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886: Blackout
Brief
Blackout, This American Life episode 886 (host Chana Joffe‑Walt), stitches together short voice memos sent out of Iran during an internet blackout that followed both massive domestic protests and, later, U.S. and Israeli strikes. Reporters Roxana Saberi and Fatemeh Jamalpour collected dozens of recordings—edited and revoiced to protect sources—so listeners hear people across Iran recount daily life under siege: from Tehran delivery drivers and a pizza shop owner to nurses, doctors, IT founders, and everyday lovers and neighbors. The program is organized in four acts: “Both/And” (initial shock and survival), “The Blackout Before This One” (January 8 crackdown and killings), “Neighbors, Friends and Lovers” (social divisions and loyalties), and “What Now” (consequences and where the internet may be headed).
Across the memos there is broad agreement on the blackout’s material harms—food and medical supply problems, lost wages (Pooya laid off ~70% of staff), and fear of checkpoints and phone searches (Sarah). Medical staff like Anushirvan detail treating protesters with close‑range wounds and trying to preserve evidence as authorities roamed hospitals. People used VPNs and rare satellite links (Starlink is illegal and users have been arrested) to transmit tiny audio files; many paid steep costs—Anushirvan spent more than half his monthly salary on VPN access. But opinions diverge sharply on politics: some (Vahid, Khabat) welcomed foreign pressure or intervention to bring down the regime, while others (Omid) defended wartime restrictions and the state’s narrative. A central revelation comes from Arta, an IT company owner who refused privileged “white lines” prewar but later purchased a paid state product called Internet Pro; the service required national ID and employee data, illustrating a shift toward tiered, surveilled internet access. The episode ends on a warning: the blackout may not be temporary but a rehearsal for a future where internet access is monetized and rationed—an “airport lounge” model of connectivity—entrenching surveillance and inequality inside Iran and offering a model other governments could replicate.
Why it matters
Shirin Joffe-Walt opens with reporter Shirin Jaafari's account: after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran in February, Iranian authorities cut external internet access the same day, forcing many families to rely on landlines until people fled (landlines later abandoned when bombing intensified).
Key details
- The nationwide communications blackout began earlier during protests on January 8, 2026, and human rights groups documented mass killings during that earlier shutdown; the UN Human Rights Office called the current blackout “one of the longest and most severe shutdowns ever recorded globally,” Chana Joffe‑Walt reports.
- Economic and social impacts were severe: Pooya, a Tehran pizza shop owner, said he laid off nearly 70% of his staff, reduced menu items, and saw major drops in customers; others report skyrocketing prices and lost income.
- Health and safety consequences: emergency nurse Silphia and doctor Anushirvan describe hospitals operating under surveillance, plainclothes security inside hospitals, and treatment of protesters shot at close range; Anushirvan spent over half his monthly salary on a VPN to get information out.
- State control and tiered internet access: Arta, an Isfahan tech CEO, describes being pressured to buy a state‑approved paid service called “Internet Pro” (akin to a ‘white SIM’), which required his national ID, phone number, and staff details—trading privacy and surveillance for reliable global connectivity.
- Public opinion inside Iran was fractured: voices range from Vahid (pro‑external intervention, hoping Trump/Netanyahu will topple the regime) to Omid (sympathetic to the regime and supportive of blackout for ‘security’), with others expressing anger when President Trump publicly threatened massive damage (‘a whole civilization will die tonight’), reported in voice memos collected by Roxana Saberi and Fatemeh Jamalpour.