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Artificial intelligence promises to transform productivity, business and government – but what happens when the technology starts making decisions its human operators never intended? In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Phil Tarrant is joined by Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson to examine the rapidly emerging security risks surrounding AI, from autonomous agents exploiting vulnerabilities to the growing challenge of keeping increasingly powerful systems inside appropriate guardrails. With businesses racing to deploy AI and governments grappling with how – or whether – to regulate it, Tarrant and Thompson explore whether Australia is moving fast enough to understand the threat, protect critical systems and ensure the technology designed to make us more productive doesn't become a new contested ground itself.
Today we're sharing a bonus episode from the WASSAP podcast, where Alan joins hosts Désirée Custers and Hubert Kinkoh to explore the growing interconnectedness of the Horn of Africa, the Gulf, and the wider Red Sea region.The conversation traces how Gulf engagement in the Horn has evolved over the past decade, examining the impact of Gulf rivalries, the war in Sudan, tensions in Yemen, and the fallout from the Iran crisis on regional security dynamics. Alan discusses how conflicts across the Red Sea increasingly spill over into the Horn, creating new patterns of competition, cooperation, and strategic alignment.A central theme of the episode is the relationship between regional geopolitics and state agency. The discussion highlights how actors in the Horn of Africa navigate external rivalries and partnerships while pursuing their own interests and ambitions. Looking ahead, Alan reflects on the challenges facing regional diplomacy and why the growing integration of the Horn, the Gulf, and the wider West Asia region remains one of the most important trends shaping the region's future.About the WASSAP podcastThe WASSAP: the Africa - West Asia Podcast translates the findings of a three-year research project on West Asian (Gulf)–Sub-Saharan African relations into an accessible, engaging audio format. It explores how economic, political, cultural, religious, and security ties between selected Gulf countries and African partners are evolving and why these shifts matter globally, particularly for Europe.Hosts of the podcast are Desirée Custers (project manager, CARPO) & Hubert Kinkoh (Senior Researcher, CARPO)About the WASSAP projectThe project explores the multi-dimensional and complex relations between selected Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran) and four Sub-Saharan countries (South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia). It aims to deconstruct and analyze their economic networks, cultural and religious affiliations, and political and security cooperation. Based on empirical research, the project provides a better understanding of Gulf-African exchange, its challenges and opportunities, as well as its implications for Europe. The project is financed by the Robert Bosch Foundation and will run for three years.Shownotes:The Horn podcast: https://www.crisisgroup.org/pod/africa/horn-africa/hornMore information on the host:Desirée Custers: https://carpo-bonn.org/en/about-us/team/team/desiree-custersHubert Kinkoh: https://carpo-bonn.org/en/about-us/team/team/hubert-kinkohFollow the CARPO on:https://www.linkedin.com/company/carpo-–-center-for-applied-research-in-partnership-with-the-orient-e-v/posts/?feedView=allhttps://www.instagram.com/carpo_bonn/Editor Marco Bussi:https://www.marcobussi.de/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Australia and the United Kingdom share one of the world's deepest strategic relationships – but in an increasingly contested geopolitical environment, that partnership is taking on new significance. In this episode of Contested Ground, Phillip Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson are joined by acting British high commissioner to Australia Dr Brian Jones to unpack the future of AUKUS, the UK's growing Indo-Pacific focus, and the security challenges binding the two nations more closely together. They also explore the enormous industrial opportunity behind AUKUS, the role Australian businesses and technology can play in UK and allied defence supply chains, and why economic, technological, and national security cooperation is becoming increasingly inseparable. It's a wide-ranging discussion on deterrence, defence industry, sovereign capability, and the enduring trust underpinning the Australia–UK relationship. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team
Australia and the United Kingdom share one of the world's deepest strategic relationships – but in an increasingly contested geopolitical environment, that partnership is taking on new significance. In this episode of Contested Ground, Phillip Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson are joined by acting British high commissioner to Australia Dr Brian Jones to unpack the future of AUKUS, the UK's growing Indo-Pacific focus, and the security challenges binding the two nations more closely together. They also explore the enormous industrial opportunity behind AUKUS, the role Australian businesses and technology can play in UK and allied defence supply chains, and why economic, technological, and national security cooperation is becoming increasingly inseparable. It's a wide-ranging discussion on deterrence, defence industry, sovereign capability, and the enduring trust underpinning the Australia–UK relationship. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team
Phil Tarrant is joined by Space Industry Association of Australia CEO Dan Lloyd and chairman Darin Lovett to examine Australia's growing dependence on space and the strategic implications of an increasingly contested space domain. They unpack the critical role space plays across Australia's economy and national security, from positioning, navigation and timing, and communications to defence, transport, energy, agriculture, and emergency services. Does Australia have the strategy, investment, and risk appetite needed to turn its space ambitions into a practical national capability?
Phil Tarrant is joined by Space Industry Association of Australia CEO Dan Lloyd and chairman Darin Lovett to examine Australia's growing dependence on space and the strategic implications of an increasingly contested space domain. They unpack the critical role space plays across Australia's economy and national security, from positioning, navigation and timing, and communications to defence, transport, energy, agriculture, and emergency services. Does Australia have the strategy, investment, and risk appetite needed to turn its space ambitions into a practical national capability?
This season of droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires has shone a light on a growing vulnerability: the security of our water resources. Following the Stockholm World Water Week that took place last month and an upcoming UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi later this year, this episode explores questions around how climate change and growing demand are reshaping global water security. It considers: Where is water becoming a source or a tool of geopolitical tension? Is the international system equipped to manage these pressures? What can be done about it? To find out, Bhargabi and Beatrice Mosello speak to Susanne Schmeier, Professor of Water Cooperation, Law and Diplomacy at IHE Delft and Utrecht University, and David Michel, Senior Associate (non-resident) at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Read more expert commentary around this topic here: The world is far off meeting its growing water needs. Can the UN still lead the response? | Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank, India and Pakistan still cannot agree to restore the Indus Waters Treaty – but re-engagement could help bring lasting peace | Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank and Europe's summer of fires: Burnham must centre climate adaptation in policies | Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank.
Phil Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson examine the growing debate over Australia's economic direction, drawing on Chris Uhlmann's recent article in The Australian on the "Argentinisation" of Australia. They unpack the risks posed by weak productivity, rising regulation, higher costs, and falling investment – and ask what sustained economic underperformance could mean for housing, business confidence, and the nation's broader strategic strength. Because if Australia enters an increasingly contested world from a position of economic weakness, its ability to fund defence, build sovereign capability, and protect its national interests becomes a much bigger question.
Phil Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson examine the growing debate over Australia's economic direction, drawing on Chris Uhlmann's recent article in The Australian on the "Argentinisation" of Australia. They unpack the risks posed by weak productivity, rising regulation, higher costs, and falling investment – and ask what sustained economic underperformance could mean for housing, business confidence, and the nation's broader strategic strength. Because if Australia enters an increasingly contested world from a position of economic weakness, its ability to fund defence, build sovereign capability, and protect its national interests becomes a much bigger question.
The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is fast becoming one of the world's most contested global commons. Home to critical sea lanes, energy and trade corridors, and a growing contest for influence among major and middle powers, traditional security challenges are growing and competing. The region is especially vulnerable to cascading effects of a changing climate, warming oceans and increasing frequency of natural events that are colliding with traditional security parameters. As Australia deepens and attempts to diversify cooperation with partners including United States, Japan, Indonesia and India amongst others across the region, understanding the strategic importance of the region has never been more crucial. The effects are beyond notions of traditional security and have an impact on economic resilience, food security and future growth. How does this play out for Australia's security and its future within the IOR? How do regional powers particularly US, China and India view and act within the IOR and how do these actions affect Australia? PANEL: Professor Peter Dean (Senior Adviser for Defence Strategy, United States Studies Centre; Professor of Strategic Studies, Australian National University) Dr Arzan Tarapore (Research Scholar, Stanford University) Ambika Vishwanath (Principal Research Fellow, La Trobe Centre for Global Security, La Trobe University) Professor Bec Strating (Director, La Trobe Centre for Global Security, La Trobe University)(Chair) Recorded on 3rd September, 2026.
⚖️ How to Avoid a Contested Divorce Battle. | Los Angeles Divorce ⚖️ Worried your divorce is heading toward a courtroom battle? A contested divorce can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming—but it doesn't have to be. When both spouses focus on reaching agreements instead of "winning," the process becomes faster, more affordable, and less emotionally draining.
Observations from Houston taking 3 big wins from the White Sox. Carlos Correa is riding in on his rehab recliner. Previewing the Snake series. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
A dramatic political shift in Western Australia has put the major parties on notice and raised a much bigger question: what happens to Australia's national resilience when voters stop trusting the institutions that govern them? Hosts Phillip Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson examine the rise of populism in Australia and why growing political polarisation, cost-of-living pressures and economic frustration should be viewed through a national security lens. They unpack the erosion of trust in government and institutions, the weakening of Australia's traditional political centre and the risk that social division creates opportunities for foreign interference, information warfare and malign influence. Finally, the pair look north to the Pacific Islands Forum, currently underway, and Australia's increasingly contested strategic environment. With China seeking greater influence across the region, Taiwan remaining a flashpoint and several Pacific leaders absent from the forum, they discuss why Australia can no longer take its relationships in the Pacific for granted. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team
A dramatic political shift in Western Australia has put the major parties on notice and raised a much bigger question: what happens to Australia's national resilience when voters stop trusting the institutions that govern them? Hosts Phillip Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson examine the rise of populism in Australia and why growing political polarisation, cost-of-living pressures and economic frustration should be viewed through a national security lens. They unpack the erosion of trust in government and institutions, the weakening of Australia's traditional political centre and the risk that social division creates opportunities for foreign interference, information warfare and malign influence. Finally, the pair look north to the Pacific Islands Forum, currently underway, and Australia's increasingly contested strategic environment. With China seeking greater influence across the region, Taiwan remaining a flashpoint and several Pacific leaders absent from the forum, they discuss why Australia can no longer take its relationships in the Pacific for granted. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team
John F and Schultz wanted to contest our Against Me! list.
Welcome to the Childhood and Migration Series, hosted by CCYSC AwaazIn Episode 1 of this new series, Margot Lavent and Dr. Kaat Van Acker present rich, grounded examples of how families experience parenting and growing up both before and after fleeing their home countries. Within this context, they explore how families make sense of evolving roles, tasks, responsibilities, and caregiving dynamics and critically examine the widely used—and often contested—concept of parentification.Margot Lavent is a researcher at Odisee University College in Brussels, affiliated with the SocialWork Research Group and the Centre for Family Studies. Her research focuses (changing) family dynamics among refugee families, child- and family-friendly reception centers, and, more generally, parenting and growing up in the context of refugee families. She also works as a freelancer, providing training, workshops, and peer supervision sessions on diversity-sensitive social work. Together with Mieke Schrooten, Sophie Withaeckx, and Dirk Geldof, Margot co-authored Transmigration: Social Work in a World of Superdiversity (2016), which explores the experiences of transmigrants in Belgium and the implications for social work.Dr. Kaat Van Acker is a lecturer in Social Work at Odisee University of Applied Sciences in Brussels and in Social and Cultural Psychology at KU Leuven in Belgium. Her research focuses on family dynamics in refugee and immigrant communities, with particular attention to how parenthood and childhood are reconstructed after forced migration and shaped by institutional settings and legislation. Over the years, she has also examined issues related to the acculturation of Muslim minorities, the resilience of refugee families, and the role of collective emotions. Alongside her academic work, Kaat practices as an emotion-focused therapist and maintains a strong interest in how therapy can be adapted to intercultural contexts. She is the author of 13 peer-reviewed articles on migration and intergroup relations, including a recent study on shifting narratives of parenthood among refugee families and social workers in collective reception centres. In this work, she introduced the concept of “institutionalized forms of parentification.Podcast hosts and editors: Dr. Adrienne Atterberry (Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Lowell) and Dr. Karina Ruiz (Director of Research, CSLX).Post-production work: Kate Parsons (Student, University of Massachusetts Lowell)
In a big wild card final at the G', the 7th placed MelbourneDemons and the 10th placed Carlton Blues faced off in a do or die contest. It was a seesawing contest that greeted the 92,000 fans!
⚖️ How to Avoid a Contested Divorce Battle. | Los Angeles Divorce ⚖️ How can you avoid a contested divorce battle in California? Reducing conflict often starts with cooperation, clear communication, and properly documenting agreements between spouses. A contested divorce usually happens when spouses cannot agree on important issues such as property, finances, support, or parenting arrangements. When couples are willing to work together, they may be able to resolve disagreements without unnecessary conflict.
Intensive search efforts for thousands of missing people after the terrible flooding on the border of Nepal and Tibet. More than 30 Canadians are among the nearly 2,000 still missing.And: Canada's chief negotiator is speaking out for the first time since trade talks with the U.S. collapsed a week ago. Janice Charette says the government is willing to get back to the table, under the right conditions.Also: Politics can be stressful — reading about it, thinking about it, listening to it. Contested elections. Referendums. Trade wars. Renaming lakes. Researchers say it's also bad for our health.Plus: Canada's GDP rebound, Alberta data centre pushback, Grand Theft Auto video game leak, and more.
⚖️ How to Avoid a Contested Divorce Battle in California | Los Angeles Divorce
Stan's guest this week is distinguished historian Peter Mancall of the University of Southern California, author of Contested Continent: The Struggle for North America, c.1000 – 1680, the new and first volume in the renowned Oxford History of the United States series. Contested Continent recounts the origins of “America” and how it came to birth ...Continue Reading »
Jared Kushner has been planning to build ultraluxury resorts in Albania for years. But the multi-billion dollar project has run into a string of controversies. The development has triggered mass protests, calls for the Albanian prime minister to resign and a warning from the EU. On top of all that, WSJ's Eliot Brown reports on a suspected gangster who sold Kushner and his partners a key piece of land. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening: - Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers - The Crypto President: Part 1 - The Crypto President: Part 2 Sign up for WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A psychiatrist with four years of residency and roughly 50 postpartum depression patients under her belt told jurors today she's seen real psychosis up close — and she didn't see it in Lindsay Clancy. Dr. Jennifer Tufts returned to the stand for redirect in the Duxbury mother's murder trial, where Clancy, 34, is accused of strangling her three children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 7-month-old Callan — with exercise resistance bands inside the family's Summer Street home on January 24, 2023. She faces three counts of murder and three counts of strangulation, has pleaded not guilty, and attorney Kevin Reddington is mounting an insanity defense built on claims of severe postpartum psychosis and psychiatric overmedication.Tufts's testimony cuts directly against that theory — she's not speculating, she's speaking from experience with patients who were genuinely in the grip of psychosis, and by her read, Clancy wasn't one of them.On recross, Reddington didn't let it sit. He and Tufts sparred over her own clinical notes, disagreeing on what was written and, more importantly, what it meant. It's the kind of exchange that reminds you medical records aren't verdicts — they're interpretations, and this trial is going to be full of dueling ones.After the killings, Clancy allegedly attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. Her husband, Patrick Clancy, was out running errands at the time and has since relocated to Manhattan. The trial continues in Plymouth Superior Court and is expected to run several more weeks.LinksJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodDisclaimerThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.Hashtags#LindsayClancy #DuxburyTragedy #PostpartumPsychosis #TrueCrime #PlymouthCounty #CoraDawsonCallan #InsanityDefense #KevinReddington #TrueCrimeToday #Breaking
Dr Ross Babbage warns that without urgent economic reform and industrial recalibration, Australia risks becoming a client state of Beijing. Returning to the Defence Connect Podcast, strategic analyst Dr Ross Babbage delivers an unsparing diagnosis: Australia is drifting towards a future of strategic weakness, economic vulnerability and de facto dependence on Beijing – unless the nation urgently reverses course on industrial policy, governance efficiency and the information asymmetry crippling public debate. In a wide-ranging conversation with host Steve Kuper, Babbage articulates an emerging geopolitical fracture: the world is crystallising into distinct economic camps. The first, led by the United States and including Western democracies, is erecting selective tariffs and deepened trade ties. Camp two is China and its authoritarian satellites. A third comprises developing nations watching carefully before committing. Australia's position, Babbage argues, remains fatefully ambiguous. While virtually every Western ally has taken protective measures against Chinese manufacturing dumping and industrial subsidy – a regime he quantifies at eight to 18 times the support other nations provide – Australia has remained conspicuously reticent. China's leverage remains decisive: our iron ore and coal exports are non-negotiable parts of Beijing's strategic calculus. The deeper problem, he stresses, runs through economic governance itself. Australia has deindustrialised deliberately over three decades, shed critical capabilities in steel and advanced manufacturing, surrendered energy cost advantage and starved investment in domestic capability. Without deliberate recalibration – smaller government, redirection of trade partnerships, strategic investment incentives – Australia defaults towards clientelism. Equally critical is the communication void. Defence industry leaders, board chairs of major firms and even policymakers routinely tell Babbage they were unaware of the scale of Chinese subversion, intellectual property theft and coordinated disintegration operations aimed at fracturing Western cohesion. The path forward, he argues, demands frank public briefings, ruthless priority setting and abandonment of exhausted economic orthodoxies. Without it, Australia becomes the strategic backwater Beijing expects. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team
Much scholarship has sought to decode the polarization of American culture. Eric O Silva's analysis of the public discourse on contested realities (immigration, vaccines, electric vehicles, transgender youth medicine, campus protests of Israel, the regulation of AR-15s, and race and police brutality) reveals that Americans are not governed by coherent, diametrically opposed worldviews. U.S. culture is more fractured than dominant narratives of a polarized society would suggest. Moreover, these cultural disputes result in the generation of materials for constructing identities. Disagreement over how to define reality inevitably leads to a contest over the authority and moral worthiness of the individuals involved in the dispute. Contested Realities and Identity Destigmatization: Identity Construction in the Culture Wars analyzes how participants in public discourse stigmatize but also destigmatize their adversaries. This study not only demonstrates that there are people who are seeking to "turn down the temperature" in public discourse but the generic processes by which they do so. Michael O. Johnston is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Penn University. His research explores symbolic interaction, leisure, meaning, place, community, and sociology of everyday life. He is the author of the forthcoming book Smalltown Urban: Performing the City in Rural America (Bloomsbury, 2027), The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle: Floatzilla, and Community Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest. His forthcoming book examines how small towns create moments of urbanity through festivals, public gatherings, and everyday social life. Since joining the New Books Network in 2017, he has interviewed more than 100 authors across sociology and the social sciences, helping connect scholars and their work with a broad public audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Much scholarship has sought to decode the polarization of American culture. Eric O Silva's analysis of the public discourse on contested realities (immigration, vaccines, electric vehicles, transgender youth medicine, campus protests of Israel, the regulation of AR-15s, and race and police brutality) reveals that Americans are not governed by coherent, diametrically opposed worldviews. U.S. culture is more fractured than dominant narratives of a polarized society would suggest. Moreover, these cultural disputes result in the generation of materials for constructing identities. Disagreement over how to define reality inevitably leads to a contest over the authority and moral worthiness of the individuals involved in the dispute. Contested Realities and Identity Destigmatization: Identity Construction in the Culture Wars analyzes how participants in public discourse stigmatize but also destigmatize their adversaries. This study not only demonstrates that there are people who are seeking to "turn down the temperature" in public discourse but the generic processes by which they do so. Michael O. Johnston is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Penn University. His research explores symbolic interaction, leisure, meaning, place, community, and sociology of everyday life. He is the author of the forthcoming book Smalltown Urban: Performing the City in Rural America (Bloomsbury, 2027), The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle: Floatzilla, and Community Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest. His forthcoming book examines how small towns create moments of urbanity through festivals, public gatherings, and everyday social life. Since joining the New Books Network in 2017, he has interviewed more than 100 authors across sociology and the social sciences, helping connect scholars and their work with a broad public audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology
Much scholarship has sought to decode the polarization of American culture. Eric O Silva's analysis of the public discourse on contested realities (immigration, vaccines, electric vehicles, transgender youth medicine, campus protests of Israel, the regulation of AR-15s, and race and police brutality) reveals that Americans are not governed by coherent, diametrically opposed worldviews. U.S. culture is more fractured than dominant narratives of a polarized society would suggest. Moreover, these cultural disputes result in the generation of materials for constructing identities. Disagreement over how to define reality inevitably leads to a contest over the authority and moral worthiness of the individuals involved in the dispute. Contested Realities and Identity Destigmatization: Identity Construction in the Culture Wars analyzes how participants in public discourse stigmatize but also destigmatize their adversaries. This study not only demonstrates that there are people who are seeking to "turn down the temperature" in public discourse but the generic processes by which they do so. Michael O. Johnston is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Penn University. His research explores symbolic interaction, leisure, meaning, place, community, and sociology of everyday life. He is the author of the forthcoming book Smalltown Urban: Performing the City in Rural America (Bloomsbury, 2027), The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle: Floatzilla, and Community Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest. His forthcoming book examines how small towns create moments of urbanity through festivals, public gatherings, and everyday social life. Since joining the New Books Network in 2017, he has interviewed more than 100 authors across sociology and the social sciences, helping connect scholars and their work with a broad public audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies
Much scholarship has sought to decode the polarization of American culture. Eric O Silva's analysis of the public discourse on contested realities (immigration, vaccines, electric vehicles, transgender youth medicine, campus protests of Israel, the regulation of AR-15s, and race and police brutality) reveals that Americans are not governed by coherent, diametrically opposed worldviews. U.S. culture is more fractured than dominant narratives of a polarized society would suggest. Moreover, these cultural disputes result in the generation of materials for constructing identities. Disagreement over how to define reality inevitably leads to a contest over the authority and moral worthiness of the individuals involved in the dispute. Contested Realities and Identity Destigmatization: Identity Construction in the Culture Wars analyzes how participants in public discourse stigmatize but also destigmatize their adversaries. This study not only demonstrates that there are people who are seeking to "turn down the temperature" in public discourse but the generic processes by which they do so. Michael O. Johnston is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Penn University. His research explores symbolic interaction, leisure, meaning, place, community, and sociology of everyday life. He is the author of the forthcoming book Smalltown Urban: Performing the City in Rural America (Bloomsbury, 2027), The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle: Floatzilla, and Community Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest. His forthcoming book examines how small towns create moments of urbanity through festivals, public gatherings, and everyday social life. Since joining the New Books Network in 2017, he has interviewed more than 100 authors across sociology and the social sciences, helping connect scholars and their work with a broad public audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics
Much scholarship has sought to decode the polarization of American culture. Eric O Silva's analysis of the public discourse on contested realities (immigration, vaccines, electric vehicles, transgender youth medicine, campus protests of Israel, the regulation of AR-15s, and race and police brutality) reveals that Americans are not governed by coherent, diametrically opposed worldviews. U.S. culture is more fractured than dominant narratives of a polarized society would suggest. Moreover, these cultural disputes result in the generation of materials for constructing identities. Disagreement over how to define reality inevitably leads to a contest over the authority and moral worthiness of the individuals involved in the dispute. Contested Realities and Identity Destigmatization: Identity Construction in the Culture Wars analyzes how participants in public discourse stigmatize but also destigmatize their adversaries. This study not only demonstrates that there are people who are seeking to "turn down the temperature" in public discourse but the generic processes by which they do so. Michael O. Johnston is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Penn University. His research explores symbolic interaction, leisure, meaning, place, community, and sociology of everyday life. He is the author of the forthcoming book Smalltown Urban: Performing the City in Rural America (Bloomsbury, 2027), The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle: Floatzilla, and Community Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest. His forthcoming book examines how small towns create moments of urbanity through festivals, public gatherings, and everyday social life. Since joining the New Books Network in 2017, he has interviewed more than 100 authors across sociology and the social sciences, helping connect scholars and their work with a broad public audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications
Much scholarship has sought to decode the polarization of American culture. Eric O Silva's analysis of the public discourse on contested realities (immigration, vaccines, electric vehicles, transgender youth medicine, campus protests of Israel, the regulation of AR-15s, and race and police brutality) reveals that Americans are not governed by coherent, diametrically opposed worldviews. U.S. culture is more fractured than dominant narratives of a polarized society would suggest. Moreover, these cultural disputes result in the generation of materials for constructing identities. Disagreement over how to define reality inevitably leads to a contest over the authority and moral worthiness of the individuals involved in the dispute. Contested Realities and Identity Destigmatization: Identity Construction in the Culture Wars analyzes how participants in public discourse stigmatize but also destigmatize their adversaries. This study not only demonstrates that there are people who are seeking to "turn down the temperature" in public discourse but the generic processes by which they do so. Michael O. Johnston is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Penn University. His research explores symbolic interaction, leisure, meaning, place, community, and sociology of everyday life. He is the author of the forthcoming book Smalltown Urban: Performing the City in Rural America (Bloomsbury, 2027), The Social Construction of a Cultural Spectacle: Floatzilla, and Community Media Representations of Place and Identity at Tug Fest. His forthcoming book examines how small towns create moments of urbanity through festivals, public gatherings, and everyday social life. Since joining the New Books Network in 2017, he has interviewed more than 100 authors across sociology and the social sciences, helping connect scholars and their work with a broad public audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wolf and Luke discuss what the most contested position battle in Arizona Cardinals training camp is and how encouraging Tyler Locklear's performance has been recently.
Steve and Jeff discussed Saints WR Chris Olave's ranking on the NFL's Top 100 list. The guys shared a spot for Olave's growth moving forward. Saints gameday host Stan Verrett joined Sports Talk. Verrett shared his thoughts on Bleacher Report's New Orleans sports "Mount Rushmore" post-2000, the NFC South teams heading into the 2026 season, Tyler Shough's sophomore campaign, and the Saints' schedule.
Associated Press correspondent Hanna Arhirova reports Ukraine's military leadership is being tested by a government reshuffle that has drawn protests in Kyiv.
I want to give you a combat assessment of what is actually happening in the Strait of Hormuz right now. This is an active war. The United States has 20 warships and hundreds of aircraft in the region. We have struck over 300 Iranian military targets in three nights. And Iran is still shooting back. So let me break down what each side has, what each side has lost, and — critically — what Iran has actually hit versus what they're claiming they hit.SPONSOR: BRUNT WorkwearBRUNT Workwear builds boots and gear for tradesmen that are tough as hell but comfortable the second you pull them out of the box, with zero break-in. Every product is named after a real tradesman who helped design it, and the limited-edition America's 250th collection is available this July while supplies last.Use code NICK for $10 off plus a risk-free trial at https://www.BRUNTworkwear.com/Nick-----GET YOUR MERCH HERE: https://shop.nickjfreitas.com/BECOME A MEMBER OF THE IC: https://NickJFreitas.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickjfreitas/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NickFreitasVATwitter: https://twitter.com/NickJFreitasYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NickjfreitasTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nickjfreitas3.000:00:00 – Intro00:01:23 – Three carrier strike groups: the US naval buildup00:02:41 – What's been hit: 300+ targets across three nights00:04:28 – A military first: unmanned surface vessels in combat00:05:56 – Iran's only real leverage00:07:15 – Scoring Iran's claims: the battle damage assessment00:10:01 – Confirmed: the precision hit on Al Udeid's comms terminal00:12:23 – Debunked: the claimed strikes on US destroyers00:13:58 – Contested: the missile attack on Jordan's air base00:15:54 – Unverified: the strike on US naval logistics in Oman00:16:56 – Confirmed: Iranian drones are hitting commercial shipping00:20:05 – The Tet Offensive effect: attacks as messaging00:22:51 – Iran's playbook: the IRGC mosquito fleet00:24:33 – The blockade: how long can Iran keep the strait closed?00:26:51 – Iran's ultimate strategy00:30:40 – What real regime change would actually require00:33:10 – Best case vs likely case: the midterm clock00:41:08 – Democrats block the defense bill00:43:41 – The honest concerns: strategic, tactical, political
Episode #570: The AAS Conference in Vancouver brought together thousands of scholars and practitioners from around the world, creating a dense, fast-moving environment of panels, conversations, and informal exchange across the full breadth of Asian studies. Within that wider landscape, Burma surfaced as one of several pressing areas of focus, shaped by the realities of its ongoing crisis. Insight Myanmar Podcast was invited by the organizers to work from within the conference itself, setting up an on-site recording space and speaking with participants as they moved between sessions. The result is a series of short, real-time conversations—captured in the midst of the event rather than in hindsight—now shared with a wider global audience. This is the first of a four-part series. Gita reconstructs the return of Buddhism to modern India not as a simple story of rediscovery, but as a struggle over ownership, identity, and political meaning. Beginning with Anagarika Dharmapala's late nineteenth-century campaign to reclaim the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, she follows the networks that linked India to Sri Lanka, Burma, Japan, and other Buddhist worlds across the Bay of Bengal. The result is a far wider picture than the familiar colonial tale of British archaeologists unearthing lost Buddhist sites. Her argument is that modern Indian Buddhism emerged through mobility as much as excavation through pilgrims, monks, courts, relics, shipping lines, railways, and reform movements. Burma is especially important in that story. Burmese courts recognized and patronized Bodh Gaya long before Buddhism became newly legible to colonial scholarship, and later Burmese monks and pilgrims helped restore visible Buddhist practice at key sites in India. That revival unfolded alongside a competing effort to absorb Buddhism into a Hindu civilizational frame. As Hindutva thinkers tried to define India as fundamentally Hindu, Buddhism became both useful and inconvenient: useful as proof of India's past influence across Asia, inconvenient when Buddhists insisted on separateness or when Ambedkar turned to Buddhism as a rejection of caste Hinduism. And then, “Nehru chooses Buddhism,” Gita says, describing how the Indian state later used Buddhist symbols, relics, and diplomacy to project a different moral and geopolitical language after independence. What remains unresolved in her account is the question of what kind of Buddhism has reemerged in South Asia. It is now highly visible, but that visibility can serve very different ends. Her interest finally is less in Buddhism as state identity than in whether an older ethical and transnational imagination can still be recovered.
In Contested Continent: The Struggle for America, c.1000-1680 (Oxford University Press, 2026), the newest installment of the acclaimed Oxford History of the United States series, Peter C. Mancall recounts how North America was forged from the experiences of millions of Indigenous women and men as well as Europeans and Africans. This history spans the continent from the North Atlantic to the West Indies and includes the entire Atlantic basin, telling a new story about the origins of major aspects of American culture. He illuminates the rise of a booming trans-Atlantic economy based on the extraction of abundant American natural resources; the central role that European migrants and their descendants played in the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples; and the spread of self-governing polities where many enjoyed religious freedom. None of these developments was inevitable. Conflicts broke out frequently as different peoples battled over precious resources. Europeans' appetites for material gain and expanding Christendom brought horrific consequences for those brutalized, enslaved, and vulnerable to infectious diseases. This is a sweeping history of developments crucial to the eventual founding of the United States. Contested Continent underscores the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World that offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
In Contested Continent: The Struggle for America, c.1000-1680 (Oxford University Press, 2026), the newest installment of the acclaimed Oxford History of the United States series, Peter C. Mancall recounts how North America was forged from the experiences of millions of Indigenous women and men as well as Europeans and Africans. This history spans the continent from the North Atlantic to the West Indies and includes the entire Atlantic basin, telling a new story about the origins of major aspects of American culture. He illuminates the rise of a booming trans-Atlantic economy based on the extraction of abundant American natural resources; the central role that European migrants and their descendants played in the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples; and the spread of self-governing polities where many enjoyed religious freedom. None of these developments was inevitable. Conflicts broke out frequently as different peoples battled over precious resources. Europeans' appetites for material gain and expanding Christendom brought horrific consequences for those brutalized, enslaved, and vulnerable to infectious diseases. This is a sweeping history of developments crucial to the eventual founding of the United States. Contested Continent underscores the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World that offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
In Contested Continent: The Struggle for America, c.1000-1680 (Oxford University Press, 2026), the newest installment of the acclaimed Oxford History of the United States series, Peter C. Mancall recounts how North America was forged from the experiences of millions of Indigenous women and men as well as Europeans and Africans. This history spans the continent from the North Atlantic to the West Indies and includes the entire Atlantic basin, telling a new story about the origins of major aspects of American culture. He illuminates the rise of a booming trans-Atlantic economy based on the extraction of abundant American natural resources; the central role that European migrants and their descendants played in the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples; and the spread of self-governing polities where many enjoyed religious freedom. None of these developments was inevitable. Conflicts broke out frequently as different peoples battled over precious resources. Europeans' appetites for material gain and expanding Christendom brought horrific consequences for those brutalized, enslaved, and vulnerable to infectious diseases. This is a sweeping history of developments crucial to the eventual founding of the United States. Contested Continent underscores the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World that offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history
In Contested Continent: The Struggle for America, c.1000-1680 (Oxford University Press, 2026), the newest installment of the acclaimed Oxford History of the United States series, Peter C. Mancall recounts how North America was forged from the experiences of millions of Indigenous women and men as well as Europeans and Africans. This history spans the continent from the North Atlantic to the West Indies and includes the entire Atlantic basin, telling a new story about the origins of major aspects of American culture. He illuminates the rise of a booming trans-Atlantic economy based on the extraction of abundant American natural resources; the central role that European migrants and their descendants played in the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples; and the spread of self-governing polities where many enjoyed religious freedom. None of these developments was inevitable. Conflicts broke out frequently as different peoples battled over precious resources. Europeans' appetites for material gain and expanding Christendom brought horrific consequences for those brutalized, enslaved, and vulnerable to infectious diseases. This is a sweeping history of developments crucial to the eventual founding of the United States. Contested Continent underscores the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World that offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/native-american-studies
In Contested Continent: The Struggle for America, c.1000-1680 (Oxford University Press, 2026), the newest installment of the acclaimed Oxford History of the United States series, Peter C. Mancall recounts how North America was forged from the experiences of millions of Indigenous women and men as well as Europeans and Africans. This history spans the continent from the North Atlantic to the West Indies and includes the entire Atlantic basin, telling a new story about the origins of major aspects of American culture. He illuminates the rise of a booming trans-Atlantic economy based on the extraction of abundant American natural resources; the central role that European migrants and their descendants played in the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples; and the spread of self-governing polities where many enjoyed religious freedom. None of these developments was inevitable. Conflicts broke out frequently as different peoples battled over precious resources. Europeans' appetites for material gain and expanding Christendom brought horrific consequences for those brutalized, enslaved, and vulnerable to infectious diseases. This is a sweeping history of developments crucial to the eventual founding of the United States. Contested Continent underscores the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World that offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Senate adopted a constitutional revision bill in June, which has raised fierce controversy as it would effectively reset presidential term limits. The legislation paves the way for a public vote on a new constitution. Under this proposal, President Félix Tshisekedi's previous terms in office would be discounted, essentially allowing him to seek a third term as if it were his first. A planned demonstration against the constitutional changes has now been postponed until July 22nd following a mediation led by Burundian President and African Union Chairperson, Évariste Ndayishimiye. Also, what does the growing trend of AI use mean for Africa's animation film? We speak to creative director and animator, Chief David Nyamyweya.Presenter: Nkechi Ogbonna Producers: Ayuba Iliya and Blessing Aderogba Senior Producer: Bella Twine Technical Producer: Jonathan Mwangi Editors: Charles Gitonga and Maryam Abdalla
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, an old historical narrative of American exceptionalism is taking hold. Meanwhile, evidence-based historical research is disappearing. The federal government has shuttered museum exhibits, politicized federal funding and removed any monuments seen to disparage Americans past or present. In this episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed's editor in chief Sara Custer speaks with Sarah Weicksel, the executive director of the American Historical Association, about the organization's efforts to double down on research integrity and its new approach to advocacy. She also explains how material objects can help reveal hidden stories and gives some advice on how to think about our shared history during politically divided times.
North America was forged from the experiences of millions of Indigenous women and men as well as Europeans and Africans. Contested Continent, the first volume of the Oxford History of the United States series, is a far-ranging history of North America concentrating on the period from c. A.D. 1000 to 1680—from the arrival of Norse explorers to an explosion of revolts that underlined the stubborn struggle to master the continent some two centuries after Columbus's landfall. This history spans the continent from the North Atlantic to the West Indies and includes the entire Atlantic basin. Peter Mancall and David Kennedy emphasize the experiences of diverse peoples while, at the same time, telling a new story about the origins of major aspects of American culture. They illuminate the rise of a booming trans-Atlantic economy based on the extraction of abundant American natural resources; the central role that European migrants and their descendants played in the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples; and the spread of self-governing polities where many enjoyed religious freedom. None of these developments was inevitable. Conflicts broke out frequently as different peoples battled over precious resources. Europeans' appetites for material gain and expanding Christendom brought horrific consequences for those brutalized, enslaved, and vulnerable to infectious diseases. Join us to hear Mancall and Kennedy present their sweeping history of developments crucial to the eventual founding of the United States, underscoring the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World that offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others. A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!You've probably heard the Saint Michael Prayer. The part most people miss is that its origin story is bound up with a Pope who believed the Church was facing more than bad politics, and he answered with something sharper than commentary: Immortali Dei, Pope Leo XIII's encyclical on how a nation should be ordered, what authority is, and why the state cannot pretend God is irrelevant without slowly hollowing itself out.We walk through Leo's core framework: two real powers established by God, the spiritual authority of the Church and the temporal authority of the state. That distinction is not a call for theocracy, but it is a direct challenge to the modern “religiously neutral” state. From natural law to public education to marriage, Leo argues that law and culture always point somewhere, and when they stop pointing toward truth, they don't become neutral, they drift toward chaos. Along the way we dig into the thesis hypothesis approach, the idea that there's an ideal political order, and there are also prudent concessions Catholics may accept when the ideal is impossible without greater harm.That sets up the tension a lot of Catholics still feel today: Immortali Dei's “error has no rights” versus Vatican II's Dignitatis Humanae and the modern language of religious liberty. We lay out why this debate keeps splitting the Catholic world, and we test it against real life examples, including a clip of JD Vance explaining how he weighs papal criticism against his duties in civil office. If you've ever felt like you didn't have the words to explain what went wrong in the modern West, Leo XIII gives you a vocabulary worth recovering.Subscribe for the next installment as we move toward Rerum Novarum, and if this helped you, share it with a friend and leave a review so more people can find the series.Support the showGet 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout!Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss
Preview for Later Today: Evan Ellis examines Peru's contested election between Roberto Sanchez and Fujimori. Sanchez faces scrutiny over alleged ties to Cuban puppet masters and potential shifts toward corrupt Chinese interests regarding vital mineral resources.1945
Bridget Toomey outlines Abdul Malik al-Houthi's expansive vision, which includes seizing contested Saudi territory and holy cities. Emboldened by Red Sea disruptions, the Houthis seek to expand their religious and political influence globally. (5)1958 yemen
Notre Dame Wide Receivers Coach, Mike Brown, tells us what makes Giants 3rd round pick, Malachi Fields, a dangerous wide receiver, what kind of character he has off the field, and how he could best fit on this Giants offense. 00:00 - Fields’ skillset and leadership qualities 4:05 - Learning an offense 6:35 - Contested catches and change of direction 11:45 - Deep catches and red zone 13:20 - Run blockingSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on The Gist, the upcoming Enhanced Games are analyzed not as an ethical crisis, but as a weak, corporate-sponsored satire of athletic boundaries. Then, Nobel Prize-winning economist Alvin Roth joins the show to discuss his book Moral Economics: From Prostitution to Organ Sales, What Controversial Transactions Reveal About How Markets Work. He maps out the baseline difference between evolutionary disgust and social repugnance, diving into historic natural experiments, including Rhode Island's accidental legalization of indoor prostitution and the downstream legalities of international surrogacy, to reveal the real-world trade-offs of market bans. Finally, in the spiel, the latest legislative chaos out of Washington is unpacked, showing how the constant breaking of institutional norms has simply become par for the course. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at https://www.mikepesca.com/ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List https://mikepesca.substack.com/ Follow us on Social Media: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pescagist/ X https://x.com/pescami TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@pescagist To advertise on the show, contact sales@amplitudemediapartners.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
Economic markets are efficient ways of deciding fair prices, at least in ideal circumstances of perfect competition, information, and choice. But there is more to life than fair prices. Two people might decide on a fair price to carry out a contract killing, but society generally frowns on the idea. Many examples of morally contestable markets feature less consensus than that one: sex work, drugs, selling organs, adopting children. In his new book Moral Economics, economist Alvin Roth investigates how we should reason through such tricky cases, and what we can learn from them. Get twenty percent off your first purchase at Fast Growing Trees when using the code MINDSCAPE at checkout. Mindscape listeners get free shipping and 365-day returns on clothing from Quince. Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/05/11/353-alvin-roth-on-the-economics-of-morally-contested-markets/ Support Mindscape on Patreon. Alvin Roth received his Ph.D. in operations research from Stanford University. He is currently the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University and the Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard. He was President of the American Economic Association in 2017. He and Lloyd Shapley shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Economics for "the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design." Stanford web page Google Scholar publications Amazon author page Wikipedia
Air Date: 05/01/2026 The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we open with Jesse Jackson's death as a reckoning with the multiracial coalition America chose not to build, trace the American playbook from the 1953 Iran coup to Cuba to the current war on Iran, examine how the same logic of control operates at home through AI monopolies, sports money, and captured courts, and close with the religious and labor traditions that have always driven change — plus Orbán's defeat in Hungary as proof that authoritarian projects don't last forever. Full Show Notes Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube! Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! PART 1: AMERICA, CONTESTED (00:01:19) #1775 - Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition and the Remaking of American Politics (00:23:12) #1776 - Trump's Pharaoh Complex, Our Flawed Constitution, and the 250th Anniversary PART 2: THE AMERICAN WAY (00:45:27) #1777 - How Christian Nationalism, Oil, and Zionism Built The War Against Iran (01:06:48) #1782 - Cuba's Crisis: Trump's Deadly Embargo, Blackouts, and Dream of Regime Change (01:29:45) #1785 - Iran and the Chain Reaction: The War Nobody Thought Through (Or, Bomb First, Think Never) PART 3: CONTROLLING THE GAME (01:51:40) #1778 - AI, the Pentagon, Labor and Capitalism: The Fight Over Who Controls the Future (02:15:29) #1781 - Your Team Is a Hedge Fund Now: How Gambling and Billionaires Captured American Sports 02:29:38) #1783 - The Ideology of a Cancer Cell: AI, Surveillance, and Silicon Valley's Psychopath Problem (02:51:36) #1784 - Who Gets to Be American, Who Gets to Vote, and Who Decides PART 4: HISTORY'S ENGINE (03:17:49) #1779 - Community After God: Why the Left Needs What Church Provided (03:43:07) #1780 - Cynicism Is a Scab: Hope, Solidarity, and the Labor Fight That Never Stopped (04:09:26) #1786 - Defeating Viktor Orbán in Hungary and the Authoritarian Playbook Worldwide Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads