Chris Hayes, host of All In With Chris Hayes, delves into how attention has become the defining commodity of modern life. His conversation with Wired’s Katie Drummond reflects on the US and Israel's recent attacks on Iran, where bombs and missiles are not just tools of war but also content for an always-on attention economy.

Hayes argues that these aggressive actions are performative; they serve as both imperialist ambitions wrapped in a social media-friendly format and as means to keep the president at the center of public discourse. He points out the legal and moral indefensibility of targeting civilians, likening it to scenes from an 80s action movie.

The focus on attention is not just about maintaining control but also about old-fashioned imperialism. Hayes suggests that the intertwined nature of conquest and content production in America’s imperial history was always there, just cloaked differently by modern technologies.

Hayes’ insights are a stark reminder that our everyday interactions online could be influencing international relations. Whether through vertical videos or Twitter posts, we are all participants in this attention economy, whether we like it or not.

The conversation with Hayes is a call to sober reflection: how do consumers and journalists navigate this complex landscape? Can there be a balance between staying informed and avoiding the brain-numbing pace of constant news cycles?