iran that ultimately guaranteed that the United States would increasingly allow a normalization

of international relations for Iran in exchange for Iran

holding back on its nuclear ambitions. Donald Trump came into office having intensely criticized

that plan and since then he's adopted a systematic strategy intended to put the screws on Iran.

But what options does that leave Iran in response? To discuss this extremely

pressing and worrisome topic, I'm thrilled to have with me, Vali Nasser. Vali is a Middle East

scholar, a foreign policy advisor, and a commentator on international relations. From 2012 until

2019, he was the dean of the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.,

and he was a special advisor before that in the Obama administration focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan policy.

There's nobody that I can think of better qualified to talk about these issues.

Vali, welcome.

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