What Happens Next in 6 Minutes

Today’s topic is How the Rich Improve Our Democracy.Our speaker is John McGinnis who is a constitutional law professor at Northwestern Law School. Get full access to What Happens Next in 6 Minutes with Larry Bernstein at www.whathappensnextin6minutes.com/subscribe

Yaakov Katz, former Jerusalem Post editor and author on Israeli security, brings frontline reporting and analysis. He describes the deepening U.S.-Israel military integration and CENTCOM shift. He traces shifting regional alliances, Arab states’ growing alignment, and the strategic stakes involving Iran and regional stability.

Hal Brands, a Johns Hopkins professor and former special assistant on strategic planning, offers sharp analysis on U.S. aims and strategy in the Iran war. He explores murky American objectives, U.S.–Israel operational integration, asymmetric maritime threats, Iran’s battlefield losses yet continued resilience, and what limited postwar options might look like.

James Holmes, a maritime strategy professor and author, breaks down how to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. He compares convoys, area defense, and tactical offense. He weighs arming tankers versus letting navies handle high-end threats. He discusses drone swarms, insurance and rerouting, environmental risks from tanker sinkings, and what low-tech attacks mean for naval balance.

Eran Ortal, former IDF commander and military thinker, explains how modern warfare pushes decision power to the battlefield. He discusses piercing Iran’s defenses, adapting the OODA loop to faster tech, limits of long‑range strikes, and lessons for China contingencies. Short, strategic conversations about decentralization, proxy dynamics, and when military action changes political outcomes.

Amir Avivi, retired Israeli brigadier general and chair of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, offers military and strategic perspective. He discusses how Israel achieved surprise in Iran, the implications of a compromised Iranian command and control, why Iran is striking neutral neighbors, shifts in regional alignments, and the growing role of AI and air defenses.

Welcome to What Happens Next. My name is Larry Bernstein. What Happens Next is a podcast which covers economics, politics, and history. Today’s topic is Bolton on the War in Iran.John Bolton was the National Security Advisor in Trump’s first term. I want to know from John if attacking Iran is a good idea? Whether it is legal under international law and is constitutional? How he would handle the diplomacy with our allies if he were back in charge, and how this will end up? Get full access to What Happens Next in 6 Minutes with Larry Bernstein at www.whathappensnextin6minutes.com/subscribe

Our speaker is Nick Griffin who is the author of The Year of Dangerous Days: Riots, Refugees, and Cocaine in 1980, and he spoke about that book on a previous podcast. Today, Nick is going to speak about his new play English Only which had its opening run at the Colony Theater in Miami Beach.In 1980 125,000 Cubans arrived in Miami in two months and many of these new Spanish speakers were not fluent in English and that frustrated many native Miamians. I want to discuss with Nick the importance of English being the lingua franca in the US and whether the government should encourage its use by recent immigrants. Get full access to What Happens Next in 6 Minutes with Larry Bernstein at www.whathappensnextin6minutes.com/subscribe

President Trump recently nominated Kevin Warsh to be the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.  In October 2022, Kevin spoke on What Happens Next along with my old boss Myron Scholes who was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics.In this episode I include excerpts from that previous meeting as well as an additional interview with John Cochrane who is a Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute, and he will discuss the challenges that Kevin will face in his new job. Get full access to What Happens Next in 6 Minutes with Larry Bernstein at www.whathappensnextin6minutes.com/subscribe

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow who studies populism and political rhetoric, breaks down why Trump’s blunt, repetitive style resonates. He discusses sincerity vs. polished speeches. He examines media attention, who responds to this rhetoric, how it shapes policy communication, and whether other politicians will copy these tactics moving forward.