Podcast
Current Affairs
Hosted by Current Affairs · EN
A podcast of politics and culture, from the editors of Current Affairs magazine.
43episodes
Episodes
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The Heinous Evil of Cutting USAID
Yesterday00:34:11Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Nicholas Enrich worked at USAID for more than 12 years, including in its Bureau for Global Health and Bureau for Management. He joins Current Affairs to discuss his new book, Into the Wood Chipper, a whistleblower account of how the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE allies shredded one of the most important humanitarian agencies in the U.S. government. 🏥 Buy Nicholas's Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Into-the-Wood-Chipper/Nicholas-Enrich/9781668226957 0:00-3:02 Inside USAID’s “Wood Chipper” 3:02-7:02 What USAID Actually Did 7:02-12:23 How the Right Turned USAID Into a Conspiracy Theory 12:23-14:37 The Trump Administration’s Lies About “Life-Saving” Aid 14:37-20:33 The Human Cost of Destroying USAID 20:33-34:20 How This Catastrophe Could Have Been Avoided 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 Merch: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/
Transcribe →The Democratic Establishment Can Be Defeated
6d ago00:11:05Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership It’s not 2016 anymore. We can throw out the party’s sclerotic leadership. 🌹 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-democratic-establishment-can-be-defeated 🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs 🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/
Transcribe →Israel OCCUPIES Lebanon During Fake "Ceasefire" (w/ Rania Khalek)
2w ago00:42:36Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Rania Khalek is a Lebanese-American journalist based in Beirut and the host of Dispatches on BreakThrough News. She returns to Current Affairs to give an update on Lebanon, where Israel has continued bombing, occupying territory, issuing displacement orders, and demolishing villages during what is being called a “ceasefire.” 🇱🇧 Subscribe to BreakThrough News: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakThroughNews/featured 🇱🇧 Rania's SubStack: https://substack.com/@raniakhalek?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=58m7xg 🇱🇧 Rania's Twitter: https://x.com/RaniaKhalek 🇱🇧 Rania's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raniakhalek/?hl=en 0:00-5:16 There Is No Ceasefire in Lebanon 5:16-11:52 What Israel Is Destroying in Southern Lebanon 11:52-19:13 Hezbollah and the Fault Lines Inside Lebanon 19:13-25:32 Negotiations Under Fire: Peace or Submission? 25:32-27:57 Hezbollah’s Resilience 27:57-34:02 How U.S. Media Sanitizes Israel’s War 34:02-39:16 America’s Role in Destroying Lebanon 39:16-42:37 How Americans Can Show Solidarity 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 Merch: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/
Transcribe →Abdul El-Sayed GOES AFTER Trump, AIPAC, and Corporate Dems
2w ago00:22:56Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Abdul El-Sayed is a physician, public health official, Current Affairs contributor, and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan. He joined Nathan Robinson to discuss his campaign, the fight over Gaza and AIPAC inside the Democratic Party, Chuck Schumer’s leadership, Medicare for All, corporate money in politics, and why he believes Democrats can win by rejecting the old theory of “electability.” 〽️ Abdul's Website: https://abdulforsenate.com/ 0:00-3:41 Why This Campaign Feels Different 3:41-7:05 Gaza, AIPAC, and U.S. Tax Dollars 7:05-11:45 Abdul’s Theory of Electability 11:45-15:45 Persuading Trump Voters 15:45-17:22 Schumer and Democratic Leadership 17:22-19:30 Money Out of Politics, Medicare for All, and Senate Priorities 19:30-23:05 Presidential Power and Foreign Policy 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 Merch: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/
Transcribe →“Progress” Is Making Things Worse (w/ Sam Miller McDonald)
2w ago00:41:37Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Sam Miller McDonald is a writer and longtime Current Affairs contributor. He joins Nathan Robinson to discuss his new book Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization—and Now Threatens to Destroy It, a sweeping critique of the belief that history is a story of constant improvement. 🌀 Buy Sam's book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250278319/progress/ 🌀 Read Sam's articles: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/author/samuel-miller-mcdonald 0:00-8:30 critiquing the Pinker-style narrative of progress 8:30-19:43 “progress” as destruction: industrialization and ecological collapse 19:43-23:34 what actually constitutes wellbeing 23:34-30:15 why the idea of “progress” is misleading 30:15-36:42 how “progress” justifies violence (Nazism, colonialism) 36:42-41:37 imagining values beyond “progress” 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 Merch: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/
Transcribe →Meanwhile, Zohran Is Just Getting Things Done
3w ago00:11:25Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership As Trump creates economic havoc and commits war crimes, the socialist mayor of New York City demonstrates what serious, responsible government looks like. 🗽 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/meanwhile-zohran-is-just-getting-things-done 🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs 🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/
Transcribe →The Phony Virtue of Cory Booker
4w ago00:31:37Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership After being a leading Democratic enabler of the genocide of Palestinians, Cory Booker now has the audacity to publish a book about moral virtue. 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 Merch: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/
Transcribe →Liberal Media Helped Destroy Gaza (w/ Adam Johnson)
Apr 2100:59:34Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Adam Johnson is a media analyst and co-host of the podcast Citations Needed, whose work has appeared in The Nation, The Intercept, and other major outlets. He joined Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson to discuss his new book How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza, an analysis of how U.S. corporate media covered Israel’s assault on Gaza. 🇵🇸 Buy Adam's new book: https://www.plutobooks.com/product/how-to-sell-a-genocide/ 🇵🇸 Follow Adam on Twitter: https://x.com/adamjohnsonCHI 🇵🇸 Citations Needed: https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/ 0:00–5:51 Yes, it's a genocide 5:51–9:32 How liberal media failed 9:32–16:25 The myth of journalistic neutrality 16:25–21:40 The “Hamas-run” framing 21:40–28:03 How Hamas is portrayed as ISIS 28:03–34:22 Erasing historical context 34:22–37:46 Media double standards 37:46–47:05 Biden’s role and response 47:05–51:04 Whose voices are excluded 51:04–54:39 What happens to dissenting journalists 54:39–59:43 The Atlantic (ugh) 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 Merch: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/
Transcribe →Trump Has No Idea What He’s Doing (w/ Mouin Rabbani)
Apr 1800:39:37Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Mouin Rabbani is a Middle East analyst and researcher, and one of the most incisive commentators on U.S. foreign policy in the region. He joined Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson to discuss the latest escalation in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and the broader Middle East, including ceasefire negotiations, U.S.-Israel relations, and the shifting balance of power. 🇵🇸 Buy Mouin's new book: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gaza-apocalypse/ 🇵🇸 Follow Mouin on Twitter: https://x.com/MouinRabbani 0:00–6:04 Trump’s ceasefire claim and what’s actually happening 6:04–10:15 Who controls U.S. policy, Washington or Israel? 10:15–14:39 Zionism and the crackdown on dissent 14:39–16:59 How criticism of Israel gets suppressed 16:59–24:46 Why the pro-Israel consensus is breaking down 24:46–29:40 The gap between Trump’s rhetoric and reality 29:40–32:26 What Trump’s threats reveal about the war 32:26–39:45 The moral case against the war 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 Merch: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/
Transcribe →Ben and Jerry's Co-Founder Takes on America's War Machine (w/ Ben Cohen)
Apr 1600:45:56Tap to summarize🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Ben Cohen is the co-founder, along with Jerry Greenfield, of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream company. But he has also been involved throughout his life with a number of major activist efforts on issues of peace, social justice, anti-racism, and climate change. He is currently heading the Up In Arms campaign to rein in military spending. Cohen was a national co-chair of Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. He has been arrested multiple times in the course of his activism, including disrupting an RFK Jr. Senate hearing to protest the genocide in Gaza. He is the author of the book Above The Law: How Qualified Immunity Protects Violent Police (OR Books, featuring an introduction by Killer Mike) and he is currently running a campaign to "free Ben and Jerry's" from its corporate overlords to protect its social activism. 🍦 Ben's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yobencohen/ 🍦 Ben's Book: https://orbooks.com/catalog/above-the-law/ 🍦 Up in Arms Campaign: https://upinarms.life/ 0:00–10:16 War, military spending, and moral priorities 10:16–15:10 U.S. security logic and NATO expansion 15:10–17:56 The profit motive behind war 17:56–21:16 Impunity and lack of accountability 21:16–28:12 Explaining militarism with BBs and Oreos 28:12–33:50 Ben & Jerry’s social mission explained 33:50–41:34 The Unilever/Magnum fight 41:34–46:04 Should you boycott Ben & Jerry’s? 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 Merch: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/
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