U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) welcomes Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar (L) at the State Department on May 29, 2026.
(Alex Wong / Getty Images)
There’s too much Knickerbocker news to fit here, but we do have other stories to report. This week: Iran and the US exchange fire in the Gulf (2:00), plus peace talks stall after Trump adds new demands (4:29); Israel escalates its Lebanon campaign despite ceasefire talks (08:33); Cambodia takes a Thailand maritime dispute to the UN (15:19); in Sudan, tribal clashes kill dozens in South Darfur (17:38); Ukraine strikes St. Petersburg during the city’s International Economic Forum (20:13); Germany loses a UN Security Council vote (21:54); Colombia’s first-round election results see the right gain momentum (24:04); US sanctions hit Cuba-linked hotels (26:36); and Tulsi Gabbard resigns as the DNI faces a CIA feud (29:11).
Then, Tim Sahay and Kate MacKenzie, co-editors of The Polycrisis, join the show to explain how the climate crisis, Chinese clean-tech, US policy, and the Iran War are accelerating a global shift away from fossil fuels.
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With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.
As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.
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Onward,
Katrina vanden Huevel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation
Daniel Bessner
Daniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.
Derek Davison
Derek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.
