PDB Afternoon Bulletin | June 23rd, 2026: The Good News And Bad News From Hormuz & Iranian 'Jellyfish' Drones Down U.S. Jet
6/23/202616 min
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:
- The good news: the Strait of Hormuz is no longer at a standstill. The bad news: the global shipping industry still isn't convinced the crisis is over. We examine why traffic through one of the world's most important waterways remains well below pre-war levels despite signs of recovery and what it could mean for global energy markets.
- Later in the show—a bizarre new detail emerges from the war with Iran. A U.S. fighter pilot shot down over Iranian territory reportedly described seeing a swarm of Iranian drones moving through the sky in what he called a "jellyfish" formation moments before his aircraft was hit. We'll examine the report and what it could reveal about the future of drone warfare.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Mike Baker· Host0:15
[upbeat music] It's Tuesday, the twenty-third of June. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the good news, the Strait of Hormuz is no longer at a standstill. The bad news, well, shipping companies still don't trust it. We'll take a closer look at why traffic remains well below pre-war levels despite signs of recovery. Later in the show, a bizarre new detail emerges from the war with Iran. A US fighter pilot shot down over Iranian territory reportedly described seeing a swarm of drones moving through the sky in what he called a jellyfish formation moments before his aircraft was hit. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. There's both good news and bad news coming out of the Strait of Hormuz this week. The good news is that traffic is moving again. Following last week's memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, commercial