Left Anchor

Latest Episodes:

Abundance Incoherence - 346 Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

Today we have Matt Bruenig of the People's Policy Project, NLRB Edge, and The Bruenigs podcast on to talk about Ezra Klein's and Derek Thompson's book Abundance. We discuss the strengths and accuracies of the book, but also where it turns squirrelly, why it's gotten so much attention, and the suspicious cast of characters behind it.

Check out Matt's review of the book here.

How the Union Movement Can Rebuild - 345 EXCERPT Mar 22, 2025

Show notes

Today we are talking with Professor Eric Blanc about his book We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing Is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big. It's all about how innovative organizers have managed to unionize some highly dispersed workplaces like Starbucks, but also how institutional labor unions have failed to take advantage of that knowledge. We also discuss what labor should do given the Trump administration's unprecedented threat to labor power as such.

Check out Eric's Substack here.

As Eric mentions, if you want to organize your workplace visit here, if you want to get another job so you might organize that workplace visit here, and if you want to support federal workers visit here.

To listen to the second half of the episode subscribe here!

Trump's Assault on Universities - 344 Mar 17, 2025

Show notes

Today we are bringing back David Austin Walsh to talk about the Trump/Musk attack on American higher education--not just DEI programs, but advanced science and research of any kind. Why are they doing this and what damage will it cause?

Check out David's book Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right here, our previous interview with him here, and Chuck Schumer's ridiculous interview with The New York Times here.

The Power of Propaganda with Hannah Arendt - 220 UNLOCKED Mar 08, 2025

Show notes

Ryan is on vacation this week, so here's an episode from the archives.

Today we're discussing the article "Truth and Politics" by Hannah Arendt. We talk about her idea that truth has both a weakness and a power to it, what the Herman Cain Award subreddit tells us about the power of propaganda, Joe Rogan getting owned on his own show, why Bernie Sanders is better at science communication than the CDC, and more. Enjoy!

The Failure of Constitutional Theory - 343 Feb 28, 2025

Show notes

Today we are talking to Harvard Law Professor Mark Tushnet about his book Who Am I to Judge: Judicial Craft versus Constitution Theory. It’s common today for Supreme Court justices to outline a theory of constitutional interpretation, but it turns out that not only is this dishonest, but also something that only developed in the late 20th century. Enjoy!

The Ian Toll book series Ryan mentions can be found here.

The Biggest Asshole in History PREVIEW Feb 20, 2025

Show notes

Today we are discussing the book Assholes: A Theory, by Aaron James. It turns out there are important distinctions between the asshole, the douchebag, the jerk, and the psychopath, and they are highly relevant to the men (they are usually men) running the American government.

Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

The Tech Oligarch Consent Machine - 341 Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

This time we've got Eoin Higgins on to talk about his book Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left. He uses Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi as case studies in how shifting monetary incentives created by tech oligarchs like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen combined with certain personal pathologies turned formerly respected progressive journalists into right-wing blowhards.

Coincidentally, Ryan also made videos on both Greenwald and Taibbi, which make for a nice pairing.

The Elon Musk Coup - 340 PREVIEW Feb 03, 2025

Show notes

This time we are taking a step back to consider just what is going on with shadow president Musk and his gang of thugs seizing control of core government functions. It's important, we feel, to foreground the grave political implications of what is happening.

Subscribe now to hear the rest of the episode!

Trump's First Days - 339 Jan 25, 2025

Show notes

Today we're bringing back Professor Harvey Kaye to talk about Trump's inaugural address and some of his first executive orders.

Check out the Prospect's coverage of Trump's actions: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4.