This Is Hell!

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."

Rick Shenkman is the author of "Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth about the American Voter" (Basic Books), the second chapter of which was excerpted at TomDispatch.com as the article, "How Ignorant Are We?: The Voters Choose… but on the Basis of What?." Rick is an Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter, New York Times bestselling author, and associate professor of history at George Mason university is also the founder and editor of History News Network, a website that features articles by historians on current events. He also blogs at "How Stupid?"

Jeremy Leaming talked with us about his article, "Christian Reconstructionists Are Trying to Take Dominion in America -- and They Have Powerful Friends." Jeremy is a communications associate for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. You can learn more about the organization here: http://www.au.org/

Chuck is off for the next couple of weeks, you will be stuck with producer Will. This episode features an interview from July 7, 2007 with S. Derek Turner when he discussed what his group, Free Press, has done with the Center for American Progress. Their study, "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio," shows how the right wing's grip on the airwaves is because of a failed market, not a cultural revolution. You can find the report here: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-structural-imbalance-of-political-talk-radio/

Today on This is Hell! Chuck interviews Dave Denison about his Baffler article “The Shame of the Suburbs” Dave Denison is a senior editor of The Baffler. He has written and edited for The Texas Observer, CommonWealth magazine, and The American Prospect. A selected archive of his writing is warehoused at www.davedenison.net. A transplanted Midwesterner, he lives near Boston and claims to be an amateur carpenter, an aspiring mason, and an above-average bowler. Read Dave’s article on Baffler at https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-shame-of-the-suburbs-denison

Distinguished anthropologist Alex Hinton joins Chuck to discuss his Sapiens article, "Two Myths Fueling the Conservative Right's Dangerous Transphobia." The discussion includes Alex's insights from the most recent CPAC. You can find the article here: https://www.sapiens.org/culture/transphobia-myths/ Alex is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University, Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, and UNESCO Chair on Genocide Prevention.

Miliaku Nwabueze talks with Chuck about her Scaliwag essay, "How to Build the End of the World: In Defense of the Chaotic Protester."

Micah Herskind discusses his Scalawag article, "This is the Atlanta Way: A Primer on Cop City," and his MSNBC post, “If those supporting ‘Cop City’ prevail in Atlanta, your city could be next.” Micah Herskind is an Atlanta-based organizer and writer. Find more of his writing on his website, micahherskind.com and follow him on Twitter at: micahinATL Read Micah’s article here: https://scalawagmagazine.org/2023/05/cop-city-atlanta-history-timeline/ #StopCopCity

Historian Jo Guldi joins us to discuss her Boston Review article, "The Earth for Man: Redistributing land was once central to global development efforts---and it should be today." This article is adapted from her 2022 book from Yale University Press, "The Long Land War: The Global Struggle for Occupancy Rights." You can find the article here: https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-earth-for-man/ And the book here: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300256680/the-long-land-war/ Jeff Dorchen delivers the first installment of a two-part "Moment of Truth." This week's Question from Hell! winner is announced. The competition this week was fierce.