Podcast
The Nation Podcasts
Hosted by The Nation Magazine · EN
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
140episodes
Episodes
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Iran Talks Advance, Starmer Resigns, Israel Targets Children in Gaza / American Prestige
Jun 2600:41:21Tap to summarizeDanny and Derek’s promised ring ceremony regrettably must be relocated from MSG due to a scheduling conflict. In this week’s news: The Iran negotiations show signs of progress (1:26) despite disputes over the agreement (5:20), plus conflicting reports over the status of the Strait of Hormuz* (9:24); Lebanon sees a reduction in fighting and another round of talks (12:31); in Gaza, Israel is targeting children (15:38), plus a Board of Peace update (16:48); Keir Starmer resigns as PM of the UK (18:40); the DPRK/North Korea appears to be back on Trump’s radar (21:18); a battle over El Obeid, Sudan, still looms (22:53); Trump is again angry with NATO and has a spat with Italian PM Meloni (25:07); in Russia-Ukraine, an update on the war (27:40), Poland strips Zelenskyy of an award (30:21), and the Russians are again displeased with Trump (32:40); election updates in Colombia (34:25), Peru (36:08), and Ethiopia (37:27); and Trump unveils the new Air Force One (39:23).*After the time of recording, the initiative to rescue stranded ships in the Strait of Hormuz was paused due to a vessel being attacked. Check out the replay of Wednesday’s livestream. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Data Center Opposition Is Uniting Communities w/ Saul Levin / Tech Won't Save Us
Jun 2501:03:25Tap to summarizeAs tech companies race to build hyperscale data centers, communities are coming together to push back. Saul Levin joins Paris Marx to discuss how rising opposition to data center construction is uniting people across party lines and prompting broader conversations around what infrastructure people want instead.Saul Levin is a community organizer and host of The Hum.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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How Zionism Failed w/ Omer Bartov / American Prestige
Jun 2400:54:46Tap to summarizeOmer Bartov, Dean’s Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, joins the program to talk about Zionism’s transformation from an emancipation movement into a form of ethno-nationalism. They delve into Zionism’s formation alongside European colonialism, how settler encroachment influenced Palestinian nationalism, comparisons with European settler colonialism, whether Zionism’s “wrong turn” was in the formation of the State of Israel itself, the meaning of “never again,” how the historical memory of the Holocaust is used to justify Israeli expansion, Israel’s lack of a constitution, and liberal Zionism in the United States.Be sure to get a copy of Omer’s book Israel: What Went Wrong? Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Norm Eisen: Fighting Trump’s Threats to Voting; plus Protest Success Stories / Start Making Sense
Jun 2400:37:19Tap to summarizeElection protection: defending Ohio’s biggest voter registration group, and blocking Trump’s attacks on voting by mail: Norm Eisen, co-counsel on the first Trump impeachment, comments.Also: how protest pushed ICE to abandon most of its warehouse detention center plans, and pressured Georgia Republicans to abandon their redistricting plans – John Nichols explains.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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US-Iran MoU Takes Effect, West Bank Settlement Expansion, Fujimori Leads Peru Election Count / American Prestige
Jun 2200:47:20Tap to summarizeDanny and Derek are in backchannel talks with the reflecting pool algae. In this week’s news: the United States and Iran sign a Memorandum of Understanding (1:26), which addresses sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, reconstruction, sovereignty, and the nuclear program (6:46); Israel continues its attacks on and occupation of Lebanon despite the MoU dictating otherwise (26:12); Gaza is excluded from the MoU (30:25) as West Bank annexation continues (31:46); in Sudan, RSF forces appear to be preparing for a major battle (34:27); in Ukraine, Russia makes advances (35:58) while Crimea is hit hard (37:26); the G7 is relatively uneventful, but does express support for Ukraine (39:24); the US announces plans for a military drawdown in Europe (41:21); in Peru, Keiko Fujimori leads the vote count in the presidential election (42:57); and a UNAIDS report shows the dire effect of DOGE cuts (44:37).Check out our episode with Caitlin Tulloch on the fallout from ending USAID.Join the Discord.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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A Practical Guide to Messing with Big Tech Oligarchs w/ Cory Doctorow / Fighting Fascism
Jun 2201:19:08Tap to summarizeCory Doctorow, guy who coined the term enshittification, has been eviscerating Big Tech oligarchs for many years. He’s now turning his razor-sharp mind onto one of our most/least favorite topics: AI. His new book, The Reverse-Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, is in many ways a practical guide for how to resist (actually resist, not just feel-good resist) the biggest financial scam in human history. Cory joins us to discuss what we should be really protesting when we protest AI. (And, at the end, we make sure to touch on his idea that Democrats should start preparing to prosecute the fascists who have so desperately got it coming, a.k.a., the Nuremberg Caucus.)Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Matt Taibbi and the New Threat to Free Speech w/ Eoin Higgins / The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
Jun 2100:43:34Tap to summarizeJournalist Eoin Higgins was recently sued for defamation by a fellow journalist Matt Taibbi, who is subject on criticism in Higgins’ book Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left. The case was briskly dismissed by a judge and is now on appeal. The lawsuit was manifestly frivolous and is filled with irony, since Taibbi likes to present himself as a free speech champion. I spoke to Higgins about it and the larger tendency of wealthy right-wing figures, including Donald Trump, to use lawsuits to intimidate critics.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Canada’s Government Is Rushing AI Adoption w/ Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood / Tech Won't Save Us
Jun 1801:01:05Tap to summarizeThe Canadian government is going all in on AI, without understanding the real effects of the technology. Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood joins Paris Marx to discuss Mark Carney’s push for large-scale investment in AI, despite being unable to describe how adoption will work, how Canadians will benefit, and what policies will be implemented to mitigate growing risks and harms.Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood senior researcher and political economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Why Harvard Won’t Settle; plus Struggles of Supermarket Workers / Start Making Sense
Jun 1700:41:41Tap to summarizeIn his campaign against elite universities as centers of resistance, Trump hasn’t been able to force Harvard to submit. And it seems less likely now that they will settle. Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy has our analysis.Also: the essential workers at our supermarkets: Ann Larson talks about poverty wages and worker solidarity. Her new book is Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View From Behind the Supermarket Register.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Human Prehistory and How Societies Rise and Fall w/ Patrick Wyman / American Prestige
Jun 1601:08:17Tap to summarizeHistorian Patrick Wyman returns to the show to talk about the deep history of human societies and how they can inform the current moment. They explore new ways of studying prehistory, the origins of agriculture, climate adaptation, the Clovis people, the long Neolithic, early farming societies, states and security, the Bronze Age collapse, and more.Listen to Patrick’s Past Lives podcast. And grab a copy of his new book Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World.Don’t forget the AP livestream, this Wednesday at 8pm ET on our YouTube channel.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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