We just talked live with journalist and author Scott Anderson about King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution — A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation a history of the fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Reza Pahlavi, an exploration of that country’s complex geopolitical history and its entanglement with the United States, and how the mistakes of the past set up the mistakes of the present.
Anderson talked to us about the book, how the cardinal sin of previous American administrations — believing their own propaganda — laid the table for Donald Trump to replay the Bush administration’s campaign against Iraq, launch this war on Iran, and kick off the spiraling crisis consuming the Middle East and the world economy, why this war is so unlikely to remove the current Iranian regime, the dangers facing reporters today, and much more.
If you’ve been looking to understand how we got into the current Middle East crisis, you won’t want to miss this. Just click on the video player above to watch now.
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How to participate in the Book Club
Each week, we’ll post questions — our discussion guide — on Sunday, and on alternate Wednesdays we’ll meet for a discussion with the Club or a visit from an author or other special guest (occasionally we’ll schedule on alternate days or times, but we will let you know). Look out for posts with further details.
The Book Club will meet next on Friday, March 20, also at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, with Laura Beers, author of Orwell’s Ghosts.
To participate in our meetings and author talks on Substack Live, join from your phone or tablet with the Substack app. You can also watch from your computer at The Ink, and comment and ask questions in our chat, but you won’t be able to join the live video discussion. Make sure you enable notifications, and when our meetings begin, you should receive an email alert; if you can’t find the message, just check the notifications tab (the small bell-shaped icon to the upper right of the website or lower right of the app at the time of the event to find a link.
Book Club meetings are open to paid subscribers to The Ink, so if you haven’t become part of our community, join us today!
