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It’s Wednesday, March 11. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Reihan Salam on how Zohran Mamdani needs to condemn jihadist bomb-throwers, not just Islamophobes. Josh Code reports on the $1,200 anti-recording gadget that promises to keep your home and office surveillance-free. Onetime opera singer Billy Binion writes about why Timothée Chalamet is right that hardly anyone cares about opera.

But first: A Free Press debate on the Iran war.

The most pressing question in the world right now is: How far should the U.S. go in its war with Iran?

Today, our own Coleman Hughes hosts a debate on whether the U.S. should have embarked on this war, and whether it can topple Iran’s theocratic regime to end it. Arguing in favor of Operation Epic Fury, Niall Ferguson posits that there are few greater global dangers than allowing Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons. Arguing against it is former diplomat Richard Haass, who served as the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and who warns that the operation unleashes threats to world stability far more imminent than those we seek to eliminate.

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Niall Ferguson vs. Richard Haass: Is Regime Change in Iran Possible?

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Richard has also expanded on his reasoning in our pages today. Don’t miss his essay on the case against “preventive war,” the human and economic costs, and how the conflict could benefit Vladimir Putin.

For more from Niall on the conflict, read his initial piece on the war, explaining why Iran 2026 isn’t Iraq 2003, and his answer to another important question: Is this the beginning of World War III?

Seven American service members have already been killed in the Iran war, and some 140 injured On the home front, military families are bearing the emotional brunt of the conflict. Today, Free Press investigative reporter Madeleine Rowley, a military spouse herself, writes about the daily hopes and fears of the families of soldiers deployed to the Middle East.

And for more on what comes next, tune in to tomorrow’s School of War livestream. At 12 p.m. ET, Aaron MacLean will sit down with Iran expert Ray Takeyh to discuss what we know about the country’s new supreme leader, Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba. Click here to add it to your calendar, or join us tomorrow at thefp.com/livestream.

—The Editors

New York City’s Mayor Can’t Give Muslim Extremists a Pass

Reihan Salam

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani forcefully condemned a white supremacist protest outside his home over the weekend, but struggled to do the same for an attempted bombing by Muslim terrorists. Today, Reihan Salam argues that Mamdani has a chance to right this and move beyond it. Condemning Islamic chauvinism, Reihan writes, would be both a courageous move for Mamdani, and a politically smart one. Read full story

Big Tech Is Always Listening. Can $1,200 Change That?

Josh Code

Spectre I is the buzzy new smart device conceived to protect you from—well, devices. Last week, its debut whipped the internet into a frenzy, so Josh Code spoke to the 23-year-old inventor of the as-yet-unreleased gadget that’s caused a social media storm about the rise of anti-surveillance tech, and whether a $1,200 orb can actually make the machines stop listening. Read full story

I’m a Former Opera Singer. Timothée Chalamet Is Right.

Billy Binion

Timothée Chalamet ruffled some feathers last month by saying he’s glad to be an actor, rather than working in opera, which “no one cares about” anymore. Chalamet’s phrasing may have been glib, but he’s right, writes Billy Binion, who is himself a former opera singer. Instead of taking offense at the obvious, argues Billy, opera companies would do well to figure out how to bring audiences back. Read full story