Do you ever wonder what you would have done during some unprecedented world event? You’re doing it right now. Too often we find ourselves feeling crushed because we can't stop seeing the obvious bullshit. Endless wars, people dying because they can't afford insulin, literally cooking the planet for quarterly profits; there's a trillion-dollar industry specifically designed to leave us feeling this way. If you are here, remember this. It isn't working on you. Being challenged makes us uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable makes us uncertain. Uncertainty allows for discomfort which in turns allows you to start to manifest something worthwhile. Discomfort can be insightful, instructive, and invite you to think differently about the world around you. The fundamental truth of the world is that it is something we made. We could just as easily make it differently using intellectual curiosity, self awareness, and empathy as forms of resistance. And that resistance is proof that the system is brittle. The machinery of distraction exists because your natural human response to suffering is empathy. And empathy, it turns out, is bad for those in power. Every time you refuse to look away, every small act of giving a damn when you're supposed to be numb, you're pushing the lines forward. Your discomfort isn't weakness. It's the frontier of something better trying to break through. It's your mind refusing to accept that this broken world is all that's possible. Deep down we know something better exists. The present is ugly, the future unwritten. Here we’re focused on telling the stories of the world around us. Understanding why and how the world was made, so we can start to resist and think differently, to create a better world for ourselves and those who come after us.
Cuba Libre, Why Cuba and the U.S. Have Been at Odds for almost 70 Years - Part 2
From Machado’s Fall to the Rise of Fidel Castro
Cuba and the US’s history is much more than cigars, the Castros, embargo, and Che Guevara tees. Join us for part 2 which takes us through the post-Machado military period, the establishment of the Second Cuban Republic, and its rapid descent into corruption and violence culminating in Castro's coup.
[00:00] Intro and Cuba Libres
[00:27] Batista Rises to Power
[01:56] Progressive 1940 Constitution
[02:46] Peaceful Transfer and Recovery
[04:47] Authentico Corruption Era
[05:38] Cold War Labor Purge
[06:25] Gangster Politics and Mafia
[10:01] Chibas and Ortodoxo Surge
[11:16] Radio Suicide Shocks Cuba
[12:58] Batista 1952 Coup
[15:05] Racket State and US Backing
[17:06] Castro Enters the Fight
[18:52] Guerrilla War Takes Hold
[19:59] Batista Falls New Years 1959
[20:50] Castro Era Takeaways
[21:49] Invasion Talk Returns
[22:51] Energy Crisis vs Iran
[24:54] Why Embargo Persists
[26:34] Embargo vs Blockade
[28:08] Time to Move On From Grudges?
[31:30] Cuban Exiles Politics
[34:43] Cuba vs Iran Complexity
[37:29] Closing Toast Goodbye
18 Mar 2026
Cuba Libre, Why Cuba and the U.S. Have Been at Odds for almost 70 Years - Part 1
From the Spanish Empire to Machado’s Fall
Cuba and the US’s history is much more than cigars, the Castros, embargo, and Che Guevara tees. Join us for part 1 which takes us through US ambitions towards the island, the rise of the Republic of Cuba, and the fall of its first strongman dictator Gerardo Machado.
[00:00] Dumbest Timeline Intro
[01:24] Heading to Cuba
[02:10] What We Know About Cuba
[05:49] Why US an Cuba Feud
[06:59] Cuba Under Spain
[10:51] Sugar Boom and US Trade
[12:09] 19th Century US Openly Wants Cuba
[18:21] Independence Wars to 1898
[19:41] Platt Amendment for US Control
[21:46] US Marines and Sugar Empire
[26:12] Machado’s Rise
[31:36] Depression and Revolt
[35:07] Machado Falls Batista Next
[36:25] Wrap Up and Part Two
3 Mar 2026
Iran So Far Away
Rich and Adam discuss the history of Iran, Israel and the Middle East to put context to the recent air strikes this past weekend and to try and understand what the end goal is for Trump, Netanyahu, and Co.
[00:40] The Writers of our Simulation Love Soap Operas
[02:45] Early Modern Iran, Fallen Empire Under Great Power Pressure
[04:58] Pahlavi Dynasty Founded, Modernization of Iran
[06:58] 1941 Invasion and Abdication
[09:28] Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi and a New Postwar Parliamentary Iran
[10:43] Mossadegh and the Oil Nationalization Showdown
[13:30] CIA-MI6 Coup and the Shah’s Shift back to Autocracy
[15:49] SAVAK and the Police State
[17:45] Shah’s Decline and Backlash
[19:53] Israel and Early Iranian Ties
[22:08] Israel and Iran: Twin Pillars of US Middle East Policy
[22:49] The CIA, Mossad, and SAVAK: Blowback
[23:33] Yom Kippur War, OPEC, and the Peak of Iranian-Israeli Cooperation
[26:32] Revolution Turns Tables
[27:47] Israel, Iran Contra and Proxy Wars
[28:57] Pan Islamism vs Periphery Doctrine
[30:46] Modern Day: Trump Strike Scenarios
[35:20] Running Out of Ammo: What Does That Mean For Regime Change
[38:47] What Winning Looks Like
[41:38] Sign Off and Credits
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