Current Affairs

Nathan, Pete and Sparky discuss the book Cult of Smart: How Our Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice, and education more broadly. Should there be a curriculum? Should twelve-year-olds be allowed to drop out? Is it possible to have a radically democratic school? Is there such a thing as "intelligence"? What is "education" anyway? We answer all these questions and more. Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/42516771 This is a preview of an episode available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

Pete speaks to journalist Talia Lavin about her new book Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy. This is a preview of an episode available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

The team responds and reflects to the Biden win, ruminate on conservative octogenarians, and look forward to a vaccinated future. The panel this week is made up of associate editor Vanessa A. Bee, finance editor Sparky Abraham, managing editor Lyta Gold, and editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson. Your host is newsletter editor Nick Slater. This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA. Music by Danny Bradley

As the US prepares for its second ever Catholic president, Rennix is joined by Current Affairs contributor Daniel Walden for an in-depth discussion on Catholicism: its liberatory side, its troubling side, its complicated side, and the side that says the best gender is "sphere". This is a preview of an episode available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

Nathan and Oren discuss William B. Fu—sorry, William F. Buckley, the "most important conservative intellectual of the postwar era", and possessor of the second-most ridiculous mid-Atlantic accent in politics. This is a preview of an episode available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

Infrastructure enthusiast Sparky Abraham is joined by Dr. Magnus Jamieson, an expert in electrical power systems, to discuss the fire which destroyed the town of Paradise, California in November 2018—the most destructive wildfire in California's history, caused by a single faulty electrical line and a whole bunch of systemic problems. This is a preview of an episode available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

The team discusses the past, the present and the future. Along the way, they get distracted by their favorite election conspiracy theories and the mysteries of New Orleans politics. The panel this week is made up of administrative Cajun Kate Gauthreaux, poet-at-large Cate Root, legal editor Oren Nimni and editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson. Your temporary host is Aisling McCrea. Kate joined us clandestinely from their workplace, hence their absence from large segments of the podcast and questionable acoustics on their audio. Cate's article on mutual aid: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/what-is-mutual-aid-and-how-can-it-build-power "Biden Sucks, Vote Biden" by Danny Bradley: https://dannybradleymusic.com/songsforcurrentaffairs/bidensucksvotebiden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEdz1FBCnyU This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

Nathan speaks to Michael Moore about his thoughts on the 2020 election. This episode also has a transcript: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/11/17106

Nathan speaks to Michael Moore about his thoughts on the 2020 election. This is a preview of an episode available in full now, on early access, to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

We accidentally recorded two Sorkin episodes in a row, sorry. This one's about his most recent picture, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and why the real-life event was funnier and better-scripted than the actual movie. This is a preview of an episode available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!