by Maximillian Alvarez and Dimitri Lascaris | Mar 30, 2026 | Iran, Media Criticism, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, video, War
The US-Israeli war on Iran has now entered its second month. From the carnage on the ground to the chaos rippling throughout the global economy, the consequences of this disastrous, bloody, and unnecessary conflict—including many dead bodies—are piling up daily. “More than 2,000 people have been killed and thousands of civilian sites have been targeted in the US-Israeli attacks on Iran since February 28,” Al Jazeera reports. Many of the 13 US military bases near Iran have been reportedly rendered “all but uninhabitable” after Iran’s retaliatory strikes.
President Donald Trump and his administration have continued to obfuscate, flip flop, and bluster their way through the morass they’ve made, from claiming that “we’ve won this war,” to baselessly suggesting that a deal with Iran to end the war will come soon, to sending thousands more troops to the Middle East to prepare for what many fear will be a ground invasion.
For people in the Western Hemisphere in general, and for people in the US specifically, it is infuriatingly difficult to get accurate and honest information about what the hell is actually happening in this war. The Trump regime and its vast media network of corporate and “independent” propagandists have proven time and again that they will not tell the public the truth. The majority of oligarch-owned news media outlets and social media platforms have likewise shown a systematic propensity for filling our newsfeeds and brains with half-truths, AI slop, or empire-serving schlock masquerading as serious analysis, all while simultaneously suppressing or invisibilizing realities and perspectives they don’t want the public to see.
That is why it is so vital for us at TRNN
by Adam Johnson | Mar 24, 2026 | Article, Iran, Media Criticism, Opinion, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US
While a war against Iran remains deeply unpopular, the percentage of Americans who support its underlying logic and goals remains relatively high. The premises for wars in US discourse––whether it’s Iraq’s WMDs or Hamas’ mindless jihadist barbarity––are rarely in dispute, only the method to best contain or eliminate these existential enemies. Since Iran has not attacked the US directly (the Iraqi “Shia proxies” line is, for example, mostly a lie), and has killed fewer US civilians in the past 30 years than Israel has, building a casus belli to launch an attack on Iran has been difficult for war promoters. Absent a real threat, what one usually hears is a combination of vague reference to Iran-allied Shia militias attacking US troops in Iraq during the US Iraqi occupation (don’t ask why the US invaded both of Iran’s major neighbors), lines about Iran being the “largest exporter of terrorism in the world” (a braindead cliche that no one bothers to even explain anymore) and—the most popular and frightening—that Iran is perpetually on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon that “could” maybe, sort of, one day reach the United States. Pursuant to this latter talking point, the idea of Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program has effectively been weaponized and rendered menacing to Western audiences through many framing and rhetorical tricks, wearing down a public that has neither the time nor inclination to understand the nuances of nuclear policy.
This dynamic is reflected in a new a YouGov poll fielded by ReThink Media from February 2026 that shows 25% of Americans believe the patently false claim that Iran currently possesses nuclear weapons and
by Adam Johnson | Mar 11, 2026 | Article, Iran, Media Criticism, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, terrorism, War
It’s not a war of aggression in the Middle East without the American media pushing out nonstop “sleeper cell” stories built on vague paranoia, supposed “chatter,” deliberate conflation of Sunni with Shia “terrorism,” and an even more deliberate conflation of mentally unwell “lone wolves” with state agents of Iran, sourced entirely from ex-spooks, zionist advocacy groups, and/or anonymous leaks from the US government. A trope as old as the War on Terror, “sleeper cell” stories are a media favorite because they require no actual reporting beyond copy-and-pasting anonymous government officials and quoting conflicted pro-war lobbyists, while providing an urgent sense of stakes to an increasingly cynical and war-weary public. Whenever polls show increased skepticism or opposition to bombing people 6,500 miles away, the U.S. security state and its media conduits can build support for these far-off wars by insisting that “sleeper agents” from the populations being bombed are hiding among you at your local PTA meeting or grocery store or strip mall and are ready to kill you and your loved ones at any time. This brings the war home without the messy burden of “evidence,” “proof,” or Things That Have Actually Happened.
Since the US launched its unprovoked war on Iran on Feb. 28, and in the weeks leading up to the attack, US media has uncritically promoted the broad narrative that Iranian sleeper agents are living among Westerners waiting on word to strike at any moment:
New York Times: Iran Could Direct Proxies to Attack U.S. Targets Abroad, Officials Warn (2/22/26)
Fox Business: Hezbollah, Hamas sleeper cell fears raised amid Iran strikes (3/2/26)
ABC News: Iran may be activating sleeper cells outside
by Maximillian Alvarez | Mar 6, 2026 | Iran, Israel, Media Criticism, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, video
The US-Israeli war with Iran is spiraling into a regional catastrophe, and the number of dead is rising quickly. While President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the war hawks in their cabinets are responsible for this illegal war, they are not the only ones with blood on their hands. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files, and Adam Johnson, co-host of Citations Needed, about how Western media and American politicians in the Democratic “opposition” have helped manufacture the conditions for war with Iran.
Guests:
Abby Martin is an independent journalist, filmmaker, and host of The Empire Files. She is the director of the 2019 documentary Gaza Fights for Freedom and the 2026 documentary Earth’s Greatest Enemy.
Adam Johnson is a writer, media critic, co-host of the podcast Citations Needed, and a columnist for TRNN.
Credits:
Video Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Podcast Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Maximillian Alvarez: Welcome everyone to the Real News Network. My name is Maximillian Alvarez. I’m the editor-in-chief here at The Real News, and it’s so great to have you all with us. Urged on by Israeli Prime Minister and Genes Adair, Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump thrust the United States into a war with Iran on Saturday, committing what critics say may be the worst foreign policy decision in history. US and Israeli forces have been accused this week of seemingly indiscriminate bombing of Iran as the country’s Red Crescents said that at least 555 people have been killed amid reports of fresh mass
by Adam Johnson | Dec 5, 2025 | Article, Media Criticism, Opinion, Politics and Movements: US, The Cultural Front
Consistent with the United States’ continued slide into an economy powered almost entirely by LLM slop, financialization, and ever-pervasive exploitative gambling, “prediction market app” Kalshi “entered into an official partnership” with CNN this week to bring their “data to CNN’s journalism across its television, digital and social channels.” Soon, CNN will run live odds on world events where its viewers can gamble on them in real time on their smart phones. The “data” (see: betting markets) will, according to Axios, “be featured on CNN’s air through a real-time data ticker and can be referenced across CNN’s platforms when journalists discuss news predictions. The partnership will include prediction market content related to politics, news, culture and weather. The integration will be championed by CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten, who will tap into real-time insights from Kalshi in his reporting on air, both via linear TV and CNN’s new streaming subscription service.”
The day after this story broke, Wall Street news network CNBC announced a similar “exclusive partnership” with Kalshi, marking a grim turn for TV news. “Starting in 2026, CNBC will incorporate exclusive Kalshi predictions market data [see: betting props] into its programs,” the press release read. What are these events that viewers will be able to bet on? Some are seemingly harmless enough: who will win an upcoming election, the weather in Chicago, the federal government’s jobs numbers, or what will be said on Kroger’s next earnings call. But many offerings are on life and death issues that will, as a matter of course, reduce these issues to just another chip on a roulette table for Western audiences increasingly isolated
by Adam Johnson | Nov 7, 2025 | Article, elections, Media Criticism, New York, Opinion, Politics and Movements: US
Unable to stop Zohran Mamdani’s momentum after he won New York’s mayoral Democratic primary last June––fueled by a message of populist policies and social justice, and unperturbed by nonstop bad faith attacks by pro-Israel bullies––centrist and liberal media has adopted a different, more subtle tone in their effort to “moderate” the Mayor-elect: using the trappings of pragmatism and technocracy to whittle down the redistributive policies and class-driven language that defined his campaign. Rather than govern as he campaigned, as a crusading outsider socialist standing for tenants, Gaza, and workers, they insist it’s time for Mamdani to Grow Up, put on his big boy pants, purge his circle of Democratic Socialists, and hire Serious People motivated by Serious Solutions.
This makes sense. After all, traditional media attacks on Mamdani fell universally flat for months on end. Nothing seemed to stick, in part due to the fact that Mamdani seems to genuinely be a choir boy whose greatest transgressions are saying objectively true, but critical, statements about Israel and referring to his parent’s cousin at his “Auntie”––two things, it turns out, 90% of the world does. So a new tactic has emerged, one of attempted co-option, supposedly good faith advice, phone calls from powerful and famous Democratic luminaries, backroom meetings with “business leaders,” and the parallel implied threats of pushback if he doesn’t go along with The Way Things Are. This piece isn’t meant to be a commentary on whether this approach has been, or will be, successful (the jury is very much out on that). But it is worth documenting the way this particular mode of ideological disciplining works, and how it
