Shows
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisTrump, the Supreme Court, and the Future of the Trade War đ Prefer to Read? Full Article HereThe U.S. Supreme Court has stepped directly into the trade war. In February 2026, the Court issued a major ruling limiting presidential tariff authority, raising constitutional questions about executive power, congressional delegation, and the future of U.S. trade policy.In this episode of Atlantic Lens (listen wherever you get your podcasts), I break down:⢠What the Supreme Court actually decided⢠Why separation of powers matters in trade policy⢠Why President Trump reacted so forcefully, including criticism of justices he appointed⢠The confusion over 10% vs. 15% tariff enforcement⢠FedExâs lawsu...
2026-03-0209 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisPodcast: Why Trumpâs Greenland Obsession Was Never About SecurityIn this episode of Atlantic Lens, we unpack why Greenland has suddenly re-entered U.S. political discourse, and why the security case behind it doesnât stand up to scrutiny.Donald Trump framed Greenland as a critical national security asset, pointing to Russia, China, and a rapidly changing Arctic. But according to leading Arctic experts, the obsession with Greenland has far less to do with defense than with power, symbolism, and political disruption.Featuring insights from former U.S. Arctic policymaker David Balton and Arctic security analyst Andreas Ăsthagen, this episode breaks down what Washington act...
2026-02-0908 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisA Tragedy in San Francisco: Where the Law Draws the LineOn a quiet Saturday in March 2024, a Portuguese-Brazilian family of four was killed while waiting for a bus in San Franciscoâs West Portal neighborhood. A driver traveling more than three times the speed limit mounted the curb and struck them. No drugs. No alcohol. No medical emergency. Four people, including two very young children, died.Nearly two years later, a judge was asked a narrower but deeply unsettling question: should the felony charges against the driver be reduced to misdemeanors?In this episode of Atlantic Lens, I walk through the facts of the case, th...
2026-02-0110 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisInside the Mind of the Iranian State: A Conversation with a Former Political PrisonerHow does a regime survive 1,000% inflation and protests in 150 cities? Kian Tajbakhsh, a world-renowned political scientist and former Iranian political prisoner, breaks down the current crisis in Iran. As of Tuesday, January 27 (31st day), the wave of unrest has claimed the lives of at least 6,221 people, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), which is currently investigating another 17,000 reports of fatalities, potentially bringing the toll to over 23,000.Tajbakhsh was âExhibit Aâ in a Stalinist-style televised trial in Tehran. He spent years in Evin Prison, looking into the eyes of interrogators who told him they woul...
2026-01-2832 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisWhat 'El Chapo' and Noriega Teach Us About Maduroâs FateHistory is repeating itself. 36 years to the day after Manuel Noriegaâs capture, NicolĂĄs Maduro faces the same legal fate. But having covered the trials of El Chapo and Juan Orlando HernĂĄndez from inside the courtroom, I argue that the legal victory is the easy part. The real danger is the power vacuum left behind.In this episode, I break down the specific legal trap the SDNY has set for Maduro, why "Head of State" immunity won't save him, and why the fragmentation of the Cartel of the Suns could lead to more violence, not less...
2026-01-1908 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisJeffrey Epstein: Prison Negligence or Conspiracy? A Former Federal Prosecutor Breaks It DownIn this episode of Atlantic Lens, I speak with David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor, now in private pratice, who worked in the Southern District of Florida - the first office to investigate Jeffrey Epstein - to unpack what the public still gets wrong about Epsteinâs death.David Weinstein has stepped inside federal detention centers about a hundred times. He knows exactly what those guards were doing while the cameras were off, and it wasnât a conspiracy. It was something much more common.This conversation is the second layer of reporting following my inve...
2026-01-1329 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisRenato Seabra 15 Years Later and the Limits of the Insanity Defense in U.S. CourtsEditorâs Note Fifteen years have passed since the âRenato Seabra case,â my first criminal justice assignment in the United States. In the decade and a half since the 2011 trial, I have tracked the intersection of mental health and the American punitive system through the lens of this case. I am writing about this case now not to revisit the crime itself, but because recent cases have exposed the same recurring misunderstandings about how the American justice system works.⸝The very first criminal justice case I covered in New York taught me how quickly...
2026-01-0709 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisThe Dictatorâs Day in Court: Maduro Enters 'Not Guilty' Plea If you missed the preview of the hearing, read it here.The transition from a presidential palace in Caracas to a high-security cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn is a distance that cannot be measured in miles.Today, NicolĂĄs Maduro Moros and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared before Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse for their formal arraignment. Under the heavy gaze of U.S. Marshals and amidst a total security lockdown of Pearl Street, the couple, once the most powerful figures in Venezuela, stood t...
2026-01-0508 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisJustice Without Judgment, Gary Zukav and the Earth SchoolThere are intellectual, and spiritual, encounters that flip us inside out. Gary Zukav, who is the author of âThe Seat of the Soulâ - a 36-year-old bestseller that somehow feels timeless - is one of them. Iâm reading the book for the second time. The first was about three years ago, at the beginning of my true spiritual awakening, when it blew me wide open. And recently, I listened to a podcast episode of his that struck me as particularly provocative, so I want to share some reflections with you.Zukav became a global refere...
2025-12-2911 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisTwo Brilliant Physicists, Two Diverging PathsWhat do former classmates remember and what do they refuse to speculate about?In this 10-minute documentary-style episode of Atlantic Lens, journalist Marta Dhanis reconstructs the early academic years of ClĂĄudio Valente and Nuno Loureiro at Lisbonâs Instituto Superior TĂŠcnico - long before violence reshaped their names.Through firsthand testimony from former colleagues and teaching assistants, this episode traces two brilliant but diverging trajectories: one marked by rupture, silence, and disappearance; the other by steady international recognition and scientific achievement.The episode explores elite academic pressure, immigration and identity, unprocessed fail...
2025-12-2209 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisProtecting Kids Online: a Global Wake-Up Call from AustraliaAustralia just became the first democracy to ban social media for anyone under 16, a decision shaking governments, platforms, and parents worldwide.In this episode, Stephen Balkam, founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), a global non-profit, breaks down what this moment tells us: explains why this moment matters far beyond Australia. He breaks down how Europe is preparing its next big regulatory push under the DSA review, why the U.S. fell years behind after weakened protections by the Trump administration, and what his latest international research reveals about parents and teens across multiple...
2025-12-1525 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisWhy Certain Trials Grip a Nation: What the Brian Walshe Case Reveals About America and About UsWhen Ana Walshe vanished on New Yearâs Day 2023, the case spiraled into one of the most shocking domestic crime stories in recent American memory. In this episode, Marta Dhanis unpacks the evidence, the digital trail, and the psychological pull behind the Brian Walshe trial. A transatlantic look at true crime, justice, and the stories we canât look away from. Get full access to Atlantic Lens by Marta Dhanis at atlanticlens.substack.com/subscribe
2025-12-0909 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta DhanisA Harvard Scandal Years in the Making: Epsteinâs Circle UnravelsThis week, I look at what the latest wave of Epstein disclosures actually tells us, not just about one man, but about the ecosystem that enabled him. From newly released congressional emails to Donald Trumpâs sudden push for full disclosure, and now a prominent economist stepping down under scrutiny, the story has entered a new phase.I break down whatâs real, whatâs political theatre, and why the quiet collapse of reputational immunity inside elite institutions matters more than any headline.This is the unraveling, finally happening in daylight. Get full access to Atl...
2025-12-0310 min
Atlantic Lens, a Podcast by Marta Dhanis'Atlantic Lens' Podcast: Listening To Your Inner Voice, And Madonna's TooWhy do so many powerful artists and public figures rise fast, burn bright, and then collapse under the weight of their own success?In this episode of Atlantic Lens, I reflect on a rare, revealing interview Madonna gave to Jay Shetty, not to discuss celebrity, but to examine what happens when success outpaces inner life.Drawing from my years covering public figures under pressure and my own spiritual journey, I explore why ambition without grounding so often leads to self-destruction and why spirituality, consciousness, and inner structure may be the missing anchor we rarely talk...
2025-11-2408 min