Summary
Overview
This episode documents life inside Iran during a 63-day internet blackout imposed by Iranian authorities during the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Through voice memos smuggled out of the country, Iranians describe their daily lives navigating both military attacks and extreme digital isolation, revealing how the blackout affects everything from basic communication to access to information, while also exposing deep political divisions within Iranian society.
The Blackout Begins: When War Cuts Off Connection
On the first day of war in February, Iran's government shut down the internet completely, severing Iranians from the outside world and from each other. People like Shirin Jafari, who maintained daily contact with family in Iran for 20 years, suddenly found themselves unable to reach loved ones. Cell phones became useless for international calls, with only landlines offering a fragile connection. When bombing intensified and people fled their homes, even that lifeline disappeared, leaving families going weeks without knowing if their relatives were alive.
- Iran shut down the internet on the first day of the U.S.-Israel war, making international communication nearly impossible
- Shirin Jafari, who messaged her Iranian parents daily for 20 years, lost all contact except through landline calls
- When her parents fled Tehran due to bombing, they left behind the landline, leaving Shirin with no way to reach them for days or weeks
- She would stay up at 3-4 AM searching social media for anyone from Iran who might have brief internet access to ask about her parents
" The cell phone became useless for us. The only way I was able to communicate with them was them calling on a landline to my cell phone. That was the only way they could reach me. "
" I would just send messages to everybody like, hey, let me know if you are online. Let me know the next time you're connected. Can you give me an update? Just message me as soon as you see this message. "
Dual Reality: Living Through War and Digital Isolation
Iranians describe the disorienting experience of navigating both physical danger from bombings and the informational void created by the internet shutdown. Nagin recalls driving on the highway when bombing began, seeing parents running to schools and girls celebrating what they thought was liberation. Puya describes how news spreads person-to-person in his pizza shop, while people continue daily routines despite the chaos. The blackout compounds the danger, making it impossible to know where it's safe to go or what's happening beyond immediate sight.
- On the first day of bombing, Nagin witnessed chaos on Tehran highways with people hiding in bushes and parents frantically running to retrieve children from closed schools
- A delivery motorcyclist passed Nagin saying 'Bibi finally came,' showing how some welcomed the attacks
- High school girls took off their headscarves and chanted 'yes, now we are finally becoming free' just before a nearby bomb hit
- Puya's pizza shop had to lay off 70% of staff due to economic collapse, with news spreading person-to-person since internet is down
- Sara cleaned her entire house obsessively during attacks, even making jam for the first time, as a way to maintain psychological control
" These strange, terrifying sounds. We were really not prepared for suddenly being in the middle of the highway and hearing sounds like that. Some people, they just parked their cars and they got out and they were staring at the smoke. They didn't know what to do. "
" I scrubbed the whole house with the thought that if there's no electricity or water, at least my house would stay clean for a few more days. I know it's really stupid. Like, if they bomb your country's infrastructure, this might help you for, what, maybe two extra days? But it gave me a good feeling, psychologically at least. "
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