The Nation Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

The Green Transition Needs so Much Mining w/ Thea Riofrancos | Tech Won't Save Us Feb 12, 2026

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Paris Marx is joined by Thea Riofrancos to discuss the global struggle to move away from fossil fuels and the future of the green transition, including the limitations of existing supply chains, geopolitical tensions, and the tech industry's role in the growth of extractive industries.

Thea Riofrancos is the author of Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism. She is also Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College and Strategic Co-Director of the Climate and Community Institute.

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The Battle for Minneapolis, and the Fight for Texas / Start Making Sense Feb 11, 2026

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The size and scale of the resistance to ICE in Minneapolis is too vast to fully comprehend. John Nichols has our report – he’s The Nation’s executive editor, and he’s just spent several days talking to the city’s leaders and activists.

Also: Democrats could win a Senate seat in Texas this November. Texas is not so much a red state as it is a low-turnout state. Steve Phillips analyzes Jasmine Crockett’s campaign for the Democratic nomination, which relies on organizing non-voters and reluctant voters.

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The Decline of Newsrooms w/ Borzou Daragahi Feb 10, 2026

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Journalist Borzou Daragahi joins Danny and Derek to talk about the end of international journalism as we know it. They talk about how podcasting and alternative media both depend on and undermine legacy reporting, the economic pressures on foreign desks, the shift to commentary and “quick takes”, the limits of newsletters and Substack as newsroom replacements; the role of tech in accelerating these changes, and more.

Read Borzou’s piece “Your Podcast Leeches Off My News Outlet.”

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Trump is Using Terrorist Charges to Wage Political War w/ Josh Kovensky | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Feb 08, 2026

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Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Kovensky has written an essay on the Trump

administration’s use of anti-terrorism law to target political groups it doesn’t like.

In that piece, Kovensky notes,

"Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine

prosecutions into terrorism cases when they involve people President Trump has cast as his

political enemies.

It represents a dramatic departure from how the Justice Department has historically used the

federal material support for terrorism statute. For decades, counterterrorism prosecutors have

largely reserved the statute — 2339A — for the kinds of audacious plots that wreak real, lasting

damage or whose ambition forms the stuff of movie screenplays."

I spoke to Kovensky about his essay and the history and politics of this dangerous legal

innovation.

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Iran Strike Delayed, Gaza Aid Suppressed, Nigeria Militant Attack | American Prestige Feb 06, 2026

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Danny and Derek are still in talks with The Muppets' people about an appearance, so we’ll keep things buttoned up for now. This week: The U.S. and Iran hold talks in Oman, averting an U.S. strike for the moment (0:31); in Gaza, Israeli strikes kill dozens while Rafah reopens under tight restrictions amid concerns over “slow motion” displacement (5:58); the Trump administration’s Gaza “reconstruction” effort raises more red flags (8:48); Reuters reports that the Biden administration suppressed a USAID memo on Gaza’s humanitarian conditions with potential legal implications (12:07); Syria’s government and the SDF announce a new agreement to integrate SDF forces and administrators into the Syrian state (14:39); Sudan’s military claims it has opened a road into besieged Kadugli as militants make gains elsewhere (17:44); Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is assassinated in Zintan, Libya (20:57); in Nigeria’s Kwara State, gunmen kill roughly 170 people in an allegedly jihadist-linked attack (23:44); U.S.-Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi yield little on ending the war, but Washington and Moscow agree to keep honoring New START’s terms (25:29); Pakistan launches a massive counterinsurgency campaign in Balochistan with the death toll approaching 300 (28:21); Trump touts a major U.S.-India trade framework, but key details remain unclear (30:12); Trump signs a new Cuba executive order increasing pressure around oil supplies (33:16); the U.S. president also hosts Colombia’s Gustavo Petro after recent threats (35:33); and the State Department holds a critical minerals conference as Trump announces “Project Vault” and Japan tests environmentally risky deep-sea mining (37:15).

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Netflix Buying Warner Would be a Disaster w/ AS Hamrah | Tech Won't Save Us Feb 05, 2026

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Paris Marx is joined by AS Hamrah to discuss the proposed Netflix-Warner Bros Discovery merger and what it might mean for the state of decline already facing modern cinema.

AS Hamrah is a film critic at n+1 and the author of Algorithm of the Night and Last Week in End Times Cinema.

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The fight to Stop ICE—in Congress, and at the Super Bowl | Start Making Sense Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

The next two weeks Democrats in Congress will be working to use the budget to set limits on ICE-to require judicial warrants, masks off and body cameras on, and to set use of force standards. John Nichols, The Nation’s executive editor, will comment.

Also: The Super Bowl is by far the biggest entertainment event of the year in the US, and this Sunday the halftime show will feature Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, who has been demanding “ICE Out!” How did the Super Bowl halftime show become the center of resistance to ICE? Dave Zirin, The Nation’s sports editor, will explain.

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The End of the Postwar Consensus w/ Paul Starr | American Prestige Feb 03, 2026

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Danny and Derek are joined by sociologist Paul Starr to talk about the transformation of American politics from the postwar period to the present. They discuss the idea of a foundational American contradiction, how the civil rights movement helped break the midcentury political consensus, why economic inequality and labor decline reshaped party coalitions, immigration, the expansion of presidential power, the erosion of institutional legitimacy, and how these changes contributed to the rise of both Obama and Trump.

Read Paul’s book American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now.

Recorded in December 2025

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The Nation’s “A Day for Gaza” w/ Jack Mirkinson | American Prestige Feb 03, 2026

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Derek speaks with Jack Mirkinson, senior editor at⁠ ⁠The Nation⁠⁠, about “A Day for Gaza,” a one-day project where the magazine is devoting its entire website to coverage of Gaza. They discuss the decision to turn over all coverage to this single issue, the decline in mainstream media attention since the October “ceasefire” announcement, and why events in Gaza remain central to media responsibility.

You can find all the stories in "A Day For Gaza" here.

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War Clouds Over Iran w/ Amir Handjani | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Feb 01, 2026

Show notes

Donald Trump is sending over what he calls “a massive Armada” to Iran with the

promises to do a reprise of his quick attack on Venezuela that ended with the

kidnapping of president Nicolás Maduro. Trump claims that “like with

Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission.” But will a

war with Iran really be so simple? To look at the prospects for war and the

larger politics driving the conflict, I spoke with Amir Handjani of The Quincy

Institute.

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