Hello and welcome to The Intelligence on Economist Radio.

I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

Few brands so capture America's rough-hewn individualism as much as Harley Davidson, but the motorcycle firm is beset on two sides.

It's become entangled in the Trump administration's tit-for-tat trade war, just as changing demographics have started to make it downshift.

And we'll be delving into philosophy that has relevance to autonomous vehicles.

Future self-driving gizmos will have to make the kinds of ethical decisions that have tied philosophers in knots for decades.

But first... Today marks the 40th anniversary of the revolution in Iran.

The uprising changed the country profoundly.

It brought a hardline Islamic regime into power that to this day clashes with its neighbors in the region and western countries too.

Some American administrations have tried threatening Iran's leaders.

President Trump's national security advisor John Bolton issued a warning last year.

That if you cross us, our allies or our partners, if you harm our citizens, if you continue

to lie, cheat, and deceive, yes, there will indeed be held to bay.

Former President Obama's administration painstakingly negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran that

Mr. Trump withdrew from. But in the face of both threats and compromises, Iran's behavior continues to be a headache.

Why is it so hard to find common ground with Iran?

The roots of the answer go back to the tumultuous events that began in 1978,

when millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest against their unpopular leader

Shah Reza Pahlavi.

And there began in 1978 first small demonstrations which spread very rapidly, leading to the revolution

in 1979.

...