Long Reads: Trump’s Nation-Breaking War w/ Afshin Matin-Asgari
Pete Hegseth has vowed to bring “death and destruction” to Iran.
March 11, 2026
32 min
1,821 of 1,867
March 11, 2026
Long Reads: Trump’s Nation-Breaking War w/ Afshin Matin-Asgari
0:00 / 32:02
Excerpt playback isn’t available for this episode — use the full-episode link.
Search the Record
Moment search isn’t open for this episode yet
When it opens, you’ll be able to type any phrase and jump straight to the second it was said.
Jacobin Episodes Around March 11, 2026
Episode 1,821 of 1,867 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
32:02This episodeLong Reads: Trump’s Nation-Breaking War w/ Afshin Matin-Asgari
Summary
<p>We’ve now entered the second week of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Donald Trump’s War Secretary Pete Hegseth has boasted about the US military machine bringing “death and destruction” to the country.</p>
<p>Afshin Matin-Asgari joined <em>Long Reads</em> on Monday, March 9, to discuss the war. Afshin is a professor of Middle East history at California State University in Los Angeles. His most recent book is <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/products/2694-a-history-of-iran-us-relations" rel="nofollow"><em>Axis of Empire: A History of Iran–US Relations</em></a>.</p>
<p>Read Afshin’s coverage of the protests from January: <a href="https://jacobin.com/2026/01/iran-protests-khamenei-trump-israel" rel="nofollow">https://jacobin.com/2026/01/iran-protests-khamenei-trump-israel</a></p>
<p>And an edited transcript of this podcast interview here: <a href="https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-regime-war-israel" rel="nofollow">https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-regime-war-israel</a></p>
<p><em>Long Reads</em> is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.</p>
Episode details and artwork are published by the show’s own feed. Sentinel plays short cited excerpts and links every episode back to its publisher.