FiveStack with Dean Blundell & Zev Shalev

Dueling intelligence reports revealed the hollowness of Trump's Iran strike theater this week, while world leaders resort to creepy flattery to manage America's compromised president. From Venice wedding protests to progressive upsets in New York, the cracks in the establishment are showing everywhere. Narativ with Zev Shalev is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my w...

Day 155 delivered peak Trump chaos: a president cursing out allies on live TV while 408 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium vanishes into the wind. After announcing military strikes on Truth Social and negotiating ceasefires through all-caps posts, Trump's Middle East adventure collapsed so spectacularly that Iran is now openly mocking his "obliteration" claims. BREAKING: Trump dropped an F-bomb on...

Iran fired ballistic missiles at a US base in Qatar today in direct retaliation for Trump's weekend nuclear facility strikes—but the real story isn't the carefully choreographed military theater. It's how Trump's "decisive action" handed Vladimir Putin the biggest financial windfall of his war against Ukraine while accelerating every threat the bombing was supposed to eliminate. 5️⃣ Iran Threatens...

5️⃣ Europe Declares Tech War on Musk Europe just fired a $1.35 billion shot across Elon Musk's bow, with France leading a massive funding round for Eutelsat specifically to counter Starlink's dominance. The French government becomes the largest shareholder with a 30% stake, positioning Eutelsat as Europe's "sovereign alternative" to Musk's space internet monopoly. This isn't just business—France c...

Barack Obama delivered his starkest warning yet this week: America is "dangerously close to normalizing autocratic behavior" and democracy is "probably as weak as it's been since I've been alive." The former president's urgent alarm comes as authoritarian consolidation accelerates on multiple fronts, from surveillance targeting journalists to health questions about the man with nuclear codes. 5️⃣...

5️⃣ ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT PUSHES TOWARD GLOBAL WAR Day six of direct Israel-Iran conflict escalated dramatically as explosions rocked Tehran and Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei declared "the battle begins." Trump told reporters "I may do it, I may not do it" about striking Iran while Pentagon forces build up across the Middle East. Defense Secretary Hegseth confirmed "day-after" planning for Iran a...

5️⃣ TRUMP'S G7 HEALTH DISASTER Dean called it days in advance, and the meltdown exceeded every prediction. Trump arrived in Canada looking "pale and lethargic," fell asleep during meetings, slurred his speech, and launched into a rambling Putin-praising rant that left world leaders speechless. Canadian PM Mark Carney literally had to rescue him from his own incoherence, stepping in to cut off the...

5️⃣ Trump's Military Parade Humiliation Meets 12 Million No Kings Protesters The visual contrast couldn't have been starker this weekend. While 10-13 million Americans flooded the streets for No Kings protests across the country, Trump's $95 million military parade drew just 20,000 people—most of them forced military families and paid actors. The soldiers themselves staged their own silent protest...

If you’re protesting tomorrow and would like to join our live coverage at 3 PM ET - email me with details of where you’ll be for the live shot and why we should feature you on our live coverage - The e-mail is next@narativ.org Breaking news dominated today's FiveStack as Iranian missiles struck buildings in Tel Aviv with seven people injured, marking a dramatic escalation after Israel's "Operation...

Marine Corps veteran Janessa Goldbeck joined The FiveStack for a special edition to break down what she calls "a completely unprecedented use of the United States military domestically." Her analysis of Marines deployed to LA streets reveals how Trump is systematically dismantling military apolitical traditions while creating pretexts for expanded authoritarian control. 5️⃣ The Posse Comitatus Vio...

Narativ is offering an incredible opportunity - Become an annual subscriber at 35% off. 5️⃣ LA Mayor Considers Curfew as 100 Arrested Mayor Karen Bass is considering curfews after 100 arrests Monday night—but here's the reality check our LA subscribers keep sending us: this "chaos" is confined to roughly 0.2% of the city's total area. While Trump deploys 4,700 federal troops for what amounts to a...

We’ve gone bonkers! We took Dean’s challenge and the annual rate just dropped to our lowest ever! 35% off our annual plan for a limited time! The Top 5 Stories Of The Day 5️⃣ Stephen Miller's Personal War Comes Full Circle The architect behind the Los Angeles immigration crackdown is Stephen Miller, whose childhood trauma now drives federal policy. Raised wealthy in Santa Monica but forced into di...

The most powerful revelation this week wasn't another Trump scandal or Musk meltdown—it was the image of America's president reduced to desperately texting Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, begging for relief from a trade war that's destroying the U.S. economy while Canada builds the future without them. 5️⃣ America Mints 562,000 New Millionaires While Economy Craters The U.S. created 562,000 n...

The MAGA civil war just went thermonuclear. What started as policy disagreements over EV tax credits escalated into Elon Musk publicly accusing Donald Trump of being Jeffrey Epstein's pedophile buddy. We watched it happen in real time as two narcissists destroyed each other with the kind of viciousness that makes Game of Thrones look like Mr. Rogers. 5️⃣ The Ultimate Breakup Revenge Fantasy Plays...

t 5️⃣ Putin Vows Retaliation After Ukraine's "Spiderweb" Devastation Vladimir Putin "very strongly" threatened Donald Trump that Russia "will have to respond" to Ukraine's devastating Operation Spider's Web during a 75-minute phone call that sounded like it came straight from Sputnik News. Ukraine's 18-month operation destroyed 41 Russian aircraft including nuclear-capable bombers across five time...

5️⃣ Elon Musk Nukes Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" The Trump-Musk honeymoon officially ended when Elon torched Trump's signature spending package as a "massive, outrageous, pork-filled disgusting abomination." But strip away Musk's fake concern for American taxpayers—this fight is purely personal. The bill redirects AI contracts to Trump cronies like Palantir, guts clean energy credits that fund Tes...

Show Summary: Ukrainian ingenuity devastates Russian air power while Trump's authoritarianism drives international isolation, allied military buildups, and, did we mention? ICE arrested a high school honors student on his way to Volleyball practice for the crime of being "un-American”—revealing a superpower in decline as the free world prepares to lead without America. 5️⃣ ICE DETAINS HONOR STUDEN...

The American constitutional system flexed its muscles Thursday, delivering crushing blows to Trump's authoritarian overreach. Here's how the rule of law fought back: 5️⃣ Federal Courts Demolish Trump's Tariff Scam Two separate federal courts declared Trump's global tariffs "contrary to law" and "unlawful," with judges calling his emergency justifications "a figment of his own imagination." The U.S...

5️⃣ Student Visa Freeze: A War On Intelligence Trump ordered US embassies worldwide to immediately stop scheduling visa interviews for all foreign students, expanding comprehensive social media screening to every international applicant. The economic carnage: 1.1 million international students contribute $44 billion annually and support 378,000 American jobs. California faces $6.4 billion in losse...

5️⃣ KING CHARLES TROLLS TRUMP WITH CANADIAN THRONE SPEECH King Charles III delivered the first throne speech by a monarch in Canada since 1977, and it was a diplomatic masterpiece. With full royal pageantry—carriage processions, military honors, the works—Charles sat on his own Canadian throne and delivered what Dean called "one of the most incredibly symbolic statements ever made in the history o...

In a special FiveStack with Olga Lautman sitting in for Dean Blundell, we broke down the most dangerous provisions in Trump's 1,100-page "Big Beautiful Bill" that passed the House 215-214 in the dead of night. Here are the five biggest threats to American democracy: 5️⃣ THE RESTAURANT PAYROLL SCAM Tax-free tips and overtime sounds great until you realize it creates a massive loophole for restauran...

5️⃣ SENATE ADVANCES CRYPTO BILL BENEFITING TRUMP FAMILY The Senate voted 66-32 to advance the "GENIUS Act," which will directly benefit Trump's $2.1 billion UAE-backed stablecoin venture through his family firm World Liberty Financial. Senator Warner flipped to support the bill, claiming "the U.S. can't afford to keep standing on the sidelines" despite warnings from Elizabeth Warren that it would...

Help fund Lev Parnas’ effort to build a pro-democracy movement by becoming a paid supporter here And for a limited time get 25% off Narativ’s annual plan by clicking the button below. 5️⃣ Little Odessa In a special FiveStack episode, Lev Parnas took viewers on a remarkable journey through Brighton Beach, the Brooklyn neighborhood where he grew up after immigrating from Ukraine. Walking the streets...

25% Off Our Annual Subscription Rate For A Limited Time 5️⃣ Romania's Democratic Test Weekend Romania's presidential election this Sunday isn't just another European vote—it's a litmus test for Russian disinformation's reach into the heart of Europe. Centrist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, backed by French President Macron in a video call this week, faces off against hard-right candidate George Sime...

Subscribe to Hamish McKenzie and Dean Blundell by clicking on their names or sign up to Narativ.org and receive 25% off our annual subscription below. Traditional media is dying. Journalists are being laid off en masse. Trust in news is at historic lows, suppression has led to self-censorship. Are we witnessing the end of teh free press, or a rebirth. On tonight’s FiveStack, Substack co-founder Ha...