This Is Hell!

Center for Economic and Policy Research's Jake Johnston on his opinion piece at The New York Times, “The U.S. Still Can Do What’s Right for Haiti.” Afterwards, Rotten History explores the Erfurt Latrine Disaster. Support This is Hell! at https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Writer, theorist, and recovering academic Sophie Lewis returns to Hell to discuss her Baffler article, “The Good Enough Momfluencer: Disavowing maternal fantasies is easier said than done.” The article is a review of the book, “Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture,” by Sara Peterson. Peterson’s website says she writes about feminism, domesticity, and motherhood. Peterson also writes a newsletter about the myth of the ideal mother, ‘In Pursuit of Clean Countertops.’ Read Sophie’s article: https://thebaffler.com/latest/the-good-enough-momfluencer-lewis This is Sophie’s third appearance on This is Hell! She was on the show most recently in October of last year, 2022, to discuss her book, “Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation.” You may also remember Sophie being on the show back in July 2019 to talk about her book, “Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against Family.” Not only were both those interviews selected by listeners as among the best of each year – and replayed during our end of year ‘Best of’ special broadcasts – but you can find both conversations by going to thisishell.com and searching on ‘Lewis,’ and, as always, they are free. Sophie is currently hard at work on a book for Haymarket on enemy feminisms. Sophie’s lectures are archived at lasophielle.org. Follow Sophie on Twitter at (at)reproutopia and support her work at patreon.com/reproutopia Support This is Hell! at https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Today's episode features an interview with This Is Hell! regular Brian Mier. Brian updates Chuck on what the US corporate media has been getting wrong about Brazil. We also have the second of a two-part Moment of Truth from Jeff Dorchen. Brian Mier is a Chicagoan who immigrated to Brazil in the 1990s. He is a sociologist and geographer. He is also Brazil Correspondent for TeleSur English, co-host of Globalistas on TV 247, Brasilwire, FAIR, COHA, Truthdig, Geopolitical Economy Report, Carta Capital, Outras Palavras. Support This is Hell! on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Michael Gould-Wartofsky on his TomDispatch article, "American Inquisition: Field Notes from the Frontlines of the Government's War on the Left," which also appeared at Salon. Michael Gould-Wartofsky is a writer, ethnographer, and human-rights activist from New York City and a postdoctoral research fellow at Columbia University. He is the author of The Occupiers and American Inquisitions (forthcoming in 2025), and has written for the Washington Post, the Daily Beast, Tom Dispatch, Gizmodo, Jacobin, Mother Jones, The Nation, and Newsweek. You can read more of his work at mgouldwartofsky.com. Also included: Rotten History about the Port of Chicago disaster. Support This is Hell! on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

M.E. O’Brien joins us in Hell to discuss her new book "Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care" published by Pluto Press. M.E. co-edits two magazines, Pinko, on gay communism, and Parapraxis, on psychoanalytic theory and politics. Her work on family abolition has been translated into Chinese, German, Greek, French, Spanish, and Turkish. Her writing has been published by Work, Employment and Society, Social Movement Studies, Endnotes, Homintern, Commune, and Invert. Previously, she coordinated the New York City Trans Oral History Project, and worked in HIV and AIDS activism and services. She completed a PhD at NYU, where she wrote on how capitalism shaped New York City LGBTQ social movements. Find her on twitter (at)genderhorizon and at her website https://genderhorizon.com/ Support This is Hell! on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Today's interview features Umar Farooq, author of the article, "‘The fight for our lives’: Arizona’s water regime limits the Hopi Tribe’s future" published in High Country News in collaboration with ProPublica. Umar Farooq is Umar Farooq is an Ancil Payne Fellow with ProPublica. Check out the article here: https://www.hcn.org/issues/55.7/indigenous-affairs-water-the-fight-for-our-lives-arizona-water-regime-limits-the-hopi-tribes-future See more ProPublica reporting on indigenous Americans' fight for the promised resource of water here: https://www.propublica.org/series/waiting-for-water

Maya Schenwar returns to discuss her Truthout article, “Right-Wingers Push Death Penalty Reinstatement Bills as Part of Hardline Agenda: The same forces that are attacking abortion, trans health care and racial justice are also pushing for more executions." Maya Schenwar is a writer, editor, journalist and organizer who has spent the last 20 years working tosculpt new ways for journalism to serve the public good and fuel social transformation. She spent 13 years as Editor-in-Chief of Truthout, an independent social justice news publication, and is currently the organization’s Editor-at-Large and Board President. Recently, Maya founded the Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism. She is the co-author (with Victoria Law) of Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms (The New Press, July 2020), and the author of Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2014). Both books challenge the ingrained logic of prison and policing that holds our society captive, and share the work of bold and creative efforts to uproot the prison-industrial complex. Maya is also the co-editor (with Joe Macaré and Alana Yu-Lan Price) of Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? Police Violence and Resistance in the United States, an anthology focused on the entrenched racism and violence of policing and the fight to dismantle that institution. She authored a chapter in The Long Term: Resisting Life Sentences, Working Toward Freedom, and co-authored a chapter in the anthology Welcome to the Revolution: Universalizing Resistance for Social Justice and Democracy in Perilous Times, with Alana Yu-Lan Price. More info at https://www.mayaschenwar.com/. Also, an episode of "Rotten History."

We return to Hell today with Gerald Horne, on his new book “Revolting Capital: Racism & Radicalism in Washington, D.C., 1900-2000” (International Publishers). Sebastian Wüpper also returns with a 'Past Inside the Present.’ Find Gerald's book here (and as a raffle prize at our listener appreciation party): https://www.intpubnyc.com/.../revolting-capital-racism.../ Dr. Horne holds the Moores Professorship of History and African American Studies. His research has addressed issues of racism in a variety of relations involving labor, politics, civil rights, international relations and war. He has also written extensively about the film industry. Dr. Horne received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley and his B.A. from Princeton University.

Today's dive into the archives features a July 4, 2009 interview with political scientist Chalmers Johnson about the state of American Empire. Sadly, not much has changed. Chalmers Ashby Johnson (August 6, 1931 – November 20, 2010 was an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics, and professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego. He served in the Korean War, was a consultant for the CIA from 1967 to 1973 and chaired the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley from 1967 to 1972. He was also president and co-founder with Steven Clemons of the Japan Policy Research Institute (now based at the University of San Francisco), an organization that promotes public education about Japan and Asia.

Saskia Sassen is professor of sociology and member of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. Saskia's most recent book is 2007's "A Sociology of Globalization" (WW Norton). She wrote this week's openDemocracy piece, "The new executive politics: a democratic challenge". Before that, she wrote April's openDemocracy article, "Too big to save: the end of financial capitalism."