War with Iran, and Award Shows in This Political Moment

About this episode

Stacey Abrams discusses the war with Iran and the impact of the Academy Awards on the current political and cultural landscape.

This week, Stacey opens the show with the war the Trump administration launched against Iran, a deadly and expensive undertaking pursued by the president without seeking congressional approval. Then, she turns her attention to the upcoming Academy Awards and examines the role the film and entertainment industry plays in America’s current political and cultural moment. Stacey is joined by Sam Sanders, host of The Sam Sanders Show on KCRW, and Hunter Harris, host of the Lemme Say This podcast and author of the Hung Up column on Substack. They discuss the movies and moments with political messages this year, the way media consolidation will impact studio decisions in the future, and the art and performances that will stick with us for years to come. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here . For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Learn & Do More: Be Curious: Check out The Sam Sanders Show on KCRW, Hunter Harris’ Substack, Hung Up, and her podcast Lemme Say This. Solve Problems: Support organizations that uplift independent filmmakers and diverse voices in the industry. Check out…

People in this episode

Host: Stacey Abrams

Guests: Sam Sanders, Hunter Harris

Topics covered

• Iran war
• Academy Awards
• political messages
• media consolidation
• entertainment industry
• cultural moment

Keywords

• Iran
• Academy Awards
• politics
• entertainment
• media
• film industry
• cultural impact
• Sam Sanders
• Hunter Harris

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Sam Sanders Show, KCRW, Lemme Say This, Substack, Chickeneggfilms.org, NAACP, GLAAD, doctorswithoutborders.org, unicef.org

More episodes of Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams

• Why Is Disability Still an Afterthought? · June 9, 2026 · 1h 1m
• How the Left Can Take Back States’ Rights · June 2, 2026 · 1h 3m
• How Anxious Should You Be About AI? (w/ Katie Drummond and Timnit Gebru) · May 19, 2026 · 1h 9m
• How SCOTUS Is Erasing Black Voters, and Abby Phillip on Jesse Jackson’s Legacy · May 12, 2026 · 1h 15m
• What’s Next for Voting Rights, and Why Activism Matters (w/ Jane Fonda) · May 5, 2026 · 1h 3m
• A Democrat’s Guide to Challenging Trump on Iran, ICE, and Dollars (w/ Rep Ansari) · April 28, 2026 · 1h 4m