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The Daily

How Iranians See the War

21 Apr 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 10.867 Juliette

Hi, I'm Juliette from New York Times Games, and I'm here talking to fans about our games. You play New York Times Games? Yes, every day. There's this little tab down here called Friends, so you can add your friend.

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11.027 - 12.029 John Caramonica

That feels new to me.

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12.209 - 13.151 Juliette

It is.

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13.171 - 15.074 John Caramonica

It's nice to have the social aspect.

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15.094 - 23.406 Juliette

Oh, my God, and you have all the times. That's crazy. Right? You can look at Spelling Bee, Wordle, Connections. Oh, my God, amazing. Love that. I'll have to get the app.

23.386 - 31.724 Clare Toeniskoetter

New York Times Games subscribers get full access to all our games and features. Subscribe now at nytimes.com slash games for a special offer.

34.891 - 57.047 Rachel Abrams

From the New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams, and this is The Daily. Since the war with Iran began, President Trump has gone from urging Iranians to take cover and protect themselves to threatening to annihilate them. But with the ceasefire set to expire this week, very little has been heard from the Iranian people themselves.

58.81 - 65.239 Rachel Abrams

Today, my colleague Claire Tennesketter speaks to Iranians about how they view this war.

68.948 - 90.012 President Trump

It's Tuesday, April 21st.

Chapter 2: How has President Trump's rhetoric changed regarding Iran?

175.014 - 192.016 Juliette

Days have passed without word from family and friends. The Iranian government had effectively cut off the country from the rest of the world. The number I kept seeing was 99%. 99% of Iranians who normally had access to the internet now didn't. I was trying to reach the remaining 1%.

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192.357 - 219.975 Juliette

These would be people with workarounds, like VPNs or enough money to afford satellite communications like Starlink, that could get them online for even just a few minutes. And then, almost a week into the war, my colleagues and I got a few replies. Hello? Some of them only had enough internet to send text messages. But others were able to send short voice memos. I am in my own bedroom.

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223.2 - 228.447 Clare Toeniskoetter

I can say we've been through a lot lately.

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233.074 - 235.037 Juliette

We heard a loud explosion.

0

235.057 - 237.28 Clare Toeniskoetter

I heard some loud bomb noises.

237.513 - 240.777 Juliette

At that time, people were still reeling from the war's initial shocks.

241.457 - 242.298 Clare Toeniskoetter

I woke up.

242.318 - 246.683 Unknown

And shortly after that, a huge cloud of smoke drifted into our classroom.

248.044 - 254.772 John Caramonica

Right now, the Iranian state media is telling the people of Iran that the Ayatollah has been killed.

Chapter 3: What do Iranians think about the ongoing war?

585.889 - 586.469 C

My father.

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586.91 - 591.014 Juliette

Like when he would ride in the car with his dad. He'd listen to Queen or the Bee Gees.

0
0

593.337 - 593.697 Unknown

It's just fantasy.

0

593.98 - 597.286 C

And we were watching American movies.

597.386 - 600.251 Juliette

And See himself would watch movies and shows about Westerners.

600.611 - 609.106 C

We could see how they're similar to us. So there wasn't a question that America is our enemy.

610.929 - 615.277 Juliette

One of his favorite things to watch was an anime adaptation of Anne of Green Gables.

615.757 - 618.402 Unknown

Hello, my dear. Hello, Flora.

Chapter 4: Why is communication difficult for Iranians during the war?

739.805 - 746.856 Juliette

If he was caught, he could be severely punished. But when that didn't happen, he started to feel lighter.

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748.178 - 750.922 C

I felt a sense of relief.

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753.706 - 774.136 Juliette

This was his first act of protest. And as the years went by, he realized he wasn't alone. first in conversations with friends and even family. But then later, during one of the last years he was in high school, while he was on his way home from the grocery store, he accidentally came upon a mass protest.

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774.596 - 788.316 C

That was the first moment I saw lots of people chanting anti-governmental slogans. That was like the French Revolution era.

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788.38 - 792.385 Juliette

When he saw that, he realized many Iranians were keeping secrets like his.

793.066 - 800.035 C

I thought, I'm not alone. And most people think like me or feel like me.

800.796 - 802.097 Juliette

And many wanted change.

802.738 - 806.623 C

Lots of people were against this regime.

807.464 - 815.034 Juliette

So he eventually decided to join them. And for nearly every demonstration in Tehran after that, sees as he protested too.

Chapter 5: What are the varied reactions of Iranians to the regime's actions?

1238.306 - 1256.196 John Caramonica

We interviewed some of the songwriters on our list, including Taylor Swift, who hasn't sat for a video like this in a long time. These are not ordinary conversations. You're going to watch these videos and learn about intimate approaches to craft in ways that you rarely have access to.

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1256.517 - 1262.689 Unknown

My momma got me this notebook and I was just writing it really small because I didn't want anybody to read what I was writing.

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1262.669 - 1280.359 John Caramonica

Okay, Jay-Z's teenage notebooks. I need to see those. Watch all the video interviews for free and check out the entire 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters Project at nytimes.com slash 30greatest or in the app. And let us know if you agree with our picks. I bet you won't.

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1284.026 - 1288.373 Juliette

I heard from another Iranian who is going by F to protect her identity.

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1289.872 - 1292.016 F

I don't know why the road is so bad here.

1295.363 - 1300.553 Juliette

When I first got in touch, F was in her car, on the road in Turkey after fleeing the war.

1301.414 - 1306.665 F

We thought everybody is going out of the city, but actually no one is going out.

1307.747 - 1311.053 Juliette

She introduced herself to me in a voice memo.

1313.193 - 1320.422 F

I'm just jumping quickly to the answers. I hope that it will help you.

Chapter 6: How do young Iranians express their dissent?

1805.852 - 1818.906 Juliette

For her concert, she planned to sing traditional Iranian music, not pop or other genres associated with the West. And she would have one man on stage with her, playing the kamansha, a traditional Persian instrument.

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1818.886 - 1821.589 F

also activist kind of musician.

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1822.09 - 1825.735 Juliette

But she would be the sole singer, with a lineup of songs about women.

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1826.516 - 1831.642 F

All the poems and all the music was from women's movement.

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1832.103 - 1834.086 Juliette

She said they sold tickets to about 80 people.

1834.806 - 1837.41 F

We were ready to be captured.

1837.77 - 1846.902 Juliette

The night of the show, she was nervous, thinking she might be arrested. But she stepped out on stage and sang.

1847.86 - 1862.361 Unknown

And really, everything was the way I wanted.

1862.461 - 1867.388 Juliette

She was able to have her concert, the first time she ever got to sing like that.

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