American Prestige

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Bonus - The New History of Capitalism: A Critique w/ Corey Robin (Preview) Aug 17, 2026

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Danny welcomes political science professor Corey Robin to the show to discuss his review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History and the "new history of capitalism" field. They talk about Beckert's take that capitalism originated among 12th-century Muslim merchant traders in Aden, the decentering of Europe and the US in his narrative, enslaved labor in his "capitalist utopias," the near-absence of class conflict in the book's story of capitalism's early years, and why capitalism, not ideology, is the better lens for the US-China rivalry today.

Read Corey’s piece for The Nation, “The Long Revolution.”

And check out Danny’s recent “Power Without Ideology” piece.

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News — US-Iran Hormuz Standoff, Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey Alliance, Israeli Settlers Besiege West Bank Community Aug 14, 2026

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Danny and Derek bring you the headlines against their better judgment. In this week’s news: Western Europe and the U.S. set new temperature records (2:05); in Iran, the Islamic Republic demands reparations and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz (4:22), Trump declares that the U.S. will keep control of the Strait (8:20), and Iran makes a wave of hardline appointments (10:25); in Yemen, Houthi forces strike a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait (13:02); Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey form a new defense alliance (15:00); Netanyahu rejects Hamas's disarmament plan as the Board of Peace agreement collapses (18:11), plus Israeli settlers besiege a Palestinian American family's home in a West Bank village (19:48); a Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death (in absentia) for war crimes (22:19); a new UN report finds that violence against civilians rises in Myanmar (23:43); in Darfur, the Sudanese military and allied militias make key territorial gains against the RSF (25:49); Ukraine bombs the Russian port of Novorossiysk as tensions in the Black Sea push global food prices higher (28:23); Abelardo de la Espriella takes office as Colombia's new far-right president and joins the U.S.-backed Shield of the Americas (31:58); Trump secretly flees Turkey on a decoy aircraft amid reports of an Iranian assassination plot (34:06); and the Pentagon claims its Yemen strikes caused the only U.S.-inflicted civilian casualties of 2025 (37:31).

Watch yesterday’s livestream here.

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E261 - The History of the Jewish Bund w/ Molly Crabapple Aug 12, 2026

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

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Bonus - The Democratic Foreign Policy Cartel w/ Matt Duss (Preview) Aug 10, 2026

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Danny and Derek welcome Matt Duss, Executive Vice President at the Center for International Policy, back to the show for a conversation on the fractured foreign policy consensus in the Democratic Party. They talk about Rahm Emanuel's recent Tel Aviv speech, the primacist versus restraint divide in the party, accountability for Blinken and Sullivan's Gaza policy, the Iran war and the collapse of the JCPOA, China and Taiwan, and the contradiction of supporting Ukraine while enabling the Gaza genocide.

Read Matt’s piece for The Nation, “Rahm Emanuel’s Speech in Tel Aviv Breaks With a ‘No Daylight’ Approach.”

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News — Gaza Disarmament Agreement Collapses, Ceuta Migrant Crisis, Iran Nears Hormuz Deal Aug 07, 2026

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Danny and Derek always use their good side when posing for a Flock cam. In this week’s news: Trump backs off of his latest threat against Iran amid a potential Hormuz deal (2:01); in Gaza, the Board of Peace’s Hamas disarmament deal collapses within a day (13:22); Red Sea shipping falls after new Houthi attacks (18:16); in Sudan, the RSF mobilizes tribal levies to make up for lost troops (20:26); the TPLF and federal forces clash again in Tigray (24:45); Ukraine runs out of Patriot missile interceptors (27:39); a migrant influx kills dozens in the Spanish exclave Ceuta (31:33); the U.S. suspends the Brazilian ambassador’s visa due to a diplomatic dispute (38:25); and America’s Operation Southern Spear kills 221 people but fails to curb the drug trade (41:52).

Order your copy of Danny’s new book, Imperialist Realism, now.

Watch the replay⁠ of last night's livestream with Becca Lewis.

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E260 - Imperialist Realism w/ Danny Bessner Aug 05, 2026

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Derek welcomes back to the show his very own co-host, Danny Bessner, to talk about his new book, ⁠Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century⁠, and how we see imperialist realism in American foreign policy and popular culture. They talk about the concept’s inspiration from the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the end of mass politics, the decline of grand ideology in U.S. foreign policy, the core features of imperialist realism, the Protestant missionary roots of American foreign policy, and a democratic socialist alternative to current U.S. foreign policy.

Order your copy of the book now.

Read the new piece from Danny’s Imperialist Realism Substack, “Empire of Grunge.”

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Bonus - Ukraine's PR War w/ Mark Ames (Preview) Aug 03, 2026

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Derek once again speaks with Mark Ames, co-host of Radio War Nerd, this time to talk about the state of the war in Ukraine and the current upheaval in Zelenskyy’s government. They discuss Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries and infrastructure, the PR campaign behind the "turning the tide" narrative, the situation in the Donbas and the fall of Kostyantynivka, the firing of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, corruption and factional fighting within Ukraine's drone industry, the Ukrainian strike on an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea, and the attempts to isolate and pressure Crimea.

Be sure to order your copy of Danny’s new book, Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century.

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News — U.S.-Iran War Resumes, Sudanese Army Secures Kordofan Highway, Fujimori Takes Office in Peru Jul 31, 2026

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AP headquarters is seriously considering upgrading the video content to IMAX. In this week’s news: the U.S. and Iran resume strikes after a brief pause (3:25); Gaza talks are close to an agreement on Hamas disarmament and an Israeli withdrawal (10:59); Saudi-Ansar Allah/Houthi attacks escalate (13:37); the U.S. and Saudi Arabia strike Iraqi militia sites (17:10); a drone strike hits two gas ships at Egypt’s Damietta port (21:01); Ukraine attacks an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea (22:58); the Sudanese army seizes the Omdurman–El Obeid highway (25:46); China expands its satellite and asteroid-defense programs (29:21); wildfires force mass evacuations across Spain and France (32:45); Keiko Fujimori takes office as president of Peru (35:53); and U.S. pressure drives Venezuela and Chad to quit the International Criminal Court (37:35).

Note: After recording, a Hamas disarmament deal was announced.

Be sure to order your copy of Danny’s new book, Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century.

Be sure to watch a replay of last night’s livestream with journalist Jasper Nathaniel about his latest trip to the West Bank.

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E259 - Who’s Allowed Self-Determination? w/ Brad Simpson Jul 29, 2026

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Danny and Derek speak with historian Brad Simpson about the history and evolving meaning of self-determination in international politics and law. They talk about the Wilson-Lenin debate, the Atlantic Charter, the Nazi appropriation of ethno-nationalist self-determination, the decolonization movements of the mid-20th century, the failure of the new international economic order, and the idea's continuing relevance to places like Palestine and Greenland.

Get Brad’s book The First Right: Self-Determination and the Transformation of International Order, 1941–2000.

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Bonus - The Real Odyssey w/ Joel Christensen (Preview) Jul 27, 2026

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Joel Christensen, professor of classics at the CUNY Graduate Center, joins Danny and Derek for a discussion about Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey. They talk about the scholarly debate over Homer as an idea rather than an individual; the mythic Trojan War; guilt and moral responsibility in Homer's Odysseus vs. Nolan's; the roles of Penelope, Telemachus, and Agamemnon; the film's monsters, casting choices, and depictions of the gods; and how Nolan's ending departs from that of the original.

Be sure to check out Joel’s book Why Odysseus? Survivor, Scoundrel, Anti-Hero.

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