This American Life

886: Blackout

May 3, 2026·1h 2m·5-min readnarrativenews
Podzilla Summary (5 min)
TLDR
This episode of This American Life documents the lived reality of Iranians during a government-imposed internet blackout amid war with the U.S. and Israel, revealing how communication blackouts erase lives, silence dissent, and deepen trauma. The story centers on personal voice memos sm

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Mentions

Books, people, and resources mentioned in this episode.

People

Roxana SaberiFatemeh JamalpourShirin Jafari

Books

For the Sun After Long Nightsby Fatima Jamalpour

Companies

Starlink

Products & Tools

Internet Prowhite SIM card

Topics

AuthoritarianismCriminal Justice ReformGeopoliticsInvestigative JournalismLong Form JournalismMiddle EastTrue Crime

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