A Friday Hodgepodge

1. "Iranian Protesters Deserve Our Moral Support," by Agustina Vergara Cid (The Orange County Register):

Supporting the Iranians is in our self-interest. A world without the Iranian theocracy will be better for everyone who cares about freedom and Western civilization. Recall that the regime defines itself in opposition to the United States (the "Great Satan") and Israel, and has vowed to end both. Since 1979, it has supported terrorism in the Middle East -- Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and various militias in Iraq and Syria. Its violence has shown up at our shores. (This is one of the reasons why military support, if carried out appropriately, shouldn't be discounted either.)

Column: 975 words/3 minutes

2. "Combating Vaccine Misinformation: Q&A With Amesh Adalja, MD," with Amesh Adalja (Patient Care Online):

Question: What communication strategies work best to address vaccine hesitancy without damaging the patient -- clinician relationship?

Dr Adalja: The approach depends on the setting. In media appearances, I'm more forceful to counter the anti-vaccine movement broadly. In the exam room, the goal is persuasion through trust. Ask patients what specifically concerns them, address that directly, and leverage the trust they have in you as their physician.

Studies show that a PCP's recommendation is one of the most effective tools for influencing health-promoting behaviors.

Interview: 725 words/2 minutes

3. "Three Low-Cost Methods To Improve Cognitive Function And Longevity," by Paul Hsieh (Forbes):

A recent study by Monash University student Emma Jaffa, Professor Joanne Ryan, and colleagues suggests that listening to music regularly was associated with a 39% decreased risk of dementia in people over age 70. Playing a musical instrument was associated with a 35% decreased risk of dementia. Doing both was associated with a 33% decreased risk of dementia. Their study included over 10,000 participants.

(I don't know why both listening to music and playing an instrument was not as effective as either alone.)

Column: 280 words/1 minute

4. "A Playbook for the Next Century of Progress," by Jason Crawford (Freethink):

The deepest roots of institutional change are cultural. Cultural change is thus the most important pillar of the progress agenda.

This begins with what our children are taught in school. Today, they are not taught the history or nature of progress. History classes focus on wars and empires; science classes teach concepts and frameworks; the story of technology and economic growth falls between the cracks. Steven Johnson, popular author of dozens of books on the history of technology, reports that in "an otherwise excellent American history textbook" covering the last 150 years, "labor" was mentioned 226 times, and "civil rights" 134 times, but "antibiotics" and "vaccines" were not mentioned once. "Something is fundamentally distorted in the emphasis here."

Book Chapter: 8550 words/30 minutes

-- CAV

The Real Risks of Owning Gold (and Why It’s Still Worth Owning)

Hundreds of thousands of people are protesting on the streets of Iran—women are ditching their hijabs, others are burning photos of the ayatollah and lighting cigarettes with them, and protesters are yelling “death to the dictator.” The protests are massive and existentially threatening to the Iranian theocracy. 

It can be hard to fathom the degree of the depravity of the Iranian regime, and what these protesters are fighting to the death against. Understanding the nature of the evil of the Iranian dictatorship should make us realize that protesters deserve our full moral support.

Iran is a theocracy where unelected religious leaders hold massive power. Its goal is to maintain and grow an Islamic state—and to do so, it exerts control over Iranians by enforcing Islamic law. That means that the government has almost total control over what people watch, read, or say, how they behave in public and private—and even more so over women. They aim to completely erase the individual: people are seen not as human beings with preferences, personal ambition, and a right to pursue their own happiness, but as tools to achieve ideological goals.

Concretely, this manifests in myriad ways for Iranians. Women are second-class citizens and must cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothing in all public spaces. The morality police patrol streets and other public areas looking for violators, who face arrest, fines, beatings, or detention. An Iranian immigrant recently told me that this police “function[s] as if they’re hunting animals. . . as if it’s a game where they have to squash dissenters.” In 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, was killed in custody after being arrested by the morality police for improperly wearing her hijab. Her killing sparked the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests that year.

All speech is monitored. Thousands of websites are censored by the government. Criticizing the regime or Islam online or in conversation can result in arrest, physical punishment (like lashes) or worse. In November, activist Omid Sarlak posted a video burning a photograph of the ayatollah. He was later found shot in the head.

The daily life of Iranians is under the control of the government: even how they can socialize and what music they can listen to. Many freedoms Americans take for granted— like education, art, association, speech— are criminalized or tightly controlled in Iran. Iranians also endure crushing poverty due to the regime’s policies.

Tahmineh Dehbozorgi, an attorney originally from Iran, calls the regime’s actions “psychological warfare”: “A twisted system of extortion and coercion designed to force obedience, silence, or collaboration.” Iranians want to put an end to this warfare. 

The number of people murdered in the last wave of protests is hard to estimate because the Iranian government censors information and there’s an internet blackout. CBS News reported 12,000-20,000 feared dead as of January 13. Dehbozorgi describes talking to an acquaintance in Iran, who told her that “[there are] body bags everywhere. Families can’t even bury their dead.”

Iranians want and deserve to live in freedom. “The people are rising up because the Islamic Republic of Iran has spent decades suffocating every aspect of life . . . under a clerical system that treats liberty as a crime,” says Dehbozorgi. Given the length to which they’re going to free themselves, it’s clear they won’t settle for a new tyrant. They are fighting for at least basic freedoms so they can live as human beings.

The Iranians’ fight deserves our full moral support at all levels— from our government officials to everyday Americans. Moral support isn’t useless: by standing up for the good and denouncing the evil theocracy, many of those who still work for it (and are not beyond redemption) will feel the weight of the West’s moral judgment. That may lead them to defect from the regime. This is particularly true for military and police personnel, who may refuse to fire on their own people, thereby creating a wedge between the regime and its instruments of force. This is what happened during the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

Supporting Iranians also emboldens those fighting for the good. Learning about millions of people in the West rooting for their success may be part of the spiritual fuel protesters need to keep going. It’s easy to underestimate the reach that support can have— but it can mean the difference between success or failure (life or death) for Iranians. 

Supporting the Iranians is in our self-interest. A world without the Iranian theocracy will be better for everyone who cares about freedom and Western civilization. Recall that the regime defines itself in opposition to the United States (the “Great Satan”) and Israel, and has vowed to end both. Since 1979, it has supported terrorism in the Middle East— Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and various militias in Iraq and Syria. Its violence has shown up at our shores. (This is one of the reasons why military support, if carried out appropriately, shouldn’t be discounted either.)

A free Iran will also mean more people to trade with—only with freedom people can create, innovate, and engage in productive exchange with others. Freedom can unlock Iranians’ potential that has been suffocated for decades.

America is rooted in the rejection of arbitrary power and the subjugation of the individual to the state. Iranians are now fighting for the bare minimum freedoms that we take for granted. Offering them moral support is a reaffirmation of what we stand for as Americans may impact the future of freedom in Iran.

Agustina Vergara Cid is a SCNG columnist and the author of the Substack “From Her Beacon Hand.” You can follow her on X @agustinavcid

No company in its right mind would funnel $40 million into a politically divisive documentary, right?

Right?

Amazon did just that, buying the upcoming “Melania” documentary for that princely sum last year. The film hits theaters Jan. 30, but media reports are crowing that the film won’t make a fraction of its money back.

A fraction of a fraction, to be more accurate.

From Yahoo!:

Despite a massive $40 million acquisition deal by Amazon, MGM Studios, and a promotional blitz from the White House, early box office tracking indicates that ticket sales are sluggish at best.

Reports circulating this week suggest that advance bookings in key markets like New York and even the Trumps’ home turf of Palm Beach are “virtually non existent.”

Other outlets have shared those daunting reports.

Numbers don’t lie. Nor does the reality tied to 98 percent of documentary features. They generally don’t make money in theaters. Some exceptions?

• “Am I Racist?” (2024) – $10 million U.S.
• “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006) – $24 million
• “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (2018) – $22 million

The rest? Most documentaries are lucky to leg out a $1 million theatrical run. Many make much less.

So why would Amazon pour millions into a documentary on the current First Lady?

• Curry favor with the Trump White House?
• Catch the zeitgeist – We know little about FLOTUS?
• Give Prime Video an exclusive title that will draw attention to its service?

The reasons why may not matter in the long run. The bigger impact is clear.

RELATED: KIMMEL, BORAT SEXUALIZE MELANIA TRUMP

Conservatives are making slow but steady inroads into pop culture. A few more major stars, like Sylvester Stallone and Zachary Levi, have dared to publicly support President Trump.

And they still have their careers intact.

The Daily Wire’s “The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin” is drawing strong reviews on social media. The 7-part saga looks like it came from any streaming service, not a conservative news platform dipping its toe in the Hollywood waters.

Former Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing is teasing a new production company in the near future with more right-minded stories.

Liberal Hollywood is bleeding film and TV productions, while the latter is blossoming in places like Nashville and Dallas. Right-friendly storyteller Taylor Sheridan is the unofficial king of TV dramas, with hits like “Landman” and “Yellowstone” to his credit.

And, most importantly, the obviously pro-Trump “Melania” will exist on Prime Video indefinitely. That’s a win for Right-leaning voters.

New @PuckNews: After paying $40M for the right to release MELANIA, Amazon is now spending more than $35M more to market the film, an extraordinary sum for a documentary. Details https://t.co/hiLmQg9r1K

— Matthew Belloni (@MattBelloni) January 23, 2026

Even the biggest progressive film flops, think “Truth” with Robert Redford, live on via streaming services. Whatever messages are embedded within will be seen by new viewers month by month, year by year.

No filter. No fact checking. Just a small but steady stream of exposure to a particular message.

The Left has virtually owned this kind of media domination for some time. Think “Snowpiercer,” a sci-fi thriller with extreme class warfare narratives. “Barbie’s” feminist posturing is alive and well on HBO Max. The uber-woke “Booksmart” thrives on MovieSphere+ even though it disappointed in movie theaters.

The list is endless.

Studios are willing to sink millions into major film and TV productions, in part, to get their message to the masses. Sure, they’d prefer the titles make money, too.

If not, so what? They’re changing the culture bit by bit either way. And “Melania” might just do the same.

The post ‘Melania’ Was Doomed from the Start (And It May Not Matter) appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

At the end of the 20th century, a survey of philosophers on the big books in their field was published by Douglas Lackey (The Philosophical Forum, 1999). Interesting that the list is dominated by works in epistemology. The top ten books cited: 1. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations [179 citations]2. Heidegger, Being and Time [134]3. Rawls, A […]