Roundup #75: Checking in on the Bad Guys

It’s a new year, so I’ve decided to change how I name these roundup posts. I’m retiring the name “At least five interesting things”, which is cumbersome and felt a little repetitive. Instead I’ll just call it “roundup”. I’m keeping the numbers for now, so people who want to link back to a specific roundup post can differentiate them.

Anyway, I’ve got a couple of fun podcasts for you, both about AI! The first is me and Liron Shapira on his podcast Doom Debates, talking about AI safety, and referencing my post on that topic from a few weeks ago:

The second podcast is with Jeff Schechtman, in which I make my case for techno-optimism and complain that Americans are too fearful of the future:

Talk Cocktail Podcast

The Technophobia Trap: How America Lost Its Nerve in the Age of AI

Why is America uniquely terrified of AI while the world races ahead? The arguments driving that fear often collapse under scrutiny—real concerns go unaddressed…

Listen now

4 days ago · 1 comment · Jeff Schechtman

Anyway, on to this week’s roundup! Consistent with the theme of “Checking in on the bad guys”, let’s start with some items about the New Axis powers:

1. Iran’s chaos is partially economic

Everyone’s eyes are fixed on Iran’s protests and the regime’s brutal response to them, waiting to see if the Islamic Republic falls or manages to shoot its way out of this crisis. But it’s also interesting to take a look at the material roots of the unrest. Zineb Riboua has an article in The National Interest detailing some of the regime’s failures on the economic front. One key issue that relatively few outsiders seem to know about is the country’s water crisis:

Crucially, the regime’s failures are starkly visible in Iran’s accelerating water crisis, which has evolved from an environmental strain into a political fault line. A country of more than 90 million people is confronting its worst drought in over half a century, with collapsing aquifers, dried rivers, and water rationing spreading across cities and provinces. Instead of addressing decades of reckless dam construction and unsustainable agricultural policy, the regime has increasingly shifted blame outward. Iranian officials and state-aligned media have accused neighboring countries such as Turkey, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia of diverting rain clouds, and more recently have alleged that the United States and Israel are manipulating