Danny and Derek fight fake news as they fight their allergies. In this week’s news: Trump and Xi meet; Trump rejects Iran’s ceasefire terms (3:09); Gulf states continue strikes against Iran-linked targets (5:53); U.S. intelligence estimates show Iran retains most missiles (8:48); Asian economies cut energy use with fertilizer shortages threatening crops (10:24); Gaza ceasefire plans appear to proceed without Hamas disarmament (12:58), Israel moves closer to an early election (15:47), and Netanyahu publicizes a UAE visit as Abu Dhabi denies it (17:40); Lebanon and Israel pursue talks as Israeli attacks continue (20:03); jihadist attacks intensify in Mali (24:37); Russia and Ukraine resume attacks after a brief ceasefire (27:45); Wes Streeting quits while Labour pressure builds on Starmer (30:09); CNN reports the CIA’s involvement in cartel killings in Mexico (32:20); and U.S. military activity raises fears of a Cuba operation (34:02).

Don’t forget to listen to our latest miniseries, Marx Prestige.

And join us for our livestream every Wednesday at 8pm ET. Enjoy the replay of this week’s.

What happens when a government goes all in on AI? It creates some huge vulnerabilities. Will Dunn joins Paris Marx to dig into how the UK government is using chatbots to write laws without public consultation and why it isn’t asking the hard questions about the risks of that growing reliance on US technology.

Will Dunn is the business editor at the New Statesman.

Last week was one of the roughest for Democrats since Trump won the election in 2024 - the Supreme Court ended Black congressional representation in most of the South and opened the door to the creation of several more Republican House seats – and then the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the state’s initiative that created four more Democratic House seats was invalid. Nevertheless Trump is so unpopular that Democrats remain strong favorites to retake the House in November. Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: During the first part of the 20th century, 100,000 Eastern European Jews joined a socialist organization that opposed Zionism. Their organization we call the Bund, and they believed that Jews should fight for full rights wherever they were, not for a new homeland somewhere else. Their motto was “here, where we live, is our country”--that's the title of a new book by Molly Crabapple. Adam Hochschild comments.