Sanctions
214 episodes
#5791: How to Become an Honorary Consul for a Tiny Nation
A retired consultant in Wales represents Kiribati from his house. Can you engineer that on purpose? The playbook, the vetoes, and the plaque.
#5736: The UK's 14 Overseas Territories, From Pitcairn to Chagos
Fourteen territories, three Crown Dependencies, and one fight that won't end: why the Chagos Archipelago dispute keeps going.
#5708: The Islands Between Two Oceans
Fifteen obscure sub-Antarctic islands, the governments that run them, and the penguin who holds a noble title.
#5706: Two Poles, Two Fates: Arctic vs Antarctic
One pole is a militarized chessboard, the other a treaty-bound science preserve. Same frozen water — completely opposite outcomes.
#5652: Ireland, Israel, and the Price of a Gesture
Black armbands, a bowed anthem, a handshake withheld — what the Ireland-Israel fixture reveals about protest without a price.
#5651: Nuclear Convoys: The Physics Package and the Highway
The most secretive objects on Earth move by truck on civilian highways — and people photograph them at rest stops.
#5647: Can Any Country Actually Go It Alone?
Ninety percent of rare earth processing runs through one country. So what happens when a nation tries to trade with nobody at all?
#5567: The Sinai Crossing Where a Stamp Draws the Border
A 24-hour pedestrian crossing between Eilat and Taba, where a free stamp, a one-kilometer fee waiver, and four treaty zones shape every trip into S...
#5441: Dollar Plumbing: Why Bessent's Iran Threat Has Teeth
One line from Treasury can ground an airline worldwide. The reason lives in New York's clearing houses, not the currency itself.
#5348: Greenland's 56,000 People, Two Big Powers, and One Vague Deal
85% of Greenlanders oppose joining the U.S. — yet Washington and Copenhagen are about to sign a security deal about their island.
#5310: Who's Actually Allowed Into North Korea?
North Korea keeps no public visitor statistics — so who actually gets in, and why have the diplomats who lived there said almost nothing?
#5294: Inside North Korea's Scripted Tourist State
Every smile is choreographed. What it's actually like inside North Korea's managed tour bubble — and why one mocking vlog closed the border.
#5293: Air Koryo and the ICAO Alignment Problem
What flying North Korea's flag carrier actually feels like — and why a cut-off state still shows up to ICAO meetings.
#5242: Two Neighbors, Two Invasion Plans
Canada drew up a plan to invade the U.S. in 1921. The friendly-neighbor story is only 80 years old.
#5240: Guns That Never Entered the System
Israel's gun leakage runs through three channels the licensing debate never touches — and one of them can't be sealed, audited, or bombed away.
#5236: Who Gets to Hold the Gun? Three Models of State Force
Israel arms citizens for "distributed security," the U.S. treats guns as a right, Japan denies 90% of applicants. Three answers to one question.
#5213: Who Tracks the Ships? Inside Maritime Intelligence
AIS data, dark vessels, and the quiet organizations—UKMTO, IMB, Windward—that watch the world's shipping.
#5199: Shell Companies Over Shell Companies
Why covert networks stack shell companies in layers — and why the structure itself is the weapon.
#5197: Flags of Convenience: Ships, Planes, and Olive Oil
A Maltese-registered Arkia plane and Tunisian olive oil at Osher Ad turn out to share one mechanism: the legal costume of nationality.
#5196: How Shadow Fleet Tankers Get Caught
Transponder gaps, paired blackouts, and satellite fingerprinting — how analysts actually catch sanctioned oil moving at sea.
#5190: How Iranian Rugs Reach Israeli Shelves
Tunisian olive oil with French labels, Iranian rugs in Jerusalem shops — how goods actually move around sanctions and enemy-state bans.
#5179: Covert Ops That Weaponize Division—What's Real
From KGB active measures to Taiwan's elections: which covert influence operations are documented, and which dramatic claims don't hold up.
#5176: IAEA Reports Iran: What the Vote Actually Does
The IAEA Board reported Iran to the Security Council for the first time in 20 years — over 440kg of uranium it can't locate.
#5153: When Surveyors Meet Shepherds: Borders vs. Nomads
What happens when a precise surveyed border cuts through a way of life built on movement? The Bedouin, Druze, and Maasai cases.