Protests in Iran continue, and South Korea and China meet to say very little

Protests in Iran continue, and South Korea and China meet to say very little

Author: Amanda Stephens, Hanna Bilinski,Rti January 19, 2026 Duration: 0:00

Tthis week hosts Amanda and Hanna discuss what’s going on in Iran, how likely it is to make change, and a sort of follow-up the North Korea and Russia talk with more about the recent China and South Korea meeting.

Correction: in this episode the polling in Iran is erroneously attributed to The Conversation, but was actually done by the group Gaaman, and referenced in the Conversation article

Read along with us!

Iran protests: 1. Why Iran’s clerical establishment still holds as protests rage (Samia Nakhoul, Reuters), 2. Iran protests 2026: our surveys show Iranians agree more on regime change than what might come next (Ammar Maleki and Pooyan Tamimi Arab, The Conversation), 3. Why are there protests in Iran and what has Trump said about US action? (Raffi BergandDavid Gritten, BBC), 4. US military strikes Islamic State group targets in Syria, officials say (Grace Eliza Goodwin, BBC)

China and South Korea: 1. Selfies and smiles: South Korea seeks 'new phase' in ties with China (Jake Kwon and Koh Ewe, BBC), 2. China and South Korea pledge to bolster ties as regional tensions rise (Simina Mistreanu, AP)


Every week, writers Hanna Bilinski and Amanda Stephens find themselves stuck in the same cycle: falling down a rabbit hole of alarming headlines and relentless updates. The Doomscroll News Report is their attempt to climb back out and make sense of it all. Instead of just recapping the major international stories that flooded their feeds, they pause to place each event within a broader context, asking what it really means for the global conversation. This isn't a straight news broadcast; it's a dialogue between two curious observers who bring on knowledgeable guests to deepen the discussion. By weaving together expert insight with their own perspectives as individuals striving to stay informed, they create a space for understanding that goes beyond the reactive nature of the daily news cycle. Tuning into this podcast feels like joining a necessary conversation that seeks clarity and connection amidst the noise, offering a thoughtful alternative to the endless scroll.
Author: Language: en_us Episodes: 51

The Doomscroll News Report
Podcast Episodes
The MMR vaccine in the US and a new Israel-Iran conflict [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 0:00
This week, Hanna and Amanda discuss the state of vaccines in the United States, especially the MMR (Measels, Mumps and Rubella) vaccine and current Health and Human Services secretary Robert F Kennedy's flip-flopping on…
Investigating birth rate declines, with PeiChieh Hsu [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 0:00
This week, we're tackling just one subject-- but it's one that seems to plague our feeds every other week: Birth rates! In a world where birth rates globally are on the downturn, we wanted to know what effect that really…
Canadian election results and tariff take-backsies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 0:00
This week, we go over the latest news out of Canada, particularly the results of their elections and how squabbles with their neighbor swayed those results, in addition to the 145% tariff that very neighbor has slapped o…
The ripple effects following the defunding of USGAM [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 0:00
This week on the first-ever episode of the Doomscroll News Report, we’re tackling how the cuts to the United States Agency for Global Media (USGAM) stand to impact the state of journalism now and in the near future, and…