Stay ConnectedExpertly-curated progressive politics, news, and culture produced by leftist humans, not algorithms or AI. This is an award-winning podcast that dives deeply into a wide range of national and international issues facing society and governments. We draw from hundreds of sources of progressive news and commentary. Est. 2006.
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Air Date: 12-31-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon discuss: - how Italy is making it harder for same-sex partners to have children by making it harder for everyone to have children - how well-meaning advocates in the US are putting same-sex families at risk - why Christian homophobia may just be based on a mistranslation of the Bible
REFERENCES: 'The state says our kids don't exist' - how LGBT life is changing in Italy
Why Anonymous Sperm Donation Is Over, and Why That Matters
Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?
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Original Air Date 12/17/2022
Today, we take a look at the fringe philosophy of accelerationism that is having a bigger impact on society than you will likely have realized as it's been behind some of the worst terror attacks in recent years and is likely behind attacks on infrastructure targeting society as a whole.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: The Dystopian Philosophy You've Never Heard Of - Philion - Air Date 6-26-22
Explaining the origins of Accelerationism
Matt Kriner is an intelligence analyst with almost a decade of experience researching and analyzing US domestic violent extremists, transnational far-right extremism, and radicalization.
Ch. 3: "It only takes a few" - White Hot Hate - Air Date 11-28-21
Some members of The Base are planning deadly attacks that they hope will spark a race war. Will they be stopped, before it's too late?
Ch. 4: Proud Boys, January 6, and When a U-Haul Is a Clown Car - Angry Planet - Air Date 6-17-22
So, it's time to look again at what this group — and related groups — did on January 6, and just how dangerous they really are. We'll also talk about accelerationism, what it is and what accelerationists want.
Rachel Maddow looks at a mysterious gun attack on electricity infrastructure in North Carolina and how it lines up with a past attack in California in 2013 and a DOJ case this year against white supremacists in Ohio.
Accelerationism is a doctrine of revolutionary violence that holds that society is irreparably broken and must be destroyed. In recent years it has caught on among a variety of disparate movements throughout the world.
Ch. 7: The seductive dangers of speed - RSA Podcasts - Air Date 7-5-17
The accelerating pace of political and economic change can be disorienting – but, for some, change isn't happening fast enough. Matthew Taylor is joined by the journalist Andy Beckett and philosophers Benjamin Noys and Nina Power
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Ch. 8: Why We're All Rooting for the Apocalypse - Wisecrack - Air Date 4-8-22
The apocalypse has never been more omnipresent in the cultural zeitgeist. But why are we all so convinced that the world is going to end, and do we have a moral obligation to prevent this gnarly fate?
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 9: Final comments giving some helpful advice to White supremacists looking to start a race war
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A young white man dressed in a black hoodie with the hood over his hat is looking away from the camera while wearing a black mask with the image of the lower half of a skull on it. A lit torch is next to him in the foreground. A lit structure and a crowd of people are visible in the background.
Credit: "Face of the streets" by spoilt.exile, Flickr | License CC by 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
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Original Air Date 12/24/2022
We compare the far-right religious extremists who are fighting to gain power in the US with the protests against the theocratic regime in Iran supporting women's rights in the country.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: How a new Christian right is changing US politics - BBC News - Air Date 11-28-22
A new battle of faith is being driven by some pastors and politicians in the United States. Their central message is that the country's conservative Christian way of life is under threat, and American society is moving in the wrong direction.
"Iranians voted multiple times for over two decades for some process of reform … but the state has not given in to those demands," she says. "What we're seeing now is the result." Tahmasebi is the director of FEMENA
Ch. 3: The Taliban's Far-Right Fan Base - VICE - Air Date 10-18-21
In chat rooms and message boards on the darker corners of the web - far-right groups have been praising the Taliban's takeover, lauding their religious fundamentalism, execution of opponents, and hatred of so-called liberalism.
"Today's movement is not calling for reform. Today's movement is calling for a new vision of politics … with women at the helm of it," says Narges Bajoghli, professor of anthropology and Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University
Far Right, Anti-Democratic Extremist groups are not slowing down. Some even have connections with 'mainstream' Republican politicians. Peter Montgomery joins Thom Hartmann to discuss the threat the far right still poses.
Sam and Emma host Nahid Siamdoust, Assistant Professor of Middle East and Media Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss the recent political protests in Iran.
Rachel Maddow shares some of the fringe perspectives of the racist, Christian fascist who Donald Trump hosted for dinner at Mar-a-Lago
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Joseph Kennedy, a football coach, pressured his students to pray with him. He was asked not pressure students into religion during Public School activities. but he refused. Rachel Laser joined Thom to discuss the case and the pressure on students.
"Because the conservative majority has tossed away all pretense of being anything other than, essentially, a high council of Fox News viewers, they decided her case should be heard before the Supreme Court," says Chris Hayes
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on why Christian Nationalists would be better off not installing a dictatorship
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
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Air Date 12/23/2023
The housing crisis is at a worse point than at any time in recent history. Solutions are available and require political will to bring into reality but because the problem is now so widespread, we may actually be able to take action that would have been untenable before.
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Related Episodes:
#1496 Home Is Where The Hardship Is
#1565 Co-Housing Builds Community and Fights Loneliness
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Housing is a Moral Issue w Shaun Donovan - Future Hindsight - Air Date 12-7-23
Shaun Donovan is the CEO and President of Enterprise Community Partners. We discuss how the deeply entrenched housing crisis has become worse in recent years and the multiple strategies to make home and community places of pride, power, and belonging.
On this week's show, Fanta — a reporter for WNYC's Radio Rookies — speaks with residents, organizers and officials as she tries to find out what this program means for families like hers.
Ch. 3: Biden In Trouble With Voters Over Inequality And Housing - The Majority Report - Air Date 11-28-23
President Joe Biden's approval ratings surrounding the economy are not good! What, if anything, can Biden and the Democrat do to improve on those poll numbers (maybe…run on something? Anything?)
Ch. 4: Housing is a Moral Issue w Shaun Donovan Part 2 - Future Hindsight - Air Date 12-7-23
Ch. 6: Why The US Is Failing At Housing And How To Fix It - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-9-23
Rachel Cohen describes how the US housing crisis came to be and how it can be solved.
Ch. 7: Housing is a Moral Issue w Shaun Donovan Part 3 - Future Hindsight - Air Date 12-7-23
Is Paris more gentrified than New York? Gentrification is the process where beloved cities & towns price out residents with rents 'too damn high' to pay & failing infrastructure.
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Ch. 10: How to build beautiful social housing in a crisis - Channel 4 News - 9-7-23
The architect Peter Barber has been winning awards for turning tiny patches of land into innovative estates and houses, designed not just to be beautiful – but to foster a sense of community too.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 11: Final comments on why North America Can't Build Nice Apartments
Bonus: Why North America Can't Build Nice Apartments (because of one rule)
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE: Description: Photograph of newly built, colorful single-family row houses.
Credit: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development archive, License: Public Domain
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Air Date 12/20/2023
AI needs to be regulated by governments even though politicians don't understand computers just as the government regulates the manufacture and operation of aircraft even though your average politician doesn't know their ass from an aileron. That's why expert advisory panels are for.
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Related Episodes:
#1547 Shaping the Future of the Internet
#1578 A.I. is a big tech airplane with a 10% chance of crashing, should society fly it?
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: How are governments approaching AI regulation - In Focus by The Hindu - Air Date 11-16-23
Dr Matti Pohjonen speaks to us about the concerns revolving around AI governance, and if there are any fundamental principles that an AI regulatory regime needs to address.
Ch. 2: A First Step Toward AI Regulation with Tom Wheeler - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 11-2-23
President Biden released a sweeping executive order that addresses many risks of artificial intelligence. Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, shares his insights on the order and what's next for AI regulation.
We host a roundtable discussion with three experts in artificial intelligence on growing concerns over the technology's potential dangers: Yoshua Bengio, Max Tegmark, and Tawana Petty.
European Union member states and lawmakers reached a preliminary agreement on what they touted as the world's first comprehensive AI legislation on Friday.
Ch. 5: EU vs. AI - Today, Explained - Air Date 12-18-23
The EU has advanced first-of-its-kind AI regulation. The Verge's Jess Weatherbed tells us whether it will make a difference, and Columbia University's Anu Bradford explains the Brussels effect.
Ch. 7: How to Keep AI Under Control | Max Tegmark - TEDTalks - Air Date 11-2-23
Scientist Max Tegmark describes an optimistic vision for how we can keep AI under control and ensure it's working for us, not the other way around.
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Giant tech firms are meeting secretly to deregulate Artificial Intelligence technologies in the most undemocratic ways possible. Can profit really take over and corrupt progress?
Ch. 9: How are governments approaching AI regulation Part 2 - In Focus by The Hindu - Air Date 11-16-23
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments on the need to understand the benefits and downsides of new technology
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
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Air Date: 12-15-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon discuss: - why humans need rituals for mental health and community - what happens when corporations try to adopt rituals - what happens when squishy-blob humans are allowed to drive cars that somewhat drive themselves a little bit
REFERENCES: Rituals are important to human life — even when they seem meaningless
Can Rituals Fix Our Soulless Corporate Culture? A Ritual Designer Says Yes
THE INSIDE STORY OF MICROSOFT'S PARTNERSHIP WITH OPENAI
The Way We Talk About Self-Driving Cars Is Going To Get People Killed
Self-Driving Cars Won't Save Us Anytime Soon
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Air Date 12/12/2023
Henry Kissinger, it turns out, was actually a pretty good representative of the United States, the foreign policy actions we took, and the reasonings we gave for them over the past century. He embodied the idea that the US is always on the side of right, the world and its inhabitants are merely a game board and pieces for us to manipulate for our own ends, and that lives, particularly foreign lives, lost in pursuit of our interests are not of much concern.
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SHOW NOTES
Henry Kissinger, America's most consequential and controversial Secretary of State, died Wednesday at the age of 100. He reached the peak of his power in the 1970s and remained highly influential until the very end. reports.
Ch. 2: Henry Kissinger's Huge but Deeply Problematic Legacy - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 11-30-23
Henry Kissinger has died at 100 years old. Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and the author of many books, including The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War examines the diplomat's impact on U.S. foreign policy
Ch. 3: Kissinger: An Architect of Genocide - The Majority Report - Air Date 12-5-23
Tim Shorrock then gives his initial reflections on Kissinger's passing and the myriad lies he told for the ends of US primacy. Shorrock and Emma trace Kissinger's bloody footprints from Vietnam and East Timor to Argentina
Ch. 4: Henry Kissinger and the Moral Bankruptcy of U.S. Elites - Democracy Now! - Air Date 11-30-23
Henry Kissinger is dead at the age of 100. The former U.S. statesman served as national security adviser and secretary of state at the height of the Cold War and wielded influence over U.S. foreign policy for decades afterward.
Former U.S. secretary of state and national security adviser Henry Kissinger has died at the age of 100. He leaves behind a legacy of American statecraft that brought war and mass atrocities to Southeast Asia, South Asia and South America
Ch. 6: The world Henry Kissinger built - The Take (Al Jazeera English) - Air Date 12-1-23
Henry Kissinger was a giant of our world order for half a century. The former US secretary of state died at the age of 100 on Wednesday. He left a mark on every region – often not for the better of those left in the wake of his controversial policies.
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Ch. 7: Henry Kissinger's Reactionary Idealism - Against the Grain - Air Date 10-11-17
Historian Greg Grandin reflects on the ideology and practice of Henry Kissinger.
Ch. 8: Amb. Martin Indyk Pens Kissinger Book - The Mehdi Hasan Show - Air Date 11-12-21
Former envoy to Israel, Martin Indyk, is out with a new book that details Henry Kissinger's legacy in the Middle East.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 9: Final comments on our year-end membership drive
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE
Description: A photo of the profile of an elderly Henry Kissinger with a solemn expression. His hair is white and he wears glasses and a dark suit.
Credit: "Dr. Henry Kissinger listens..." by U.S. Secretary of State, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Horizontal crop
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Original Air Dates 12-3-23 and 12-10-23
We discuss in episode #281:
- the impacts of a stratified wealth disparity - the anti-social habit we're adopting that will make us more anti-social - the desperation many feel to just put life on hold for a few days
REFERENCES: Infants Are Born With Syphilis in Growing Numbers, a Sign of a Wider Epidemic
Behind the Gates of a Private World for Only the Wealthiest New Yorkers
Hungry (but Not for Human Contact), Americans Head for the Drive-Through
Let's unpack the hospital fantasy
We discuss in episode #282:
- the relationship between religion and AI - the probably results of uploading your mind to a computer - an idea for helping to disconnect from your technology a bit
REFERENCES: Silicon Valley's vision for AI? It's religion, repackaged.
Uploading your consciousness will never work, a neuroscientist explains
Uploading Our Consciousness To a Computer. But Should We?
In a future of mind uploading, will you still be you, and who will own your mind?
This Ancient Ritual Is Key to How I Run a Company of 500 People. Harvard Research Shows Why.
Everything You Need to Enjoy One Tech-Free Day a Week
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Air Date 12/8/2023
Neoliberalism has created a lot of economic suffering and insecurity in addition to weakened social ties over the past few decades. And now, in what may be the most devastating result of the ideology yet, neoliberalism may be leading much of the world toward fascism bolstered by legitimate grievances about economic precarity which are coopted by the false promises of right-wing populism.
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Related Episodes:
#1491 Mismanaging Capitalism Can Lead to Fascism (Inflation and the Working Class)
#1519 International Fascist Movement on the Move
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Far-right extremism on the rise around the globe - The ReidOut with Joy Reid - Air Day 11-28-23
A troubling sign of the rise of far-right extremists being elected around the world, as anti-Islamic populist Geert Wilders is newly elected in the Netherlands.
Populism is rather a specific form of discontent. Discontent is the umbrella term. It's this vague sense that the way things are being done is not working. That democracy is not effective.
Far-right libertarian Javier Milei has been elected president of Argentina. Franco Metaza, the director of international relations for the Argentine Senate, joins to discuss.
Ch. 5: Media Coverage of the Trump Movement is Missing Vital Context - On the Media - Air Date 11-29-23
Jeff Sharlet, author of The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, argues that Trump's narratives of martyrdom, a persecuted in-group, a mysterious out-group, and a rhetoric of violence are all hallmarks of fascism.
Ultra-conservative former federal Judge Michael Luttig warns: 'American democracy [is] on a knife's edge...in greater peril today than it's ever been in American history.
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FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on preparing for the 2024 election
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A photo triptych of Donald Trump, Geert Wilders president-elect of The Netherlands, and Javier Milei president-elect of Argentina. Trump is smiling and looking toward Wilders and Milei.
Credits: "Trump at CPAC" by Kingofthedead, Wikimedia Commons; License: CC BY SA 2.0; Changes: Cropped | "Geert Wilders during a political campaign" by Peter van der Sluijs, Wikimedia Commons; License: CC BY SA 2.0; Changes: Cropped | "Javier Milei in VIVA22" by Vox España, Wikimedia Commons; License: Public Domain; Changes: Cropped
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Air Date 12/5/2023
It's important to focus on positive visions and not only get stuck in doom cycles of complaining about what's going wrong. So, we're looking at a variety of positive visions including rethinking human nature, reimagining our relationship with consumerism, considering how design can work with nature instead of against it, and understanding why cooperation is better than individualistic competition from an evolutionary point of view.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: What We Get Wrong About Human Nature - Andrewism - Air Date 1-11-23
What does it mean to be human? Join me as I explore the many interpretations of human nature across various philosophies and delve into the true breadth of human possibilities.
North Americans are sick, stressed, and alienated, a state of affairs accentuated in recent years by Covid. Gabor Maté argues that capitalism engenders illness, while the medical system blindly ignores the lives of its patients.
Ch. 3: Imagining a Solarpunk Education - Human Restoration Project - Air Date 5-11-23
Do we have the willingness to challenge the predominant social, economic, & political structures & systems that need to be challenged? To change the very nature of humanity's relationship to the planet? What role does education play in all of this?
Time and again, guests on this season of Rethinking Humanitarianism have called for systemic changes to the humanitarian system and global governance – from alternatives to the UN to revolutionized global climate financing.
Ch. 5: Elon Musk Has Become the Very Thing He Hates Most - The New Abnormal - Air Date 11-20-23
A conversation with award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor about her transformational Africanfuturism and the importance of inclusive visions of science fiction.
In this Our Changing Climate climate change video essay, I look at ways in which we can build a Solarpunk future right now. Solarpunk envisions a world in which nature and humanity are seamlessly intertwined
Ch. 7: The Race to Cooperation - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 2-2-23
David Sloan Wilson's work shows that humans can and have chosen values like cooperation, altruism and group success – versus individual competition and selfishness
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Ch. 8: The Race to Cooperation - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 2-2-23
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 9: Geoengineering concerns - Bud from Idaho
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments clarifying some details about using Solar Radiation Management as a geoengineering strategy
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
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