Current Affairs

Andrew Cockburn is a veteran journalist who serves as the Washington Editor of Harper's magazine. His new book, The Spoils of War: Power, Profit, and the American War Machine, available from Verso collects his reporting on the military-industrial complex and the way the public coffers are looted by profiteers. He joined Nathan to discuss why he thinks the ever-bloating military has become an out-of-control "virus," as well as: - The bureaucratic waste that means the US military isn't even good at defense - Why profit, rather than war, is what the military is built for - The defense companies that depend on constantly manufacturing new threats, which conveniently pop up just when it looks like the military budget might be scaled back - Why the new stories about Chinese hypersonic missiles are exactly this kind of self-interested threat inflation - The alarming situation with nuclear weapons, which are far too close to being used for anyone's comfort - Why defense spending isn't even a good way to "create jobs" - Why progressives should not just focus on critiquing "militarism" and disastrous wars but on scaling back the giant institution that channels so many of our social resources into manufacturing "weapons that don't work for threats that don't exist"

Tara Isabella Burton is the author of Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World. She joined Current Affairs editor Nathan Robinson to discuss changing religious practices in the United States. Traditional organized religion has been on the decline for years, as more and more young people are identifying as nonreligious. But are we really? Tara's book looks at the way that new communities and spiritual practices, from SoulCycle to astrology to online political communities, have arisen in the place of churches. We discuss: - To what extent these are identities versus beliefs - What a "religion" is and whether the term should apply to these other kinds of beliefs and practices - How charlatans sell people the promise of spiritual fulfillment - The pluses and minuses of having "bespoke" religions for everyone. On the one hand, everyone gets the faith that suits them best. On the other, we may lose our sense of belonging in the broader human community Edited by Tim Gray Nathan's audio is absolutely horrible for reasons unknown. Many apologies for this. Figuring out the problem so it can be fixed in future.

Today Nathan is joined by Oxford University philosophy professor Henry Shue, author of Climate Justice and most recently The Pivotal Generation: Why We Have a Moral Responsibility to Slow Climate Change Right Now. Prof. Shue's new book is about the moral obligations conferred on people by the historical circumstances they find themselves in. The actions of living people have huge consequences for those born to subsequent generations. What responsibilities do we have to those who come after us? We discuss: - The important questions of justice that need to be central to the climate discussion - Why people living in the future are just as morally important as people living now - What elementary principles of moral philosophy can tell us about the political action we need to take on climate - Why individual lifestyle choices are insufficient to fulfill our moral responsibilities - What those countries most responsible for the climate crisis owe to those who will suffer the most from it Edited by Tim Gray

Ross Barkan, author of The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York, joins Nathan to discuss the career of the infamous ex-New York governor. We talk about: - How an un-charismatic and unpleasant bully made his inspiring journey from humble beginnings as the son of the governor of New York to become the governor of New York - How Cuomo managed to keep a blue state from actually passing progressive legislation - How his Machiavellian ruthlessness, and New York's broken election system, kept him in power for so long - How the media allows politicians like Cuomo to portray themselves as heroes when their actual policies are disastrous Ross' book is an important document of the lies and manipulation of one of our time's shadiest state leaders. It offers an important case study in how centrists govern and the kind of politics we need to overthrow. Edited by Tim Gray

Current Affairs editor and physician Dr. Lily Sánchez joins Nathan to discuss her new (and first) Current Affairs article, "Continuing The Pandemic Is A Choice." Lily explains: - the many things the U.S. could do differently if it was actually trying to get COVID-19 cases as close to 0 as possible - the weird lack of a serious public education and messaging campaign around vaccination - why having 50 different state policies makes no sense when you're trying to control a pandemic - the need for us to refuse to accept the status quo, and demand the elimination of preventable suffering Correction: the horrifying Rosa Parks tweet is in fact from contrarian writer James Lindsay, not a Daily Wire writer. Nathan was thinking of a different horrifying recent tweet that was from a Daily Wire writer. That one was in defense of genocide. Point of clarification from Lily: "I did not mean to imply I endorsed a "vax or test" approach when I was talking about vaccine outreach and testing. "Vax or test" doesn't really make sense because anyone can spread the virus regardless of vaccination status. I do support a universal testing approach. What I meant was that doing a universal testing program can keep people safe even if you cannot convince everyone to get vaccinated." You can follow Lily on Twitter @lefty_md

Ben Burgis is the author of the upcoming book: Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters, as well as the host of "Give Them An Argument" on YouTube. His previous book Give Them An Argument: Logic for the Left was covered in Current Affairs and he and Nathan have co-written before. In today's episode, Ben and Nathan discuss Hitchens' career, writings, and beliefs, including: - The enduring value of Hitchens' leftist polemics against Henry Kissinger and Bill Clinton - The roots of Hitchens' repugnant and despicable views on Islam and the Iraq War - The question of how useful his strident "anti-theism" was - The way the 80s and 90s neoliberal consensus caused certain socialists to lose their way - The need for the left to avoid Hitchens' worst tendencies while learning from his erudition, debating flair, and love of skewering overrated sacred figures The Trial of Henry Kissinger can be seen on YouTube. Ben's book on Hitchens is now available for pre-order. Edited by Tim Gray

Lee McIntyre is a philosopher of science who serves as a research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and an instructor in Ethics at Harvard Extension School. His new book, How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason, is about how we can actually successfully talk people out of dangerous erroneous beliefs. Lee recognizes that merely providing people with correct facts does little, but also believes it's a terrible idea to let bad ideas go unrebutted, or conclude that there's "no point trying to reason with people." His book discusses the importance of building relationships and trust as part of the process of getting people to be open to new ideas, and shows why it's essential in an age of vaccine skepticism and climate denial that we learn how to effectively defend scientific truths. He joined Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson to discuss what works and what doesn't when it comes to talking people out of irrational beliefs. Nathan's article on QAnon is here. The story of the QAnoner who gave up his beliefs is from the Washington Post. The George Orwell piece about flat earth beliefs that Nathan quotes is here. If you enjoy the Current Affairs podcast, consider subscribing to our glorious print magazine. Current Affairs is entirely funded by the donations and subscriptions of readers and listeners, and depends on your support to survive.

Thom Hartmann is the #1 progressive talk radio show host in the country. Today, he joins Current Affairs editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss the world of talk radio, as well as his book "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed The American Dream." Nathan asks why the right has been so dominant in talk radio, and how leftists can effectively counter them. We talk about: - Why Rush Limbaugh was so good at what he did - Whether there is anything about talk radio as a medium that is inherently favorable to conservatives - How giant radio corporations limit the reach of progressive voices (including the billionaire station owner who once told Thom "I won't put anyone on the air who wants to raise my taxes") - What it takes to hold people's attention for 3 hours straight on the air - How to do a professional "radio voice" - How the left can produce successful radio (and why we need to) Thom's book on big business is here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49195416-the-hidden-history-of-monopolies Thom's Nation article about why the left should enter the talk radio field is here: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/conservative-talk-radio/

Author Jim Freeman discusses his book "Rich Thanks To Racism: How The Ultra-Wealthy Profit From Racial Injustice." Jim looks at three issue areas, education, policing, and immigration, and how in each, the ultra-wealthy have found ways to make vast fortunes off the suffering of Black and Brown people. Jim directs the Social Movement Support Lab, which provides multidisciplinary assistance to communities fighting for racial justice. He was formerly a Senior Attorney at Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization, where he directed the Ending the Schoolhouse-to-Jailhouse Track project. He served under President Obama as a Commissioner on the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. His book is available here: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501755132/rich-thanks-to-racism/ Nathan's audio quality is crap because he accidentally used his computer microphone instead of his podcasting mic. He will try to avoid doing this again. Edited by Tim Gray.

Seattle city council member Kshama Sawant was elected as an open socialist in 2013, long before the present wave of local socialist political victories began. During her time in office, she has taken on Amazon and helped make Seattle the first large city in the country to adopt the $15 minimum wage. In this interview, she discusses how she was able to get elected as a socialist during the Obama years, how movements can successfully pressure useless centrist Democrats to do what they are otherwise disinclined to do, why she doesn't think it's a good idea to associate with the Democratic party under any circumstances (but she supported Bernie anyway), and why she has recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America.