While Chuck is out this week, we revisit our first interview from 2020. Theorist Albena Azmanova examines the dynamics of post-2008 precarity capitalism, the left's long failure to strike through capitalism's competitive production of profit, and explains why radical change for the precarious multitude is possible without a revolutionary break - but through subversive pragmatism. Albena is author of Capitalism on Edge: How Fighting Precarity Can Achieve Radical Change Without Crisis or Utopia fr...
Jul 04, 2025•40 min
Micah Herskind returns to This Is Hell! to discuss his contribution to the new edited volume, "No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement" from Haymarket Books. After the interview, Jeff Dorchen delivers a live, in-studio "Moment of Truth." Check out Micah's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2541-no-cop-city-no-cop-world Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr 48 min
Paisley Currah joins us to discuss his New Yorker piece, "Donald Trump's War on Gender Is Also a War on Government." "Rotten History" by Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Check out Paisley's article here: https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/donald-trumps-war-on-gender-is-also-a-war-on-government Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 38 min
Leigh Claire La Berge joins us to discuss her new book published today by Haymarket, "Fake Work: How I Began to Suspect Capitalism is a Joke." "Rotten History" by Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Check out Leigh's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2534-fake-work Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 35 min
ProPublica's Molly Redden joins us to discuss her article, "The “Invasion” Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy." A new "Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Molly's article here: https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-immigration-invasion-rhetoric-courts Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 29 min
Mariah Parker joins us to discuss her chapter in the new co-authored book, "No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement." A classic "Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Mariah's new book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/events/717-no-cop-city-no-cop-world Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 32 min
Dr. Emily M. Bender and Dr. Alex Hanna come on the show to talk about their new book “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want” published but LitHub. The book tackles the pitfalls of AI and why it’s so crucial to understand the capitalist greed that is manipulating AI behind the scenes. https://thecon.ai/ A new installment of “This Week In Rotten History” from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bon...
May 30, 2025•1 hr 31 min
Candice Bernd returns to This Is Hell! to discuss her recent writing at The American Prospect, "The Crypto Racket." After the interview, we hear a classic "Moment of Truth" from Jeff Dorchen. Check out Candice's article here: https://prospect.org/power/2025-05-09-crypto-racket-texas-bitcoin-mining/
May 21, 2025•1 hr 44 min
Lihi Yona and Itamar Mann join us to discuss their recent UCLA Law Review piece, "Defending Jews From the Definition of Antisemitism." A special 10th anniversary installment of "This Week in Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Check out Lihi and Itamar's piece here: https://www.uclalawreview.org/defending-jews-from-the-definition-of-antisemitism/ Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patr...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 44 min
Sociologist Cedric de Leon joins us to discuss his new book, "Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity" from University of California Press. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Cedric's book here: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/freedom-train/paper Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
May 15, 2025•1 hr 51 min
Sophie Lewis returns to This Is Hell! to discuss her new book, "Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen, and Girlbosses Against Liberation" from Haymarket Books. "This Week in Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Check out Sophie's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2440-enemy-feminisms Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
May 12, 2025•1 hr 42 min
Historian Andrew Hartman returns to This Is Hell! to discuss his new book from University of Chicago Press, "Karl Marx in America." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Andrew's book here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/K/bo245100866.html Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
May 01, 2025•1 hr 48 min
Academic and author Jodi Dean returns to This Is Hell! to talk about her new book, "Capital's Grave: Neofeudalism and the New Class Struggle" published by Verso Books. https://www.versobooks.com/products/3144-capital-s-grave We also have a new “This Week in Rotten History”. Keep our website with a more than ten-year archive of past shows absolutely free, and our show completely listener supported, refusing all advertising and corporate foundation money by following us on Patreon at patreon.com/t...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 31 min
Greg Grandin returns to This Is Hell! to discuss his new book, "America, América: A New History of the New World." "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Check out Greg's book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/747326/america-america-by-greg-grandin/
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr 44 min
Malcolm Harris Returns to This Is Hell! to discuss his new book, "What's Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Malcolm's book here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/malcolm-harris/whats-left/9780316577410/?lens=little-brown
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 38 min
Chris Hedges discusses his new book, "A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine." Check out Chris's book here: https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4716-a-genocide-foretold Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
Apr 18, 2025•1 hr 12 min
Alec Karakatsanis returns to talk about his new book, “Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News.” Alec founded the Civil Rights Corps, an organization that challenges systemic injustices in the U.S. legal system. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Alec's book here: https://thenewpress.org/books/copaganda/
Apr 16, 2025•1 hr 25 min
Author Quinn Slobodian returns to “This Is Hell!” to talk about his new book, “Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ and the Capitalism of the Far Right”, published by Zone Books. Check out Quinn’s book here: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9781890951917?srsltid=AfmBOopa361sL5mow9Y4zSXDsHQXyvTQBZ0YZASHJvW-UyhbliOMShxt Keep TiH! free and completely listener supported by subscribing to our weekly bonus Patreon podcast or visiting thisishell.com/pages/support
Apr 14, 2025•1 hr 30 min
Valeria Graziano, Marcell Mars and Tomislav Medak discuss their book, "Pirate Care: Acts Against the Criminalization of Solidarity." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen and "Rotten History" by Renaldo Migaldi both follow the interview. Check out their book here: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745349800/pirate-care/ Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
Apr 09, 2025•2 hr 18 min
Award-winning author Pankaj Mishra returns to “This Is Hell!” to talk about his new book, “The World After Gaza: A History”, published by the Penguin Random House. Check out Pankaj’s book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/780437/the-world-after-gaza-by-pankaj-mishra/ Keep TiH! free and completely listener supported by subscribing to our weekly bonus Patreon podcast or visiting thisishell.com/pages/support
Mar 24, 2025•1 hr 36 min
Noliwe Rooks returns to This Is Hell! to discuss her recent book, "Integrated: How American Schools Failed Black Children" from Penguin. "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Check out Noliwe's book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/721962/integrated-by-noliwe-rooks/ Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
Mar 20, 2025•1 hr 27 min
Tanner Mirrlees on the new Cost of War paper from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University entitled, "The Militarization of Movies and Television." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Tanner's writing here: https://home.watson.brown.edu/research/research-briefs/militarization-movies-and-tv Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/...
Mar 19, 2025•1 hr 45 min
Lindsay Koshgarian joins us to discuss the Institute for Policy Studies report, "The High Moral Stakes of the Policy Battles Raging in Washington." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out their report here: https://ips-dc.org/summary-high-moral-stakes/ Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr 36 min
Award-winning author Omar El Akkad joins “This Is Hell!” to talk about his new book, "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This”, published by the Penguin Books. Check out Omar’s book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/777485/one-day-everyone-will-have-always-been-against-this-by-omar-el-akkad/?fbclid=IwY2xjawI9NZpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRHlIY5dAk3hrnB8dk0wOc9P_cL3vOlRO6pa78Ux07cr9tv4PR_GhwkMrg_aem_ltRUIYUqFxKHG-AUz9rHsg Keep TiH! free and completely listener supported by subscr...
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 36 min
Journalist and cultural critic Kristen Martin joins “This Is Hell!” to talk about her new book, "The Sun Won’t Come Out Tomorrow: The Dark History of American Orphanhood”, published by the Bold Type Books. Check out Kristen’s book here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kristen-martin/the-sun-wont-come-out-tomorrow/9781645030348/?lens=bold-type-books Visit Kristen’s website: https://www.kristenmartin.net/ Keep TiH! free and completely listener supported by subscribing to our weekly bonus ...
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 36 min
Labor scholar Eric Blanc joins us to discuss his new book published just today by the University of California Press titled, "We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing Is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Eric's book here: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/we-are-the-union/paper Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisi...
Mar 05, 2025•1 hr 51 min
Historian Timothy W. Ryback joins us to discuss his Atlantic essays, "How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days: He used the constitution to shatter the constitution," "The Oligarchs Who Came to Regret Supporting Hitler They helped him in pursuit of profit. Many ended up in concentration camps," and, "‘Herr Hitler, Do You Really Believe Me Capable of Such a Dirty Trick?’ The chancellor rewarded loyalty with loyalty. Until he didn’t." Timothy is director of the Institute for Historical Justice...
Feb 26, 2025•1 hr 53 min
Physicist Erald Kolasi returns to “This Is Hell!” to talk about his new book, "The Physics of Capitalism: How a New Political Ecology Can Change the World”, published by the Monthly Review. Check out Erald’s book here: https://monthlyreview.org/product/the-physics-of-capitalism-how-a-new-political-ecology-can-change-the-world/ Keep TiH! free and completely listener supported by subscribing to our weekly bonus Patreon podcast: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 37 min
Chuck is out of action this week COVID, so we are featuring past interviews with upcoming guests who all have new books coming out on the days we are scheduled to interview them in upcoming weeks. Today's episode features two listener-favorite historians. First up is Quinn Slobodian on his 2023 book "Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy." Greg Grandin follows with a discussion of his Pulitzer Prize-winning 2020 book "The End of the Myth: From the Fronti...
Feb 21, 2025•1 hr 57 min
Chuck is out of action this week COVID, so we are featuring past interviews with upcoming guests who all have new books coming out on the days we are scheduled to interview them in upcoming weeks. Today's episode features two guests whose work imagine a more emancipatory, dignified, sustainable future should socialist imperatives govern the future of human development. First up is political scientist Jodi Dean, who joined us in 2022 to discuss her book "Socialist Reconstruction: A Better Future ...
Feb 19, 2025•1 hr 50 min
