Julian Dorey Podcast #389 “Powder KEG!” - Epstein, Iran, Inside Hezbollah & Israeli Settlements | RocaNews

Release Date: February 27, 2026
Guests: Max Frost and Frost (RocaNews)
Host: Julian Dorey

Overview

Julian Dorey hosts RocaNews founders for a wide-ranging, high-octane, and deeply reported conversation centering on geopolitics, the Jeffrey Epstein files, the ground reality in the Middle East (Lebanon, Israel, West Bank), shifting alliances with Iran, and the nature of modern conspiracies. The episode closely examines current events through on-the-ground stories, first-person reporting, and sharp, sometimes emotional, debate on the media, governments, and society’s response to systemic abuses of power.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Nature of News in 2026 & The “Wild Moment” (00:41 – 03:01)

• Julian, Max, and Frost open discussing how fast current events move—what seemed critical (like Venezuela) is almost ancient history compared to today’s headlines (“That was like 40 wars ago” - Max, 01:44).
• They agree: "It's been insane for news. And then AI talk about..." (Max, 01:52).

2. Reporting from the Middle East: Recent On-the-Ground Experience (04:08 – 14:13)

• Frost details a recent reporting trip to Lebanon, Israel/West Bank, and Egypt (“Lebanon. Israel, slash the West Bank. And Egypt. Egypt. Not really for work purposes. Just want to see the pyramids.” - Frost, 04:33).
• Vivid description of Egypt and ancient sites: “It's like it was built for giants. Like, it straight up makes no sense.” (Frost, 05:02)
• Debates how modern generations may one day struggle to understand even present-day engineering.

3. Southwest U.S. Border & Tech in the Desert (08:01 – 08:57)

• Reportage from border towns and encounters with high-tech military hardware.
• “Stuff that's going on there right now…The stuff you see in the desert…is mind-blowing. I mean, like jets and airplanes, stuff that you've like never…They're just flying all over the place.” - Frost, 08:10

4. Lebanon & Hezbollah: Visiting “Hezbollah Land” (10:35 – 19:49)

• Lebanon’s Fragmented Reality: “It's kind of three countries really…Lebanon. Then like the Shia part, the Hezbollah part…” (Frost, 11:00)
• Hezbollah’s Complexity: “Hezbollah is not what you think it is…Hezbollah has been totally weakened…Lebanese military is in the process of, like, taking back control of all these places ever since the war.” (Frost, 12:42)
• Life on the Border: “We're sitting there, like, literally…you're looking at it and very chill. We're sitting out, we're having tea. This guy, he was like the mayor of the town…” (Frost, 16:01)
• Unease as Shelling Begins: “All of a sudden…we start hearing shelling all around. And it went on. I mean, it was like a while.” (Frost, 16:20)
• Locals unfazed by ongoing violence—"He didn't even move his head…just totally unfazed." (Frost, 18:08)

5. Israel–Hezbollah–Gaza: The Logic of Precision and Disproportionality (19:49 – 32:33)

• Israeli Strikes: Precision in Lebanon vs. devastation in Gaza—“They're not trying to [destroy everything in Lebanon]… Gaza is one thing, you look at the way they conducted the war in Lebanon [it’s] totally different from what happened in Gaza.” (Frost, 16:58)
• Hezbollah Attacks and Israeli Responses: “Hezbollah…forced Israel to do this…who suffers? All the Lebanese people.” (Frost, 23:32)
• Crossing the Line: Julian emphasizes difficulty of supporting Israeli government actions when collective punishment becomes disproportionate: “The response at some point crosses disproportionality, and then they continue drastically after that…” (Julian, 24:11)
• Empathy for All Sides: “It's very easy if you actually stand, listen to people…very easy to feel empathy for all people involved.” (Frost, 27:06)

6. The Israeli Political System, Settlements & Society’s Attitudes (28:45 – 40:42)

• Settlement Support: After October 7th, greater support for settlements: “Before October 7th, it was kind of 50/50…now it’s way more in favor…” (Frost, 30:36).
• Israel’s Multi-Party Politics: "You have a government there that has been put in place by 25% of the people…it’s a lot of the orthodox community and the hard, hardliners." (Julian, 32:13)
• Government vs. Citizens: “People are not their governments…when I criticize intelligence services, I'm not criticizing the people.” (Julian, 31:07)
• Extreme Power-Holders: “On Netanyahu, the government is predicated on having their support…the coalition building…it is the hard right side and there was all this political turmoil before October 7th.” (Frost, 34:11)

7. Settler Violence, Law, and Plausible Deniability (37:59 – 45:34)

• On-the-ground settler violence: “The settlers will drive them [Bedouin] off so they have more land for the settlements. But again, the land doesn't really belong to anyone…” (Frost, 37:59)
• Lawlessness & Responsibility: “Do they come in and actually treat it like Sherlock Holmes?” (Julian, 40:07) — “That's where the government matters…the people who control the police right now aren’t policing this stuff. It’s politics.” (Frost, 40:10)
• Incentivizing Violence: “If you kill an Israeli…you get payments from the Palestinian government to your family for the rest of your lives.” (Frost, 41:27)

8. Everyday Life in the West Bank & Checkpoints (44:22 – 46:25)

• Checkpoint Occupation: “The most tangible form of occupation…is when they drive from city to city…they may have to sit for hours in traffic because there’s a roadblock.” (Frost, 44:22)
• Cycle of Violence: “The violence certainly doesn't achieve anything. That’s the one thing I've really…I think you are right.” (Frost, 45:34)

9. October 7th’s Impact & Israeli Trauma (47:38 – 61:50)

• Profound Trauma: On visiting the kibbutz: “It's as though it was just obliterated…everything is burned, everything is gone.” (Frost, 46:26)
• Paradigm Shift: “The mental scar that this has taken on the people there is vast. Now this is not to minimize the situation in Gaza at all…simply put…It was every single person's, their worst fear manifest.” (Frost, 59:23)
• Shifts in Israeli Policy: Now, security first: “We're not even going to let them get to the position where something can happen, happen. So that's why you now have persistent shelling in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire…” (Frost, 59:24)

10. Geopolitics of Iran & U.S. War Maneuvering (79:54 – 103:11)

• Trump-era War Drums: Real-time disclosure of administration's intentions to attack Iran; many interpret this as a “sugar high” for Trump’s legacy, not strategic necessity.
• Risks: “It is in the middle of a cultural pipe bomb. No pun intended. You were talking about the Middle East. This is not Venezuela, bro…” (Julian, 79:55)
• Diaspora Perspective: On Iranian immigrants in LA: “Dude, they are the most anti Islamic people I have ever met…they don’t view Islam even as a religion…it is the state ideology.” (Frost, 84:54)
• Hard Realities: “If Trump goes ahead…he has put so much pressure on himself to do something…that’s where you can trip yourself into a war.” (Frost, 96:03)

11. Middle East Realignments & Sunni–Shia Dynamics (99:22 – 102:09)

• Breakdown of Old Alliances: “The whole Middle East is repositioning itself right now as though Iran is already irrelevant…Sunni versus Shia is not really relevant, Sunni versus Sunni…and Turkey wants to recreate their own Ottoman Empire in a way.” (Frost, 99:53)
• Turkey's Underestimated Role: “We sleep on Turkey a lot.” (Julian/Frost, 101:04)

12. Inside Hezbollah & “Country Within a Country” (102:49 – 108:24)

• State Within a State: “Hezbollah, you got two things. You have the political party, then you have the armed…Hezbollah grocery stores, you have Hezbollah banks…it is a country within a country.” (Frost, 103:17)
• Cautious Reporting: “You will disappear if they don’t want you there…The worst—what you don't want—is to be labeled a spy.” (Frost, 104:11)
• Current Strength: “Hezbollah is much less present, visibly present now than they were before…if you are very, very…I think nine times out of 10, you wouldn't have any issues…” (Frost, 107:56)

13. The Epstein Files: New Revelations & Theories (109:33 – 170:21)

• Sheer Breadth: “You have everyone from Peter Attia to, you know, all kinds of diplomats, all kinds of businessmen, all kinds of elites involved in one way or another.” (Max, 109:33)
• Danger of Theories: "Our role is to focus on the substance…and not let the crazies derail it." (Max, 110:41)
• Emotional Response: “I've lost it a few times since this case has come out, and I make no apologies for that.” (Julian, 128:16)
• Criminality vs. Society’s Blacklist: “Is Bill Gates criminally implicated?…We start to look at Bill and Melinda Gates foundation or the Bill Gates foundation, and just go, okay, this is no longer a treasured thing…” (Max, 132:21)
• Protecting ‘The System’: “If there’s one thing that…you are not coming back from—it’s being a pedo. It is the ultimate…Scarlet letter…” (Julian, 134:50)
• The Fixers & Super-Government: “Tucker is really spot on about this…a super government…Jeffrey Epstein is the fixer who works for the real people.” (Julian, 119:18)
• Transparency and Caution: “The harder thing to do, but the right way to go about this is…imagine the greatest, biggest…most historical mansion…you don’t tear it down—you go room by room…That’s what we got to do.” (Julian, 135:05)
• Room By Room Justice: “Room by room. But I guess find the rooms that actually have asbestos.” (Frost, 139:09)
• “Burning everything down” — not the answer: “If you burn down all of Western civilization overnight…the world as we know it ends. Instead…the right way is…one by one, and clean it out.” (Julian, 135:05)
• AI & Distractions: Max, Frost, and Julian note that while Epstein should not be forgotten, AI is “potentially the most destabilizing period ever for, for the U.S. …and, like, that’s where you can trip yourself into a war.” (Frost, 157:23, 96:03)

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Living Near War (Lebanon):
  “We're sitting out, we're having tea…very chill. This guy…he was like the mayor of the town…beautiful everything…now you see how we live. Now you see it.” (Frost, 16:00/18:08)

• On the U.S. Perspective:
  “I feel so fortunate to live here…for all our problems, goddamn, like, whoa, happy to be here…we've never been invaded…It really shows.” (Julian, 20:51)

• Israeli/Palestinian Empathy:
  "It's very easy…to feel empathy for all people involved." (Frost, 27:06)

• Cycle of Violence and Checkpoints:
  “The violence certainly doesn't achieve anything. That’s the one thing I've really…you are proven right throughout history with that, unfortunately.” (Frost to Julian, 45:34)

• On October 7th’s psychological toll:
  “The mental scar that this has taken on the people there is vast…just everyone’s like, oh, it’s like 9 9/11s or whatever…It was every single person's, their worst fear manifest.” (Frost, 59:23)

• On American Power & Iran:
  “It looks like we're going to…do this. And it's…the wrong move. This is a country of 92 million people. It is in the middle of a cultural pipe bomb. No pun intended.” (Julian, 79:55)

• Epstein Files: All Is Not Conspiracy:
  “If you burn down all of Western civilization overnight…the world as we know it ends. Instead…the right way is…one by one, and clean it out.” (Julian, 135:05)

• News Business in Wild Times:
  “Look, it's a good time to be in the news business.” (Julian, 167:34)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Lebanon and “Hezbollah Land”: 10:35 – 19:49
• Israeli settlements & politics: 28:45 – 40:42
• West Bank daily oppression: 44:22 – 46:25
• On-the-ground Hezbollah talk: 102:49 – 108:24
• Epstein files, logic of prosecution: 109:33 – end (esp. 127:14 – 170:21)
• AI and distraction “soup du jour”: 157:23 – 161:30

Tone & Style

• Direct, urgent, and often emotional—especially from Julian; deeply reported, serious, but self-aware; mixes first-person accounts with macro-level analysis; hosts and guests are lucid about complexity, nuance, and the danger of oversimplification.
• Sarcastic humor, bleak realism, but ultimately driven by a belief that open reporting and “room-by-room” reform is essential.

Final Thoughts

The episode weaves together the whirlwind of world events—war, politics, intelligence, and accountability—against the stark backdrop of personal trauma, global corruption, and media responsibility. The RocaNews team’s first-hand experiences in the Middle East shine against Julian’s relentless drive to keep issues like Epstein’s crimes in the public eye. The conversation blends on-the-ground reality with a high-altitude view of geopolitical chess, all while warning against both conspiracy-for-conspiracy’s-sake and the cynicism that would throw out the baby with the bathwater.

For listeners:
This episode is a masterclass in critical media literacy, real-world reporting, and the importance of nuance—and an unflinching reminder that some tragedies and crimes are too big to ignore or bury.

Subscribe to RocaNews and Julian Dorey for further multi-part reporting referenced in the episode.