Hell is real, and it's really bad, and it's really important that you repent. That's the thesis of THE BURNING HELL (1974), a crackpot Evangelical oddity from the deep south, brought to you by the dynamic duo of director Ron Ormond and preacher/star Estus W. Pirkle. We discuss what this bizarre handmade movie tells us about American religious conservatism. PLUS: enter Mike Pence and Chris Christie; exit Vanderpump Rules Season 10. From deep in the Michael and Us archives, an episode on an earlie...
Jun 14, 2023•42 min
Christopher Layne discusses his Harper’s magazine article, “Why are we in Ukraine?” Plus: Marcus Brown talks about his augmented reality exhibit that evokes the eighteenth-century Wall Street slave market. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online ....
Jun 13, 2023•53 min
Featuring Giuliano Garavini on his book The Rise and Fall of OPEC in the Twentieth Century. The first of a two-part series on the 20th-century history of petrostates, petrocapitalists, and the world system. Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig Subscribe to n+1 . Go to nplusonemag.com/thedig and enter THEDIG at checkout
Jun 11, 2023•1 hr 34 min
A ragtag gang of Beltway misfits discover how to start a proxy war in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (2007), a lighthearted look at American intervention from the combined forces of Tom Hanks, Mike Nichols, and Aaron Sorkin. We discuss how this celebration of the Reagan Doctrine from the very heart of "liberal Hollywood" offers a, shall we say, sanitized version of the end of the Cold War. PLUS: We discuss matters Pablo-matic and not. Preorder "Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equa...
Jun 07, 2023•56 min
Wanda Bertram of the Prison Policy Initiative talks about some under-appreciated aspects of the carceral state: probation, parole, and civil commitment. Francisco Pérez of the Center for Economic Democracy on why mainstream economics is so terrible and an online course that can help civilians break through the discipline’s mystifications. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the ar...
Jun 05, 2023•53 min
Featuring Brenna Bhandar on Colonial Lives of Property: Law, Land and Racial Regimes of Ownership . The centuries-long history of how dominant conceptions of private property were (and are) made alongside race and racial hierarchies in colonial encounters stretching from Ireland and British Columbia to Australia and Palestine. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Register for the Socialism Conference at socialismconference.org Buy Let This Radicalize You by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes haymarke...
Jun 04, 2023•1 hr 41 min
For over two decades, a pair of New England-based independent filmmakers have created a cinematic universe out with their friends, family, and as little money as possible. Cohost Will finally brings his well-documented obsession with Matt Farley and Charlie Roxburgh to the Michael & Us podcast with a discussion of their recent MAGIC SPOT (2022), and what it says about the democratic potential of cinema. PLUS: What is it with British celebrities and politics? We discuss three well-known U.K. ...
May 31, 2023•47 min
Tina Gerhardt , author of Sea Change , talks about the effects rising oceans are having on small island nations. Quinn Slobodian , author of Crack-Up Capitalism , compares libertarian enclaves insulated from democracy. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here ....
May 30, 2023•53 min
Marc Cooper and Pablo Abufom join Suzi in a conversation about Marc's Dig “Chile's Utopia Has Been Postponed," The Truthdig original series compares dramatic political events in Chile over recent years to the Popular Unity period between 1970 and 1973. Marc and Pablo integrate the legacy of the military coup 50 years ago with a discussion of the present challenges for the leftist government of Gabriel Boric. Just a year in power, the Boric presidency suffered a huge defeat in the May 7 election,...
May 28, 2023•1 hr 23 min
As Canadians, we simply couldn't pass up a movie about our greatest national export. Matt Johnson's BLACKBERRY (2023) puts a darkly comic spin on the rise and fall of "the phone you had before your iPhone." We discuss the ways that this very funny film is both similar to and crucially different from such recent boardroom dramas as AIR. PLUS: the return of Pete Buttigieg, and a weekend with the world's most prolific songwriter. If you watch only one movie on Will's recommendation in your life, ma...
May 28, 2023•49 min
A sonic memorial to the Black women of the Peoples Temple. Produced and reported by Babette Thomas. Edited by Liza Yeager and Mitchell Johnson, with editorial oversight from Daniel Denvir and Alex Lewis. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Subscribe to The Dig Presents to find all of our documentary stories on one feed.
May 27, 2023•39 min
Italy’s liberation during the Second World War was meant to have consigned fascism to history. But eight decades later, the country has a prime minister from the far-right tradition; Giorgia Meloni’s party is directly descended from the diehard supporters of Benito Mussolini who reorganized after the war. David Broder, Europe editor for Jacobin and the author of Mussolini’s Grandchildren , discusses Italy’s far right from the fall of Mussolini until the point when Giorgia Meloni entered the poli...
May 25, 2023•41 min
Jeff Sharlet talks about his new book, The Undertow , essays on the increasingly violent and authoritarian politics on the right unleashed by Trump. Claire Dunning , author of Nonprofit Neighborhoods , discusses urban governance by philanthropists. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here ....
May 22, 2023•53 min
Featuring Quinn Slobodian on Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy . Radical libertarians, including anarcho-capitalists like Murray Rothbard, envision a world of micro-polities governed by private property and contract. In fact, we already live in their world, a world of zones—places where special rules tailor-made for capitalists prevail over the ordinary laws of the nation-state. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Listen to Quinn's interview on Glo...
May 20, 2023•2 hr 5 min
We begin with a rundown of recent events, from the Coronation to the CNN Trump town hall to the Liberal Party of Canada's recent convention, before discussing the beloved comedy GALAXY QUEST (1999). We situate the film's satire in the context of 1999-era fan culture, and hash over our own respective histories with the Star Trek franchise. PLUS: a dive into a young Tucker Carlson's journalism. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Michaela Chen of Foxglove discusses efforts to unionize the exploited workers who moderate content on social media. Micah Herskind, author of an article for Scalawag , "This Is the Atlanta Way: A Primer on Cop City," talks about the history and political economy behind the massive planned police training center. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here ....
May 15, 2023•53 min
Featuring Jules Gill-Peterson on Histories of the Transgender Child . Amid this right-wing reaction, a discussion of the history of trans medicine and trans children—and also trans politics more generally. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Register for Socialism 2023 at socialismconference.org . Register before July 7 for the early bird discount rate! Subscribe to n+1 at nplusonemag.com/thedig . Enter THEDIG at checkout....
May 13, 2023•2 hr 17 min
"A soy-banter Nicolas Cage Dracula movie" was too enticing a pitch to pass up, so we hit up our local multiplex to see RENFIELD (2023). PLUS: Do conservatives need "a populist Dracula"? At least one right-wing outlet thinks so! Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
May 10, 2023•44 min
Howard Rodman, former president of the Writers Guild of America West (WGA), joins Alan Minsky to discuss the Writers Guild strike, which began a minute after midnight on May 2, after a near unanimous strike vote on May 1. This strike action, the first in fifteen years, impacts TV, movies, and streaming platforms across the country and the world. The last strike, in 2007-08, lasted 100 days and focused on "new media" when streaming was in its infancy and Netflix was still a DVD-by-mail company. T...
May 09, 2023•38 min
Featuring Stacy Davis Gates, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, and Alex Han on how Chicago's labor left took over City Hall. Brandon Johnson's mayoral victory, the product of a decade-plus of social movement union struggle, is a model for the left everywhere in the United States. Guest hosted by Micah Uetricht. Subscribe to n+1 . Go to nplusonemag.com/thedig and enter THEDIG at checkout Buy Occupation: Organizer by Clément Petitjean haymarketbooks.org/books/2054-occupation-organizer...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 14 min
For International Workers' Day, Jacobin welcomed Richard Wolff, founder of Democracy at Work and visiting professor of international affairs at the New School, for a live conversation about economics and the labor movement. This is the audio version of that interview, conducted by Paul Prescod. Get a yearlong Jacobin subscription for as low as $1: https://jacobin.com/subscribe/?code=MAYDAY2023
May 06, 2023•53 min
Featuring Nikil Saval and Helen Gym on how the history of Philadelphia social movements brought Nikil into the state senate and has made Helen, a long-time public education organizer, a frontrunner in the mayoral race. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Subscribe to Dissent dissentmagazine.org/subscribe Buy Angela Davis: An Autobiography haymarketbooks.org/books/2001-angela-davis...
May 05, 2023•49 min
In May 1980, Josip Tito died after ruling Yugoslavia for more than three decades. In his absence, the Yugoslav League of Communists put in place a collective, power-sharing model. A politician from each of the country’s national units would take their turn as the head of state. But by the early 90s, Yugoslavia was on the brink of collapse. The rise of two nationalist leaders, Slobodan Milošević of Serbia and Croatia’s Franjo Tuđman, was followed by the outbreak of civil war. Catherine Samary , h...
May 04, 2023•58 min
A Christian boy goes up against his sinister atheist philosophy teacher (played by Kevin Sorbo!) in GOD'S NOT DEAD (2014), one of the biggest evangelical blockbusters of all time. Luke and guest host Alex Shephard discuss the film's tone-deaf depiction of academia and its particular streak of right-wing sadism. PLUS: What's next for Tucker Carlson? And is there any life at all in the ol' Ron DeSantis? "Tucker Carlson Has Already Lost His War With Fox News" by Alex Shephard - https://newrepublic....
May 03, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Jacobin editor Micah Uetricht explains how Chicago elected a progressive mayor, Brandon Johnson. Lily Lynch, editor of Balkanist and contributor to New Left Review ‘s Sidecar blog, on how the Ukraine war destroyed Scandinavian neutrality. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html...
May 01, 2023•53 min
We have as many roads in the United States as we have streams and rivers. Produced by Caroline Kanner and Jackson Roach, with original music by Jackson Roach. Edited by Liza Yeager and Mitchell Johnson. Subscribe to The Dig Presents and support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig . Bibliography (in order of appearance): A Field Guide to Roadside Wildflowers at Full Speed (PDF) - Chris Helzer Car Country: An Environmental History - Christopher W. Wells On Trails: An Exploration - Robert Moor Snell-Rood...
Apr 28, 2023•53 min
Suzi talks to long-time political activist and theorist Ilya Budraitskis about the transformation of Russia into a dictatorship and the nature of Putinism more than a year after Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. Independent media has been replaced with censorship and propaganda. Expression of dissent is met with repression and long stints in prison. In fact, Ilya's vocal opposition to Putin's rule and this war forced him to flee the country. In an article for the journal Spectre , Ilya argues...
Apr 27, 2023•52 min
A young man caught between his socialist father and Thatcherite uncle falls in love with a young National Front street punk while building a laundromat. We watched MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE (1985) and discuss the context that birthed it. PLUS: Fiery hot takes on Bruceploitation and Ron DeSanctimonious. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Apr 25, 2023•54 min
Economist Josh Mason of John Jay College (and author of a recent Jacobin article , written in response to a Dylan Riley article for New Left Review 's website) on how we can save the climate before we get to overthrowing capitalism. Then Jen Duggan of the Environmental Integrity Initiative discusses a lawsuit to get the EPA to enforce the Clean Water Act. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the gl...
Apr 24, 2023•53 min
Featuring Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider on the politics of public education. The authors of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Education and the Future of School and co-hosts of the education policy podcast Have You Heard discuss everything from charters and vouchers to teacher social movement unionism and right-wing cultural wars against "woke" educators. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig
Apr 23, 2023•1 hr 46 min
