What Next | Daily News and Analysis · Slate Podcasts

No, Really, Why Are We At War?

·31 min·2 clips

Tommy cites Trump's Time Magazine line, "some people will die. And I mean you, Marsha, in Chicago."

1. What Next | Daily News and Analysis focuses on the question "No, Really, Why Are We At War?" as Mary Harris and Tommy Vitor discuss Iran. 2. Mary Harris hosts the episode, and Tommy Vitor is introduced as a communications professional, former White House aide, and current co-host of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World. 3. The episode asks what the Trump administration thinks it is doing in Iran, and whether anyone can explain the war's objectives, timeline, or end state. 4. Tommy says he and a reporter friend, both national-security watchers, still do not know when the war will end or how Trump is thinking about it. 5. He calls the Pentagon's communication strategy "FUBAR" and says the messaging is "disastrous." 6. Mary and Tommy discuss Trump's Time Magazine quote, "some people will die. And I mean you, Marsha, in Chicago. Des Moines." 7. A Quinnipiac poll in the episode says 77 percent of voters think a terrorist attack on U.S. soil is very or somewhat likely in response to the Iran war. 8. Tommy describes the conflict as a "turbo quagmire" and compares it to "speed running the playbook" from Iraq. 9. The conversation turns to the Strait of Hormuz, where the Energy Secretary tweeted that ships were being escorted by the U.S. Navy and then deleted the post when it was false. 10. Tommy says that initial tweet briefly cut the price of oil by 19 percent, while three cargo ships were hit by unknown projectiles and three U.S. demining ships were decommissioned. 11. He says the Strait of Hormuz handles about 20 percent of the world's petroleum and that mines could take months to clear. 12. Tommy argues that small boats can lay naval mines quickly and that Iran reportedly has between 2,000 and 6,000 mines available. 13. Mary asks about Trump's political coalition, and Tommy says oil prices are different because normal voters will not accept much higher costs at the pump. 14. When Mary asks what Democrats should do, Tommy says they should oppose the war on its merits, not only on process grounds. 15. He says Democrats should block funding if Trump requests another $50 billion and should redirect the money to jobs or education. 16. The discussion then shifts to Israel, where Tommy says Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed U.S. leaders toward war with Iran for years. 17. Tommy says Marco Rubio's remarks intensified a long-running and toxic argument on the right about Israel's role in U.S. foreign policy. 18. Mary and Tommy end on the tone of the segment itself: skeptical, dense, and driven by live political reporting rather than formal debate. 19. Best for listeners tracking U.S. foreign policy, Democratic strategy, and Trump-era national-security messaging. 20. Skip it if you want light news coverage or avoid detailed war-and-Israel politics.

As heard by us

A blunt look at war messaging, political spin, and where the line should stay.

The episode treats the war in Iran as a communications problem as much as a military one, and that is where it is sharpest. Mary Harris presses Tommy Vitor, who brings White House and Crooked experience, on the Trump administration's mixed signals and on the harder question of…

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Why you'd press play

Press play if the war headlines feel louder than the actual explanation.

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