Start Making Sense

Governments are prioritizing data centers and AI at the expense of communities and the planet, but it doesn't have to be this way. Matt Haugen joins Paris Marx to discuss the AI First report, which examines how national strategies are dismantling environmental protections and enacting market policies that allow a handful of megacorporations to abscond with billions of dollars, and what an alternative policy agenda focused on people and the planet could achieve instead.Matt Haugen is Research and Editorial Manager at the Climate and Community Institute.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek speak with artist and writer Molly Crabapple about her book on the history of the Jewish Labor Bund, Here Where We Live Is Our Country. They discuss Molly's personal connection to the story, the Pale of Settlement and Jewish emancipation, the founding of the Bund in 1897, the Bund's armed self-defense against pogroms, its fraught relationship with Lenin and the Bolsheviks, the Bund's rivalry with Zionism, the flourishing of Bundist culture in interwar Poland, and the lessons of the Bund's story for the Jewish left today.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The ACLU is organizing thousands of volunteers, preparing to respond to 25 different ways Trump could try to subvert or sabotage the midterms. Deirdre Schifeling explains—she's the ACLU's Chief Political and Advocacy Officer. More info at https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/people-power.Also: Howard Zinn's book A People's History of the US has sold four million copies—and now we have a biography of the author, written by Dave Zirin, The Nation's longtime sports editor - his new book is The People's Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We all love making fun of fascists. But Dr. Bret Devereaux makes an art of it. Bret is a historian of antiquity and a Tolkien scholar, and he doesn't suffer fools. He's been going at it with the world of online chud “historians” — the fascists who say they're fighting to defend “Western Civilization,” something they've never bothered to actually try to understand. And he has similarly choice words for the far right billionaire freaks who idolize, and utterly misunderstand, the Lord of the Rings.This is a genuinely delightful conversation for nerds like us. But it's also a serious look into the ways the far right misuses history and literature to advance their fucked up worldviews -- and how we can fight back.Check out Bret's WONDERFUL blog, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, at acoup.blog.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Michigan Democratic senate primary provided a test of the power of AIPAC and big money. John Nichols has our analysis.Also: a rehearsal for the election protection groups: the California sherriff who seized 650,000 ballots from November's referendum, claiming he needed to recount them. Zach Roth of Democracy Docket will explain how the Chad Bianco case provides a test of one key Republican strategy for holding on to the House after the midterms.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Canada has tech bros too, like Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke who has a new idea to link voting rights to how much income tax you paid. Rachel Gilmore joins Paris Marx to discuss how Canadian tech companies like Shopify are pushing terrible right-wing policy ideas while influencing Mark Carney's agenda.Rachel Gilmore is an award-winning independent journalist and creator of the Bubble Pop newsletter.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Derek welcomes back to the show his very own co-host, Danny Bessner, to talk about his new book, Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century, and how we see imperialist realism in American foreign policy and popular culture. They talk about the concept's inspiration from the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the end of mass politics, the decline of grand ideology in U.S. foreign policy, the core features of imperialist realism, the Protestant missionary roots of American foreign policy, imperialist realism in pop culture, and a democratic socialist alternative to current U.S. foreign policy.Order your copy of the book now. Read the new piece from Danny's Imperialist Realism Substack, “Empire of Grunge.”Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Something weird is happening on the far right. MAGA influencers are calling out the pork industry. RFK Jr. is taking credit for militant animal rescue actions. And the animal welfare movement is taking notice. Astra Taylor joins us again to talk about a forthcoming article she and Aaron co-authored on the shifting political terrain around animal rights. The core question: Could this be the new MAHA (Make America Healthy Again)? A few years ago, it was impossible to imagine that crunchy moms who hate Monsanto would become a key part of Trump's electoral coalition. But here we are, in part because Democrats created a vacuum on health issues that the right stepped into. We think something similar could be happening today with animal rights—which, if the left doesn't wake up, could be very bad for all of us.Fighting Fascism Podcast is produced by Nik Damants in collaboration with The Nation.Intro song and music by Horse Radish.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Republicans are plummeting in the polls in the lead-up to the midterm thanks to the unpopularity of the Iran War and the attendant inflation. As my Nation colleague Chris Lehmann has noted, in an attempt to shore up their fracturing base, the GOP has decided to label all Democrats as communist, a weird rhetorical move now being made by Donald Trump and his supporters. I talk to Chris about this strange and dangerous development. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

AP headquarters is seriously considering upgrading the video content to IMAX. In this week's news: the U.S. and Iran resume strikes after a brief pause (3:25); Gaza talks are close to an agreement on Hamas disarmament and an Israeli withdrawal (10:59); Saudi-Ansar Allah/Houthi attacks escalate (13:37); the U.S. and Saudi Arabia strike Iraqi militia sites (17:10); a drone strike hits two gas ships at Egypt's Damietta port (21:01); Ukraine attacks an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea (22:58); the Sudanese army seizes the Omdurman–El Obeid highway (25:46); China expands its satellite and asteroid-defense programs (29:21); wildfires force mass evacuations across Spain and France (32:45); Keiko Fujimori takes office as president of Peru (35:53); and U.S. pressure drives Venezuela and Chad to quit the International Criminal Court (37:35).Note: After recording, a Hamas disarmament deal was announced.Be sure to order your copy of Danny's new book, Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century. Be sure to watch a replay of last night's livestream with journalist Jasper Nathaniel about his latest trip to the West Bank.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As the power of big tech continues to grow, it's more important than ever to understand how these companies use infrastructure and intellectual monopolies to shape more than just the digital world. Cecilia Rikap joins Paris Marx to discuss how these networks of corporate power operate, including how they are systematically used to influence global politics, the economy, and how society views the world.Cecilia Rikap is an Associate Professor at University College London's Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose and the author of The Rulers: Corporate Power in the Age of AI and the Cloud.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek speak with historian Brad Simpson about the history and evolving meaning of self-determination in international politics and law. They talk about the Wilson-Lenin debate, the Atlantic Charter, the Nazi appropriation of ethno-nationalist self-determination, the decolonization movements of the mid-20th century, the failure of the new international economic order, and the idea's continuing relevance to places like Palestine and Greenland.Get Brad's book The First Right: Self-Determination and the Transformation of International Order, 1941–2000.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

An impressive alliance of groups have been preparing for months to counter Trump's threats to Democrats in the midterms. Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward and a member of The Senate Democrats' Election Protection Tast Force, explains why “we are going to have free and fair elections” in November. Also: Elon Musk calls Christopher Nolan's film “The Odyssey” “part of a left-wing plan” to “destroy Western Civilization.” John Powers has a differnet view – he's critic-at-large on NPR's “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In recent weeks, we've seen our skies engulfed in dystopian haze. We've had lethal heat waves ruin our Fourth of July cookouts. States have announced emergency water rationing due to record-breaking droughts. Tens of thousands of Europeans have been killed by extreme heat so far this summer; hundreds of thousands are being evacuated by apocalyptic wildfires. And we know it's just the beginning—this is, after all, not just the hottest summer of our lives, but the coolest summer for the rest of our lives.This didn't just happen. Climate change is overwhelmingly the result of pollution and deception from specific Big Oil companies that were predicting decades ago that their fossil fuels would cause, in their own words, “globally catastrophic” climate harms that would create “more violent weather” and cause “suffering and death due to thermal extremes.” Even as they used this knowledge to protect their own infrastructure, they orchestrated fraudulent campaigns of climate denial to lock us into the disasters we are currently experiencing.But we're not powerless in the face of these nightmares. We can take on Big Oil, and the fossil-fueled authoritarianism that these corporations have done so much to engender. And there are few people with more experience in these fights than Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media. He joined us for a great conversation about making polluters pay, the ways clean energy developments have totally transformed the climate fight, and how to balance hope and fear in the midsts of climate chaos.Fighting Fascism Podcast is produced by Nik Damants in collaboration with The Nation.Intro song and music by Horse Radish.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The purported ceasefire in the Iran War was always tenuous and now the war is not only heating up but entering a dangerous new phase. The Iranians have closed the Strait of Hormuz and the Houthis are firing on the Red Sea while Donald Trump promises a new wave of attacks on Iran's civilian infrastructure. I talk about the state of the Middle East and related matters with Matt Duss, vice president of the Center for International Policy. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

American Prestige HQ continues to roll the dice on iceberg lettuce. In this week's news: Iranian strikes kill four U.S. service members in Jordan and Iraq, and the Pentagon conceals dozens of additional casualties (2:09); Trump threatens to hit an Iranian nuclear facility and warns of attacks on civilian infrastructure (6:32); the Houthis blockade Saudi Arabia and strike two oil tankers in the Red Sea (14:20); the U.S. and Saudi Arabia announce a civilian nuclear deal (18:23); in Lebanon, the IDF begins a “pilot” withdrawal from three southern villages (23:48); Hamas elects Khalil al-Hayya as its new political leader (25:48); Ebola deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo top 1,000 (27:44); the Trump administration considers military action against jihadists in Mali (30:09); Volodymyr Zelensky fires Ukraine's top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi (32:29); Andy Burnham becomes prime minister of the United Kingdom (35:17); Trump imposes new tariffs on Brazil and Canada (36:53); and the State Department releases a report that names Cuba a top security threat (40:46).Don't forget to watch a replay of last night's livestream with special guest Alex Aviña. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Librarians are working harder than ever to support their neighborhoods—including by teaching and promoting digital literacy. Hannah Cyrus and Alison Macrina join Paris Marx to discuss the role of library workers in the digital landscape, including how they're helping patrons navigate privacy basics and artificial intelligence, and how the tech industry is making their jobs harder.Hannah Cyrus is a digital media librarian at the Bangor public library. Alison Macrina is an activist librarian and the director of Library Freedom Project.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek speak with historian Andrew Preston about the origins and development of the American national security state as we know it. They discuss the original meaning of “national security” in the early days of the republic; the idea of free security; the New Deal and the relationship between social security and national security; World War II, the Cold War, and the expansion of the security state; liberalism and American empire; and what national security looks like moving forward.Be sure to grab a copy of Andrew's book on the subject, Total Defense: The New Deal and the Invention of National Security.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How are we going to defeat Trump and the Republicans and win control of Congress in the midterms? How are we going to win the White House in two years? Ben Wikler has a plan – he's published a book with the title This is the Plan. Ben was chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for six years, ending in 2025, where he shaped what became the most powerful and effective state political party in the country.Plus: John Nichols on the Senate Candidates in Maine and Nebraska, and the governor's race in Wisconsin. John of course is executive editor of The Nation.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This one's a little different. Aaron, Matt, and Jonathan talk with Ken Salazar—former US Senator from Colorado, Secretary of the Interior under Obama, and Ambassador to Mexico under Biden—about why Democrats need to rethink their approach to the US-Mexico border and start treating immigration not as a liability to be managed, but a genuine opportunity to be seized. We also discuss the politics of Mexico and Ken's experiences with AMLO, Mexico's former insanely popular populist president, and Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's current insanely popular populist president. Aaron even tries to get a little feisty with Ken about his climate record, but fails spectacularly due to Ken's kind grandpa demeanor. Oh well.Check out Ken Salazar's new book, Borderlands.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Donald Trump is practicing crony capitalism on an unprecedented scale, with the government greenlighting major mergers that benefit the president's friends (most notably the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger). I spoke to Zephyr Teachout, who teaches constitutional law at Fordham, about this worrying development. We take up the long history of anti-monopoly politics going back to the American revolution and the trust battles of the late 19th century as well as the possibility state governments can fight the new wave of consolidation. Zephyr has often written on his subject for The Nation, notably in two recent articles. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Canada's wildfires rage on, so Danny and Derek are here to be your breath of fresh air. This week's news: In Iran, the US reimposes its blockade and intensifies strikes (2:04), Trump announces and then backs off a Hormuz toll (5:44), and the White House issues threats of further escalation (9:17); in Yemen, the Houthis/Ansar Allah and Saudi Arabia trade strikes (13:37) as the former might become involved in the Iran war (16:28); Lebanese-Israeli talks talks wrap up, but progress is uncertain (17:45); in Israel, a date is set for an election (19:18), plus the ethnic cleansing in Gaza is given a new euphemism (21:15); Southeast Asian countries appear to normalize relations with Myanmar (22:23); the US touts a “new” peace plan for Sudan (24:13); the Ebola outbreak in the DRC continues and may be much larger than official figures suggest (26:35); Zelenskyy replaces Ukraine's prime minister and defense minister (29:43); Andy Burnham is to become the UK's PM (33:32), plus a UK-EU deal on Gibraltar is reached (35:22); Marco Rubio is reportedly running Venezuela as a US viceroy (36:34); the US is attempting to destroy the ICC (38:35) as it also takes aim at “left-wing terrorism” (41:23); and a Pew poll finds China more popular than the US for the first time (43:01).⁠Watch last night's weekly livestream⁠ if you missed it.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We are often told that resisting technological development is impossible and ‘progress' is inevitable, but history says otherwise. Thomas Dekeyser joins Paris Marx to discuss how understanding radical resistances of the past can help us rethink our modern relationship with technology and reshape our vision of the future.Thomas Dekeyser is a lecturer in human geography at the University of Southampton, author of Techno-Negative: A Long History of Refusing the Machine, and co-creator of the documentary Machines in Flames.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek welcome to the show journalist and author ⁠Robert Wright⁠ to talk about the potential and pitfalls of the AI revolution. They discuss how neural networks learn, the differences between predictive and generative AI, machine consciousness, job displacement, the environmental costs of data centers, how capitalism is shaping the AI race, and the need for international regulation.Read Robert's new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's been another bad week for Donald Trump – from the Strait or Homuz to the streets where ICE has killed more people, to the scheduled Senate hearings on Todd Blanche. Harold Meyerson comments.Also: Trump believes the teaching of history really matters—that's why on July 4 he issued a 162-page attack on the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Yale historian Beverly Gage comments – her new book is This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip through US History.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Graham Platner is withdrawing as the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine after a credible rape allegation was made against him (Platner denies the allegation). I spoke to Maine writer Eoin Higgins about Platner's rise and fall, the progressive politics that animated his campaign, and the upcoming scramble by the Democratic Party of Maine to find a new candidate. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Back in May, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas”—a surprisingly forceful call-out of dehumanizing technology, Big Tech oligarchs, and an economic order that casts the few as gods and the many as disposable. To talk about this work (and Aaron's growing Catholicism-envy, and the utterly pathetic “faith” of J.D. Vance), we invited Matthew Sitman, co-host of the great Know Your Enemy Podcast and official Catholic sage of the erudite left, who walks us through this era of moral leadership from the Catholic Church. This is a good one. We swear, so help us God!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek's FIFA officiating careers have been tragically cut short since Javier Milei's checks started bouncing. In this week's news: the NATO summit ends on a high note (4:46); in Iran, new fighting erupts as Trump declares the end of the ceasefire (11:59), plus estimates of the war's cost increase (16:45); in Gaza, Hamas dissolves its government (18:15) as the Board of Peace prepares a “humanitarian zone” (20:29); Trump appears ready to sell Turkey F-35s (23:40); Syria is officially removed from the state sponsors of terrorism list (27:54); in Sudan, civilians flee fighting in El Obeid (29:32); rebels coordinate a new joint offensive in Mali (32:59); the U.S. licenses domestic Patriot missile production in Ukraine (34:17); Roberto Sanchez concedes the Peruvian presidential election (38:07); Colombia's presidential transition breaks down (39:01); and the U.S. drops the “Indo-Pacific” construct (40:07), prompting strategic discussions on the future of America's position in the Pacific (43:25).Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek are joined by Jake Nabel, Tombros early career professor of classical studies and assistant professor of classics and ancient Mediterranean studies at Penn State, to talk about Roman-Parthian relations in antiquity. The group discusses the geopolitical landscape of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, the rise of the Parthian Empire and the Arsacid dynasty following the fall of the Achaemenids and Alexander the Great, and the inherent challenges of relying on Greco-Roman historiography. They also delve into how Iranian and Armenian sources reshape our understanding of the period, the deep cultural misunderstanding between Roman hostage-taking and Parthian cliental fosterage, the cultural barriers preventing intermarriage, and the modern Iranian reception of pre-Islamic empires, including contemporary parallels to Reza Pahlavi.Read Jake's book The Arsacids of Rome: Misunderstanding in Roman-Parthian Relations. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jamie Raskin, Democrat from Maryland, talks about Congress reforming the Supreme Court, and the House challenging Trump's corruption. His article in the current issue of The Nation magazine is “We Must Restore Congress as the Predominant Branch of Government.”Also: John Nichols assesses the Democrats' Senate candidates in the wake of the replacement of Graham Platner in Maine.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

To celebrate the 250th, we're looking back at the founding with Tad Stoermer, author of the NYTimes bestseller “A Resistance History of the United States.” Why did the same people who kicked off the American Revolution actively oppose the adoption of the Constitution? Was Rhode Island always a mob state? What can we learn from the musical 1776, starring Mr. Feeny? All this and more on this special 4th (well, 6th) of July episode of Fighting Fascism.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek are joined by historian Andrew Shankman to talk about the road to US independence from Great Britain. They discuss differences between Spanish and British colonization strategies, the intellectual and philosophical origins of the American Revolution, the Stamp Act crisis, distinctions in racial conceptions between the American colonies and the West Indies, key revolutionary figures, the early American republic, the unique economic situation of Boston and Massachusetts, and post-revolution relations with Britain and indigenous peoples. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Public ire toward AI keeps growing as the data center boom continues to hit people's pockets. Chris Person joins Paris Marx to discuss the soaring cost of consumer electronics, including why prices are unlikely to fall anytime soon, and how people can experiment with homespun cyberpunk tech.Chris Person is a co-founder of Aftermath and makes Highlight Reel.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sina Azodi, assistant professor of Middle East politics and director of the Middle East Studies program at George Washington University, returns to the show to talk about Iran's nuclear program. The group discusses the Shah's nuclear agenda, Atoms for Peace, Iran's signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, how the Iran-Iraq War influenced Iran's nuclear policy, missed opportunities for diplomacy after 9/11, Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA and why Biden didn't revive the deal, and the recent war with Iran.Grab a copy of Sina's book Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran, and the Nuclear Question.And contribute to ⁠GiveDirectly's campaign to help survivors of the earthquake in Venezuela⁠.Note: In lieu of a news episode this week, we will be posting an interview relevant to the holiday.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trump biggest losses in the Supreme Court rulings announced this week were on birthright citizenship—widely anticipated—and the voting rights case where the majority ruled states could count ballots mailed but not received by election day. His biggest win was abolishing independent agencies except for the Federal Reserve. David Cole has our analysis—he's the former legal director of the ACLU.Also: The Court ended Temporary Protected Status, TPS, for Haitians (and others), but that does not mean deportations will begin immediately. Instead most of those with TPS will be given an opportunity to contest a deportation order or apply for remaining on a different basis. Amy Wilentz comments on the current responses in New York City, Miami, Springfield, Ohio, and in Congress.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sara Nelson is the President of the Association of Flight Attendants, and one of the most badass leaders in the labor movement today. But that doesn't mean we don't conduct a hard-hitting, critical interview of her. Well, actually, that's exactly what it means. Hear Sara lay out the challenges and opportunities that unions face right now, and the role of organized labor in fighting fascism. And hear us just kinda fan-boy nod along to everything she says!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had a very good night on Tuesday: a slate of candidates he endorsed won in Democratic primaries in both state and congressional races. This victory was shared by the Democratic Socialists of America, which is now clearly replacing the old political machines in its ability to get out the vote. Ross Barkan wrote about these elections for The Nation and joins the podcast to tell the story of the rising left in urban America. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek's promised ring ceremony regrettably must be relocated from MSG due to a scheduling conflict. In this week's news: The Iran negotiations show signs of progress (1:26) despite disputes over the agreement (5:20), plus conflicting reports over the status of the Strait of Hormuz* (9:24); Lebanon sees a reduction in fighting and another round of talks (12:31); in Gaza, Israel is targeting children (15:38), plus a Board of Peace update (16:48); Keir Starmer resigns as PM of the UK (18:40); the DPRK/North Korea appears to be back on Trump's radar (21:18); a battle over El Obeid, Sudan, still looms (22:53); Trump is again angry with NATO and has a spat with Italian PM Meloni (25:07); in Russia-Ukraine, an update on the war (27:40), Poland strips Zelenskyy of an award (30:21), and the Russians are again displeased with Trump (32:40); election updates in Colombia (34:25), Peru (36:08), and Ethiopia (37:27); and Trump unveils the new Air Force One (39:23).*After the time of recording, the initiative to rescue stranded ships in the Strait of Hormuz was paused due to a vessel being attacked. Check out the replay of Wednesday's livestream. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As tech companies race to build hyperscale data centers, communities are coming together to push back. Saul Levin joins Paris Marx to discuss how rising opposition to data center construction is uniting people across party lines and prompting broader conversations around what infrastructure people want instead.Saul Levin is a community organizer and host of The Hum.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Omer Bartov, Dean's Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, joins the program to talk about Zionism's transformation from an emancipation movement into a form of ethno-nationalism. They delve into Zionism's formation alongside European colonialism, how settler encroachment influenced Palestinian nationalism, comparisons with European settler colonialism, whether Zionism's “wrong turn” was in the formation of the State of Israel itself, the meaning of “never again,” how the historical memory of the Holocaust is used to justify Israeli expansion, Israel's lack of a constitution, and liberal Zionism in the United States.Be sure to get a copy of Omer's book Israel: What Went Wrong?  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Election protection: defending Ohio's biggest voter registration group, and blocking Trump's attacks on voting by mail: Norm Eisen, co-counsel on the first Trump impeachment, comments.Also: how protest pushed ICE to abandon most of its warehouse detention center plans, and pressured Georgia Republicans to abandon their redistricting plans – John Nichols explains.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek are in backchannel talks with the reflecting pool algae. In this week's news: the United States and Iran sign a Memorandum of Understanding (1:26), which addresses sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, reconstruction, sovereignty, and the nuclear program (6:46); Israel continues its attacks on and occupation of Lebanon despite the MoU dictating otherwise (26:12); Gaza is excluded from the MoU (30:25) as West Bank annexation continues (31:46); in Sudan, RSF forces appear to be preparing for a major battle (34:27); in Ukraine, Russia makes advances (35:58) while Crimea is hit hard (37:26); the G7 is relatively uneventful, but does express support for Ukraine (39:24); the US announces plans for a military drawdown in Europe (41:21); in Peru, Keiko Fujimori leads the vote count in the presidential election (42:57); and a UNAIDS report shows the dire effect of DOGE cuts (44:37).Check out our episode with Caitlin Tulloch on the fallout from ending USAID.Join the Discord.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Cory Doctorow, guy who coined the term enshittification, has been eviscerating Big Tech oligarchs for many years. He's now turning his razor-sharp mind onto one of our most/least favorite topics: AI. His new book, The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to Life After AI, is in many ways a practical guide for how to resist (actually resist, not just feel-good resist) the biggest financial scam in human history. Cory joins us to discuss what we should be really protesting when we protest AI. (And, at the end, we make sure to touch on his idea that Democrats should start preparing to prosecute the fascists who have so desperately got it coming, a.k.a., the Nuremberg Caucus.)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Journalist Eoin Higgins was recently sued for defamation by a fellow journalist Matt Taibbi, who is subject on criticism in Higgins' book Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left. The case was briskly dismissed by a judge and is now on appeal. The lawsuit was manifestly frivolous and is filled with irony, since Taibbi likes to present himself as a free speech champion. I spoke to Higgins about it and the larger tendency of wealthy right-wing figures, including Donald Trump, to use lawsuits to intimidate critics.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Canadian government is going all in on AI, without understanding the real effects of the technology. Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood joins Paris Marx to discuss Mark Carney's push for large-scale investment in AI, despite being unable to describe how adoption will work, how Canadians will benefit, and what policies will be implemented to mitigate growing risks and harms.Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood senior researcher and political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In his campaign against elite universities as centers of resistance, Trump hasn't been able to force Harvard to submit. And it seems less likely now that they will settle. Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy has our analysis.Also: the essential workers at our supermarkets: Ann Larson talks about poverty wages and worker solidarity. Her new book is Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View From Behind the Supermarket Register.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Historian Patrick Wyman returns to the show to talk about the deep history of human societies and how they can inform the current moment. They explore new ways of studying prehistory, the origins of agriculture, climate adaptation, the Clovis people, the long Neolithic, early farming societies, states and security, the Bronze Age collapse, and more.Listen to Patrick's ⁠Past Lives ⁠podcast. And grab a copy of his new book ⁠Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World⁠.Don't forget the AP livestream, this Wednesday at 8pm ET on ⁠our YouTube channel⁠.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

That's right, friends... it's another crossover episode! We were joined by Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison from American Prestige, a podcast that offers a left analysis on international affairs. Which… we got to eventually (Iran, Israel, USAID, what Democrats' foreign policy should look like, all the hits)… but only after Daniel and Aaron ended once and for all the age-old debate of: Is Trumpism fascism? All this and more on this banger of a crossover!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Bari Weiss has become a flashpoint of controversy in her position running CBS News. She's fired half a dozen senior producers and correspondents at 60 Minutes, the network's flagship news program. With tumbling ratings and staff revolts, she's been accused of ruining CBS. But perhaps this accusation doesn't quite describe her actual goals, which is not running a successful network news operation but rather promoting a right-wing ideology that pleases Donald Trump and her employer, the Ellison family. I take up the controversies surrounding Weiss with David Klion, frequent guest of the program and writer for The Nation and other publications.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The World Cup is upon us, so Danny and Derek are showering visiting players with crocheted NATO flags. In this week's news: Israel and Iran exchange fire (0:59), with Netanyahu possibly defying Trump (3:16); Iran and the US also trade blows as the ceasefire comes into question (6:11); the IDF is preparing a new Gaza offensive (14:56); Afghanistan and Pakistan engage in more border clashes (17:11); Mali's junta is pressured by a jihadist-rebel alliance (18:36); Ukraine uses a new cruise missile, targeting infrastructure in and around Crimea (21:50); Germany kills Europe's Future Combat Air System program (24:40); Bolivia's anti-austerity protests approach a turning point (27:25); Armenia elects Pashinyan's party and Peru sees a tight presidential runoff count (29:03); the US considers buying the Chagos Islands (33:19); Trump threatens the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal (36:27); the American president also looks to downsize the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (37:53); and the Pentagon raises its Israel counterintelligence threat level (40:26).Note: After recording, Trump backed out of further Iran strikes.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Uber model is finally coming for healthcare. Katie J. Wells joins Paris Marx to discuss how much the healthcare gig apps resemble Uber's rollout, why they aren't being properly regulated, and the effects they're having on staff and patients alike.Katie J. Wells is a Senior Fellow at AI Now Institute and a co-author of Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy