{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Frealclearinvestigations.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2F133-2PKqM0BM","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Trump’s Third Way in Iran | RealClearInvestigations Podcast #133","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/69be5d4f-b498-44bc-b3b5-f614ce9a7957/6bf2c28d-d4c1-47db-b789-f3c1393e54ed/cropped_1788558377778.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney mark Labor Day by giving their guests the week off. In an extended news round-up, Zane and Varney discuss two articles on the Iran conflict – a Tablet article detailing Trump’s evolving strategy and an AP piece on how the Pentagon’s latest precision missiles are not so precise. \n\nTurning their attention to the changing world of journalism, they discuss a Semafor story describing how online ‘ghost creators’ are pushing fake news and a Columbia Journalism Review report on how New York City’s Mayor is shaping the news by paying social media influencers. Finally, Zane and Varney look at two articles related to the 25th anniversary of 9/11.\n\n00:00 Cold Open: The Mamdani Influencer Story \n01:16 This Week on RealClearInvestigations.com \n02:00 Trump's Iran Strategy: A Third Way Between Bush and Obama (Tablet/Michael Doran) \n06:18 AP's Investigation Into U.S. Precision Munitions & Pentagon Contracting \n11:47 Semafor: The Rise of AI-Scripted \"Ghost Creator\" Influencers \n12:44 Columbia Journalism Review: Mamdani's Paid Influencer Network \n17:10 9/11 at 25: The Human and Economic Toll \n19:44 Douglas Murray on Why Conspiracy Theories Endure \n24:57 Who Falls for Conspiracy Theories — and Which Side Does It More? "}