The Nation Podcasts

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Gaza City Ground Invasion, US War on “Narco-Terror” in the Caribbean, Russia Sanctions Standoff | American Prestige 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.

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TRAILER: A People's Climate Podcast—Coming Soon! Sep 18, 2025

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“A People’s Climate” is a new climate podcast by Counterstream Media and The Nation. Hosted by Shilpi Chhotray.

This isn’t climate talk as usual. This is environmental justice.

Over nine powerful episodes, we bring together activists, organizers, and movement leaders who are fighting on the frontlines. Every conversation reveals not only why the fight matters, but how communities are already putting solutions into practice and power back in the hands of the people.

The future we need is being built from the ground up. Not by corporations. Not by billionaires. By us. The people demanding justice, reclaiming power, and rebuilding what’s been broken.

New episodes every Saturday starting Sept 27, 2025.

Learn more at apeoplesclimate.org

Presented by Counterstream Media and The Nation

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Good News for Dems – plus Fascists and Teachers | Start Making Sense Sep 17, 2025

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In suburban DC, southern Pennsylvania and Iowa, Democrats have won special elections by significant margins – and the polls for this year’s upcoming elections for mayor in New York City, governor in Virginia, and redistricting in California show Democrats well ahead. Also: J.D. Vance attacks The Nation. John Nichols comments.

Also: Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT and one of our leading progressives, explains “Why Fascists Fear Teachers” – the title of her new book.

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A New History of the Americas Pt. 1 w/ Greg Grandin | American Prestige Sep 16, 2025

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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 sparking debates 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.

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Yolanda Díaz Is the New Face of the Spanish Left | The Nation Podcast Sep 15, 2025

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Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s high-profile labor minister, has managed a tightrope walk unthinkable in the country’s recent history. Much to the astonishment of her critics, she’s mitigated inflation while staving off the far right and delivering material improvements for the people of Spain.

Can her model of leadership and reform be adopted by a broader leftist international movement, as she hopes?

Labor journalist Sarah Jaffe wrote about Díaz in the latest issue of The Nation and joins us to discuss these questions. Shortly after we recorded this episode, the Spanish parliament shelved Díaz's proposal to shorten the workweek by two and a half hours.

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The Failures of the Foreign Policy Elite | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer Sep 14, 2025

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Matt Duss, vice-president of the Center for International Policy, wrote an excellent review for The Nation of Bob Woodward’s book War, which is a celebration of Joe Biden as a foreign policy sage. Duss is rightly skeptical of the book. We discuss Biden’s actual record on Ukraine and especially Gaza. Matt’s essay on this topic for Foreign Policy is also worth reading.

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Israel Bombs Qatar, Nepal Protests, Russian Drones Enter Polish Airspace | American Prestige 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!

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A New Economy Will Deliver Better Technology w/ Aaron Benanav | Tech Won't Save Us Sep 11, 2025

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Paris Marx is joined by Aaron Benanav to discuss his vision for a multi-criterial economy and how it would alter the type of technology our society creates. It’s a plan to center human experience through democratic discourse while driving true social and technological innovation.

⁠Aaron Benanav⁠ is an Assistant Professor at Cornell University and the author of ⁠Automation and the Future of Work⁠.

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Trump’s Really Bad Week in Court—Plus, the New Film by China’s Top Director | Start Making Sense Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Trump had four major court decisions against him in a single week last week: on tariffs, defunding Harvard, sending troops to LA, and deporting Venezuelans, different courts and appellate panels said he was violating the law. Erwin Chemerinsky comments – he’s Dean of the Law School at Berkeley.

Also: The new film “Caught by the Tides” by Jia Zhangke, considered worldwide to be the most important director in China: Over the last 30 years, his great project has been to tell stories that show the radical transformation of Chinese life by capitalism and the state. John Powers explains – he’s critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The film is streaming now on the Criterion Channel

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From The Gilded Age to American Decline w/ Morgan Spector | American Prestige 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.

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