It’s Thursday, March 26. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Maya Sulkin and Frannie Block unpack the landmark Meta lawsuit. Coleman Hughes reacts to his debate with Glenn Greenwald, and tackles the myth of the all-powerful Israel lobby. Arthur Brooks sits down with Shilo Brooks to tell us how to live a meaningful life. And much more.

But first: What will it take to finish the job in Iran?

“They’re talking to us, and they’re talking sense.” That’s how Donald Trump explained his pivot to negotiations with Iran on Tuesday. Just days earlier, he had threatened strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure—then delayed them “based on the fact we’re negotiating.” But on Wednesday morning, Iran rejected a 15-point peace plan delivered through Pakistani intermediaries, and continued its air strikes across the Gulf region.

Can diplomacy end the Iran war? Or will the violence have to escalate before it concludes? Today, we bring you four pieces grappling with those questions.

Up first, former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant argues that with the Strait of Hormuz closed and the global economy floundering, negotiations aren’t enough. The U.S. must seize Iran’s greatest choke point: Kharg Island. Read his piece to understand why that goal isn’t only within reach—it must happen right now.

According to Aaron MacLean, Trump is following a familiar playbook: “maximum pressure, followed by diplomacy.” But while the pattern echoes his first-term approach to North Korea, the conditions are different. Aaron explains what North Korea 2017 teaches us about Iran 2026—and why “we may get a new version of ‘fire and fury’ after all.”

Next, Eli Lake on why divisions over how to end the war run just as deeply inside the Trump administration as outside it. Joe Kent, former chief of the National Counterterrorism Center, has been claiming Israel manipulated Trump into demanding Iran cease all uranium enrichment—killing any chance of a deal. But Eli says the opposite: that it was bureaucrats like Kent who quietly tried to soften a line Trump has held since 2018, and are now blaming Israel for their failure.

Finally, as Iran’s terms for entering negotiations grow increasingly untenable, the regime has adopted a new tactic: offering Trump gifts. The gesture, writes Amit Segal, suggests the Iranians “clearly understand their audience”—a dynamic that “doesn’t bode particularly well” for how the war ends.

—The Editors

The Ruling That Could Change Social Media

Maya Sulkin and Frannie Block

On Wednesday, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable for negligent algorithm design, ruling that they should have recognized the harm their platforms were causing—particularly to young users. Maya Sulkin and Frannie Block, who have spent weeks following the trial and reviewing its court documents, break down what the verdict means, and the precedent it could set for the future of social media. Read full story

A Message from the Blue and White in the Red, White, and Blue

Ruth R. Wisse

Last night, Ruth R. Wisse became the oldest person in history to deliver the Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. Born in Romania in 1936 before immigrating to the U.S. as an adult, she used her platform to address a subject she knows all too well: the long struggle for Jewish survival and continuity. Wisse’s talk is both a love letter to her adoptive country and a warning to her fellow citizens. “I am,” she says, “increasingly protective of what can only remain the land of the free if we are determined to conserve it.” We’re honored to publish her words today. Read full story

Coleman Hughes: The Myth of the All-Powerful Israel Lobby

Coleman Hughes

Here at The Free Press, we pride ourselves on fostering free and civil discourse—especially with those we disagree with. That’s exactly what Coleman Hughes did this week in a debate with fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy Glenn Greenwald. One question at the heart of their exchange was this: Just how much does Israel influence American foreign policy? In a piece reflecting on the conversation, Coleman addresses the idea of an “all-powerful Israel lobby,” arguing that this “extraordinary claim” has little evidence to substantiate it. Read full story

The Two Types of People Who Never Find Happiness

Shilo Brooks

Life is short. How do we live it well? Harvard professor and Free Press columnist Arthur Brooks has spent years studying that very question. In this week’s episode of Old School, he sits down with Shilo Brooks to explore what neuroscience, faith, and philosophy teach us about the answer. To start, they break down the lessons in Seneca’s Stoic essay, “On the Shortness of Life.” Listen on