American Prestige

Alex Aviña, an associate professor at Arizona State University and expert on U.S.-Latin American relations, dives deep into the contentious issues surrounding ICE and the security state. He explores how ICE evolved from the post-9/11 climate, linking it to the wars on terror and drugs. Aviña discusses the troubling intersection of surveillance technology and immigration policy, alongside the impact of Trumpism. He emphasizes the legacy of colonialism, and urges a critical view of migration's roots in U.S. foreign policy, calling for local resistance and abolition of ICE.

Andrew Weiss, vice president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of "Accidental Czar," dives into the intricate dynamics of the Ukraine war. He discusses the shocking audacity of Putin's invasion and the strategic necessity for U.S. support. Weiss explores the moral costs of imperialism and the realities of NATO commitments. The conversation also highlights uncertainties around the long-term U.S. backing for Ukraine and the implications for European security, painting a bleak picture of the ongoing conflict.

Rest assured, no one on the AP team has any undeclared tattoos. In this week’s news roundup: In Israel-Palestine, Gaza’s so-called ceasefire holds after another weekend of Israeli strikes (1:36), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders Israel to allow more humanitarian aid (8:16), and reports emerge of a plan to partition Gaza (11:48) as J.D. Vance arrives in Israel and the Knesset advances West Bank annexation votes (14:21); Donald Trump looks set to host Mohammed bin Salman for the Saudi crown prince’s first U.S. visit since the Jamal Khashoggi murder (18:36); Afghanistan and Pakistan agree to a fragile ceasefire after cross-border clashes (21:16); Myanmar’s junta retakes a key commercial town and resumes its offensive (23:47); Japan elects hard-right Takaichi Sanae as its first female prime minister (27:27); in Sudan, drone strikes delay the reopening of Khartoum’s airport (29:59); new data shows jihadist groups tightening their grip across West Africa (31:19); the Trump-Putin-Zelensky saga takes several new turns, with canceled summits and contradictory sanctions (34:52); Rodrigo Paz wins Bolivia’s presidency and pledges to restore ties with Washington (41:28); the U.S. reportedly trades MS-13 informants for access to Nayib Bukele’s mega-prison in El Salvador (43:39); two more U.S. drone attacks hit alleged “drug boats,” one in the Pacific, as the head of Southern Command steps down (45:44); and the U.S. and Australia seal a new minerals deal to counter China (50:28). Subscribe now and check out our series on Silicon Valley with Margaret O’Mara here.

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes! Danny and Derek speak with historian Fara Dabhoiwala, author of What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea, about the complex history of one of liberalism’s proudest ideals, and how it largely emerged from hypocrisy and self-interest. They trace its 18th-century birth in the polemics of corrupt British journalists, its exclusion of women and colonized peoples, the U.S. founders’ rejection of France’s more balanced model, and the later reappropriation of the slogan by abolitionists and reformers. The group also traces free speech’s evolution through the Cold War and into the age of Big Tech, revealing how a principle meant to liberate became a tool of power and a license for unaccountable media.

Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our Sunday bonuses! Danny and Derek speak with Joshua Braver, assistant professor of law at the University of Wisconsin, about Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act. They discuss the president’s power to federalize the National Guard, the Posse Comitatus Act, the limits of judicial deference, Trump’s schizophrenic relationship to the law, the weakness of the liberal legal establishment, why the Great Recession didn’t produce a New Deal moment, and what it means when the only thing left to restrain the executive is the executive itself.

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our content. Lead might be in our protein supplements, but Danny and Derek bring you the news free of most heavy metals. This week: the ceasefire in Gaza begins with prisoner exchanges (1:38), but controversy arises over deceased captives (5:30), plus Israeli violations and Hamas clashes with armed factions (9:35), and a summit in Sharm El Sheikh (14:36); a United Nations report shows a record-breaking spike in atmospheric carbon levels and growing evidence that natural feedback loops are worsening climate collapse (17:14); border clashes escalate between Afghanistan and Pakistan following a failed Pakistani airstrike on a Taliban leader (19:39); Japan’s ruling coalition collapses after Komeito breaks with the LDP (23:06); Nathaniel Powell joins Derek to break down the military coup in Madagascar sparked by Gen Z-led protests and a mutiny within the elite CAPSAT unit (25:16); in France, Macron re-appoints PM Lecornu and the government survives no-confidence votes (45:04); Peruvian president Dina Boluarte is impeached amid corruption scandals and rising crime (48:59); Trump authorizes CIA covert action inside Venezuela and bombs another boat in the Caribbean (50:35); the U.S.-China trade war re-escalates as Beijing restricts rare earth exports and Trump responds with tariff threats and diplomatic chaos (54:27); and finally, Trump’s bid for the Nobel Peace Prize fails while the winner dedicates her win to him (59:04).

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more episodes. Danny and Derek speak with sociologist Charles Derber about how American society is tearing itself apart, as explored in his book Bonfire: American Sociocide, Broken Relations, and the Quest for Democracy. They discuss the decline of civic trust, the rise of atomized “me” culture, the tech-driven Gilded Age, neoliberalism and loneliness, Silicon Valley’s alliance with the national security state, how a country built on expansion and individualism turned those forces inward, and what, if anything, can stop us from destroying the relationships that hold this society together.

Producer's note: This is a re-posted episode originally from Columbus Day 2023. Subscribe now to skip the ads and get access to more bonus episodes like this one. Danny and Derek speak with Juan Ponce Vázquez, associate professor history at the University of Alabama, about Christopher Columbus. They explore his Genoese origins, his journeys to the Americas on behalf of the Crown of Castile, the geopolitical situation at the time, what we know about his contact with native peoples, how the modern holiday came to be.

Subscribe now for the full episode! Danny and Derek welcome back Brendan James and Noah Kulwin, of the Blowback podcast, for a tour through their latest season, which takes the show to Angola. They discuss how Angola became one of the largest and least-remembered battlefields of the Cold War, Reagan’s return to proxy wars, Cuba’s decision to send troops without Soviet approval, South Africa’s “total onslaught” ideology, the Reagan era’s fanaticism, its echoes in today’s politics, and what happens when the U.S. exports its wars (and mythology) across continents.

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more content! Yes, we will be releasing 25 subtle variations of this news roundup in order to catapult ourselves to the top of the podcast charts, and no, we are not sorry. This week: a ceasefire agreement was reached for Gaza, but there was too much information for us to cover in the news, so please check out our special here. Syria’s interim government handpicks a new “parliament” under tight presidential control (1:01); Iran debates moving its capital from Tehran as drought and other ecological issues worsen (3:24); Myanmar’s junta carries out a deadly airstrike on civilians celebrating a Buddhist festival (6:32); Japan’s ruling LDP turns to hard-right Takahichi to become Japan’s first female prime minister (9:03); Sudan’s RSF shells Al-Fashir’s last functioning hospital amid a deepening siege (12:22); Ethiopia accuses Eritrea and the TPLF of funding militias in the Amhara region, raising fears of another war (14:23); Rwanda-DRC peace efforts stall over mineral deals and a lingering occupation (17:31); Trump muses on sending Tomahawks to Ukraine while cutting a drone-tech swap with Kyiv (20:05); another French prime minister resigns (24:24); the U.S. sinks another “narco-boat” of the coast of Venezuela, then cuts diplomatic ties with Maduro (28:27), and moves to expand the president’s war powers at home and abroad (32:54; and Donald Trump flirts with invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act (35:14).