Iran & America: A Century and Counting

From the oil concessions of 1901 to the standoffs of today — eleven episodes on how Iran and the United States went from allies to adversaries: Mosaddegh and the 1953 coup, the Shah's fall, the hostage crisis, Iran-Contra, Stuxnet, the nuclear deal and its collapse. Built on the declassified record. Narrated by AI voices from sourced, human-reviewed research.

Iran & America: A Century and Counting is a education podcast hosted by Nick Mackenzie, with 11 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Nick Mackenzie hosts Iran & America: A Century and Counting, a education show with 11 episodes published.

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  Episode #11

  Operation Epic Fury: The 2026 US–Iran War and the Hormuz Oil Shock

  Jun 11, 2026—S0

  In February 2026, decades of failed diplomacy ended in open war: roughly 900 strikes in twelve hours, a Supreme Leader killed, and oil past $100 a barrel. The finale covers the 2026 war in a strictly sober, factual register — this is current, lethal, and ongoing. We lay out Operation Epic Fury, the death of Ali Khamenei in the opening wave, Iran's missile-and-drone retaliation, the move to close the Strait of Hormuz and the global energy shock that followed, and the fragile Pakistan-mediated ceasefire. We're explicit that the situation is still unfolding and the historical verdict is not yet written.

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  Episode #10

  How the Iran Nuclear Deal Collapsed: JCPOA, Maximum Pressure & Soleimani

  Jun 11, 2026—S0

  Painstakingly built, then torn up. How the 2015 nuclear deal came together — and how its collapse pushed the two countries to the brink of war. Episode 10 tells the deal's whole arc. A secret Oman channel and the first presidential phone call since 1979 lead to the 2015 JCPOA: Iran ships out enriched uranium, slashes centrifuges, and accepts intrusive inspections, pushing "breakout time" from weeks to about a year. Then, in 2018 — with inspectors certifying compliance — Trump withdraws and launches "maximum pressure." Iran rebuilds its stockpile; tanker incidents and a downed drone follow; and on January 3, 2020, a U.S. drone strike kills Qasem Soleimani, drawing Irania...

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  Episode #9

  Stuxnet: The Cyberweapon That Sabotaged Iran's Nuclear Program

  Jun 11, 2026—S0

  A piece of code physically destroyed thousands of Iranian centrifuges — opening the age of digital sabotage and reshaping the whole nuclear standoff. Episode 9 focuses on Stuxnet: the covert U.S.–Israeli cyber campaign that wrecked centrifuges at Natanz without a shot fired, and what it meant for a crisis that had no military off-ramp. We explain how the attack worked in plain terms, why it bought time without resolving anything, and how crushing banking and oil sanctions — plus a secret backchannel through Oman — began pushing Iran toward the negotiating table.

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  Episode #8

  Axis of Evil to Stuxnet: How the Iran Nuclear Crisis Began

  Jun 11, 2026—S0

  Iran quietly helped the U.S. after 9/11 — then got branded part of an "Axis of Evil." Then a secret enrichment site blew the nuclear crisis wide open. Episode 8 traces how the nuclear standoff opened. Post-9/11 cooperation against the Taliban is undone by Bush's January 2002 "Axis of Evil" speech; that same year an exile group exposes the secret enrichment site at Natanz and the heavy-water project at Arak, revealing the infrastructure of a possible weapons capability. We explain enrichment and "breakout" simply, and set up the covert sabotage and diplomacy to come.

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  Episode #7

  The Reset That Never Happened: US–Iran Relations in the 1990s

  Jun 11, 2026—S0

  After Khomeini's death, a reformist president reached out with a "Dialogue Among Civilizations." So why couldn't Washington and Tehran turn a thaw into a deal? Episode 7 explains the 1990s in a measured tone. The Clinton administration's "dual containment" boxed in both Iran and Iraq; a 1995 total embargo and the 1996 Iran–Libya Sanctions Act tightened the screws. A real opening flickered with the 1997 election of reformist Mohammad Khatami — but entrenched mistrust and hardliners in both capitals kept a softer rhetoric from becoming real diplomacy.

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