Lessons from Ancient Greece for the new Sparta: Israel

Across Western society, the hot topic of conversation is how young men -- boys, really -- seem lost, caught up in something called the manosphere where resentments are stoked against women and the existing political order. No wonder many of them vote for neo-fascists like Donald Trump. James Bloodworth, is a writer who practices immersive journalism. Bloodworth submerged himself in the manosphere beginning in 2018 and stayed in it for years. Now he has written a book called: Lost Boys: a Personal Journey Through the Manosphere. He talks to a very perplexed FRDH host Michael Goldfarb about the manosphere and those it ensnares and how easily it leads them to embrace a fascist world view.

Professor Brian Klaas , who has already written three books on the Trump epoch, wonders how America will make it to the midterms a year from now and what condition it will be in. Klaas, Professor of Global Politics at University College London and columnist for the Atlantic Magazine, and FRDH podcast host Michael Goldfarb discuss the current situation in America. Will the midterms be free and fair? Will the results be accepted by the MAGA Republican party? Will the midterms even be held? Give us 56:41 to talk it out.

After nearly two years of Israel's war of revenge in Gaza are there any lessons to be learned that might end the bloodshed? Professor Yehuda Halper thinks there are and in this FRDH podcast he shares them. The key is for Israeli Prime Minister to stop speaking about Israel as the new Sparta. After all, Sparta lost the battle of Thermopylae and left virtually no trace of its civilization. Plus other lessons from ancient Greece and Biblical history that modern Israelis and the global jewish diaspora would do well to remember. Give us 41:17 to explain.

Charlie Kirk was murdered in Utah and the best way to find out more about it is to talk to a journalist from Utah who has been on the frontline reporting on the event. In this FRDH podcast, Schott discusses the arraignment of Tyler Robinson, who has confessed to killing Kirk as well as the impact of the shooting in Utah and its Church of Latter Day Saints community. Give us 33:04 to explain it to you.

A summary of the mood of fear in Washington DC as August 2025 comes to an end. It is even worse than it was more than a decade ago when political scientist Norman Ornstein published (with co-author Thomas Mann) It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism. In this wide ranging conversation Ornstein and FRDH host Michael Goldfarb analyze the current situation, discuss whether the 2026 Midterm elections will be free and fair and what can be done right now to push back on the radical path Trump and the MAGA Republicans are trying to force America down. Give us 58:39 to explain.

Veteran journalist and author Ray Suarez has some thoughts on the intense campaign being waged by Donald Trump and his officials on America's Latino population. Nearly 60,000 allegedly illegal "criminal" immigrants were detained in less than five months since Trump took office, the overwhelming majority have no criminal record. Suarez explains to FRDH podcast host Michael Goldfarb how this has overwhelmed America's large and complex Latino community -- 65 million + strong -- and analyzes what the political fallout will be for Trump and his MAGA Republican Party in the future. Give us 43:41 to explain

The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution enshrines citizenship by birthright, but a combination of a SCOTUS decision endorsing Trump's executive order that has led to snatch-squads dragging mostly Hispanic immigrants to prison without due process calls the Amendment's survival into question. This conversation with Damon Silvers, law professor and veteran of many Capitol Hill crises, looks at all the ramifications of SCOTUS' 6-3 decision in Trump v CASA and casts a cool eye over the prospects for snatch-squad fascism becoming a way of life in the US. Like having a private tutorial for 34:38.

The US attack on Iran's nuclear sites June 21st brings to mind the last of Donald Rumsfeld’s infamous unknowns at the start of the Iraq War the "unknown unknowns" aka blowback. What is it possible to know about what will happen next, or is everything an unknown? In this hour-long FRDH podcast special, recorded the day after the US joined Israel in a war on Iran, Professor Roxane Farmanfarmaian of the University of Cambridge, and Ned Temko, a columnist for the Christian Science Monitor. who have been writing about Iran since the Iranian revolution in 1979 parse through what might happen next and what the blowback will be.

We are in an age of authoritarian democracy, and Turkey and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan is its paradigm. Erdogan has been in power more than 2 decades and created the template men like Victor Orban and Bibi Netanyahu have been followingin using democracy's tools to become authoritarian leaders. And now there's Donald Trump. Veteran journalist Andrew Finkel who has been reporting from the country for decades explains the process. You can hear parallels to what is unfolding in the US. Give us 39:30 to explain.

Does Donald Trump have a rhyme or reason for starting the 21st century's first major trade war? The Financial Times' Martin Sandbu isn't sure but he has some ideas and also helpful hints about how to interpret Trump's "deals" that aren't anything of the sort. He gives FRDH podcast host a 44 minute long tutorial in the rhyme and reason behind Trump's actions and how the rest of the world is likely to react.