In this extraordinary episode, Nachi Gordon sits down with Glenn Cohen — former chief psychologist of the Mossad, helicopter pilot, and trauma expert — for one of the most riveting conversations ever featured on Meaningful People. From rescuing soldiers in Lebanon to counseling hostages freed after October 7th, Glenn has witnessed the darkest sides of humanity — and the boundless strength of the human spirit. He shares powerful firsthand accounts from meeting newly released hostages, insights into Mossad’s secret world, and the psychology of resilience that enables ordinary people to do the impossible. With candor and compassion, Glenn reveals how people survive the unimaginable — not by avoiding pain, but by growing from it. He explains the concept of post-traumatic growth, the coping tools that saved lives in captivity, and why he believes every person is capable of far more than they think. This is not just a story about Israel, trauma, or espionage — it’s a masterclass in faith, courage, and the strength embedded in the Jewish soul.
First high-ranking official leaves the Trump administration over the Iran War Joe Kent, head of the US National Counterterrorism Center: “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Mar 17, 2026The war in the Middle East has now entered its third week and shows no sign of ending any time soon. Oil prices have soared and transatlantic relations between the US and its allies are strained. So what are President Trump’s options now? And will the Europeans support him in policing the strategically important Strait of Hormuz?
00:00 – The Economic Fallout of the Iran War 03:11 – Trump’s Growing Frustration in Washington 04:03 – Shifting Timelines and Unclear Military Objectives 06:25 – Why the Strait of Hormuz Controls Global Oil 09:23 – International Refusal: Trump’s Plea for Help 13:13 – Strategic Leverage: The Attack on Kharg Island 18:26 – Transatlantic Rupture: Starmer vs Trump 26:02 – The Long Game: US Energy Independence This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory Guest: George Grylls, Washington Correspondent, The Times.
Still, the millennial CEO has had a hard time building out an AI team he’s happy with, laying off rounds of AI developers after the hiring spree. His relationship with AI head Alexandr Wang has also grown tense as of late, with sources telling the Financial Times in December that he finds Zuckerberg’s micromanagement to be suffocating.
Meanwhile, the expenses for Meta’s enormous spending commitments to build out AI infrastructure are continuing to balloon, leaving the company with major bills to pay. The company is projected to spend up to $135 billion in AI-related expenses in 2026 alone.
Now, as inside sources told Reuters, the company is planning to conduct yet another round of sweeping layoffs that could affect an astonishing 20 percent or more of the company — one of the clearest signs yet that Meta is prioritizing big bets on AI over employing humans who Zuckerberg believes will soon be made redundant by the tech anyway.
Zuckerberg has made it clear he’s looking for labor efficiency in the age of AI, arguingthat “we’re starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person,” earlier this year.
The company didn’t outright deny Reuters‘ reporting, but cast doubt on the purported plans, which would affect upward of 15,000 workers.
“This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told the news agency.
If confirmed, it could be one of the company’s biggest rounds of layoffs in history. In 2022, it laid off 11,000 employees. In early 2023, Zuckerberg announced a “year of efficiency,” cutting 10,000 more jobs.
The cuts don’t appear to be a sign that Meta is struggling to find funding. The company is planning to spend a whopping $600 billion to build AI data centers by 2028. The company has also been on a shopping spree, buying a Reddit-like site populated by AI bots, called Moltbook, last week — and a Chinese AI startup called Manus for $2 billion to $3 billion.
Investors are also optimistic. Following the latest news, the company’s shares surged almost three percent when trading resumed on Monday.
Block CEO and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey fired a particularly loud warning shot late last month, announcing his fintech company would be cutting almost half of its staff. Provocatively, Dorsey cited “intelligence tools” that were creating a “new way of working” with smaller teams. His missive once again stoked fears of an imminent — or perhaps ongoing — AI jobs apocalypse, a massive shake-up that has economists on edge.
Whether Meta will be able to keep up as the heated AI race continues remains to be seen. The company’s efforts, including its Llama 4 models, have failed to impress, and it was forced to push back the release of its latest AI model, code-named Avocado, because its performance is still falling short of competing ones from the likes of Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
“As we’ve said publicly, our next model will be good but, more importantly, show the rapid trajectory we’re on,” Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold told the New York Times, and “then we’ll steadily push the frontier over the course of the year as we continue to release new models.”
“We’re excited for people to see what we’ve been cooking very soon,” he added.
Zuckerberg has also tried to undercut ongoing reporting that his relationship with Wang has soured, posting a selfie of himself and his company’s AI lead sheepishly smiling into the camera last week.
But given the company’s fight for relevancy, there’s clearly a very different story playing out behind those beaming faces.
I’m a senior editor at Futurism, where I edit and write about NASA and the private space sector, as well as topics ranging from SETI and artificial intelligence to tech and medical policy.
Funeral ceremony held for the sailors of the IRIS Dena, the Iranian warship sunk by a US Navy submarine in the Indian Ocean. pic.twitter.com/Fy0QB6ACb0
David Smith Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney
Disclosure statement
David Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Trump did not make a public case for the war before it began, because he preferred quick, surprising strikes preceded by theatrical suspense. He presented the vast military buildup in the Persian Gulf as a high-pressure negotiating tactic in the short-lived bargaining sessions over Iran’s nuclear enrichment.
Wars are not necessarily better when the US government invests a huge effort in justifying them. The justification for the disastrous Iraq War, after all, was based on misperceptions, distortions and falsehoods. But by completely disregarding US public opinion before the war, Trump now finds himself in all kinds of trouble as he tries to fight it.
Americans don’t like seeing themselves as aggressors
Political scientist Bruce Jentleson argued that public support for war in the United States depends not just on how the war is going, but on the public’s understanding of the war’s aims. The US public is much more likely to support wars aimed at imposing restraints on aggressive powers than wars aimed at bringing political change to other countries.
That theory explains why the Bush administration made such an effort to claim Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was linked to the September 11 terrorist attacks, even though “regime change” was the aim of the Iraq war.
Our mission is to share knowledge and inform decisions.
It was only after the bombs started falling on Iran that Trump and his administration began to make the case that Iran was an “imminent threat” to the US. It wasn’t very convincing.
It was left to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to make the convoluted argument that the US was acting in preemptive self-defence, because it knew Israel was going to strike Iran, and that Iran would retaliate against Americans in the Middle East.
That did not play well in a country increasingly wary of Israel. A Gallup poll released just before the war began showed that, for the first time this century, more Americans said their sympathies were with Palestinians than Israelis.Recently, the biggest drop in support for Israel has been among political Independents, whose views have shifted significantly during the Gaza War.
Tucker Carlson, the loudest critic of the Iran war on the right, immediately labelled it “Israel’s war”. Joe Rogan, an influential figure among Trump’s 2024 support base of disillusioned young men, said they felt “betrayed” by the war.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has tried to sell the war to Americans by gloating about the death, destruction and fear being inflicted on Iran. Even as investigations show the US military was responsible for the bombing of a school that killed more than a hundred children, he dismisses rules of military engagement as “stupid”. The most recent Quinnipiac Poll showed Hegseth’s approval rating at 37%.
Americans are unprepared for sacrifice
Despite high-profile opponents like Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Trump still has most of the MAGA base with him for now. They were never really opposed to foreign wars. What they hated was losing foreign wars, and Trump is promising them swift victory in Iran.
But Trump has not prepared them or anyone else, including his own cabinet, for the costs this war will incur. Especially the disruption to global oil markets, which the International Energy Agency is calling the largest in history, and which will elevate the cost of everything from travel to food.
Trump’s rhetoric about the price of war has hardly beenChurchillian. One night he posted on social media that a short term increase in oil prices is “a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace. ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”
But the next day he was forced to calm markets by claiming the war was nearly over.
The Iranian regime, whose main goal is survival, is well aware of the political and economic vulnerabilities of the US and its Middle Eastern allies, and these appear to be what it is targeting.
At the beginning of the war, Iran’s seemingly scattered attacks on infrastructure, embassies and hotels in Gulf states were a source of mirth for some American commentators. But these were eventually enough to shut down large swathes of energy production and shipping, and inflict far more pain than Trump or his supporters were expecting.
Trump was already facing the same domestic problem that Joe Biden faced. It doesn’t matter how much you tell Americans about positive GDP, stock market and employment numbers; if they are struggling with the cost of living, their view of both the economy and the President will be bleak.
Few Republicans in Congress have been prepared to stand up to Trump over the war. But as midterm elections approach, many of them will be silently praying he finds an excuse to end it as soon as possible.
Major funding boost to divert women from a life of crime
Thousands more vulnerable women trapped in a revolving door of crime will receive drug, employment and housing support as part of £31.6 million funding boost.
Almost £32m investment for women’s services to tackle root causes of reoffending
Life‑changing support will help female offenders get their lives back on track
Fewer women sent to prison as Women’s Justice Board publishes landmark report
New government investment will enable women’s centres and charities across the country to deliver vital specialist help to female offenders, the overwhelming majority of whom are themselves victims of crime.
The multi‑year package represents a 50 per cent increase in funding to help women get clean, find work and accommodation, and move away from abusive relationships.
This support is key to cutting crime with evidence showing how more than two‑thirds of women in custody report being victims of domestic abuse, a factor which is a known indicator of crimes.
Further statistics show how more than half of female offenders have sustained brain injuries while roughly the same percentage have drug addictions.
Tackling these underlying issues and addressing the root causes of crime helps to prevent more victims and reduce the £18 billion overall cost of reoffending to the taxpayer.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said:
Punishment must help women break away from lives of crime, not send them back to a prison cell time and again, disrupting their own lives and those of their children.
Today, I am making this landmark investment to help female offenders get their lives back on track and reduce reoffending. By helping women break free from addiction, abuse and homelessness, we are stopping future victims and making our streets safer.
The funding commitment comes as the Women’s Justice Board – formed of a panel of experts including former Victims’ Commissioner Dame Vera Baird and the Prison Reform Trust director Pia Sinha – publishes its independent report setting out how the Government can reduce the number of women in custody.
While women who commit the most serious crimes will always be sent to prison, custody should be a last resort.The report highlights how community alternatives to custody are more effective at tackling the root causes of crime and protecting the public.
This investment directly aligns with the board’s recommendation for sustainable investment in specialist services that prevent crime and make communities safer.
Anne Fox, CEO Clinks and Women’s Justice Board member
This announcement of increased funding for diversion is hugely welcome. We know that many women enter the criminal justice system following long histories of trauma, poverty, abuse and unmet health needs. This is need that can and should be addressed well before any initial contact with the CJS, and this funding will be crucial in supporting this work. Specialist women’s services across the voluntary sector are best placed to provide this much needed support.
This builds on recommendations made both by the Independent Sentencing Review and the Women’s Justice Board in its report published today, to fund diversion and support community services.
Natausha van Vliet, CEO of PACT, which runs Alana House Women’s Community Project, said:
This long‑overdue investment is hugely welcome. At Alana House we see how trauma, abuse and poverty pushes women into the criminal justice system, and this funding will enable us to support and empower more women to achieve positive, sustainable changes.
Community‑based, trauma‑informed support works — it keeps women safe, reduces reoffending and strengthens families. We look forward to working with partners to ensure this investment delivers real, lasting change.
The report also recommends greater use of Intensive Supervision Courts which the Government has committed to expanding — including a new site for female offenders in Liverpool, due to open later this year.
These crime‑cutting courts support offenders who have committed low‑level crimes and are also dealing with issues such as addiction or trauma.
They require participants to attend appropriate treatment and appear regularly before the same judge, who closely monitors their progress. Those who fail to comply face tough consequences, including time in prison.
Countries using this model have been shown to experience arrests for further offences drop by a third compared to offenders on a standard prison sentence.
As the Government looks to support the next phase of work to divert women from custody, the Women’s Justice Board will transition into a Women’s Justice Advisory Group, offering independent expertise as reforms develop.
Countries across Asia are imposing emergency measures — rationing energy, closing universities, shortening workweeks and even changing how crematoriums operate — to manage the fallout from the Iran war, Axios’ Emily Peck writes.
Pakistan has shut schools, mandated a four-day workweek for some government offices and raised gas prices, the Financial Times reports.Share this story.
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