Roger Griffiths

It was an effort, trust me.

What's happening here, Janice?

It seems this week like positions are hardening.

We heard from the Supreme Leader.

of Iran a pretty emphatic statement that the nuclear program is not on the negotiating table at this point.

and that the Straits of Hormuz remain, in Iranian eyes, a critical deterrent for the country going forward vis-a-vis the risks of more strikes, more attacks.

The president, on the other hand, doing what the president does, which is kind of all over the map, but I think trending towards, again, some more bellicose language.

So I know you are feeling a bit down this week.

Maybe you can tell us why.

Yeah, there are elements, a word we often use on this podcast, polycrisis.

You're seeing a huge drought opening up across the U.S.

plains.

We've seen record temperatures across India, parts of South Asia.

Climate is stalking in the background.

I've seen recent reports this week that fertilizer prices in a lot of the developed South have doubled in cost.

So imagine that in terms of the yield there.

for whatever harvest can be planted.

There's talk maybe of a significant El Nino event in the works.

We'll know more about that in the coming months.

But Janice, it just seems like neither protagonist here, the United States or Iran, is looking down the pipe, so to speak, beyond what I guess is the next couple of weeks.