The Nation Podcasts

A political battle is underway in Los Angeles, where landlords, multi-millionaires, and the police are trying to defeat the leading progressive on the city council. Their key issues are protection for renters and new taxes on mansions. Also on this episode of Start Making Sense : A new podcast brings us stories from the early days of HIV & AIDS. It's about how the epidemic decimated poor c...

On this episode of American Prestige , Danny and Derek speak with David Halperin, retired professor of Jewish studies at UNC Chapel Hill, about his book Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO. The group looks at the phenomenon of UFO encounters as part of a longer tradition of mythology, examining their relationship to the historical epochs in which they occur, their place in politics and cul...

The mathematician Chandler Davis, who died in 2002 at age 96, was one of the notable victims of the second Red Scare. In 1960, Davis was sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to answer questions about his membership in the Communist Party. Davis’s lawyers defended him with the innovative legal argument that the First Amendment barred such questioning. While Davis lost in the courts, his l...

On this week's news episode of American Prestige : Global military spending reached new heights in 2023 (0:31); an update on Gaza (3:51); a major exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah (12:12); contentioius election results in Pakistan (14:38); reports of the military in disarray in Myanmar (19:08); Indonesia holds a general election (22:36); protests continue in Senegal (25:11); allega...

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Zachary Kaiser is on the show with Paris Marx to discuss the power of tech interfaces, why data isn’t an accurate reflection of the world, and why we need to explore democratic decomputerization. Zachary Kaiser is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Experience Architecture at Michigan State University. He’s also the author of Interfaces and Us: User...

The blue-blood families that made fortunes in the opium trade: Amitav Ghosh recounts the origins of much of the wealth for the 19th century New England elite on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast. He wrote the  cover story  for The Nation 's latest print issue. His new book is called Smoke and Ashes . Also on this episode: The latest US moves in Haiti are framed in democratic rheto...

On this episode of American Prestige, Derek speaks with Elizabeth Shackelford, former U.S. diplomat and current foreign affairs columnist for  The Chicago Tribune , about U.S. involvement across Africa. They talk about Elizabeth’s own history in Somalia and South Sudan, America’s understanding of the places in which it’s involved, the generational timeline needed to change the trajectory of foreig...

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, a discussion with Adam Johnson on the Democrats' failed border policy. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's News episode of American Prestige: the U.S. hits targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the American troops killed in Jordan (0:30); Israel refuses Hamas’ terms for a ceasefire as IDF troops enter Rafah (6:06); in the Philippines, a feud between Sebastian Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. escalates (11:46); in Sudan, humanitarian assistance is cut off and telecom...

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Nastasia Hadjadji to discuss Emmanuel Macron’s plan to run France like a start-up, how that justified a further dismantling of France's welfare state, and how his desire to create national tech champions is having domestic consequences. Nastasia Hadjadji is a French journalist looking at tech from the lens of political economy...

Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon is one of our leading progressives, and one of 5 Senators to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. He's on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast to explain why, and to discuss his new book, “Filibustered! How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America.” Also on this episode: the case for disqualifying Trump as a candidate, based on the 14 th  Amendment banning t...

On this episode of the American Prestige , podcast, hosts Danny and Derek welcome back  Samuel Huneke , assistant professor of history at George Mason University, to talk about his new book,  A Queer Theory of the State . The group discusses the various notions of queer theory and the state, how queer politics and activism can engage in state power, the neoliberal contingent of the queer community...

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Moira Donegan on Joe Biden’s need to embrace pro-choice politics. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this news episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek return with headlines from around the globe. This week: the ICJ decision on Israel (0:29), Israeli accusations of UNRWA (5:08), ceasefire talks (10:35), and Biden sanctions settlers (15:56); a U.S. outpost in Jordan is bombed by a drone (18:54); secret Sudan peace talks in Bahrain (23:52); several countries quit the Economic Community of W...

On this episode of the Tech Won't Save Us podcast, Paris Marx is joined by Victor Pickard to discuss the continued layoffs in news media, and how they are symptomatic of a deeper, structural crisis in journalism. Victor Pickard is Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at University of Pennsylvania. He’s also the author of  Democracy Without Journalism?: Confronting the Misinformation...

The Nation’s annual Progressive Honor Roll features movement leaders who provide hope for 2024. John Nichols tells their stories. Also: California moved one step closer to universal healthcare on January 1, when it expanded coverage to all low-income residents, regardless of immigration status. Sasha Abramsky reports. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://r...

On this episode of the American Prestige podcast, Danny and Derek sit down with Adam Ganser and Michael Swaim of the  1Upsmanship  podcast  to discuss the confluence of history, U.S. foreign policy, and capitalism in video games. The group broaches topics like the implicit politics of first-person shooters, the capitalist logic in games based on survival and growth, the portrayal of governments in...

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek chat with  Aslı Bâli , professor of law at Yale Law School. Aslı, whose research focuses largely on human rights law and the law of the international security order, helps us break down the legal definition of genocide, the substance of the ICJ ruling and what was ordered, and the court’s ability to enforce it. The conversation continues for s...

On this week's news episode of American Prestige: Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks amble along (0:30), Netanyahu snubs Qatar (5:11), militants kill 21 IDF soldiers in a single attack (10:25), and more from Israel-Palestine; in Yemen, the U.S. prepares for a “sustained military campaign” (15:40) while a new report details the effect of sanctions on humanitarian relief (16:50); talk of (another) U.S...

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us , Paris Marx is joined by Eric Silver to discuss Spotify’s big plan to dominate podcasting, why it’s now pulling back from those efforts, and the difference between highly produced and more independent podcasts. Eric Silver is a podcast producer and head of development at Multitude. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: htt...

On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols has our analysis on the New Hampshire primary--Biden's big win, and Trump's furious victory speech. Also: Adam Shatz talks about Franz Fanon, whose books Wretched of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks made him a huge figure on the left, not just in the '60s when they were published, but in the era of Black Lives Matter when “his sh...

On this episode of American Prestige, Patrice Lumumba, the first president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has become a mythic figure among the left, due in no small part to the CIA’s role in his ousting and assassination less than one year after the start of his premiership.  Stuart Reid , editor at  Foreign Affairs , joins Derek to discuss the full story of Lumumba’s downfall, as detailed i...

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I speak with Trita Parsi, vice president and co-founder of The Quincy Institute, about the cascading violence in the region. We also take up the Biden administration’s decision to double down on its push for a Saudi/Israeli alliance, a program that could itself deepen the violence. As an alternative, we consider the possibility of other great powers taking...

On this episode of American Prestige: Iran attacks targets in Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan (1:01); U.S. strikes on Ansar Allah (Houthi) targets fail to deter attacks on shipping (10:17); an Israel-Palestine update (12:55) including a Qatari medicine deal (15:26) and Netanyahu’s take on a Palestinian state (17:41); Taiwan’s presidential election (22:18); Kim of the DPRK (North Korea) lashes out at the...

On this episode of  Tech Won’t Save Us,  Paris Marx is joined by Timnit Gebru to discuss the past year in AI hype, how AI companies have shaped regulation, and tech’s relationship to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle...