The Nation Podcasts

Danny and Derek welcome back historian Greg Grandin to talk about his recent book, America, América: A New History of the New World. In this first part of the discussion, they explore how the Spanish conquest produced unprecedented violence while also sparking debates about human rights, the role of Bartolomé de las Casas and the Salamanca School, how English settlers dealt with their own brutality, and the emergence of social democracy in Latin America. They also discuss the Monroe Doctrine, the Panama Congress, and the Mexican-American War as early flashpoints in US–Latin American relations.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s high-profile labor minister, has managed a tightrope walk unthinkable in the country’s recent history. Much to the astonishment of her critics, she’s mitigated inflation while staving off the far right and delivering material improvements for the people of Spain.Can her model of leadership and reform be adopted by a broader leftist international movement, as she hopes?Labor journalist Sarah Jaffe wrote about Díaz in the latest issue of The Nation and joins us to discuss these questions. Shortly after we recorded this episode, the Spanish parliament shelved Díaz's proposal to shorten the workweek by two and a half hours.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Matt Duss, vice-president of the Center for International Policy, wrote an excellent review for The Nation of Bob Woodward’s book War, which is a celebration of Joe Biden as a foreign policy sage. Duss is rightly skeptical of the book. We discuss Biden’s actual record on Ukraine and especially Gaza. Matt’s essay on this topic for Foreign Policy is also worth reading.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

While Danny remains in talks with Russia, Alex Jordan again helps Derek bring you the headlines. This week: Israel targets Hamas negotiators in a Doha strike (3:30), effectively ending ceasefire talks (8:43); the IDF orders the evacuation of Gaza City (13:11) while reports emerge that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hired an anti-Islam biker gang for “security” (15:42); in Russia-Ukraine, Russian drones entered Polish airspace, prompting an Article 4 NATO meeting (18:36); Iran and the IAEA announce a tentative deal to resume inspections (22:41); Nepal sees mass protests over a social media ban, leading to the resignation and disappearance of its prime minister and the army being deployed in Kathmandu (25:42); Donald Trump suggests he will repair ties with India amid tariff disputes and fallout over a Russian oil deal (30:15); Japan’s prime minister Ishiba resigns after electoral losses (33:23); ICE raids a Hyunda-LG plant in Georgia, detaining hundreds of South Korean workers (36:41); In Mali, JNIM militants blockade fuel routes to Bamako (42:22); France ousts yet another prime minister over austerity, with Macron appointing Sébastien Lecornu and facing mass protests (44:38); Brazil awaits a Supreme Court verdict on former president Jair Bolsonaro’s coup case, and Trump threatens retaliation if he’s convicted (49:26); and in these United States, the Department of Defense changes its name to the Deaprtment of War (53:34), a New York Times report reveals covert attacks on fishermen in a failed North Korea operation in 2019 (56:16), and new details emerge about last week’s strike on a Venezuelan boat (62:12). Don’t forget to purchase our Welcome to the Crusades: The First Crusade miniseries!Catch Alex and Courtney Rawlings on the Quincy Institute’s Always at War podcast! Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paris Marx is joined by Aaron Benanav to discuss his vision for a multi-criterial economy and how it would alter the type of technology our society creates. It’s a plan to center human experience through democratic discourse while driving true social and technological innovation.⁠Aaron Benanav⁠ is an Assistant Professor at Cornell University and the author of ⁠Automation and the Future of Work⁠.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trump had four major court decisions against him in a single week last week: on tariffs, defunding Harvard, sending troops to LA, and deporting Venezuelans, different courts and appellate panels said he was violating the law. Erwin Chemerinsky comments – he’s Dean of the Law School at Berkeley.Also: The new film “Caught by the Tides” by Jia Zhangke, considered worldwide to be the most important director in China: Over the last 30 years, his great project has been to tell stories that show the radical transformation of Chinese life by capitalism and the state. John Powers explains – he’s critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The film is streaming now on the Criterion ChannelOur Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek welcome actor Morgan Spector (The Gilded Age, The Plot Against America) to the show for a conversation on politics, Hollywood, and capitalism. They trace his political development from the Iraq War and Obama era to Bernie Sanders and democratic socialism, discuss his documentary The Big Scary “S” Word, and reflect on how Hollywood politics skew liberal but not radical (particularly when it comes to Palestine). They also explore Spector’s role as a Gilded Age robber baron, how today’s tech oligarchs compare with the 19th century’s builders, and the need for a new political vision in the age of financialization, AI, and the climate crisis.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On August 27, journalist Taylor Lorenz reported for Wired on a dark-money project funded byanonymous Democratic Party donors to shape social media. Her article documented that,"In a private group chat in June, dozens of Democratic political influencers discussed whether totake advantage of an enticing opportunity. They were being offered $8,000 per month to takepart in a secretive program aimed at bolstering Democratic messaging on the internet.But the contract sent to them from Chorus, the nonprofit arm of a liberal influencer marketingplatform, came with some strings. Among other issues, it mandated extensive secrecy aboutdisclosing their payments and had restrictions on what sort of political content the creatorscould produce."I talked to Taylor about her article and the considerable backlash it provoked from the peopleshe wrote about. We also discussed why Republicans have done so well on social media andwhy this latest effort is both morally dubious and ineffective.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny is in talks with the Kremlin to unfreeze his accounts, so Derek is joined instead by the Quincy Institute’s Alex Jordan to bring you the news. This week: a new study warns that the Atlantic circulation system could collapse (2:32); Ukraine introduces AI-driven drone swarms, raising the prospect of autonomous killing machines (5:55); in Israel-Palestine, Israel declares Gaza City a “dangerous combat zone” (9:45), The Washington Post details the “Trump Riviera” plan (13:50), more European states move toward recognizing a Palestinian state (18:20), and Israel appears to be building a new nuclear reactor (24:44); the IDF assassinates the Houthi prime minister in Yemen (26:57); Indonesia sees mass protests over egregious political perks (30:25); Russia replaces the Wagner Group with the Africa Corps in the Central African Republic amid pushback (32:47); the Congo River Alliance/M23 accuses the DRC government of violating their ceasefire (36:57); lawyers sound the alarm about five men trafficked from the US to Eswatini (39:12); as Russia-Ukraine peace talks drag on, the focus shifts to “security guarantees,” with Moscow rejecting any foreign military presence in Ukraine (41:43); Donald Trump boasts about “obliterating” a Venezuelan boat that may have carried migrants instead of drugs (47:39); US appeals courts rule against Trump’s tariffs and deportations (51:33); and in a New Cold War update, Xi Jinping makes a statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and V-J Day military parade (54:33).Catch Alex and Courtney Rawlings on Quincy’s “Always at War”! Grab one of the last few “Robo Washington Crossing the Delaware” posters!Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss whether the AI bubble is about to burst and how bosses are deploying AI tools to kill jobs and degrade work.Brian Merchant is the author of ⁠Blood in the Machine⁠ and writes a ⁠newsletter⁠ of the same name.Our Sponsors:* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/THENATIONAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy