Current Affairs

A smaller episode, to refresh our patrons after the big, bloaty extravaganza that was our Harry Potter episode. The dessert after the turkey, if you will (in other words, smaller but more important). In this episode, amusements and managing editor Lyta Gold sits down with Jamaal Bowman, the founding principal of one of New York City's most successful public middle schools, and who is now running for Congress in New York's 16th district. You can find out more about the campaign here: https://www.bowmanforcongress.com/

Read more about Kendri's firm here. Read Indian Country Today on Thanksgiving here. Read Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz on the whitewashing of America's founding myths (including Thanksgiving) here.  Read about the projects of the Indian Law Resource Center here.

Unlocked, for your listening pleasure. Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson, senior editor Brianna Rennix and newsletter editor Nick Slater sit down with Jacobin staff writer Meagan Day to discuss her article 'One Year Off, Every Seven Years'. Meagan's article can be found here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/05/workers-sabbatical-demand-leisure This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA. Please send in your sabbatical ideas to 504-867-8851. You can also send us voicemails about anything else you fancy. (This is the last thing Nathan said at the end of this episode, before his voice was swallowed up by the jazz music. Our apologies - we tried to pull him out of the jaws of the jazz monster, to no avail.)

A lot of people are completely sick and tired of the world's twenty-year-long obsession with Harry Potter. "Shut up about Harry Potter! Read another book!" they cry. To which we respond: no. This week, Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson, senior editor Brianna Rennix, amusements and managing editor Lyta Gold, legal editor Oren Nimni, finance editor Sparky Abraham, and Current Affairs Podcast host Pete Davis have a long, extremely animated discussion about the Wizard Children And Their Politics. You can read more about the time-travelling Ron Weasley theory here: https://the-toast.net/2014/01/02/let-the-man-speak/

To celebrate the release of the new Mister Rogers biopic, 'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood', we're reposting this cosy little episode!This week, unlocked from the patreon bird feed, to the main feed: Current Affairs podcast host Pete Davis and editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson discuss the visionary auteur, child development crusader, and moral voice Mister Rogers.For Pete's favorite book on the case that Mr. Rogers is a left-wing icon, see *Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers* by Michael Long. For a delightful book of Mister Rogers aphorisms, see *The World According to Mister Rogers. The latest hit documentary on Rogers is [Won't You Be My Neighbor*]4.For more on Eleanor Duckworth and "the having of wonderful ideas," see her wonderful book *The Having of Wonderful Ideas*. For more on how narcissism is actually based in a lack of self-esteem, see here. And here's Nathan's piece on teaching climate change.Have a response to this episode? Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.To listen to interviews when they first come out — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

Aisling McCrea and Lyta Gold are joined by Homeric scholar Dan Walden, in an episode that settles the question, once and for all, of whether Ancient Greece and Rome were GOOD...or BAD. This is an excerpt from an episode available exclusively to our supporters on Patreon. To get full access to this episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus content, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

Nathan J. Robinson sits down with journalist Maureen Tkacik to discuss the recent Boeing 737 Max disasters, and the toxic management structures behind them. There's also some gossip about sharing a college dorm with Donald Trump, Jr. Maureen's article is here: https://newrepublic.com/article/154944/boeing-737-max-investigation-indonesia-lion-air-ethiopian-airlines-managerial-revolution This is an excerpt from an episode available exclusively to our Patreon supporters. To gain full access to this episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus content, please consider becoming one of our supporters at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

We've unlocked a bonus episode from the Patreon feed! In this episode, Current Affairs host Pete Davis sits down with Ryan Grim, author and DC bureau chief for The Intercept. Ryan shares his experiences as one of the few progressive reporters in Capitol Hill in the 2000s, and gives the inside scoop on Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Nancy Pelosi, among others. Ryan's book We’ve Got People: From Jesse Jackson to AOC, the End of Big Money and the Rise of a Movement is available here: https://strongarmpress.com/catalog/weve-got-people/ This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

In this episode, Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson speaks to philosophy professor Elizabeth Anderson about workplaces as dictatorships, expanding democracy, and what feminism can bring to science. This is a preview of an episode available in full to our Patreon supporters. To gain full access to this episode, please consider becoming one of our subscribers - for just a few dollars a month, you can help support our work AND gain access to lots of brilliant bonus content. Go to www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs to find out more!

This week, we're unlocking a very special Patreon-exclusive episode for all our listeners! Legal editor Oren Nimni and associate editor Vanessa A. Bee speak to political science professor Corey Robin about his new book, The Enigma of Clarence Thomas. Together, they explore the life and ideology of the Supreme Court's quietest, most mysterious judge, whose perspective on race, power and justice defies simplistic conceptions of left and right. The Enigma of Clarence Thomas is available now: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781627793834 This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.