The battle over what we believe - from political propaganda to the power of images.Jian opens with “The Islamic Republic Is in Your Head,” an essay about the regime’s efforts to shape Western opinion, recast repression as resistance, and claim the sympathy denied to its victims.Journalist and The Foreign Desk founder Lisa Daftari returns from Los Angeles to discuss cognitive warfare, Western institutions’ receptiveness to regime narratives, and the distinction between quiescence and complicity. The conversation also examines sanctions, American diplomacy, the US midterms, and the danger of Iranian freedom disappearing from the negotiating agenda.Plus, a feature interview recorded in London with acclaimed painter Afshin Naghouni at Kings Place. His ambitious exhibition, Reveries in Fracture, sets the stage for a conversation about the unsettling relationship between brutality and beauty, the reconstruction of memory, and the pull of nostalgia.This episode is brought to you with the support of Avoca Chocolates - https://avocachocolates.comThank you for listening and supporting independent media.