Tom Stevenson analyzes the latest news and long-term prospects of Trump's Iran war, for both Iran and the US. Tom is a contributing editor for the London Review of Books, where he writes about, among other things, politics in the Mideast. Also: what news are people getting these days, and where are they getting it? Especially the people we call “news avoidant” & “low information” voters--the ones we want to vote for Democrats in November: what are the big stories for them? Tara McGowan expla...
Mar 11, 2026•42 min
Danny and Derek speak with historian Alfred McCoy about how the Cold War operated as a global conflict influenced by decolonization, covert action, and geopolitical strategy. They discuss the role of individual intelligence operatives as “men on the spot”; Cold War rivalry and the collapse of European empires; how conflicts across Asia, Africa, and Latin America produced much of the war’s violence; the development of U.S. containment strategy and covert action institutions; and Iran as flashpoin...
Mar 10, 2026•1 hr 6 min
Paris Marx is joined by Tim Schwab to discuss the evolving story of Bill Gates and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, as well as the issues that arise from allowing billionaires to use philanthropy to push personal political agendas and launder their reputations. Tim Schwab is the author of The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Mar 09, 2026•58 min
The US/Israel War against Iran is shaping out to be a much bigger mess than expected even by critics. As it turns into a regional conflict that has embroiled more than a dozen nations, are there any possible ways Donald Trump can be forced to pull back. I spoke with international affairs scholar Emma Ashford of the Stimson Center about the war and paths to peace. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Mar 08, 2026•40 min
Derek welcomes back Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder and CEO of the Bourse and Bazaar Foundation and professor at Johns Hopkins University, to discuss the economic consequences of the Iran war and its implications for the Gulf and the global economy. They discuss Iran’s strikes on Gulf infrastructure, disruptions to shipping and energy routes through the Strait of Hormuz, risks to logistics hubs like Dubai and Doha, rising oil prices, the vulnerability of global supply chains, and the potential ...
Mar 07, 2026•53 min
Charlotte and Jo go deep on jealousy, self-hatred, love, and vulnerability in a conversation that touches on A Separate Peace , The Go-Between , Beowulf , and more. Then the canny and intrepid Maya Binyam joins for a discussion about the category of little girlhood, ambiguity in fiction, and female desire. Maya Binyam is the author of Hangman . Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. She is a 2025 - 2026 Rome Prize Fellow at the A...
Mar 07, 2026•58 min
We don’t have whatever they were giving JFK to power through the Cuban Missile Crisis, but we’re keeping up here. This week’s news: in the Iran War, the U.S. prepares to use Kurdish proxy forces against the Islamic Republic (1:26) while offering shifting timelines and contradictory explanations for the war (6:32), plus Iran searches for a new supreme leader (11:54); Hezbollah launches rockets into Israel after months of being bombarded, so Israel escalates its strikes across Lebanon (16:24); Afg...
Mar 06, 2026•48 min
After Senate Democrats block the SAVE act, Trump is likely to declare a national security emergency – claiming China could interfere in the midterms – as a basis for restricting voting. David Cole comments; he’s former legal director of the ACLU. Also: Congress must challenge Trump’s war on Iran and assert its constitutional duty to take up War Powers resolutions and assert its primacy over matters of war and peace. John Nichols explains. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Priva...
Mar 04, 2026•38 min
Danny and Derek are back with a two-part episode on the war with Iran. First, they speak with Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute about the Trump administration’s decision to go to war, the belief that assassinating Ayatollah Khamenei would cause the regime to implode, the structure and failure of pre-war negotiations, the influence of Israeli officials and hawks, the potential for sending in ground troops, and the impact on Iranian society. They then speak with Akbar Shahid Ahmed , Senior Diplo...
Mar 03, 2026•56 min
Writing in Foreign Policy, Matt Duss argues that Donald Trump’s rush to war is both stupid and illegal. It is also wildly unpopular with the public. But he also observes that congress has been reluctant to challenge Trump’s policy, although some progressives have now forced the issue to a vote. Matt is a frequent guest of the show and foreign policy expert. I talked to him about the dangers of a new war and also the larger systematic problems of the imperial presidency. Advertising Inquiries: ht...
Mar 01, 2026•41 min
Jo takes us on a whirlwind tour of their recent reading, including Mary Helen Washington’s Paule Marshall: A Writer’s Life, and Charlotte explains why Susanna Moore’s In the Cut is one of the most thrilling novels she’s ever encountered. Then, the profoundly thoughtful Jamie Hood joins to explore the many boyfriends and political disappointments of Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook. Jamie Hood is the author, most recently, of Trauma Plot: A Life, the hybrid pandemic diary how to be a good girl...
Feb 28, 2026•1 hr 7 min
Warner Brothers shamefully won’t consider Danny and Derek’s aggressive offer. In this week’s news: U.S.-Iran nuclear talks resume in Geneva amid reports that the White House is weighing strike options (0:54), plus Trump claims in his State of the Union that Iran is building nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (9:58); on the fourth anniversary of the Ukraine invasion, the EU fails to advance new Russia sanctions and a Ukraine loan package due to Hungarian interference (12:28);...
Feb 27, 2026•47 min
Paris Marx is joined by Amanda Hanna-McLeer and Lucy Jackson to discuss the story of The Luddite Club, from its beginnings as a high school organization to its pivot into a non-profit and growth into an international movement. Amanda Hanna-McLeer is a writer, educator, and director of The Luddite Club documentary. Lucy Jackson is an early member of the Luddite Club. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Feb 26, 2026•55 min
Trump’s State of the Union speech was predictable, but nevertheless revealing of his state of mind. John Nichols has our analysis. Also: In 1949 when Jackie Robinson appeared before HUAC, the House Un-American Activities Committee, to discredit Paul Robeson. Howard Bryant talks about why that happened, and what happened afterwards - to each of them. His new book is “Kings and Pawns.” Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Feb 25, 2026•45 min
Derek and Danny are joined by Dalia Dassa Kaye to talk about the decades-long hostility between the U.S. and Iran and the current escalation between the two countries. They talk about the odds of war and the absence of clear objectives; talk of “regime change”; the legacy of the hostage crisis and the Iran-Contra hangover; the domestic incentives that make diplomacy “too costly”; the post-9/11 opportunity to mend relations and how it collapsed after the “Axis of Evil” speech; how U.S. leaders fr...
Feb 24, 2026•1 hr 6 min
Charlotte and Jo revisit Rebecca Novack’s Murder Bimbo before taking a quick tour of the Russian Civil War and comrade crushes through Nikolai Ostrovsky’s How The Steel Was Tempered. They’re then joined by the scintillating Brittany Newell, who meditates on contemporary fiction, cities at night, and Samuel R. Delany's indelible Times Square Red, Times Square Blue. Also discussed in this episode: Emma Cline’s The Guest and Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection. Brittany Newell is a writer and performer...
Feb 21, 2026•1 hr 1 min
Paris Marx is joined by James Vincent to discuss why we’re seeing humanoid robots everywhere, the motivations to pursue an all-purpose robot, how close we are to achieving that goal, and the social implications if we were to achieve it. James Vincent is a UK-based journalist and author of Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Feb 20, 2026•59 min
Trump, facing the wave of popular opposition to pretty much everything he’s doing, is working to block Democrats from voting in the midterms, and “election protection” has become a key part of the preparations underway from blue state attorneys general and from voting rights groups like the Brennan Center and the ACLU. Harold Meyerson explains. Also: A large proportion of slaves who escaped from slavery in the South escaped not on foot, but by boat. Marcus Rediker tells their story - his new boo...
Feb 18, 2026•40 min
Derek and Danny are joined by Bill Hartung and Ben Freeman to discuss the system that drives permanent war for the United States. They talk about the growth of the Pentagon budget and the bipartisan politics of defense spending; the U.S. dominating the global arms trade and the prevalence of U.S. weapons around the world; the rise of defense tech companies and the relationship between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon; the structure of defense lobbying, foreign government lobbying for arms sales, ...
Feb 17, 2026•56 min
At last, the audio from December's Bookforum x Reading Writers live holiday event! The justly celebrated novelist Stephanie Wambugu joins Charlotte and Jo to talk about the controversial and inescapable Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico. Stephanie Wambugu is the author of the novel Lonely Crowds . Her work has appeared in The Drift, The Nation, Granta, Frieze, Bookforum. She lives and works in New York. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon , where you can access additional materials and...
Feb 16, 2026•1 hr 4 min
Danny and Derek feel that their ice dance routine was strong, but ultimately respect the IOC judges. In this week’s news: the first round of indirect U.S.-Iran talks begin in Oman (0:31); new Israeli security cabinet measures move forward de facto annexation in the West Bank (4:26); Indonesia is prepared to send troops for a proposed Gaza stabilization force (7:23); Israel uses its 2023 law to revoke the citizenship of Palestinian Israelis for the first time (9:07); RSF forces launch drone strik...
Feb 13, 2026•45 min
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 Ins...
Feb 12, 2026•1 hr 2 min
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 vo...
Feb 11, 2026•32 min
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.” Advertising Inqu...
Feb 10, 2026•54 min
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 s...
Feb 08, 2026•35 min
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...
Feb 06, 2026•41 min
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. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Feb 05, 2026•55 min
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 cen...
Feb 04, 2026•32 min
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 b...
Feb 03, 2026•1 hr 2 min
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 . Advertising Inquiries: https://redcir...
Feb 03, 2026•13 min
