00:00 The podcast episode is about the Iran-Contra affair and the hosts discuss their memories of it from when they were younger.

04:33 The podcast episode discusses the Iran-Contra affair, which is described as one of the shadiest things America has ever done, and the hosts plan to provide a full understanding of what happened in a two-part episode.

09:16 The US occupied Nicaragua from 1912 to 1933 and had a significant influence in Central America, which is why people from the region flee to the US; when Reagan became president, intervening in Nicaragua became a priority, and they secretly funded and trained right-wing Contra Rebels to fight against the Sandinista government, but Congress started to oppose Reagan's policy after the House flipped to the Democrats in 1982 and a Newsweek cover story exposed the extent of American involvement in Nicaragua.

14:03 In 1983, the CIA planted mines in the commercial shipping harbors of Nicaragua and had the Contras take credit for it, causing damage to ships from multiple countries and angering Congress.

18:41 Congress passed multiple Boland Amendments to prevent the US from interfering in Nicaragua, but Reagan continued to secretly support the Contras and publicly campaigned for more funding, while the civil war in Nicaragua continued to escalate with brutal tactics used by both sides.

23:46 Reagan continued to publicly support the Contras while denying or glossing over any wrongdoing, and secretly supported them in violation of Congress, using the National Security Council and the CIA to raise funds through secret business dealings.

28:38 The Reagan administration raised funds from the business elite of America through secret fundraisers and a nonprofit organization called the National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty to support the Contras in Nicaragua, but only about 52% of the funds actually made it to the Contras.

33:46 Richard Secord and Albert Hakim set up the Stanford Technology Trading Group, also known as the Enterprise, to funnel funds and arms to the Contras in Nicaragua, with Secord acting as the intermediary and Hakim handling the financial side, ultimately resulting in direct American involvement in supporting and arming the Contra Rebels.

38:11 In this section, the podcast discusses the establishment of a propaganda campaign by the Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean, managed by Otto Reich, which was later exposed by the Miami Herald.

43:01 The CIA, despite being barred from doing so, set up an office run by Otto Reich to orchestrate a propaganda campaign in the US to influence public opinion and media, which involved sting operations such as smuggling cocaine into Nicaragua and photographing Sandinistas with the shipment.

47:56 The US government, particularly the NSC, attempted to influence reporters and editors to report negatively on the Sandinistas by spreading rumors that they provided sex workers to journalists who reported favorably on them, which was orchestrated by the CIA's expert on psychological warfare.