In this episode of Decoding America, Reged Ahmad and Jonathan Yerushalmy look at Donald Trump’s war of words with the Pope, that AI image and the blowback it has received - especially when seen through the administration’s painting of the war through a religious lens. They also also examine how the new blockade of the strait of Hormuz will work in practice, the US making such a contradictory move after failed negotiations with Iran, and why the US president and Marco Rubio were at the UFC while it was all going down. Decoding America is a new podcast from Guardian Australia hosted by Reged Ahmad with Jonathan Yerushalmy, Guardian Australia’s US site editor.