American Prestige

Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and access to all breaking news specials. Derek welcomes back to the program ⁠⁠Akbar Shahid Ahmed⁠⁠, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for HuffPost, to talk about the prospect of Trump bringing the US into a war with Iran. Akbar has written a number of articles on Israel-Iran in the last several days, including ⁠⁠"The Pro-Israel U.S. General Quietly Influencing Trump On Iran"⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠"Israel’s War On Iran Bears The Echo Of Past American Mistakes."⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eleanor Yanaga and Luke Waters, co-hosts of the We're Not So Different podcast, dive into the complexities of the First Crusade. They explore the socio-political chaos in 11th-century Europe that led to Pope Urban II's call for Crusade, emphasizing the mix of noble ambition and religious fervor. The discussion reveals the varied motivations of participants, from desperate peasants to ambitious nobles, while critiquing oversimplified narratives about the 'clash of civilizations' and highlighting lasting impacts on both Christian and Muslim worlds.

We've released the first two episodes of our standalone miniseries with the folks from ⁠We're Not So Different⁠⁠⁠. Get the rest of the episodes ⁠here⁠! The expedition begins to take shape. We continue to explore the fallout from Pope Urban II’s call for Crusade at the Council of Clermont, as lords from across France prepare to set off. We look especially at the Normans under Bohemond of Taranto, who will play an outsized role in the campaign to come and whose conquest of Sicily offers some insight into how that campaign would be conducted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the full episode and access to all breaking news specials, subscribe now. Danny and Derek update us on what's been going on over the past few days between Israel and Iran. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode. "Top Secret" subscribers get a free one-year digital subscription to The Nation! Danny speaks with Matt Karp, associate professor of history at Princeton, about party formation in the 1850s as well as his take on the Trump phenomenon. They explore the downfall of the Whigs and rise of the Republicans, the structure of the political parties at the beginning of the republic, the relationship of ideology and party, why we have a giant two-party system despite regional differences, mass democracy in the 19th century and today, Trump minimalists vs. maximalists, and more.    Check out Matt’s book This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy and his article on Trump for New Left Review, “Maxed Out.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spencer Ackerman of ⁠Forever Wars⁠ is back on the podcast to talk about the LA protests and his piece on them for Zeteo, ⁠"The Imperial Boomerang Lands in Los Angeles."⁠ You can read the "director's cut" of Spencer's piece ⁠over at Forever Wars⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode and no ads. Danny and Derek speak with ⁠Séamus Malekafzali⁠ about Israel’s strike on Iran, Iran’s response and attack on Israel, U.S. and geostrategy, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and more content. "Top Secret" subscribers get a complimentary one-year digital subscription to The Nation! Danny and Derek are everyday people who still believe in you. This week: the AUKUS security partnership is under review at the Pentagon (1:47); the IAEA rebukes Iran, nuclear negotiations are going nowhere, and Trump is evacuating nonessential personnel from the Middle East (5:14); in Israel-Palestine, Israeli soldiers continue to gun down people at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites as Hamas kills several GHF workers (10:24), the IDF appears to be shielding at least one ISIS-linked gang in the Strip (13:21), the IDF intercepts the “Freedom Flotilla” (15:39), and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee declares the “two-state solution” dead (17:43); the UK and several states sanction far-right Israeli politicians Ben-Gvir and Smotrich (19:00); South Korea ceases propaganda broadcasts across the DMZ with North Korea (21:06); Sudan’s military loses border outposts after an alleged attack by Libyan forces (22:55); the Russian military advances into another Ukrainian province (25:15); the Polish government survives a no-confidence vote (26:40); member states of NATO strive to hit Trump’s 5% defense spending demand (27:28); the Trump administration is creating an “Office of Remigration” at the State Department (29:08); and in a New Cold War update, the US and China appear to have reached a trade deal (31:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all breaking news specials. Spencer Ackerman of ⁠Forever Wars⁠ is back on the podcast to talk about the LA protests and his piece on them for Zeteo, ⁠"The Imperial Boomerang Lands in Los Angeles."⁠ You can read the "director's cut" of Spencer's piece ⁠over at Forever Wars⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For an ad-free experience and much more content, subscribe now. Subscribers at the "Top Secret" tier get a one-year digital subscription to The Nation! In this week’s episode, Danny speaks with journalist Ross Benes about his book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times. They discuss the connection between the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and “trash culture”, what makes the instantiation of reality TV in 1999 unique and how early reality shows foreshadowed modern politics, how Beanie Babies were akin to “stock investments” for working class and lower middle class people, Pokémon as a pure distillation of unrestrained capitalism, and the other features of that moment that predicted American life as we now know it.  If you enjoyed this episode, listen to our discussion with Colette Shade, “Y2K: The Future That Never Was”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices