Current Affairs
466 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago - ★★★★★ - 576 ratingsA podcast of politics and culture, from the editors of Current Affairs magazine.
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Episodes
How To Think Sensibly About Apocalypse and Catastrophe
February 16, 2022 17:35 - 55 minutes - 50.5 MBPhil Torres is a scholar of "global catastrophic risk," meaning that he studies the various ways in which terrible things could happen to humanity: nuclear war, global warming, asteroids, killer robots, pandemics, etc. His books include The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us About the Apocalypse and Morality, Foresight, and Human Flourishing: An Introduction to Existential Risks. Both are available free on his website. His upcoming book is Human Extinction: A History of Thinking About th...
Why Is Climate Communication So Impossible and Frustrating?
February 16, 2022 17:33 - 48 minutes - 44.7 MBGeorge Monbiot has been working on issues of climate and environmental justice for three decades. A columnist for The Guardian, George's books include Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning, Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis and How Did We Get into This Mess? Politics, Equality, Nature. His latest essay collection This Can't Be Happening "calls on humanity to stop averting its gaze from the destruction of the living planet, and wake up to the greatest predicament we...
Our Era of Scams & Hype: From the Fyre Festival to Trump's Career to NFTs
February 10, 2022 18:43 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBWe live in an age where economic success can depend a lot more on hype and branding than offering actual useful things that help people. Occasionally, we see extreme examples of fakers and frauds, like Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos and Billy McFarland of the Fyre Festival. But those are the few that have seen their lies exposed and their careers come crashing down. There are others, like Tesla's Elon Musk, WeWork's Adam Neumann, and America's Donald Trump, who have reaped riches beyond compre...
How Did Anyone Ever Believe WeWork's BS?
February 03, 2022 23:03 - 49 minutes - 45 MBMaureen Farrell is a business reporter with the New York Times and co-author of the book The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion, which documents one of the most bizarre stories in 21st century capitalism: the staggering rise (and subsequent collapse) of WeWork, an office space rental company that presented itself as a game-changing "technology company" that was going to revolutionize the world and change the way humans interacted with each other. Led by a strang...
Is The International Criminal Court a Functional Institution?
February 03, 2022 22:57 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBThe International Criminal Court in the Hague is the place where war criminals are supposed to be tried and punished. It embodies a vision of global justice in which war crimes are universally forbidden, intended to carry forward humanitarian principles. But so far, the court has only completed a handful of trials, and it has been heavily criticized for focusing on crimes committed in Africa while ignoring Western atrocities. Yet the court has only existed since 2002, and many hold hope that...
Is Mocking the Deaths of Anti-Vaxxers "Necessary"? Or Cruel and Useless?
February 03, 2022 22:55 - 48 minutes - 44.1 MBMichael Hiltzik is a Pulitzer Prize-winning business columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He has recently attracted a lot of (almost entirely negative) attention for a column and tweets arguing that mocking the deaths of anti-vaxxers is "necessary." Hiltzik joins to defend and explain his position to Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson, who believes that Hiltzik's stance is cruel and unhelpful. Michael argues that his argument is more nuanced than it is being characterized as....
Why Judge Judy Is A Reactionary Enemy of the Poor Who Must Be Destroyed
February 03, 2022 22:53 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBJudge Judy Sheindlin has long been one of the highest-paid TV stars, earning a staggering $47 million per year for her show, Judge Judy. She is universally known and loved nationwide for her acerbic, "take no BS" style of dispute resolution. "Who doesn't love Judge Judy?" asked Barack Obama. Current Affairs editor-at-large Yasmin Nair does not love Judge Judy. In a new article for In These Times magazine, Nair reviews Sheindlin's new show for Amazon Studios, Judy Justice, and argues that J...
How Segregation Was Built—And Why It's Still With Us
February 03, 2022 22:51 - 56 minutes - 51.4 MBSheryll Cashin is the author of White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality. She has been called "one of the most important civil rights scholars of our time." Her book "exposes the ways in which American policy decisions, from the early twentieth century to the present, have constructed a ‘residential caste system’ resulting in the entrapment of Black people in high-poverty neighborhoods while ‘overinvesting in affluent white space.’" In this rich ...
Leadership Lessons from Bill Clinton
February 03, 2022 22:49 - 58 minutes - 54 MBEditors of Current Affairs recently took Hillary Clinton's "MasterClass" and had a deeply unpleasant time. But Bill Clinton, too, has a MasterClass, and as public interest journalists committed to understanding and explaining the political world, we felt obligated to take this one, too. To save you the $180 MasterClass fee, we tell you everything you'll learn from Bill Clinton's "Inclusive Leadership" lessons, including: - How to associate yourself with the legacy of Nelson Mandela and othe...
How Can Socialists Get Things Done In State Government?
February 03, 2022 22:47 - 49 minutes - 44.9 MBToday, in our last episode of the year, we present a hopeful discussion about what leftists can accomplish in power. Sam Bell is a Rhode Island state senator and Democratic Socialists of America member. The Boston Globe has called him "the most outspoken member" of the RI state senate, and he has tried to use his position to advance left policies in a state historically dominated by extremely conservative Democrats and a powerful political machine. In this episode, we have what is hopefully ...
Why Are Student Loans Such a Catastrophe?
February 02, 2022 00:23 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBToday Nathan is joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Mitchell, author of The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe. Under pressure from progressive Democrats, Joe Biden recently agreed to continue a pause on student loan payments. There has been a great deal of debate over whether Biden should consider canceling large amounts of student debt outright. Mitchell has spent years studying every aspect of the student loan crisis. On this episode, he helps us better u...
How Criminalization Destroys The Lives of Black Children
February 02, 2022 00:21 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBKristin Henning directs the Juvenile Justice Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center. She has worked as a public defender for juveniles in Washington, D.C. and is the author of the book The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth. In the book, Prof. Henning "explains how discriminatory and aggressive policing has socialized a generation of Black teenagers to fear, resent, and resist the police, and details the long-term consequences of racism and trauma Black youth experi...
Is Julian Assange Being Unjustly Persecuted By The U.S. Government?
February 02, 2022 00:19 - 56 minutes - 52 MBA UK court recently ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States. Assange faces serious charges over violating the Espionage Act, based on WikiLeaks' publication of classified United States government documents and video related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The prosecution has been condemned by a number of press freedom and human rights organizations, but there are those who argue that Assange is a criminal or even a "terrorist." To discuss the cas...
We Took Hillary Clinton's MasterClass So That You Don't Have To
January 19, 2022 20:56 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MBHillary Clinton has just released an online course on "The Power of Resilience" through the website MasterClass, where celebrities teach their skills. The course has made the news because in it, she delivers the speech she would have given had she won the presidency in 2016, which she did not. We were curious what else is in Hillary Clinton's MasterClass, so Current Affairs editors Yasmin Nair, Nathan J. Robinson, and Lily Sánchez paid the fee and took the class. In this episode, we reveal a...
Have Feminists Been Too Quick To Embrace Criminal Punishment?
January 19, 2022 20:54 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBProf. Aya Gruber teaches criminal law at the University of Colorado Law School. Her book The Feminist War on Crime: The Unexpected Role of Women's Liberation in Mass Incarceration makes the case that many feminists have been too quick to push for more severe criminal punishments for crimes against women, and have as a result ended up legitimizing or even contributing to the expansion of mass incarceration. Prof. Gruber makes a strong argument against "carceral feminism," claiming that it see...
What's Useful and Correct About Critical Race Theory? (w/ Randall Kennedy)
January 19, 2022 20:45 - 1 hour - 63.5 MBHarvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy has been known for decades as a critic of Critical Race Theory, which was developed in part by his late colleague Derrick Bell. But Kennedy's critiques come from a position of intellectual respect, and over the years he has become more sympathetic to some of the central claims CRT makes about the pervasive and intractable nature of American racism. His new book Say It Loud! On Race, Law, History, and Culture collects his essays from the past sever...
How Have Elon Musk and Tesla Gotten Away With So Much Lying and Fraudulence?
January 19, 2022 20:42 - 1 hour - 67.4 MBToday Nathan is joined by Edward Niedermeyer, an investigative journalist whose book Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors remains the definitive critical account of the rise of Elon Musk and Tesla. Edward is an auto industry expert whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg View, and elsewhere, and he currently hosts the Autonocast podcast about the development of autonomous cars. We discuss how Tesla motors has been built into a powerhouse...
Has "Wokeness" Become a "Religion"?
January 17, 2022 23:54 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBIn this contentious conversation, Nathan speaks to Prof. John McWhorter about his book Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. Prof. McWhorter is a linguist at Columbia University, regular New York Times contributor, and host of the Lexicon Valley podcast. His book argues that anti-racist social justice ideology is properly described as a "religion" and that its practitioners are beyond reasoning with. It's a thesis Nathan takes serious issue with and the conversation ill...
How Did The COVID-19 Pandemic Actually Start? (w/ Alina Chan)
January 17, 2022 23:49 - 51 minutes - 46.8 MBToday's guest is molecular biologist Dr. Alina Chan, a fellow at the Broad Institute and co-author of Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19. She has been one of the most prominent commentators on the origins of COVID-19 and has attracted controversy for encouraging more serious consideration of the possibility that the pandemic began through an accident at a virology lab. She has been credited for changing the discussion about the issue and causing scientists and the media to pay more...
Why We Should Reclaim Thomas Paine and FDR (w/ Harvey Kaye)
January 13, 2022 21:45 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBProf. Harvey J. Kaye is the author of books like Thomas Paine and the Promise of America, The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great, and most recently Take Hold Of Our History: Make America Radical Again. Running through his work is the argument that the social democratic left should draw more on the richness of the American radical tradition and take greater pride in the history of those who have struggled to achieve the promise of democratic equ...
Why Is the Pursuit of Money Such an American Obsession? (w/ Lewis Lapham)
January 13, 2022 20:51 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MBToday Nathan is joined by legendary former Harper's editor Lewis Lapham. Lapham is the author of numerous books including Money and Class in America, Age of Folly, and Lapham's Rules of Influence. He currently edits Lapham's Quarterly. He also wrote and starred in the delightfully strange documentary/musical The American Ruling Class. He was called "without doubt our greatest satirist" by Kurt Vonnegut, is a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame, and went to India w...
Why All The Anti-Trans Arguments Are Ignorant Nonsense (w/ Julia Serano)
January 05, 2022 15:52 - 1 hour - 58.2 MBJulia Serano is a PhD molecular biologist, writer, and musician whose books include Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism, and the surrealist novel 99 Erics. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, TIME, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Salon, and elsewhere. Dr. Serano is a patient debunker of anti-trans talking points, and has written a number of articles patiently taking apart c...
When YIMBYs Attack: Democratic Socialist Dean Preston on the San Francisco Housing Crisis
January 05, 2022 15:48 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBDean Preston represents District 5 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. A tenants' rights attorney and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he was the first democratic socialist elected to the board in 40 years. Recently, a campaign by a group called the "YIMBYs" has accused Preston of denying housing to thousands of people. In this episode, we talk about why San Francisco has a housing crisis and how to solve it. We also talk about how pro-developer groups produce propagand...
Why Don't We Have Constitutional Rights Anymore? (w/ Aziz Huq)
January 05, 2022 15:38 - 48 minutes - 44.3 MBAziz Huq is an expert in constitutional law at the University of Chicago law school. He is the author of the book The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies, available from Oxford University Press. Prof. Huq's book focuses on the fact that constitutional rights are meaningless unless there are remedies for violations of those rights, and that while we ostensibly have the same rights as always, courts have steadily eroded our ability to get anything if the government chooses to violate our right...
What Is "Systemic Racism" and How Pervasive Is It?
December 14, 2021 19:14 - 59 minutes - 54.9 MBToday's guest is Glenn Loury, professor of economics at Brown University. Prof. Loury has had a distinguished career—he was the youngest-ever tenured Black economics professor at Harvard and is known for coining the term "social capital." Prof. Loury is generally associated with political conservatism, but his books The Anatomy of Racial Inequality and Race, Incarceration, and American Values actually offer a rebuke to conservative "color blindness" rhetoric and sketch precise explanations f...
Does the Right to Counsel Actually Exist In the U.S.?
December 14, 2021 18:47 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBToday's guest is Stephen Bright, one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the United States. Prof. Bright teaches at Yale Law School and Georgetown Law, but has spent most of his life working as an advocate for poor people accused of serious crimes. During his decades in charge of the Southern Center For Human Rights, he argued multiple times in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and represented defendants some of the most difficult death penalty cases. Today we discuss the status of the r...
Abortion in America, Part II: Diana Greene Foster on "The Turnaway Study"
December 13, 2021 21:51 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MBIn this, the second part of our look into the realities of abortion in the contemporary United States, Nathan talks to Prof. Diana Greene Foster, Director of Research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) collaborative research group at UC-San Francisco. Prof. Foster is the author of the new book The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having―or Being Denied―an Abortion. The book is based on a remarkable study that followed a thousand ...
Abortion in America: Carole Joffe on the "Obstacle Course" to Get Necessary Medical Care
December 13, 2021 21:46 - 43 minutes - 39.7 MBCarol Joffe is one of the foremost experts on reproductive rights in the United States. A professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, she has been studying and writing about the battle over abortion rights for decades and received lifetime achievement awards from the Abortion Care Network and the Society of Family Planning. She is the co-author of the book Obstacle Course: The Everyday Struggle to Get an Abortio...
How Did the Bloating Military Become a Cancer on the US? (w/ Andrew Cockburn)
December 09, 2021 21:40 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBAndrew Cockburn is a veteran journalist who serves as the Washington Editor of Harper's magazine. His new book, The Spoils of War: Power, Profit, and the American War Machine, available from Verso collects his reporting on the military-industrial complex and the way the public coffers are looted by profiteers. He joined Nathan to discuss why he thinks the ever-bloating military has become an out-of-control "virus," as well as: - The bureaucratic waste that means the US military isn't even go...
Why Are Millennials So Into Astrology?
December 09, 2021 21:37 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MBTara Isabella Burton is the author of Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World. She joined Current Affairs editor Nathan Robinson to discuss changing religious practices in the United States. Traditional organized religion has been on the decline for years, as more and more young people are identifying as nonreligious. But are we really? Tara's book looks at the way that new communities and spiritual practices, from SoulCycle to astrology to online political communities, have arisen i...
What Does Moral Philosophy Tell Us About Our Obligation To Stop Climate Change?
December 09, 2021 21:12 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBToday Nathan is joined by Oxford University philosophy professor Henry Shue, author of Climate Justice and most recently The Pivotal Generation: Why We Have a Moral Responsibility to Slow Climate Change Right Now. Prof. Shue's new book is about the moral obligations conferred on people by the historical circumstances they find themselves in. The actions of living people have huge consequences for those born to subsequent generations. What responsibilities do we have to those who come after us...
American Machiavellian: The Rise and Fall of Andrew Cuomo
December 09, 2021 21:05 - 46 minutes - 42.4 MBRoss Barkan, author of The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York, joins Nathan to discuss the career of the infamous ex-New York governor. We talk about: - How an un-charismatic and unpleasant bully made his inspiring journey from humble beginnings as the son of the governor of New York to become the governor of New York - How Cuomo managed to keep a blue state from actually passing progressive legislation - How his Machiavellian ruthlessness, and New York's broken ...
Why Isn't the U.S. Trying To End the Pandemic? (w/ Lily Sánchez)
December 09, 2021 20:46 - 53 minutes - 49 MBCurrent Affairs editor and physician Dr. Lily Sánchez joins Nathan to discuss her new (and first) Current Affairs article, "Continuing The Pandemic Is A Choice." Lily explains: - the many things the U.S. could do differently if it was actually trying to get COVID-19 cases as close to 0 as possible - the weird lack of a serious public education and messaging campaign around vaccination - why having 50 different state policies makes no sense when you're trying to control a pandemic - the n...
Is Christopher Hitchens' Life A Cautionary Tale For The Left?
December 09, 2021 20:40 - 47 minutes - 43.4 MBBen Burgis is the author of the upcoming book: Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters, as well as the host of "Give Them An Argument" on YouTube. His previous book Give Them An Argument: Logic for the Left was covered in Current Affairs and he and Nathan have co-written before. In today's episode, Ben and Nathan discuss Hitchens' career, writings, and beliefs, including: - The enduring value of Hitchens' leftist polemics against Henry Kissinger a...
How Do You Actually Convince a Climate Denier, Vaccine Skeptic, or Flat Earther? (w/ Lee McIntyre)
December 09, 2021 20:33 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBLee McIntyre is a philosopher of science who serves as a research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and an instructor in Ethics at Harvard Extension School. His new book, How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason, is about how we can actually successfully talk people out of dangerous erroneous beliefs. Lee recognizes that merely providing people with correct facts does little, bu...
Why Does the Right Dominate Talk Radio? (w/ Thom Hartmann)
December 09, 2021 20:28 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBThom Hartmann is the #1 progressive talk radio show host in the country. Today, he joins Current Affairs editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss the world of talk radio, as well as his book "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed The American Dream." Nathan asks why the right has been so dominant in talk radio, and how leftists can effectively counter them. We talk about: - Why Rush Limbaugh was so good at what he did - Whether there is anything about talk radio ...
How Do The Rich Profit From Racism? From Charter Schools to Private Detention
December 09, 2021 20:22 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBAuthor Jim Freeman discusses his book "Rich Thanks To Racism: How The Ultra-Wealthy Profit From Racial Injustice." Jim looks at three issue areas, education, policing, and immigration, and how in each, the ultra-wealthy have found ways to make vast fortunes off the suffering of Black and Brown people. Jim directs the Social Movement Support Lab, which provides multidisciplinary assistance to communities fighting for racial justice. He was formerly a Senior Attorney at Advancement Project, a...
Kshama Sawant on How Socialists Can Win Victories In Cities
December 09, 2021 20:10 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBSeattle city council member Kshama Sawant was elected as an open socialist in 2013, long before the present wave of local socialist political victories began. During her time in office, she has taken on Amazon and helped make Seattle the first large city in the country to adopt the $15 minimum wage. In this interview, she discusses how she was able to get elected as a socialist during the Obama years, how movements can successfully pressure useless centrist Democrats to do what they are other...
Jeremy Lent on How To Find Meaningful Altenatives To Neoliberal Philosophy
December 09, 2021 19:59 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBAuthor Jeremy Lent discusses his new book "The Web Of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find Our Place In The Universe." Jeremy's book shows how the individualistic philosophical underpinnings of capitalism destroy our ability to find meaning and our appreciation of the wonders of nature. He shows us the environmental horrors that are unleashed by free market thinking, but then begins to construct an alternative worldview that can help us live harmoniously and sustainably...
#79: The Flannel Coalition
July 28, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 59.9 MBCurrent Affairs is joined this week by Jacobin staff writer Luke Savage! Together, the panel asks if there are countries that exist outside the US and if they are bad, investigate the trope "the left are so crazy that they drove me to the right", and give some TV recommendations. The flock this week was made up of Luke Savage, senior editor Brianna Rennix, business manager Allegra Silcox, and bird-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Som...
#78: A Utopia of Rum
July 13, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 74.6 MBThe Current Affairs flock investigate how the right created a moral panic around "critical race theory", dare to make all tax records public, and dream of utopia. The flock this week is made up of senior editor Brianna Rennix, finance editor Sparky Abraham, editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson. Your host is Lyta Gold. "How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict over Critical Race Theory": https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict...
#77: Literalism in Art and Other Troubling Trends
June 29, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 63.6 MBStudio H3 of the Current Affairs World Headquarters is closed for renovations this week, so instead of the usual panel format, we have something different for you. Aisling, Allegra and Lyta discuss Aisling's article "Satanic Panic and the Death of Mythos" and use it as a jumping-off point for a freewheeling conversation about the current cultural landscape, including overly literal readings of art, fandom, moralizing, and YA...just, YA in general. "Satanic Panics and the Death of Mythos": ht...
Tiffany Cabán for New York City Council (Election is June 22nd!)
June 21, 2021 16:07 - 40 minutes - 32.7 MBThis episode was originally on our bonus feed, but as Tiffany's election is tomorrow we're putting it out today for everyone! Pete speaks to Tiffany Cabán, public defender and organizer with the Working Families Party, whose campaign for Queens County District Attorney drew national attention last year, and who is now running for New York City Council in District 22. https://www.cabanforqueens.com/ This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.
#76: We Bite, We Vote
June 15, 2021 19:38 - 1 hour - 65.8 MBThe panel give their NFT takes, propose a universal database of all human knowledge, and share some hard-earned life lessons. The nest this week was inhabited by finance editor Sparky Abraham, poet-at-large Cate Root, editor-in-chief Nathan Robinson, and amusements and managing editor Lyta Gold. "The Truth Is Paywalled But The Lies Are Free": https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/08/the-truth-is-paywalled-but-the-lies-are-free/ "As Google Fights Fake News, Voices on the Margins Raise Alarm": ...
Is MMT Real? Season 2 Available Now!
June 08, 2021 07:00 - 38 seconds - 592 KBYou've been asking for it, you've been waiting for it. Now, episodes 6 through 12 of Is MMT Real? are available to our Patreon subscribers. They will eventually be made free to the public, but for those who can't wait, you can pay just $5 to subscribe to our bonus feed and gain access to all the episodes now, as well as all our other bonus episodes. Go to www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs to learn more! Episode 6: https://www.patreon.com/posts/49309389 Episode 7: https://www.patreon.com/posts/4...
UNLOCKED! The MOVE Bombing
June 07, 2021 10:15 - 1 hour - 61.6 MBThis episode was originally released on our Patreon feed last year, but we've decided to release it to everyone. Aisling McCrea and Oren Nimni discuss that time the American police firebombed Philadelphia. Along the way they discuss the stigma against communal living, death row, black liberation, the military-to-police pipeline, and the way the left deals with the more problematic aspects of its past. Please note that even though it happened in 1985, the story of the MOVE Bombing is still o...
Voicemailbag XV
June 01, 2021 09:00 - 45 minutes - 36.4 MBOnce again, we dig into your voicemails. (We hear you, and we see you.) Topics include personality tests, cryptids, political arguments with relatives, and rebooting the left after the pandemic. The bird's nest this week was made up of five eggs: amusements and managing editor Lyta Gold, finance editor Sparky Abraham, senior editor Brianna Rennix, editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson, and business manager Allegra Silcox. "An Oral History of Cryptid Currency": https://www.currentaffairs.org/20...
#74: The Owl Council of Local Heterogeneity
May 18, 2021 22:19 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MBThe Current Affairs flock discuss the right to live wherever you want, the dubious value of patriotism, and the things we love to do even though we're terrible at them. (Please note this episode was recorded before the recent escalation of violence against Palestinians, hence why it doesn't come up despite being relevant to some parts of this episode.) The flock this week are senior editor Brianna Rennix, editor-in-chief Nathan Robinson, finance editor Sparky Abraham, and baby bird Charlie A...
Pete Is Back...And He Has A Book!
May 12, 2021 13:10 - 56 minutes - 45 MBPete returns to talk about his new book Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing. Book is here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Dedicated/Pete-Davis/9781982140908 How a Surprisingly Anti-Capitalist Self-Help Book Could Help Deepen Our Democracy - Progressive.org This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.
Activists You Should Know (feat. Lesley Williams)
May 10, 2021 20:25 - 1 hour - 88.8 MBThis episode was originally posted to our Patreon feed a month ago, but we've decided to make it free for everyone. If you enjoy this kind of content, please consider subscribing to our bonus feed at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs! Contributing editor Eli Massey begins a series of in-depth interviews with local activists. To begin with, he speaks to his friend Lesley Williams (@lesleywilliams), a librarian and activist with Jewish Voice for Peace, and based in Evanston, IL. Amongst other thi...