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Behind the News, 5/29/25 - guests: John Cassidy on capitalism and its critics • Sandeep Vaheesan on abundance, neoliberal and genuine - Doug Henwood
Mouin Rabbani surveys Israeli politics, the fate of the Palestinians, and Trump's fundraising tour of the Middle East. Meron Rapoport, co-author of a recent investigation for +972 Magazine, on Israel's strategy of destruction in Gaza. Read the article here: https://www.972mag.com/israel-gaza-total-urban-destruction/ Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, talks about why the gyrations in the value of the US dollar matter. Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan, hosts of Always at War, a new show from the Quincy Institute, explain why the US is always buying more weapons and bombing people. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 5/15/25 - guests: Barry Eichengreen on the dollar • Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan on why the US is always at war - Doug Henwood
Jeet Heer surveys Canadian politics and the recent election. Natasha Piano, author of Democratic Elitism, discusses Italian “elite theory.” Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 5/8/25 - guests: Jeet Heer on Canadian politics, Natasha Piano on the Italian school of elitism - Doug Henwood
Vijay Prashad, executive director of Tricontinental, discusses the state of the US empire and the state of the global working class. Becca Rothfeld, author of All Things Are Too Small, speaks up for bigness. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 5/1/25 - guests: Vijay Prashad on the US empire and the global working class • Becca Rothfeld in praise of big - Doug Henwood
Aziz Rana, author of The Constitutional Bind, describes how the system crafted by the US Constitution led to Donald Trump and has constricted our ability fight him. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Ray Cotolo and Mike Pribozie look at harness racing action at Fraser Downs in Surrey, B.C. for Friday night (April 25). The two are joined by handicapper and gambler Doug Henwood to look at the Late Pick 4 sequence for Friday night at Fraser and spot harness racing bets.
Quinn Slobodian, author of Hayek's Bastards, talks about the IQ- and race-obsessed goldbugs of second generation neoliberalism. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Charlie Eaton and Alina Gibadullina, coauthors of a recent paper, discuss the increasing prominence of hedge fund and private equity titans on elite university boards. Malcolm Harris, author of What's Left, lays out a trio of political approaches to the climate crisis. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 4/10/25 - guests: Charlie Eaton and Alina Gibadulina on financiers on university boards • Malcolm Harris on political approaches to climate - Doug Henwood
On this edition of Parallax Views, the Left Business Observer's Doug Henwood, host of the influential radio program Behind the News, returns to the program to discuss Trump's tariffs, Bidenomics vs. Trumponomics, the legacy of the anti-WTO/anti-globalization protests of the late 1990s, and much more! Literally a half hour before Doug and I began recording Trump announced a 90-day pause on some of his tariffs. We'll be discussing what Doug sees as Trump's nostalgia about a romanticized 1950s America and how he believes that is driving Trump's policies in many ways. Doug talks about what he sees as the nonsensical nature of Trump's tariffs and how stocks shot up immediately after Trump announced the 90-day pause. Although sometimes there's more noise than signal when looking at the stock market, in this case the response of the stock market over the past week has reflected very real economic anxieties. He also notes that the bond market has been reacting strangely in the past week in a way that is worrying. Doug notes that we'll likely see prices increase in May and June and discusses the effect these tariffs will have on those at the bottom of the income distribution. All of this will factor into Doug's analysis of why he thinks Trump has announced a 90-day pause on some tariffs. We'll also discuss in-depth the pros and cons of Bidenomics and then look at that in comparison to Trumponomics. We'll discuss industrial policy, ways of bringing back manufacturing to the U.S. in a productive rather than destructive manner, and we'll look at the effect of tariffs on poorer countries like Vietnam or Cambodia. We'll also discuss how there's been a wide backlash against Trump's tariffs from across the political spectrum including libertarians like Thomas Sowell, CNBC's Jim Cramer, and even some protectionists. Doug Henwood sums up the backlash as being driven ultimately by the crudeness of the tariff policy. The conversation will also delve into Trump's romanticism about the 19th century U.S. economy, the legacy of the anti-WTO/anti-globalization protests of the late 90s, the potential of a pro-trade internationalism that isn't neoliberal and is informed by socialist or left-wing concerns, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the Biden team's failure to tout the positive aspects of Bidenomics, Trump's anti-libertarian streak, DOGE, the misanthropy of the Silicon Valley right-wing, comparing and contrasting the Ralph Nader and Donald Trump views on foreign trade, and much, much more!
Jason Wade of the UAW explains the union's endorsement of Trump's auto tariffs. Sam Gindin, former long-time adviser to what used to be known as the Canadian Autoworkers Union and the author of a recent article for nonsite.org, takes a look at the issues obscured by the tariff controversy. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 4/3/25 - guests: Jason Wade on the UAW's support of Trump's auto tariffs • Sam Gindin on what the tariffs obscure, and what they mean for the US empire - Doug Henwood
Samuel Moyn talks about Trump and the courts. Chris Maisano, author of a recent Jacobin article about class “dealignment,” discusses class and politics. Finally, Evgenia Kovda reflects on hipster nihilism, which she wrote about for the Nefarious Russians newsletter. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 3/27/25 - guests: Samuel Moyn on Trump & the courts • Chris Maisano on class & elections • Evgenia Kovda on hipster nihilists - Doug Henwood
Brent Cebul and Lily Geismer, editors of the new collection Mastery and Drift, discuss professional-class liberalism. Plus: a brief reprise of a 2019 interview with Gabriel Winant about the PMC. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Vanessa Wills, author of the book Marx's Ethical Vision, speaks about the morality behind Marxian science. Mathis Ebbinghaus discusses the recent paper he co-wrote about the effects of the summer 2020 anti-cop protests on police budgets. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 3/13/25 - guests: Vanessa Wills on Marx's ethics; Mathis Ebbinghaus on the effects of BLM demos on police budgets - Doug Henwood
Ben Tarnoff talks tech worker militancy and the bosses' reaction: a crackdown and hard turn to the right. Jodi Dean, author of Capital's Grave, discusses the concept of “neofeudalism.” Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 3/6/25 - guests: Ben Tarnoff on Silicon Valley politics, Jodi Dean on neofeudalism - Doug Henwood
Eric Blanc, author of We Are the Union, talks about worker-led organizing at Amazon, Starbucks, and beyond. Molly O'Neal, Quincy Institute fellow, analyzes the recent German election. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 2/27/25 - guests: Eric Blanc on worker-led organizing • Molly O'Neal on the German election - Doug Henwood
Anatol Lieven looks at the global dimensions of Trumpism. Quinn Slobodian, who wrote a recent article for the New York Review of Books, muses on whether Trump is a neoliberal and examines the three major strands of DOGE-ism. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò picks apart the contradictory strands of the DEI obsession. Sophia Rosenfeld, author of the book The Age of Choice, explores the history of that concept over the last few centuries. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 2/13/25 - guests: Olufemi Taiwo on DEI, Sophia Rosenfeld on the history of choice - Doug Henwood
Kristin Du Mez, author of the book Jesus and John Wayne, looks at the world of Christian nationalism. Jennifer Middlestadt, who wrote a recent opinion piece in the New York Times, speaks about the “sovereigntism” guiding the foreign policy of Trump et al. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 2/6/25 - guests: Kristin Du Mez on Christian nationalism • Jennifer Mittelstadt on Trump & the soverigntists - Doug Henwood
Eoin Higgins, author of Owned, talks about tech moguls and the journalists, like Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi, who work for them. Ronnie Grinberg, author of Write Like a Man, on the mostly male, mostly Jewish New York intellectuals of the postwar scene. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 1/30/25 - guests: Eoin Higgins on tech bros and the scribes who work for them; Ronnie Grinberg on the New York intellectuals - Doug Henwood
Mouin Rabbani surveys the Gaza ceasefire and Trump's plans for the Middle East. Angela Jones and Bernadette Barton discuss the new book they co-edited, Sex Work Today. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 1/23/25 - guests: Mouin Rabbani on Gaza deal; Angela Jones and Bernadette Barton on sex work today - Doug Henwood
Laura Jedeed, author of an article for the New Republic, talks about San Francisco and tech moguls' plans to “fix” it. Yasha Levine, co-director of a new documentary, Pistachio Wars, talks about billionaire couple and self-styled philanthropists the Resnicks and their involvement in the California water crisis. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Colette Shade, author of Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything, talks about culture at the turn of the millennium. Tim Shorrock discusses the political crisis in South Korea. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
This week is a best of 2024, with Rashid Khalidi, Pankaj Mishra, Annelle Sheline, Aziz Rana, Anna Kornbluh, Brooke Harrington, and, in memoriam, Jane McAlevey. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Branko Marcetic, staff writer at Jacobin and author of Yesterday's Man, says farewell to Joe Biden (and takes some shots at Joe Scarborough too). Santiago Pérez, co-author of a recent paper, discusses his research on how little the class composition of elite college student bodies has changed. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Behind the News, 12/26/24 - guests: Branko Marcetic, Santiago Pérez - Doug Henwood
Trita Parsi and Joshua Landis analyze what's been going on in Syria. Tina Gerhardt reviews the annual UN climate conference, COP29, where little happened. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Larry Bartels discusses his Foreign Affairs article about the right-wing “populist wave." Sopo Japaridze, co-author of a recent Jacobin article, examines the crisis of democracy in Georgia (the country, not the US state). Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Brooke Harrington, author of Offshore, uncovers how and where the mega-rich stash their cash. Mahendran Thiruvarangan talks about a new leftish government in Sri Lanka. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
Michael Meeropol, son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, talks about how the government executed his mother despite knowing her innocence. Ruth Whippman, author of BOYMOM: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity, discusses the challenges of raising boys.See recent documents shedding light on "Why Ethel's execution was wrongful": https://www.rfc.org/node/4836Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Behind the News, 11/21/24 - guests: Michael Meeropol on his mother Ethel Rosenberg's innocence, Ruth Whippman on raising boys - Doug Henwood
Anatol Lieven tries to divine a Trump foreign policy out of unreliable rhetoric and early appointments. Alex Vitale tries similar on Trump and criminal justice.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Behind the News, 11/14/24 - guests: Anatol Lieven on Trump's foreign policy • Alex Vitale on Trump and the cops - Doug Henwood
Doug comments on the Trump victory and the role of inflation. Dahlia Scheindlin talks about Israeli public opinion. James Foley and Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, authors of a recent paper, discuss Ukrainian nationalism in the Western political imagination.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Laura Jedeed, author of a recent feature article for Lux, discusses the right's war on North Idaho College. Mouin Rabbani talks about what's driving Israel's multiple wars, and the Axis of Resistance.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
William Hartung, co-author of a recent paper for Brown University's Watson Institute, outlines how much aid the US has given to Israel over the last year (plus, he shares some wacky stuff on AI weapons). The sociologist Scott Schieman talks about his surprising research showing that people actually like their jobs.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Anatol Lieven dissects the ambitiously aggressive grand design of the Biden-Harris foreign policy. Lily Lynch, author of a recent article for The Baffler, talks about the emptying out of the Balkans.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.