Prevail with Greg Olear

What began, officially, as a mission to attack Hezbollah leadership and military strongholds is now indisputably much larger and, by all indications, more imperial. Israel is applying what it terms a “Gaza model” to the region south of Lebanon’s Litani River–meaning the leveling of buildings and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Its finance minister explicitly revealed plans to annex the ter...

Greg Olear speaks with the economic sociology professor Brooke Harrington, author of “Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism,” about journalistic omertà, bodily capital, tech-bro self-loathing, Trump's lousy Rodney Dangerfield impression, and how the first rule of Epstein Club is not to talk about Epstein Club. Brooke Harrington is Professor of Economic Sociology at Dartmouth College. Si...

You’re familiar with his books: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, James & the Giant Peach, The BFG, Matilda . But how much do you know about the author? Greg Olear speaks with Aaron Tracy about his excellent new narrative podcast, The Secret World of Roald Dahl . They explore Dahl’s fascinating life, his impact on children's literature, and the complexities of his character, including his anti-Semi...

Rich people are not like us–they have more money. And mega-rich people? They not only have more money, but they hide it “offshore,” to avoid detection by the tax man, law enforcement, creditors, divorce lawyers, and, sometimes, their fellow citizens whose collective coffers they’ve plundered. In this conversation, Greg Olear speaks with the economic sociology professor Brooke Harrington, author of...

What happens when you discover that the reason your father never speaks about his parents or his childhood growing up in Hawaii is because his mother, father, and older sister were Nazi spies? And not just any Nazi spies–the spies sent by Berlin to help the Japanese surveil Pearl Harbor. Chris­tine Kuehn was living a qui­et sub­ur­ban life when a mys­te­ri­ous let­ter in 1994 pierced that bub­ble,...

In this conversation with Greg Olear, Paul Starr discusses his book “American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now,” exploring the complex themes of American identity, the contradictions inherent in the nation’s history, and the evolution of political dynamics over the decades. He delves into the impact of 1950s nostalgia, the rise of identity politics, the decline of labor...

Robert W. Fieseler is a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association “Journalist of the Year” and the acclaimed author of Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation —winner of the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Louisiana Literary Award from the Louisiana Library Association, shortlisted for the Saroyan International Prize fo...

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the publication of her hit debut novel THE MERCY OF THIN AIR, Ronlyn Domingue talks to Greg Olear about the story’s timeless themes of love and loss, the significance of New Orleans as a backdrop, her unusual creative process, the Trump Administration and SCOTUS’s retrograde position on reproductive rights, the importance of the novel in modern socie...

Greg Olear talks to Candace Rondeaux about her book “Putin’s Sledgehammer,” which delves into the Wagner Group mercenary group and the complexities of Russia’s political landscape. Rondeaux shares her background in journalism and her journey into understanding Russian geopolitics, particularly through the lens of the Wagner Group and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The discussion covers the origins...

Greg Olear talks to John B. King, Jr., former U.S. Secretary of Education and current SUNY chancellor, about what the Department of Education actually does; what proposed cuts to the D.O.E. mean for students, teachers, parents, and communities; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning; the stakes of the Trump Administration’s ongoing attacks on higher education; and his powerful and...

Greg Olear talks to Nicolo Majnoni about his new podcast, 'Shadow Kingdom, God's Banker,' which delves into the mysterious death of banker Roberto Calvi and the intricate financial systems of the Vatican. Majnoni shares his personal connection to the Vatican, the complexities of its banking operations, the historical context of its wealth, and the shadowy organization P2, as well as the future cha...

Who owns the land? Who DECIDES who owns the land? Who has the power to redistribute land ownership? If land ownership IS redistributed, who gets to take possession and who doesn’t? And what adverse impact can the reshuffling of land ownership have on our society and our planet? Greg Olear talks to Michael Albertus, a professor at the University of Chicago and the author of Land Power: Who Has It,...

To, ahem, sever himself from the news, Greg Olear brings on his wife, Stephanie St. John, a huge fan of “Severance,” to discuss the second season. Cold Harbor, fetid moppet, devour feculence, Helly/Helena, the Glasgow Block, ORTBO, the four tempers, and more goats than anyone asked for: they cover it all, with verve and wiles. Make America Great Gatsby Again! https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great...

The Overwhelm: Trump, Musk, stupidity, banality, artlessness, lack of decency, betrayal by our leadership, rage, fear, grief from what we’ve lost. We are living through a period of national, if not global, trauma. Actor and trauma coach Claudia Black returns to PREVAIL to talk about the causes of trauma, how to heal from it, emotional aid, and what we can do to regulate ourselves. Claudia’s websit...

Katherine Stewart is the author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, the award-winning book upon which the documentary feature, God & Country, produced by Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner, is based. She has covered the intersection of faith and politics for over 15 years; her work appears in the New York Times, The Washington Post, the New Republic, the Guardi...

Christopher Steele began his twenty-two-year career as an intelligence professional and Russia expert within the British government in 1987, soon after graduating from Cambridge University. He was posted to Moscow, where he served through the fall of the Soviet Union, and Paris, before returning to London to become one of the government’s senior intelligence experts and advisers on Russia. In 2009...

For more than 30 years, Alexandra Hall Hall worked as a diplomat in the British Foreign Office, with postings in Washington, Bangkok, Delhi, Bogota, and Tbilisi, where she was the British ambassador to Georgia. She is now the co-host of the Disorder podcast. This is an interview from Friday’s episode of THE FIVE 8. Having just returned from Tbilisi, she talks about the situation there. Plus: Holly...

Many times in the last two years, we have warned about the grim consequences of allowing a wannabe dictator–who attempted to overthrow the government on his way out the door four years ago–back into the White House. What we warned about has happened. We are 45 days away from Donald Trump’s second inauguration. And based on who the Mussolini of Queens has picked for his cabinet and staff positions,...

Make America Great Gatsby Again! https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=t Subscribe to The Five 8: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhA Check out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17 ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beas...

Jimmy Kennedy was the executive producer of the first season of The Noel Casler Podcast, the afternoon drive producer for The Kent Sterling Show on CBS Sports 1430 AM in Indianapolis, and a gameday staff member with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. He is currently the host and producer of his own show, JBK On Air, where he interviews a variety of guests including athletes, p...

This episode of the live YouTube show “The Five 8” was recorded on Wednesday, November 6, 2024–the night after the election. It is not the show we planned to do, certainly not the show we wanted to do, but the show we had to do. Featuring Stephanie “LB” Koff and Greg Olear.   Make America Great Gatsby Again! https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221...

It’s been just over 100 days since Kamala Harris officially replaced Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, but it feels like an eternity. With just four days until the most consequential presidential election since 1860, Greg Olear talks to OSINT researcher ne plus ultra Gal Suburban about what to expect on Election Day–and, more ominously, what schemes may come in the weeks after the election is de...

Tom Kemp is a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur, seed investor,  policy advisor and author of the award-winning bestseller Containing Big Tech: How to Protect our Civil Rights, Economy, and Democracy . Tom was the founder and CEO of Centrify, a leading cybersecurity cloud provider. As an angel investor, he’s made seed investments in over fifteen tech start-ups. He has also served as a volunteer te...

Nina Burleigh is a journalist, best-selling author, documentary producer, and publisher of a Substack on politics called American Freakshow .  A contributing editor at The New Republic and frequent contributor to the New York Times and New York Magazine, she is the author of eight books on an array of topics including archaeological forgery, scientists in 18th Century Egypt, James Smithson, Amanda...

Gareth Gore is a financial journalist and editor with close to two decades of experience, who has reported from over twenty-five countries and covered some of the biggest financial stories. His writing has been published by Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, and International Financing Review. He is the host of The Syndicate, which tells the behind-the-scenes stories of the biggest financial deals in his...