The Long History of the US War on Iran—With Spencer Ackerman
Paris Marx is joined by Spencer Ackerman to discuss the US and Israeli war on Iran, including the history that led to this moment and what we might see from here.

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Paris Marx is joined by Spencer Ackerman to discuss the US and Israeli war on Iran, including the history that led to this moment and what we might see from here.
Spencer Ackerman is the author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump and the forthcoming book The Torture and Deliverance of Majid Khan. He also write the Forever Wars newsletter.
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Protesters gather in Times Square as the nation reacts to “major combat operations” in Iran on February 28, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
(Ryan Murphy / Getty Images)Paris Marx is joined by Spencer Ackerman to discuss the US and Israeli war on Iran, including the history that led to this moment and what we might see from here.
Spencer Ackerman is the author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump and the forthcoming book The Torture and Deliverance of Majid Khan. He also writes the Forever Wars newsletter.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Paris Marx is joined by Spencer Ackerman to discuss the US and Israeli war on Iran, including the history that led to this moment and what we might see from here.
Spencer Ackerman is the author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump and the forthcoming book The Torture and Deliverance of Majid Khan. He also write the Forever Wars newsletter.
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts
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Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets.
Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.
As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war.
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