American Prestige

E330 - American Sociocide w/ Charles Derber Oct 14, 2025

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Danny and Derek speak with sociologist Charles Derber about how American society is tearing itself apart, as explored in his book Bonfire: American Sociocide, Broken Relations, and the Quest for Democracy. They discuss the decline of civic trust, the rise of atomized “me” culture, the tech-driven Gilded Age, neoliberalism and loneliness, Silicon Valley’s alliance with the national security state, how a country built on expansion and individualism turned those forces inward, and what, if anything, can stop us from destroying the relationships that hold this society together.

Bonus - The Historical Columbus w/ Juan Ponce Vázquez Oct 13, 2025

Producer's note: This is a re-posted episode originally from Columbus Day 2023.

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Danny and Derek speak with Juan Ponce Vázquez, associate professor history at the University of Alabama, about Christopher Columbus. They explore his Genoese origins, his journeys to the Americas on behalf of the Crown of Castile, the geopolitical situation at the time, what we know about his contact with native peoples, how the modern holiday came to be.

Bonus - Blowback: The Forgotten Cold War Front in Angola w/ Brendan James and Noah Kulwin (Preview) Oct 12, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome back Brendan James and Noah Kulwin, of the Blowback podcast, for a tour through their latest season, which takes the show to Angola. They discuss how Angola became one of the largest and least-remembered battlefields of the Cold War, Reagan’s return to proxy wars, Cuba’s decision to send troops without Soviet approval, South Africa’s “total onslaught” ideology, the Reagan era’s fanaticism, its echoes in today’s politics, and what happens when the U.S. exports its wars (and mythology) across continents.

News - Venezuela-US Escalation, Myanmar Airstrike, France’s Political Crisis Oct 10, 2025

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Yes, we will be releasing 25 subtle variations of this news roundup in order to catapult ourselves to the top of the podcast charts, and no, we are not sorry. This week: a ceasefire agreement was reached for Gaza, but there was too much information for us to cover in the news, so please check out our special here. Syria’s interim government handpicks a new “parliament” under tight presidential control (1:01); Iran debates moving its capital from Tehran as drought and other ecological issues worsen (3:24); Myanmar’s junta carries out a deadly airstrike on civilians celebrating a Buddhist festival (6:32); Japan’s ruling LDP turns to hard-right Takahichi to become Japan’s first female prime minister (9:03); Sudan’s RSF shells Al-Fashir’s last functioning hospital amid a deepening siege (12:22); Ethiopia accuses Eritrea and the TPLF of funding militias in the Amhara region, raising fears of another war (14:23); Rwanda-DRC peace efforts stall over mineral deals and a lingering occupation (17:31); Trump muses on sending Tomahawks to Ukraine while cutting a drone-tech swap with Kyiv (20:05); another French prime minister resigns (24:24); the U.S. sinks another “narco-boat” of the coast of Venezuela, then cuts diplomatic ties with Maduro (28:27), and moves to expand the president’s war powers at home and abroad (32:54; and Donald Trump flirts with invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act (35:14).

Special - Hamas Accepts the Ceasefire Deal (Preview) Oct 09, 2025

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Danny and Derek break down the first stage of the ceasefire deal reached between the U.S., Hamas, and Israel. They talk about the phased releases, Israel’s partial withdrawal, and the question of whether Marwan Barghouti will be freed. They also discuss Trump’s role in pushing the agreement, Gaza’s future under “reconstruction,” Netanyahu’s political calculus, and the shifting U.S. political landscape.

LAST CALL: Vote for American Prestige in the 2025 Signal Awards! Oct 08, 2025

Greetings Everyone,

There's just one more day to vote for American Prestige in the 2025 Signal Awards for best News & Politics program (viewer's choice). If you can take a second, please go there now and do so! Jon Stewart is gaining on us!

You'll have to confirm the vote via your email, but we promise it's a quick and easy process. It'd be great to show the fat cats what's what!

Again, voting is open through tomorrow, Thursday, October 9, and that's it! Thank you as always for your support.

E229 - How The Simpsons Reshaped American Comedy w/ Alan Siegel Oct 07, 2025

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In a break from the (overtly) political, Derek and Danny are joined by The Ringer’s Alan Siegel to talk about his new book Stupid TV: Be More Funny, a cultural history of The Simpsons and how it changed American comedy. They discuss how a bunch of Harvard Lampoon alumni turned the show into art, the role of Fox and Rupert Murdoch in promoting a show that mocked them both, how Bart Simpson once terrified America’s parents (and George H.W. Bush), the show’s postmodern worldview, and the moment The Simpsons went from anti-establishment to establishment.

Special - The Gaza Negotiations w/ Sami Al-Arian (Preview) Oct 06, 2025

Derek speaks with Sami Al-Arian, Public Affairs Professor and Director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Zaim University, about the forthcoming Gaza talks and the prospects for a ceasefire.

Bonus - The Death of the Iran Deal w/ Esfandyar Batmanghelidj (Preview) Oct 05, 2025

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Derek welcomes back to the show Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation and professor at Johns Hopkins, to talk through the slow demise of the Iran nuclear deal. They delve into Europe’s decision to trigger the UN “snapback” mechanism, factors that lead to this moment, from Trump’s withdrawal and Biden’s hesitation to Europe’s impatience and Iran’s deepening ties with Russia and China, the effects of sanctions being imposed without diplomacy, and why the JCPOA’s collapse is a symptom of a wider breakdown in the international order.

Special - The Gaza Ceasefire w/ Mohammad Alsaafin and Dalia Hatuqa Oct 04, 2025

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Danny and Derek update everyone on what we know about the Gaza ceasefire that Hamas just accepted and where things go from here. Then, for subscribers, they speak with Mohammad Alsaafin, journalist at AJ+, and Dalia Hatuqa, a journalist specializing in Israeli/Palestinian affairs and regional Middle East issues, to unpack the finer details.

News - Trump’s Gaza “Peace Plan,” UN Reimposes Sanctions on Iran, "Gen Z Protests" in Madagascar and Morocco Oct 03, 2025

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Danny is back on American soil and joins Derek to bring you the news. This week: Trump circulates a Gaza ceasefire proposal with Hamas’ response pending (2:39), Israel issues its final evacuation notice for Gaza City (9:30), and the Samud flotilla is intercepted (11:04); Trump forces Netanyahu to apologize to Qatar while also giving Doha a NATO-style defense pledge (14:06); the UN reimposes sanctions on Iran (16:55); Trump pushes to retake Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan as the country briefly loses internet access (20:49); starvation worsens in Sudan’s al-Fashir (27:02); “Gen Z protests” erupt in Madagascar and Morocco (29:56); Trump declares Ukraine can retake all lost territory (33:13) while the EU eyes frozen Russian assets (37:04); Argentina’s Milei seeks a U.S. bailout (39:51); Washington considers strikes inside Venezuela (42:51); and Pete Hegseth’s generals’ rally falls flat as Trump muses about using the military in U.S. cities (44:01).

E228 - How The Internet Broke America w/ Garrett Graff Sep 30, 2025

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Danny welcomes to the show journalist and historian Garrett Graff, host of the podcast Long Shadow. They talk about the show’s latest season on the internet, tracing how its promise of democratization and liberation devolved into an engine of polarization and conspiracies. Topics include: Facebook’s cynical algorithmic choices, Watergate’s enduring influence on American political culture, the economic wreckage of deindustrialization and deregulation, the rise of Trumpism as a “burn it down” vote, and the coming AI disruption that threatens white-collar work.

Bonus - Dead End Democrats w/ Ross Barkan (Preview) Sep 28, 2025

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Danny and Derek talk with writer Ross Barkan about his new essay collection Fascism or Genocide. They get into the “uncommitted” revolt during the 2024 primary and what that says about the Democratic Party’s failures, the decline of party elites from the Hillary coronation in 2016 to Biden’s cognitive decline, generational change inside the party like Zoran Mamdani, Democrats resistance to their own base, Trump’s enduring but limited appeal, the failures of “woke” politics to build lasting institutions, and the need for a future progressive president to wield executive power as ruthlessly as the right does.

Ross’s Substack Political Currents.

Bonus - The U.S. Military vs. the Environment w/ Gretchen Heefner Sep 26, 2025

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No news today because Derek needs a break!

Danny and Derek speak with historian Gretchen Heefner about how the U.S. military (unsuccessfully) set out to conquer extreme environments and what those efforts reveal about empire, climate, and power. They discuss the U.S. Army training for a desert war that turned out to be mud, the Pentagon’s disastrous attempts to master Greenland’s ice, early blueprints for building on the moon, efforts to gather “environmental intelligence” across the globe, and other failed endeavors showing the limits of American military power.

Read Gretchen’s book Sand, Snow, and Stardust: How U.S. Military Engineers Conquered Extreme Environments now!

E227 - A New History of the Americas, Pt. 2 w/ Greg Grandin Sep 23, 2025

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Danny and Derek once again speak with historian Greg Grandin about his recent book, America, América: A New History of the New World. In this second part of the conversation, they follow US–Latin American relations from the American Civil War through the present. The discussion covers the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the contradictions of U.S. expansion cloaked in the language of human rights, the Mexican Revolution as a defining challenge to US power, Woodrow Wilson’s and FDR’s occupations and the Good Neighbor Policy, the Cold War, the neoliberal turn, the endurance of social movements in the face of American-backed violence, and why contemporary Latin American politics still display revolutionary undercurrents.

Bonus - Maduro, Trump, and Washington’s Narco-Terrorism Fixation w/ Alex Aviña and Gabriel Hetland (Preview) Sep 21, 2025

Derek welcomes back Gabriel Hetland, associate professor at the University at Albany, and Alex Aviña, associate professor at Arizona State University, to talk about America’s latest moves against Venezuela. They discuss the long US campaign to topple Nicolás Maduro, Washington’s resurrection of the “narco-terrorism” label, the oil politics behind US incoherence in the region, Maduro’s domestic maneuvering, and how Trump’s recent assertions of dominance risk sparking a wider regional crisis.

News - Gaza City Ground Invasion, US War on “Narco-Terror” in the Caribbean, Russia Sanctions Standoff Sep 19, 2025

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Derek is joined once again by guest co-host Alex Jordan to bring you the news. This week: in Israel-Palestine, Israel commences its ground operation in Gaza City (1:50), a UN commission rules that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza (8:14), and Netanyahu touts a “Sparta” model for Israel while Smotrich talks Gaza real estate (9:39); fallout from Israel’s strike in Qatar continues (15:04); nuclear talks between Iran and European nations make little progress (20:39); India’s Maoist rebels suspend their insurgency (23:28); Nepal elects a new interim prime minister via Discord (25:52); the US and China produce a “framework” for the TikTok sale (28:32); Australia commits billions to its AUKUS submarine investment (30:58); the RSF in Sudan advances on Al-Fashir (34:04); Libya’s Tripoli-based government cuts a deal with a hostile faction (37:30); the US and EU clash over Russia sanctions (40:49); the US admits to blowing up at least one more Venezuelan boat (47:32); Trump decertifies Colombia as a drug war partner (52:04); and Trump deploys the National Guard to Memphis while also pushing international changes to asylum rules (55:31).

Check out our big, beautiful website, featuring a searchable, categorized archive.

Watch Alex with Courtney Rawlings on Always at War.

E226 - A New History of the Americas, Pt. 1 w/ Greg Grandin Sep 16, 2025

Danny and Derek welcome back historian Greg Grandin to talk about his recent book, America, América: A New History of the New World. In this first part of the discussion, they explore how the Spanish conquest produced unprecedented violence while also starting discussions about human rights, the role of Bartolomé de las Casas and the Salamanca School, how English settlers dealt with their own brutality, and the emergence of social democracy in Latin America. They also discuss the Monroe Doctrine, the Panama Congress, and the Mexican-American War as early flashpoints in US–Latin American relations.

Introducing Fiasco: Benghazi — The Dictator Sep 15, 2025

Here’s a preview from a podcast you might enjoy, Fiasco:

Slow Burn co-creator Leon Neyfakh transports listeners into the reality of America’s most pivotal historical events, bringing life to the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present. In his new season, Leon looks at the 2012 Benghazi attack that left four Americans dead—and the ensuing political storm, which raised questions about America’s role in the world, established a playbook to weaponize attention in the social media age, and ultimately changed the course of U.S. history. Find Fiasco: Benghazi wherever you get podcasts and binge the entire season with a Pushkin plus subscription – sign up on the Fiasco Apple Podcasts show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.

Bonus - Gulf Politics after the Doha Strike w/ Giorgio Cafiero and Annelle Sheline (Preview) Sep 14, 2025

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Derek is joined by Giorgio Cafiero of Gulf State Analytics and Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute to take a closer look at Israel’s bombing of Doha, Qatar, this week. They discuss how the strike undermines Qatar’s role as mediator in Israel-Hamas negotiations, US complicity, and why Gulf leaders now view Israel, not Iran, as the region’s chief destabilizer. They further explore Qatar’s hosting of Hamas at America’s request, the GCC’s tenuous unity in the face of Israeli aggression, the domestic politics driving Netanyahu, and the risks of Israel crossing new red lines.

Follow Annelle and Giorgio on Twitter/X.

News - Israel Bombs Qatar, Nepal Protests, Russian Drones Enter Polish Airspace Sep 12, 2025

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While Danny remains in talks with Russia, Alex Jordan again helps Derek bring you the headlines. This week: Israel targets Hamas negotiators in a Doha strike (3:30), effectively ending ceasefire talks (8:43); the IDF orders the evacuation of Gaza City (13:11) while reports emerge that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hired an anti-Islam biker gang for “security” (15:42); in Russia-Ukraine, Russian drones entered Polish airspace, prompting an Article 4 NATO meeting (18:36); Iran and the IAEA announce a tentative deal to resume inspections (22:41); Nepal sees mass protests over a social media ban, leading to the resignation and disappearance of its prime minister and the army being deployed in Kathmandu (25:42); Donald Trump suggests he will repair ties with India amid tariff disputes and fallout over a Russian oil deal (30:15); Japan’s prime minister Ishiba resigns after electoral losses (33:23); ICE raids a Hyunda-LG plant in Georgia, detaining hundreds of South Korean workers (36:41); In Mali, JNIM militants blockade fuel routes to Bamako (42:22); France ousts yet another prime minister over austerity, with Macron appointing Sébastien Lecornu and facing mass protests (44:38); Brazil awaits a Supreme Court verdict on former president Jair Bolsonaro’s coup case, and Trump threatens retaliation if he’s convicted (49:26); and in these United States, the Department of Defense changes its name to the Deaprtment of War (53:34), a New York Times report reveals covert attacks on fishermen in a failed North Korea operation in 2019 (56:16), and new details emerge about last week’s strike on a Venezuelan boat (62:12).

Don’t forget to purchase our Welcome to the Crusades: The First Crusade miniseries!Catch Alex and Courtney Rawlings on the Quincy Institute’s Always at War podcast!

Welcome to the Crusades, Episode 3: Baghdad and Cairo, 1096 Sep 10, 2025

Danny and Derek recently reunited with Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters of⁠We’re Not So Different⁠ for a special mailbag episode of their cross-pod collaboration,⁠Welcome to the Crusades: The First Crusade⁠. We have already posted⁠Episode 1⁠ and⁠Episode 2 ⁠in the feed, so we figured we’d give everyone the third episode to further entice you to dig into this miniseries. Enjoy!

We leave the Crusaders behind temporarily to grapple with conditions in the Near East of the late 11th century. We’ll discuss the emergence and disintegration of the Great Seljuk Empire in Baghdad as well as the rise of the Fatimid Caliphate in Cairo, with additional focus on the situation in Jerusalem as the Crusaders began their journey.

Special - Israel Bombs Qatar (Preview) Sep 09, 2025

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Danny and Derek break down Israel’s strike on Doha, which targeted a meeting of Hamas’s political leadership. They discuss the possibility of US complicity in the attack, its impact on negotiations, and what it means for Gaza and for what remains of US credibility.

E225 - From The Gilded Age to American Decline w/ Morgan Spector Sep 09, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome actor Morgan Spector (The Gilded Age, The Plot Against America) to the show for a conversation on politics, Hollywood, and capitalism. They trace his political development from the Iraq War and Obama era to Bernie Sanders and democratic socialism, discuss his documentary The Big Scary “S” Word, and reflect on how Hollywood politics skew liberal but not radical (particularly when it comes to Palestine). They also explore Spector’s role as a Gilded Age robber baron, how today’s tech oligarchs compare with the 19th century’s builders, and the need for a new political vision in the age of financialization, AI, and the climate crisis.

Bonus - Language, Genocide, and American Power w/ Shadi Hamid Sep 07, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome Washington Post columnist and Wisdom of Crowds co-host Shadi Hamid to the show to discuss the shift in rhetoric and framing around the genocide in Gaza. Shadi explains why he hesitated to use the word “genocide” until this year, reflects on reactions to his Washington Post piece, and explores with Danny and Derek how language shapes mainstream debate. They further discuss the future of the Democratic Party, the absence of left institutions, and whether shifting the discourse can translate into policy given the current structure of American power.

News - AI and Drone Warfare in Ukraine, “Trump Riviera” Gaza Plan, US Bombs Venezuelan Boat Sep 05, 2025

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Danny is in talks with the Kremlin to unfreeze his accounts, so Derek is joined instead by the Quincy Institute’s Alex Jordan to bring you the news. This week: a new study warns that the Atlantic circulation system could collapse (2:32); Ukraine introduces AI-driven drone swarms, raising the prospect of autonomous killing machines (5:55); in Israel-Palestine, Israel declares Gaza City a “dangerous combat zone” (9:45), The Washington Post details the “Trump Riviera” plan (13:50), more European states move toward recognizing a Palestinian state (18:20), and Israel appears to be building a new nuclear reactor (24:44); the IDF assassinates the Houthi prime minister in Yemen (26:57); Indonesia sees mass protests over egregious political perks (30:25); Russia replaces the Wagner Group with the Africa Corps in the Central African Republic amid pushback (32:47); the Congo River Alliance/M23 accuses the DRC government of violating their ceasefire (36:57); lawyers sound the alarm about five men trafficked from the US to Eswatini (39:12); as Russia-Ukraine peace talks drag on, the focus shifts to “security guarantees,” with Moscow rejecting any foreign military presence in Ukraine (41:43); Donald Trump boasts about “obliterating” a Venezuelan boat that may have carried migrants instead of drugs (47:39); US appeals courts rule against Trump’s tariffs and deportations (51:33); and in a New Cold War update, Xi Jinping makes a statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and V-J Day military parade (54:33).

Catch Alex and Courtney Rawlings on Quincy’s “Always at War”!

Grab one of the last few “Robo Washington Crossing the Delaware” posters!

E224 - Christianity and 20th Century European Politics w/ Udi Greenberg Sep 02, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome back to the program historian Udi Greenberg to discuss his reinterpretation of modern Christianity in The End of the Schism: Catholics, Protestants, and the Remaking of Christian Life in Europe, 1880s–1970s. They explore the alliances Catholics and Protestants forged under the pressures of fascism, the Cold War, and decolonization, and how both Christian Democracy and radical left-Christian movements were shaped as much by expedience as reconciliation.

Bonus - The Global Turn of American Policing w/ Stuart Schrader (Preview) Aug 31, 2025

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Danny and Derek speak with historian Stuart Schrader about the global history of American policing and how US police power has been shaped by struggles both at home and abroad. They discuss police opposition to oversight in the 1960s, the development of the Border Patrol and ICE, Joe Biden’s “tough on crime” record, Trump’s plan to outsource detention, the ways counterterrorism blurred into immigration enforcement, and the resistance on display in Los Angeles this summer.

Read Stuart’s book Badges without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing.

News - Nasser Hospital Bombing, Trump’s Eyes on Venezuela, India Tariffs Aug 29, 2025

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Danny and Derek get in one last news update before Danny moves to an undisclosed American Prestige satellite campus. This week: In Israel-Palestine, the IPC formally declares a famine in Gaza (3:21), Israel bombs Nasser Hospital (6:34), and Trump hosts a White House “day after” meeting (13:25); Europe moves to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran (16:16); Trump’s 50% tariff on Indian goods goes into effect (12:04); changes to de minimis rules force postal services to suspend US-bound shipments (27:23); South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung visits DC and avoids the Zelensky treatment (29:45); in Sudan, RSF forces advance around Al-Fashir (33:15) as an Anne Applebaum Atlantic article sparks outrage (35:43); peace talks between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and M23 finally resume (38:36); Trump promises Ukraine continued security help, but there is still no end to the war in sight (39:50); the Danish government summons a US diplomat over Greenland (44:23); Trump might be preparing to oust Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro (47:00); and the Pentagon is interested in an AI propaganda tool (50:42).

Danny on Hasan Piker’s show

Derek and Eleanor Jangea on The Majority Report

The AP Discord

E223 - Columbia, Trump, and the Palestine Exception w/ Rashid Khalidi Aug 26, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome historian Rashid Khalidi back to the program, this time to talk about Columbia University’s agreement with the Trump administration. They discuss the university equating criticism of Israel with antisemitism, the school bringing in outside monitors, bipartisan U.S. support for Israel despite shifting public opinion, and how donor influence and neoliberal management are both reshaping universities and eroding the humanities. They also preview Dr. Khalidi’s upcoming free public lecture series on Palestinian history.

Bonus - The Trump-Putin Summit w/ Charles Kupchan (Preview) Aug 24, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome back to the show Charles Kupchan, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, to talk about this week’s summit in Alaska attempting to find an end to the Ukraine war. They examine Trump’s chaotic Ukraine diplomacy, the future of security guarantees, whether Russia will relinquish occupied territory, the US geostrategic interest in Ukraine, America’s declining global dominance, and the failures of US foreign policy expertise.

Read Charles’s piece in Foreign Affairs, “Close NATO’s Door to Ukraine.”

News - Trump-Putin Summit, India Turns From US to China, and Bolivia Election w/ Olivia Arigho-Stiles Aug 22, 2025

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Don’t forget our Welcome to the Crusades and Of This Worldseries!

Derek took away Danny’s iPad, so now Danny has to help with the news. This week: the great Trump-Putin summit takes place (1:39) as Zelensky visits the White House (5:44); Hamas accepts the newest ceasefire (9:39), the IDF appears to have begun its Gaza City operation (12:44), and the Israeli government approves the E1 settlement in the West Bank (15:46); Wang Yi of China visits India in a sign of improving relations, as US-India relations are worsening (18:48); the Myanmar junta schedules an election (21:49); the DRC-M23 negotiations continue to falter (23:11); the US sends warships to Venezuela (25:26); and Derek goes into detail with Olivia Arigho-Stiles about the results of the Bolivia election (27:08).

Read Olivia’s piece in Jacobin, “Is This the End of MAS?”

Special - The US Military’s On-Base Slot Machine Racket w/ Molly Longman (Preview) Aug 20, 2025

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Danny and Derek speak with freelance journalist Molly Longman about ⁠her piece for Wired ⁠detailing how the US military makes over $70 million annually from slot machines on overseas bases, and the implications for exploitation, addiction, and security risks.

E222 - Self-Censorship w/ Glenn Loury Aug 19, 2025

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Don't forget our new series Of This World and Welcome to the Crusades!

Danny and Derek Davison welcome to the program economist Glenn Loury, host of The Glenn Show, to talk about the re-release of his 1994 book Self-Censorship. They discuss the reasons he originally wrote the book, including self-censorship among intellectuals in late 1980s Eastern Europe as well as the response to Glenn’s critiques of US debates on race and civil rights at the time. They then tie these themes to postwar economics, current debates about “wokeness,” discourse around Gaza, and academic freedom.

Bonus - Is Economics a Science? w/ Erik Baker Aug 17, 2025

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Danny welcomes back to the show Erik Baker, a lecturer in the history of science at Harvard, to discuss criticisms of economics as a science and touch on nuclear history. They talk about the struggle of early 20th-century economists to formalize their field, the Progressive Era desire to rationally manage society, the postwar effort to quantify economics and the role of the university therein, the paradigms structuring economics that rely too much on “experts,” the actor-network theory critique, the pitfalls of reducing complex issues to quantification and modeling, and whether there’s a better way to aggregate the information economics seeks to interpret. The conversation then turns to Erik’s article on the history of nuclear science.

Read Erik’s pieces “The History of Economics as Science Critique: Demystification and Its Limits” and “The History of Nuclear Science.”

News - Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Deal, Israel Seeks Country to Expel Palestinians, Upcoming Russia-Ukraine Summit Aug 15, 2025

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Don't forget to check out our series ⁠"Welcome to the Crusades"⁠ and ⁠"Of This World."⁠

Danny and Derek’s The Life of a Go-Go Boy album is shelved indefinitely. Meanwhile, in world news: Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a U.S.-brokered peace deal (1:35); Israel prepares for an operation in Gaza City as it continues its search for countries willing to take in expelled Palestinians (8:36); Australia announces plans to recognize Palestine (12:59); Iran hosts an IAEA representative (14:58) as European states prepare to reimpose sanctions (16:45); the Thai-Cambodian border sees two new incidents (19:34); a Sudanese military leader meets with a Trump envoy (22:08); the president of the unrecognized state of Somaliland will reportedly visit the U.S. (24:12); the DRC-M23 peace talks appear to collapse (26:47); Trump agrees to a summit with Putin, leaving Ukraine and European leaders concerned, and Russia makes a breakthrough in the Ukrainian defensive line (29:19); a preview of the upcoming Bolivian election (34:55); Trump orders military force to be used against Latin American drug cartels (38:27); and the U.S. and China agree to extend their tariff détente (40:09).

Special - Federal Takeover of Washington DC Police w/ Chris Myers Asch (Preview) Aug 14, 2025

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Danny and Derek speak with historian Chris Myers Asch about Trump's federal takeover of DC police and the deployment of the National Guard.

Be sure to check out Chris's book ⁠Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital⁠.

Special - The Murder of Anas al-Sharif and Gaza’s Future w/ Mohammad Alsaafin Aug 12, 2025

Mohammad Alsaafin, journalist at AJ+, returns to the program to discuss recent events concerning Palestine. He and Derek talk about journalists killed by Israel in Gaza, including Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif; the broad dehumanization of Palestinian journalists by many mainstream outlets; the planned military occupation and potential ethnic cleansing of the Strip; the use of starvation as a weapon; why certain countries are re-recognizing a Palestinian state at this moment; and much more.

Of This World: Politics in the Era of Rage w/ Carlo Invernizzi Accetti Aug 11, 2025

In lieu of a typical Tuesday episode this week, we are happy to present the first episode of our new miniseries with Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins,⁠Of This World.⁠

Subscribe now at the annual tier for access to this series and other AP series going forward.

First, Danny Bessner speaks with Daniel about what inspired this series. In the episode itself (6:25), Daniel speaks with Carlo Invernizzi Accetti about his recent book (published in Italian) Twenty Years of Rage: From No-Globals to Trumpism. Topics include the crisis in democracy and liberalism, grievance politics, Peter Sloterdijk's concept of the modern loser, the materialist causes of modern anger, attempted remedies like populism and technocracy, and why anger can be useful.

(Recorded in December 2024)

Bonus - The First Months of Post-Assad Syria w/ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (Preview) Aug 10, 2025

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Derek welcomes back historian Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi for a discussion about developments in Syria under the new government, which toppled that of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. They talk about the massacres of Alawites at the beginning of this year, the non-governmental militias still operating in the country, clashes between Druze and Bedouin armed groups in the southern city of Suwayda, Israeli involvement, Syrian Democratic Forces activity in the northeast of the country and Turkey’s role, and whether the government under Ahmed al-Sharaa can make a “Syria for all Syrians.”

Check out Aymenn's book The Conquest of al-Andalus: a Translation of Fath al-Andalus.

News - Lebanon Moves to Disarm Hezbollah, Netanyahu Announces Gaza Occupation, 80th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing in Hiroshima Aug 08, 2025

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The AP team will wear formal Tevas to the new White House ballroom. Otherwise, in this week’s news: Danny and Derek reflect on the 80th anniversary of the US dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (1:46); in Israel-Palestine, Netanyahu announces his “full occupation” plan (8:24) as the US expands the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (13:58); the Lebanese government moves to disarm Hezbollah (16:48); the US looks to host an Armenia-Azerbaijan peace summit (20:51); Trump punishes India for purchasing Russian oil (24:20); Thailand and Cambodia agree to the deployment of ceasefire monitors (27:49); in Sudan, the RSF carries out a new atrocity (29:50) and the military accuses the United Arab Emirates of hiring mercenaries (32:37); a new report details sexual violence in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia (35:06); in Russia-Ukraine, Steve Witkoff visits Moscow ahead of a Putin-Trump meeting (37:28) as the US nevertheless plans to impose tariffs on Russia (40:34); El Salvador’s legislature removes presidential term limits (41:57); and in US news, America makes a new “third country” trafficking agreement with Rwanada (43:15), the State Department starts a new program forcing travelers to pay bonds to the US government (45:23), and NASA plans to put a nuclear reactor on the Moon (46:50).

E221 - Land Power w/ Michael Albertus Aug 05, 2025

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Michael Albertus, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, joins the program to talk about his book Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies. The group explores notions of land from archaeological evidence thousands of years ago, the enclosure movement of the medieval era, the European mindset vs those of indigenous peoples in the era of colonization, South Africa land redistribution, gender in Canadian homesteading, how changing notions of land play into larger histories of race, the postwar of concept of “land to the tiller,” and much more.

Bonus - The Unwinnable War in Taiwan w/ Jennifer Kavanaugh and Stephen Wertheim (Preview) Aug 03, 2025

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Jennifer Kavanaugh, senior fellow & director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, and Stephen Wertheim, senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, join the program to talk about their piece, “The Taiwan Fixation: American Strategy Shouldn’t Hinge on an Unwinnable War.” The group delves into the contours of the debate around Taiwan in DC, whether there’s any daylight between the two parties, strategic ambiguity and where it stands in Trump 2.0, how a decline in US hegemony in East Asia affects plans for a Taiwan intervention, and what Jennifer and Stephen recommend instead of America’s current approach.

Special - Democratizing the AHA w/ Alexander Aviña and Ahmad Shokr Aug 02, 2025

Danny invites Alex Aviña and Ahmad Shokr to discuss recent goings on at the American Historical Association.

AP x NonZero - Gaza Awareness Week Aug 01, 2025

The bi-monthly collaboration between AP and NonZero Newsletter returns. Subscribe now to AP and you'll also get a discounted membership to Nonzero!

Get that Crusades series now!

⁠Part One Video⁠

0:00 Derek and Danny plug their new Crusades series

2:55 This week’s shift in Gaza discourse

11:56 The real danger Gaza poses for Israel

21:41 Does the left’s rhetoric on Israel miss the mark?

32:00 Elite media’s think tank problem

36:03 Is American imperialism really the problem?

39:40 Heading to Overtime

News - Israel Continues Starving Gaza, Thailand and Cambodia Ceasefire, Global Fresh Water Supply Dwindles Aug 01, 2025

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Danny and Derek are monitoring the Liam Neeson-Pamela Anderson situation. Otherwise, in this week’s news: a new study says most countries are exploiting groundwater aquifers at an unsustainable rate (2:26); in Israel-Palestine, another Gaza ceasefire breaks down (4:56), Israel’s “humanitarian pause” has little effect on the starvation in Gaza (7:22), the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is under scrutiny (10:13), West Bank violence is once again on the rise (12:23), and several European leaders float the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state (14:11); Trump threatens to bomb Iran again (17:45); POTUS relaxes sanctions on Myanmar while considering a mineral deal (20:12), plus that country’s military junta lifts the state of emergency (23:55); Thailand and Cambodia agree to a ceasefire for the moment (25:32); the Trump administration cancels interactions with Taiwan (28:32); the Sudan “quartet” meeting is cancelled after a dispute between Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (31:56); Trump shortens the deadline for Russia to end its war in Ukraine (35:01); and this week’s trade news includes the US reaching deals with the EU and South Korea (38:09), imposing a 25% tariff plus “penalties” on India (41:16), hitting Brazil with a 50% tariff (43:14), plus Trump suggesting no future deal with Canada (46:01), and a deal with China remaining in limbo (47:32).

E220 - The Perils of Competition With China w/ Michael Brenes Jul 29, 2025

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Great Power Week continues here at American Prestige as historian Michael Brenes joins the show to talk about how prolonged competition with China threatens democracy, peace, and prosperity. They compare Biden and Trump’s respective approaches to China, whether the national security establishment is trying to manufacture an existential threat out of The People’s Republic, whether there is any national interest in a new Cold War, the degradation in American leaders, why rivalry is bad economically, erodes American society’s social fabric, and leads to violence, and alternatives to the great power framework.

Read his book on the matter (co-authored with AP regular Van Jackson), The Rivalry Peril: How Great-Power Competition Threatens Peace and Weakens Democracy.

Don’t miss the companion episode with Stacie Goddard from Sunday, “The Era of Great Power Competition.”

Bonus - The Era of Great Power Competition w/ Stacie Goddard (Preview) Jul 27, 2025

Danny and Derek speak with Stacie Goddard, the Betty Freyhof Johnson '44 Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College, about her piece for Foreign Affairs, “The Rise and Fall of Great-Power Competition.” They discuss the “great powers” of today, the shift from liberal hegemony to great power competition, Trump’s disposal of multilateralism and Biden following suit, the era of the Concert of Europe, US postwar hegemony, the rhetoric around China that became entrenched during the Obama administration, the foreign policy blob’s aversion to tradeoffs, the framework of of coercion, competition, and collusion, financialized capitalism and declining societies, and more.

A Culture of Empire | Always at War x American Prestige Jul 26, 2025

Prestigeheads: Today we bring you a very special episode from our friends over at the Quincy Institute's Always at War show, which can be found here and on all podcast apps. Check it out!

In this episode of Always at War, hosts Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan are joined by American Prestige's Daniel Bessner to discuss how Americans have come to understand — and however begrudgingly, accept — the costs and consequences of our nation’s military empire.

News - Thai-Cambodian Border Clash, Gaza Starvation, ICJ Climate Ruling Jul 25, 2025

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Danny and Derek also rail against the war pigs, but lack the heavy riffs. This week: the International Court of Justice rules that wealthy nations must take action on climate change or bear responsibility (1:20); clashes escalate on the Thai-Cambodian border (4:08); a ceasefire holds in Syria’s Suwayda province after clashes between Druze and Bedouin groups (9:06); in Israel-Palestine, Gaza’s starvation reaches catastrophic levels (13:19) as ceasefire talks barely limp along (16:23); Iran is reengaging with the International Atomic Energy Agency (20:49); the Democratic Republic of the Congo and M23 militant group sign a declaration of intent (23:05); in Ukraine, a new round of peace talks achieves little (25:24) while Zelensky responds to protests over corruption (28:27); Venezuela, the US, and El Salvador carry out a prisoner exchange amid accusations of torture (31:38); the Japan House of Councillors holds an election while PM Ishiba looks likely to resign (33:32); and Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia make trade deals (36:10).

E219 - The CIA’s Imperial History, Pt 2 w/ Hugh Wilford Jul 22, 2025

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Hugh Wilford, professor of history at California State University, Long Beach, is back on the program to conclude the discussion of his book The CIA: An Imperial History. In this episode they talk about figures like Edward Lansdale and James Angleton, “regime maintenance,” counterinsurgency, the agency’s use of publicity, the effect of the War on Terror on the CIA, and more.

Listen to Part 1 here!

Bonus - The US-China Film Relationship w/ Erich Schwartzel (Preview) Jul 20, 2025

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Danny welcomes back to the show Erich Schwartzel, reporter at the Wall Street Journal, for a conversation about the film industry connection between the US and China. They start in the mid-90s as China’s economy opens up, how distribution in China of US films opened more windows of profit earning, US studios’ self-censorship, the soft power aspect of the relationship, the role of American experts in the construction of the Chinese film industry, the souring of US-China film relations in the late 2010s, and more.

Be sure to check out Erich’s book Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy.

News - Israel Bombs Damascus, Militant Violence in Haiti, France Withdraws Troops from Senegal Jul 18, 2025

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Derek is in the shop for maintenance, so Danny presents the news with the Quincy Institute’s Alex Jordan. This week: Israel bombs the Syrian Defense Ministry in Damascus (0:39) as Netanyahu’s corruption trial carries on (7:05), plus US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemns settlers killing a US citizen (10:24), and the Hague Group coalition meets in Bogota to decide how to hold Israel accountable for its crimes (16:02); the saga of Trump’s flip-flopping on Ukraine military aid continues (20:29); Trump announces more tariffs while affected countries struggle to make a deal with the US (28:30); the US Navy is constructing facilities to repair and maintain Philippine military vessels (33:35); the UN releases a report detailing how militant violence in Haiti has killed 5,000 people in the last 9 months (37:48); and the French army has withdrawn its last troops from Senegal (42:48).

Be sure to watch and listen to Alex and Courtney Rawlings on the Quincy Institute’s Always at War podcast.

E218 - The History of America’s Entrepreneurial Work Ethic w/ Erik Baker Jul 15, 2025

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Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, rise ‘n grind, and find your calling as we welcome historian Erik Baker to the program to talk about his book Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America. The group explores the Protestant work ethic and Jeffersonian yeoman farmer, influential figures like Henry Ford and Frederick Winslow Taylor, the seeds of entrepreneurialism in Harvard Business School, how it came to be seen as an American value during the Cold War, “entrepreneurial modernity,” postwar liberalism’s failure to provide meaningful work for the professional-managerial class, self-help writers, and much more.

Be sure to check out Issue Fifteen of The Drift, where Erik is a senior editor.

Bonus - Politics in Korea and the United States w/ E. Tammy Kim (Preview) Jul 13, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome back to the show E. Tammy Kim, contributing writer at The New Yorker, to talk about current Korean politics as well as some domestic issues. They get into the transitional moment of America’s relationship with East Asia, the changeover from President Yoon to Lee in South Korea, the effect of Trump’s xenophobia on the American-Korean relationship, the gender dynamics of political culture in Korea, and how Trump’s tariffs have affected that nation. They then turn to the US and the mass layoffs of the federal workforce, the effect of the “Big Beautiful Bill” on Medicaid and Medicare, the Democrats’ unwillingness to seize the moment, and what it would actually take to galvanize people and enact structural change.

News - Houthis Resume Red Sea Attacks, New IDF Strikes in Lebanon, Deadly Kenya Protests Jul 11, 2025

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AP’s retirement account is entirely tied to copper, so we’re not sure how long we have to do this. In this week’s news: Yemen’s Houthi/Ansar Allah fighters have resumed attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, sinking two (1:47); in Israel-Palestine news, Benjamin Netanyahu (on a visit to the White House) rules out a Palestinian state (4:50), ceasefire talks resume (7:56), and Israel has revealed a plan to “relocate” Gaza’s population (12:34); the IDF resumes attacks on Lebanon despite a ceasefire (15:54); the ICC issues warrants for the leaders of the Taliban (18:28); Trump revisits a “burden sharing” debate with South Korea (19:59); Trump invites a group of leaders from African countries to the White House (22:54); widespread protests in Kenya leave many dead (27:03); Trump reverses course on withholding military aid to Ukraine (29:01); the UK and France discuss a “coordinated nuclear deterrent” (32:41); the US and Colombia recall envoys in an intensifying diplomatic row (35:10); Trump sets a new date for reciprocal tariffs (37:35), threatens additional tariffs on BRICS countries (39:49), and threatens a 50% tariff on Brazil for putting Jair Bolsonaro on trial (42:04); and the US traffics 8 people to South Sudan (44:55).

E217 - The Human Cost of Economic Sanctions w/ Mark Weisbrot Jul 08, 2025

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Economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Mark Weisbrot joins the show to talk about economic sanctions and how they affect people’s lives. They discuss the effect of sanctions on migration flows, how the PR about them targeting governments and not civilians is false, how the international financial system and dollar hegemony allow the US to sanction so freely, whether sanctions on other countries actually benefit ordinary Americans, whether tariffs can be considered a form of sanctions, and more.

Check out CEPR’s work for much more material on sanctions.

Special - Where Things Stand After the Iran-Israel War w/ Sina Azodi Jul 07, 2025

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Derek speaks with Sina Azodi, assistant professor of Middle East Politics at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University, to reflect on where things stand after the recent Iran-Israel war. They talk about the tactics used by both sides, the European, Russian, and Chinese responses, the IAEA, the future of Iran’s nuclear program, the possibility of the US and Iran resuming negotiations, and the lasting effects on the relationship between Iran and its regional neighbors.

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Bonus - Demolition Man, Batman Returns, and the Security State w/ Daniel Waters (Preview) Jul 06, 2025

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Danny and Derek speak with writer and director Daniel Waters about the films Demolition Man and Batman Returns, both screenplays of his. They discuss the state of screenwriting now vs. when Daniel first arrived in Hollywood, the two films’ criticism of the security state, Demolition Man’s commentary on the stultifying effect of “political correctness” of that era, the duality of Stallone and Snipes’ characters, the challenge for a writer centering an institution they’re critical of, the horror of a utopia, the film’s ambivalence toward violence, Batman Returns coming at the beginning of IP-driven Hollywood, Max Schrek as Mitt Romney, and the reassessment of Daniel’s work in the last couple of decades.

News - DRC-Rwanda Peace Deal, PKK Disarmament, US Airstrikes in Somalia Jul 04, 2025

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Our news roundups are sometimes big, but never beautiful. This week: the PKK to begin its disarmament in Turkey (1:17); Iran suspends its cooperation with the IAEA (4:30), but remains open to negotiations with the US (6:53); the debate continues on how far the war set back Iran’s nuclear program (9:18); in Gaza, a new ceasefire push (12:24) while journalists investigate the massacres at “humanitarian aid” sites (16:15); Russia recognizes the Talbian-led government in Afghanistan (20:20); the Constitutional Court of Thailand suspends PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra (21:57); Malaysia bans US plastic waste (23:55); Trump ramps up US airstrikes in Somalia (26:07); the DRC and Rwanda sign a peace deal (28:48); Russia makes advances in Ukraine (33:31) plus the US freezes military aid (35:46); the UN says the security situation in Haiti is worsening (37:51); and the US and China make another trade deal (39:29).

Special - The DRC-Rwanda Ceasefire w/ Jason Stearns (Preview) Jul 01, 2025

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Derek welcomes back to the show Jason Stearns, associate professor at Simon Fraser University and author of The War That Doesn't Say Its Name: The Unending Conflict in the Congo, to talk about the state of play between the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as well as the ceasefire between the DRC and Rwanda.

E216 - The Continued Assault on Gaza and the West Bank w/ Dalia Hatuqa Jul 01, 2025

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Derek welcomes back to the show Dalia Hatuqa, a journalist specializing in Israeli/Palestinian affairs and regional Middle East issues, to talk about the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. They recap what has been happening to Palestinians in Gaza while the world was distracted by Israel’s war with Iran, discuss the lost generations of Gazan children, the massacres at “aid distribution centers,” increased home demolitions and settler violence in the West Bank, the current relationships of the Palestinian Authority and Jordanian government with Israel, the regional dynamics after the recent war with Iran, and what Netanyahu’s next move might be.

Read Dalia’s piece from March in The Guardian, “For Palestinians, this was never a ceasefire.”

Bonus - Reading the Right w/ Richard Beck (Preview) Jun 29, 2025

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Don’t forget to purchase our “Welcome to the Crusades” series before the price increases next week. Subscribers get a 25% discount!

Richard Beck, senior writer at n+1 and author of Homeland: The War on Terror in American Life, joins the program to talk about the rise of interest in studying the far right since 2016. They discuss liberal critics’ focus on the fascistic style of the current right, how the recent “rise” of the right is more of a political dealignment occurring in both parties, whether Trump has an ideology and the role of ideas in the Trump administration, the pitfalls of trying to cohere such an incoherent figure, the effect of long election cycles on liberal commentators, and whether Trump is just a symptom of a political rupture that can’t be reduced to a single figure.

Read Richard’s piece in n+1, “Fret, Hedge, React: On reading the right.”

News - Iran Strikes and Ceasefire, Nato Ups Defense Budgets, Supreme Court Okays Government Trafficking Migrants Jun 27, 2025

Don’t forget to purchase our “Welcome to the Crusades” series before the price increases next week. Paid AP subscribers get a 20% discount, so subscribe today!

Danny and Derek broadcast from an undisclosed resort location. This week: an update on the conflict with Iran, including the ceasefire (2:34), Trump’s disagreement with US intelligence assessments (5:25), the status of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities and material (10:15), and the potential for new US-Iran talks (15:46); with the latest conflict with Iran on hold, there are now questions whether Netanyahu will finally come to the negotiating table over Gaza (18:22); the 2025 NATO summit was held and addressed topics like a 5% defense spending minimum, while members states ingratiated themselves with Donald Trump, and the latter held a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy (22:09); China is taking new steps on curbing fentanyl (32:37); and the Supreme Court gives the Trump administration the green light to send migrants to unaffiliated third countries (34:58).

Special - Reflections on Mamdani’s Victory plus the View from Tehran w/ Eli Clifton (Preview) Jun 25, 2025

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Investigative journalist Eli Clifton is back on the show, this time to share his thoughts on Zohran Mamdani's victory in New York's Democratic mayoral primary. Eli also just got back from Iran and analyzes where things stand amid a tenuous ceasefire.

E215 - Tracking Think Tanks w/ Ben Freeman and Nick Cleveland-Stout Jun 24, 2025

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Ben Freeman and Nick Cleveland-Stout from the Quincy Institute join the program to talk about their Think Tank Funding Tracker, a repository that tracks funding from foreign governments, the U.S. government, and Pentagon contractors to the top 50 think tanks in the United States over the past five years. The group discusses think tanks’ role in the “military-intellectual” complex, what specific foreign funders like the UAE and UK might be looking to influence, why certain governments like Ukraine and China gave little to no money, the lack of transparency among individuals working in sectors like journalism and government who also work with think tanks, the utilization (and under-utilization) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, how to restructure the order so that expertise isn’t limited to these kinds of institutions, and how to make think tanks more democratically accountable in the meantime.

Read the Quincy Institute's brief on their project, “Big Ideas and Big Money: Think Tank Funding in America.”

Special - Iran Strikes US Base Jun 23, 2025

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Danny and Derek break down the details of today's strike by Iran against the US Al-Udeid air base in Qatar.

Special - Trump Bombs Iran (Preview) Jun 22, 2025

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Danny and Derek discuss last night's attacks, what the strategy of the US was, what the strategy of Iran might be, what an invasion of Iran would look like, the US role in the Middle East, and the Axis of Resistance.

Bonus - Trump, Israel, and Escalating the War With Iran w/ Trita Parsi (Preview) Jun 22, 2025

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Note: This episode was recorded Friday, June 20 in the afternoon.

Danny and Derek welcome back to the program Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, to talk about when and how the US will become fully involved in Israel’s war with Iran. They discuss the major interest groups within the Trump 2.0 administration, why the Iranians would continue negotiating with the US at this point, how European leaders are navigating the crisis, the war as a part of global colonial domination by the North Atlantic/Western Europe, whether Iran can see a way out of this cycle with Israel, the bogus argument of the enrichment “red line,” how other Arab states in the Gulf are responding to the conflict, and the goal of regime collapse.

News - Israel-Iran War, Russia Strikes Kyiv, Trump Expands Travel Ban Jun 20, 2025

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No ChatGPT here—our em dashes are organic. This week: in the Iran-Israel war, an update on the casualties and targets (1:52), US involvement remains in question (7:45), Ayatollah Khamenei refuses to surrender (14:47), and US and Israeli intelligence agencies disagree over “evidence” of Iran pursuing a nuclear weapon (18:14); Trump quits the G7 summit early, possibly due to Israel-Iran, and later insults French president Emmanuel Macron (20:59); the IDF is still killing dozens per day in Gaza, mostly near aid sites (24:23); the US military is withdrawing from most of its bases in Syria (27:11); the Thai government might be on the verge of a collapse (29:56); the DRC and Rwanda approve a “draft” peace agreement (33:57); in Russia-Ukraine, Trump cancels a normalization meeting while shutting down a sanctions working group (36:39), and Russia carries out its deadliest strike of the year on Kyiv (37:55); Trump decides to expand his travel ban (40:14); and in a New Cold War update, a new trade détente with China does not include critical minerals for military use (42:43).

Listen to Derek’s special with Akbar Shahid Ahmed on US involvement in the Israel-Iran war.

Also be sure to download our miniseries with the crew from We’re Not So Different, Welcome to the Crusades. We have posted E1 and E2 on our feed as a free preview.

Special - Will the US Join the War With Iran? w/ Akbar Shahid Ahmed Jun 18, 2025

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Derek welcomes back to the program ⁠⁠Akbar Shahid Ahmed⁠⁠, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for HuffPost, to talk about the prospect of Trump bringing the US into a war with Iran.

Akbar has written a number of articles on Israel-Iran in the last several days, including ⁠⁠"The Pro-Israel U.S. General Quietly Influencing Trump On Iran"⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠"Israel’s War On Iran Bears The Echo Of Past American Mistakes."⁠⁠

Welcome to the Crusades, Episode 1: Rome, 1095 Jun 17, 2025

In lieu of a typical AP episode this week, we're releasing the first two episodes of our standalone miniseries on the First Crusade with the crew from We're Not So Different⁠⁠. Get the rest of the series here.

Our journey through the First Crusade starts where the Crusaders themselves did: in western Europe with Pope Urban II and the Council of Clermont. We discuss conditions in Latin Christendom in the late 11th century, what prompted the Pope’s call for Crusade, and how it was received by European nobles.

Welcome to the Crusades, Episode 2: Taranto, 1096 Jun 17, 2025

We've released the first two episodes of our standalone miniseries with the folks from ⁠We're Not So Different⁠⁠⁠. Get the rest of the episodes ⁠here⁠!

The expedition begins to take shape. We continue to explore the fallout from Pope Urban II’s call for Crusade at the Council of Clermont, as lords from across France prepare to set off. We look especially at the Normans under Bohemond of Taranto, who will play an outsized role in the campaign to come and whose conquest of Sicily offers some insight into how that campaign would be conducted.

Special - The Israel-Iran War, Ep. 2 (Preview) Jun 16, 2025

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Danny and Derek update us on what's been going on over the past few days between Israel and Iran.

Bonus - Third Parties plus Analyzing Trump w/ Matt Karp (Preview) Jun 15, 2025

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Danny speaks with Matt Karp, associate professor of history at Princeton, about party formation in the 1850s as well as his take on the Trump phenomenon. They explore the downfall of the Whigs and rise of the Republicans, the structure of the political parties at the beginning of the republic, the relationship of ideology and party, why we have a giant two-party system despite regional differences, mass democracy in the 19th century and today, Trump minimalists vs. maximalists, and more.

Check out Matt’s book This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy and his article on Trump for New Left Review, “Maxed Out.”

Unlocked: The LA Protests and the Imperial Boomerang w/ Spencer Ackerman Jun 14, 2025

Spencer Ackerman of ⁠Forever Wars⁠ is back on the podcast to talk about the LA protests and his piece on them for Zeteo, ⁠"The Imperial Boomerang Lands in Los Angeles."⁠

You can read the "director's cut" of Spencer's piece ⁠over at Forever Wars⁠.

Special - Israel Attacks Iran w/ Séamus Malekafzali (Preview) Jun 13, 2025

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Danny and Derek speak with ⁠Séamus Malekafzali⁠ about Israel’s strike on Iran, Iran’s response and attack on Israel, U.S. and geostrategy, and more.

News - Tensions Rise with Iran, Sudan-Libya Border Clashes, Trump Creating Office of Remigration Jun 13, 2025

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Danny and Derek are everyday people who still believe in you. This week: the AUKUS security partnership is under review at the Pentagon (1:47); the IAEA rebukes Iran, nuclear negotiations are going nowhere, and Trump is evacuating nonessential personnel from the Middle East (5:14); in Israel-Palestine, Israeli soldiers continue to gun down people at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites as Hamas kills several GHF workers (10:24), the IDF appears to be shielding at least one ISIS-linked gang in the Strip (13:21), the IDF intercepts the “Freedom Flotilla” (15:39), and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee declares the “two-state solution” dead (17:43); the UK and several states sanction far-right Israeli politicians Ben-Gvir and Smotrich (19:00); South Korea ceases propaganda broadcasts across the DMZ with North Korea (21:06); Sudan’s military loses border outposts after an alleged attack by Libyan forces (22:55); the Russian military advances into another Ukrainian province (25:15); the Polish government survives a no-confidence vote (26:40); member states of NATO strive to hit Trump’s 5% defense spending demand (27:28); the Trump administration is creating an “Office of Remigration” at the State Department (29:08); and in a New Cold War update, the US and China appear to have reached a trade deal (31:30).

Special - The LA Protests and the Imperial Boomerang w/ Spencer Ackerman (Preview) Jun 11, 2025

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Spencer Ackerman of ⁠Forever Wars⁠ is back on the podcast to talk about the LA protests and his piece on them for Zeteo, ⁠"The Imperial Boomerang Lands in Los Angeles."⁠

You can read the "director's cut" of Spencer's piece ⁠over at Forever Wars⁠.

E214 - The Low Culture of 1999 Predicting Modern America w/ Ross Benes Jun 10, 2025

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In this week’s episode, Danny speaks with journalist Ross Benes about his book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. They discuss the connection between the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and “trash culture”, what makes the instantiation of reality TV in 1999 unique and how early reality shows foreshadowed modern politics, how Beanie Babies were akin to “stock investments” for working class and lower middle class people, Pokémon as a pure distillation of unrestrained capitalism, and the other features of that moment that predicted American life as we now know it.

If you enjoyed this episode, listen to our discussion with Colette Shade, “Y2K: The Future That Never Was”.

Bonus - Claudia Sheinbaum’s Presidency So Far w/ Alex Aviña (Preview) Jun 08, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome back to the program AP Mexico desk Alexander Aviña, associate professor of Latin American history in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State University, this time to reflect on Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum several months into her term. They talk about how she has both continued and diverged from the work begun by her Morena predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the current organization of the Mexican political economy and how that shapes the challenges she faces, her ambitious “Plan México” to reduce poverty and inequality, her goals of state-led industrial policy focusing on renewables and green tech, how she is contending with the Mexican elite, her relationship with other Latin American countries, and the dynamic between her and (an apparently enthralled) Donald Trump.

News - Ukraine Drone Attack, Gaza Aid Center Massacres, IAEA Suggests “Secret Nuclear Activities” in Iran Jun 06, 2025

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We’re sorry to say that we’re professionals, and Danny and Derek’s falling-out will be behind closed doors. In this week’s news: in Russia-Ukraine, Ukraine launches a massive drone strike and bombs several bridges (0:41), peace talks in Istanbul make little progress (5:43), and Donald Trump speaks to Vladimir Putin (7:51); in Israel-Palestine, more massacres are carried out at aid centers as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation suspends operations (13:04), the US vetoes another UN ceasefire resolution (16:49), and ceasefire talks remain frozen (18:31); a new IAEA report suggests Iran pursued undisclosed nuclear experimentation (21:11), and Khamenei trashes the United States’ proposed response (24:30); Trump lashes out at China and has a phone call with Xi (27:37); left-leaning Lee Jae-myung wins South Korea’s presidential election (30:01); meanwhile, right-wing historian Karol Nawrocki is Poland’s new president (31:44); the Dutch government collapses (33:36); the UN discovers bodies at militia sites in Tripoli, Libya (36:16); the UK recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara (38:02); and Donald Trump announces a new travel ban (40:46).

E213 - The History of Americans’ Global War on Prostitution w/ Eva Payne Jun 03, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome to the program author Eva Payne to talk about her book Empire of Purity: The History of Americans' Global War on Prostitution. They discuss American sexual exceptionalism, the legal definition of “prostitution” vs modern conceptions of sex work, the late 19th century new abolition movement and racial hierarchies therein, how Americans interfaced with state-regulated prostitution systems in places like India and the Philippines, the sexual imagery used in justifying US aims in the Spanish-American War, the notion of “white slavery” in sex work, prostitution control in World War I and how it affected things domestically after that conflict, eugenic thinking around prostitution reform, and much more.

Bonus - The State of History in America w/ Mike Duncan (Preview) Jun 01, 2025

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Danny and Derek are pleased to welcome to the podcast Mike Duncan, history podcaster and author, to talk about where history stands in the American academy, popular culture, and public consciousness. They discuss the trials and tribulations of producing a history podcast, the relationship between academic history and history media, the neoliberalization of academia, AI and the crisis of humanism, the unlikely prospect of a leftist revolution in 2025 America, and more.

Be sure to check out Mike’s Revolutionsand The History of Rome podcasts.

News - Gaza Aid Disaster, Russia Offers New Peace Talks, Trump Freezes Student Visas May 30, 2025

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In this week’s news roundup: US-Iran negotiations might be making progress (1:02); in Israel-Palestine, a new aid program implemented gets people killed (6:30), the US proposes framework for a new peace deal* (11:01), and Israel creates 22 new West Bank settlements (15:54); cases of cholera are spiking in Sudan (17:35); Libya’s eastern-based government may cut off its oil supply (19:23); Salva Kiir appoints a potential successor in South Sudan (21:51); jihadist activity appears to be on the rise in Mozambique (23:46); Mauritius and the UK sign a Chagos Islands deal (25:52); Russia offers to begin new peace talks (29:48) as Trump lashes out at Putin (35:06); the far right emerges as the main opposition in Portugal (38:29); President Petro in Colombia calls for a general strike (40:23); in the US, the Trump administration freezes student visas and revokes those for Chinese students (42:11), a court rules that the “Liberation Day” tariffs are unconstitutional*, and Elon Musk’s term as “co-president” has come to an end (48:26).

*Hamas has reportedly rejected this deal as it stands since the time of recording.

**An appeals court has since agreed to a temporary pause in the decision.

Unlocked - What Could Go Right? w/ Zachary Karabell May 27, 2025

Enjoy the full version of this special we published last week!

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Danny and Derek invite ⁠Zachary Karabell⁠, historian and founder of ⁠the Progress Network⁠, as well as host of the podcast ⁠What Could Go Right?⁠, to talk about the big things: liberalism, American political capitalism, Trump, "abundance," and more.

E212 - South Sudan’s Failed Peace Deal w/ Joshua Craze May 27, 2025

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Writer and researcher Joshua Craze returns to the program to talk about the situation in South Sudan. They cover the collapsed 2018 “peace deal,” the elite forces vying for power, the Nuer White Army, figures like Salva Kiir Mayardit and Riek Machar, how South Sudan’s troubles have been impacted by the war in Sudan, external actors like the United Arab Emirates and Uganda, and the humanitarian crisis in the fragmented country.

Bonus - Democratic Backsliding w/ Francis Fukuyama (Preview) May 25, 2025

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Danny and Derek welcome to the program political scientist Francis Fukuyama to talk about his recent article for the Journal of Democracy, “Delivering for Democracy: Why Results Matter.” The group explores why Dr. Fukuyama felt the need to address democratic backsliding, what about Trump’s actions have precedents in American history vs what’s unique to this administration, how capitalism interacts with Dr. Fukuyama’s understanding of democracy, whether regulated capitalism is possible without an ideological challenger, the abundance movement, and what reforms can be made to help democracies deliver better.

News - Ukraine Talks Collapse, India Threatens Pakistan’s Water Supply, IDF Operation Gideon’s Chariots May 23, 2025

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This week in the news roundup: the Ukraine peace talks collapse (3:30) as Trump stuns European allies with his sudden pivot back to positions beneficial to Russia (7:21); in EU elections, a Romanian centrist wins the presidency (11:06), a Polish centrist wins the first round of the presidential election (13:27), and the Portuguese center-right wins that country’s parliamentary election (14:46); India continues to threaten Pakistani water levels (17:05); South African president Ramaphosa’s visit to the White House goes awry (20:04); in Israel-Palestine, the IDF begins Operation Gideon’s Chariots (23:58), the Israelis allow “minimal” aid into Gaza without distribution (27:13), and a European backlash follows the IDF’s operation and a West Bank shooting incident involving diplomats (31:18); Israel again appears to be preparing to strike Iran (35:17); Evo Morales is excluded from the presidential ballot in Bolivia (38:16); a New Cold War update featuring China pledging additional money to the WHO after a pandemic agreement (40:51); and Trump announces the Golden Dome project (43:44).

E211 - Henri Bergson's Restless World w/ Emily Herring May 20, 2025

Danny and Derek welcome Emily Herring, a writer based in Paris, to the program. They discuss her new book, Herald of a Restless World: How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People. The conversation delves into Henri Bergson's philosophy and its enduring relevance, particularly concerning contemporary anxieties surrounding the mechanization of the world, the dehumanizing potential of algorithms and artificial intelligence, the dangers of quantification and rigid categorization, and the perceived erosion of human creativity and the more enjoyable aspects of human experience.

Special - What Could Go Right? w/ Zachary Karabell (Preview) May 19, 2025

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Danny and Derek invite ⁠Zachary Karabell⁠, historian and founder of ⁠the Progress Network⁠, as well as host of the podcast ⁠What Could Go Right?⁠, to talk about the big things: liberalism, American political capitalism, Trump, "abundance," and more.

Bonus - Trump, China, and U.S.-China Relations w/ Jake Werner (Preview) May 18, 2025

Derek welcomes back Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute, to talk about the latest New Cold War developments. They discuss the Chinese government’s view of Donald Trump, US-China trade negotiations, Beijing’s approach to great power politics, Taiwan’s position in US-China relations under Trump, China’s role in domestic US politics, and what a smarter US trade policy might look like.

News - Trump's Gulf Tour & Deals, Gaza Updates, US Habeas Corpus May 16, 2025

Alex Jordan rejoins the show to see if he can impersonate Danny as well as he impersonated Derek a couple of weeks ago. He and Derek discuss the India-Pakistan ceasefire (01:23); Donald Trump’s big Persian Gulf tour (04:24)(filled with Deals, Bribes, and announcements about Syrian sanctions (7:49) and Iranian nuclear talks (10:40)); the latest developments in Gaza (15:34); the US-China tariff pause (26:52); the PKK’s major disarmament announcement (29:19); a new round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks (32:19); major clashes between militias in Libya (35:49); the arrival of the first group of Afrikaner refugees to the US (39:33); Luis Arce’s decision to quit the Bolivian presidential race (41:17); the sacking of US National Intelligence Council staff for daring to contradict President Trump (43:09); and whether or not the US is still going to have habeas corpus for much longer (46:04).

You can watch Alex Jordan on the Quincy Institute’s inaugural episode of the YouTube program “Always at War," which he co-hosted with Courtney Rawlings.

AP x Nonzero - Trump Flips on Bibi, Putin, and Xi w/Robert Wright May 14, 2025

The bi-monthly collaboration between AP and Nonzero Newsletter continues! Our dear paid subscribers also get access to the additional "Overtime" conversation and a discounted membership to Nonzero, so ⁠subscribe now for that and much more content⁠!

Part One Video

0:00 The week's major international stories
2:58 Trump's approach to everything
8:40 The Houthi deal
11:23 Trump's Middle East trip and Gaza
15:26 India-Pakistan conflict
19:58 Media coverage of Trump 2.0
23:46 Trump’s biggest Jan 6 transgression
30:15 Is the Republic at stake?
31:20 Heading into overtime

E210 - White American Liberals, Pt 2 w/ Kevin Schultz May 13, 2025

Kevin Schultz, Chair of the Department of History at the University of Illinois-Chicago, returns to the program to continue the discussion of his new book⁠ ⁠Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (Including White Liberals): A History⁠. In this second part of the discussion, Danny, Derek, and Kevin get into the origins and power of the "radical chic" and "limousine liberal" criticisms, the concept of "positive polarization" as championed by figures like Spiro Agnew, the perceived abandonment of the white working class by the Democratic Party, the role of Nixon in this political shift, the influence of Phyllis Schlafly and George Wallace, George McGovern and the "acid, amnesty, and abortion" label, Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s attempt to redefine liberalism, the transition of some Cold War liberals to neoconservatism, the Democratic Party's embrace of neoliberalism and the rise of "Atari Democrats," the cultural phenomenon of "owning the libs," the association of the professional managerial class with contemporary liberalism, and potential new political vocabularies beyond the "liberal" label, and more.

Bonus - What’s Going on with Trump and Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement w/ Vincent Bevins (Preview) May 11, 2025

Danny and Derek invite Vincent Bevins, author of The Jakarta Methodand If We Burn, back to the podcast to talk about the early days of the Trump Administration; how the rest of the world views Trump; what Vincent thinks is going on; and his recent article in The Nationon Brazil's Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers' Movement, or MST).

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