Monthly Archives: June 2025

Ecotones – Russell Rowland BE A MAN: Raised in the Shadow of Cowboys

Russell Rowland is a Montana author, journalist, pod caster and radio personality. His radio program, 56 Counties, broadcasts on Yellowstone Public Radio. That’s also the title of one of his non-fiction books. His novels include In Open Spaces, The Watershed Years, High and Inside, Arbuckle, and Cold Country.

His latest book is a memoir, BE A MAN: RAISED IN THE SHADOW OF COWBOYS. In it he reflects on what it means to grow up in the West from boyhood to manhood, how he came to be a writer, and why he chose to return to his roots here in Montana after so many years away.

We spoke with him in our Beyond the Deep End studio on June 6, 2025.

Why are liberals so scary? https://dailymontanan.com/2025/05/20/why-are-liberals-so-scary/

Montana’s history gives insight into controlling the narrative by controlling the press https://dailymontanan.com/2025/05/06/montanas-history-gives-insight-into-controlling-the-narrative-by-controlling-the-press/

Mental health resources often ignored in rural, ranching Montana https://dailymontanan.com/2025/04/22/mental-health-resources-often-ignored-in-rural-ranching-montana/

When sedition came to Montana … https://dailymontanan.com/2025/04/01/when-sedition-came-to-montana/

Flowers emerges as a leader by finding common ground https://dailymontanan.com/2025/03/19/flowers-emerges-as-a-leader-by-finding-common-ground/

We could learn about better care of natural resources through our Native American communities https://dailymontanan.com/2024/09/24/we-could-learn-about-better-care-of-natural-resources-through-our-native-american-communities/

Vali Nasr IRAN’S GRAND STRATEGY: A National History

Vali Nasr is the Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. His books include THE DISPENSABLE NATION: AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY IN RETREAT; THE SHIA REVIVAL: HOW CONFLICTS WITHIN ISLAM WILL SHAPE THE FUTURE, and (with Ali Gheissari) DEMOCRACY IN IRAN: HISTORY AND THE QUEST FOR LIBERTY.

His latest book, IRAN’S GRAND STRATEGY: A POLITICAL HISTORY, which was published by Princeton University Press in late May, 2025.
We spoke with Professor Nasr from Brussels, Belgium via FaceTime .

We spoke with Professor Vali Nasr on Monday, June 9th, 2025. On Thursday, June 12, The International Atomic Energy Agency declared that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, the first time the UN watchdog has passed a resolution against the country in 20 years. A few hours later, Israel launched what Defense Minister Israel Katz called “preemptive strikes” simultaneously in many places Iran, hitting both civilian and military targets. One remembers Supreme Leaders Khamenei’s skepticism of the value of diplomacy, when this happens as the talks in Vienna were happening.

Then, on June 21, 2025 the US military under orders of Donald Trump executed a night time bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.

The Ayatollah Has a Plan (by Vali Nasr) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/opinion/iran-nuclear-ayatollah-cease-fire.html

How the Attacks on Iran Are Part of a Much Bigger Global Struggle https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/opinion/iran-israel-attack-global-struggle.html

How Iran and Israel are rethinking strategy https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/22/world/video/gps-0622-us-iran-israel-middle-east

Trump’s ‘total obliteration’ of Iran’s nuclear capabilities isn’t ‘100% accurate’: Scott Lucas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzLo1emW6Oc