Something extraordinary just happened in Japan… but of course no one is paying attention! A ruling party written off as tired and scandal-plagued didn’t just win – they delivered a generational landslide. Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female Prime Minister, led her Liberal Democrats into a victory so complete that the opposition straight up imploded (see:...
Hamidreza Azizi joins the pod for an emergency episode on the current state of Iran amidst escalating tensions with the United States. Azizi examines the potential for conflict between the two and and offers insights into Iran’s internal politics, the role of the IRGC, and the possible repercussions of a U.S. attack. — Timestamps: (00:00)...
Jacob sits down with agricultural economist Dr. David Kohl to unpack what a brutal downturn in farm profitability reveals about globalization, capital concentration, labor shortages, and long-term economic resilience. The two touch on tariffs, debt, and the limits of export-led growth, and then the conversation widens to examine how technology, demographics, and financial fragility are...
Andrey Sizov, a Black Sea agricultural markets, joins the pod to talk about about why the Russia-Ukraine war has disrupted global grain trade far less than expected – and why that may be changing. Jacob and Sizov examine recent attacks on shipping, the fragile balance keeping Black Sea exports moving, and how escalation could ripple...
Economist Mike Konczal joins the show to unpack the escalating pressure campaign against the Federal Reserve, new inflation data, and what all of this means for the U.S. economy. Jacob and Mike discuss whether Trump’s confrontation with Jerome Powell is genuinely dangerous, how tariffs and immigration policy are shaping prices and growth, and why the...
Shock, instability, climate stress, financial panic, political rupture: the question isn’t who avoids disruption, but who absorbs it and keeps moving. Jacob invites on Parag Khanna of AlphaGeo to wrestle with a harder metric than dominance or growth – resilience. What actually allows states, systems, and societies to adapt when the rules keep changing? Shapiro...
Venezuela has become the flashpoint for a new era of American hard power – not just a regime change, but a raw assertion of dominance over the “backyard.” Elohim Monard graces the pod with his presence once more as the U.S. treats a sovereign nation like a criminal organization to secure global oil markets, and...
Jacob takes on the U.S. seizure of Nicolás Maduro and what it reveals about American power, imperial strategy, and hemispheric priorities. This was less about China or narco-trafficking and more of than a blunt assertion of control over resources and geography. Venezuela is a test case, possibly a rehearsal, for deeper U.S. intervention in the...
What if the money in your pocket wasn’t a tool for freedom, but a mechanism for control? Inflation, surveillance, and financial exclusion actively shape who can save, speak, or participate in the global economy. Alex Gladstein joins the show to examine money as a human-rights issue, exploring how new digital tools are being used in...
Elohim Monard joins The Jacob Shapiro Podcast to discuss Latin America. A massive geopolitical integration in LatAm is quietly underway, fueled by a “Trumpian” rightward shift sweeping from the Southern Cone to the Rio Grande. As traditional alliances fracture, a new “practical ideology” is emerging to unite the hemisphere through hard-fist security tactics and aggressive...
