The War in Iran and the Limits of American Journalism

Journalist and 'Equator' co-founder Jonathan Shainin joins the podcast to talk about war in Iran, Lebanon, and how conflict is covered by the press

By LARB Radio HourMarch 20, 2026

• LARB Radio Hour

Kate Wolf is joined by veteran journalist Jonathan Shainin, who has worked at The Guardian, The New Yorker, and The Caravan, among other publications.

Most recently, he is one of the founding editors of Equator, a new magazine covering politics, culture and art, launched as a response to what the editors see as the dominant mode of Western media: “boilerplate journalism,” “facile binaries” and an “invincible ignorance of other societies and cultures.” The magazine's mission feels even more urgent in light of the U.S.'s recent, overt acts of international aggression. Shainin speaks about the war in Iran and Lebanon, and how that conflict is being covered by the press.

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