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Chris Smalls is the co-founder and former president of the Amazon Labor Union and author of the new book When the Revolution Comes. He joins Current Affairs associate editor Alex Skopic in Havana, Cuba, during the Nuestra América aid mission to discuss the U.S. blockade, labor organizing, his fight against Amazon, and why struggles from Cuba to Gaza to Staten Island are connected.
Recorded March, 2026
✊ Buy When the Revolution Comes: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724036/when-the-revolution-comes-by-chris-smalls/
0:00-5:21 Why Chris Smalls Came to Cuba
5:21-8:18 Hip-Hop, “Union Drip,” and Labor Organizing
8:18-11:09 Joe Biden’s Empty Pro-Union Promises
11:09-17:32 What Workers Should Know About Unionizing
17:32-24:02 The State of the Amazon Labor Union
24:02-26:36 Lessons From the Amazon Fight
26:36-28:15 Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla, and Israeli Apartheid
28:15-28:50 Medea Benjamin Cameo
28:50-31:56 What Comes Next for Chris Smalls
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Norman Finkelstein is one of the leading scholars of the Israel-Palestine conflict and author of the new book Gaza’s Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High Places.
He joins Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss Israel’s plan to make Gaza unlivable, the racism of Israeli society, Tony Blair and Trump’s colonial “Board of Peace,” why he refuses to condemn Hamas, and why he argues that governments, human rights organizations, and international legal authorities have helped enable the Gaza genocide.
🇵🇸 Gaza's Gravediggers: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gazas-gravediggers/
0:00-9:20 Netanyahu’s plan for Gaza
9:20-20:12 Israel’s objectives in Gaza
20:12-41:41 The racism of Israeli society
41:41-45:55 Why oppressors see themselves as victims
45:55-50:18 The Cherokee removal and Palestine
50:18-1:04:21 Why this has always been Israel’s plan
1:04:21-1:25:08 Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and the right
1:25:08-1:32:34 Trump and Tony Blair’s “Board of Peace”
1:32:34-1:47:18 Who are Gaza’s gravediggers?
1:47:18-1:55:18 Refusing to judge anti-imperial atrocities in isolation
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Waqas Ahmed is a Pakistani journalist whose work has appeared in The Intercept and Drop Site News. He joins Current Affairs to discuss his recent reporting with Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim on the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, the ouster and imprisonment of Imran Khan, and how Washington went from suspicion of Pakistan to embracing its military-backed government.
🇵🇰 Read Waqas Ahmed's article in Drop Site News: https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/pakistan-mediator-united-states-iran-trump-imran-khan
0:00-10:32 How Biden Soured on Pakistan
10:32-13:27 Ukraine and Imran Khan’s Break With Washington
13:27-19:35 How the U.S. Helped Push Imran Khan Out
19:35-23:37 Imran Khan’s Imprisonment Today
23:37-26:17 Pakistan’s Crackdown After Khan’s Ouster
26:17-31:32 How Washington Learned to Love Pakistan’s Military Regime
31:32-33:09 America Supports Dictatorship When It Serves U.S. Interests
33:09-38:22 Pakistan’s Role in the Iran Negotiations
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Nicholas Enrich worked at USAID for more than 12 years, including in its Bureau for Global Health and Bureau for Management. He joins Current Affairs to discuss his new book, Into the Wood Chipper, a whistleblower account of how the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE allies shredded one of the most important humanitarian agencies in the U.S. government.
🏥 Buy Nicholas's Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Into-the-Wood-Chipper/Nicholas-Enrich/9781668226957
0:00-3:02 Inside USAID’s “Wood Chipper”
3:02-7:02 What USAID Actually Did
7:02-12:23 How the Right Turned USAID Into a Conspiracy Theory
12:23-14:37 The Trump Administration’s Lies About “Life-Saving” Aid
14:37-20:33 The Human Cost of Destroying USAID
20:33-34:20 How This Catastrophe Could Have Been Avoided
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It’s not 2016 anymore. We can throw out the party’s sclerotic leadership.
🌹 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-democratic-establishment-can-be-defeated
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Rania Khalek is a Lebanese-American journalist based in Beirut and the host of Dispatches on BreakThrough News. She returns to Current Affairs to give an update on Lebanon, where Israel has continued bombing, occupying territory, issuing displacement orders, and demolishing villages during what is being called a “ceasefire.”
🇱🇧 Subscribe to BreakThrough News: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakThroughNews/featured
🇱🇧 Rania's SubStack: https://substack.com/@raniakhalek?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=58m7xg
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🇱🇧 Rania's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raniakhalek/?hl=en
0:00-5:16 There Is No Ceasefire in Lebanon
5:16-11:52 What Israel Is Destroying in Southern Lebanon
11:52-19:13 Hezbollah and the Fault Lines Inside Lebanon
19:13-25:32 Negotiations Under Fire: Peace or Submission?
25:32-27:57 Hezbollah’s Resilience
27:57-34:02 How U.S. Media Sanitizes Israel’s War
34:02-39:16 America’s Role in Destroying Lebanon
39:16-42:37 How Americans Can Show Solidarity
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Abdul El-Sayed is a physician, public health official, Current Affairs contributor, and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan. He joined Nathan Robinson to discuss his campaign, the fight over Gaza and AIPAC inside the Democratic Party, Chuck Schumer’s leadership, Medicare for All, corporate money in politics, and why he believes Democrats can win by rejecting the old theory of “electability.”
〽️ Abdul's Website: https://abdulforsenate.com/
0:00-3:41 Why This Campaign Feels Different
3:41-7:05 Gaza, AIPAC, and U.S. Tax Dollars
7:05-11:45 Abdul’s Theory of Electability
11:45-15:45 Persuading Trump Voters
15:45-17:22 Schumer and Democratic Leadership
17:22-19:30 Money Out of Politics, Medicare for All, and Senate Priorities
19:30-23:05 Presidential Power and Foreign Policy
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Sam Miller McDonald is a writer and longtime Current Affairs contributor. He joins Nathan Robinson to discuss his new book Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization—and Now Threatens to Destroy It, a sweeping critique of the belief that history is a story of constant improvement.
🌀 Buy Sam's book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250278319/progress/
🌀 Read Sam's articles: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/author/samuel-miller-mcdonald
0:00-8:30 critiquing the Pinker-style narrative of progress
8:30-19:43 “progress” as destruction: industrialization and ecological collapse
19:43-23:34 what actually constitutes wellbeing
23:34-30:15 why the idea of “progress” is misleading
30:15-36:42 how “progress” justifies violence (Nazism, colonialism)
36:42-41:37 imagining values beyond “progress”🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership
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As Trump creates economic havoc and commits war crimes, the socialist mayor of New York City demonstrates what serious, responsible government looks like.
🗽 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/meanwhile-zohran-is-just-getting-things-done
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After being a leading Democratic enabler of the genocide of Palestinians, Cory Booker now has the audacity to publish a book about moral virtue.
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Adam Johnson is a media analyst and co-host of the podcast Citations Needed, whose work has appeared in The Nation, The Intercept, and other major outlets. He joined Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson to discuss his new book How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza, an analysis of how U.S. corporate media covered Israel’s assault on Gaza.
🇵🇸 Buy Adam's new book: https://www.plutobooks.com/product/how-to-sell-a-genocide/
🇵🇸 Follow Adam on Twitter: https://x.com/adamjohnsonCHI
🇵🇸 Citations Needed: https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/
0:00–5:51 Yes, it's a genocide
5:51–9:32 How liberal media failed
9:32–16:25 The myth of journalistic neutrality
16:25–21:40 The “Hamas-run” framing
21:40–28:03 How Hamas is portrayed as ISIS
28:03–34:22 Erasing historical context
34:22–37:46 Media double standards
37:46–47:05 Biden’s role and response
47:05–51:04 Whose voices are excluded
51:04–54:39 What happens to dissenting journalists
54:39–59:43 The Atlantic (ugh)
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Mouin Rabbani is a Middle East analyst and researcher, and one of the most incisive commentators on U.S. foreign policy in the region. He joined Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson to discuss the latest escalation in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and the broader Middle East, including ceasefire negotiations, U.S.-Israel relations, and the shifting balance of power.
🇵🇸 Buy Mouin's new book: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gaza-apocalypse/
🇵🇸 Follow Mouin on Twitter: https://x.com/MouinRabbani
0:00–6:04 Trump’s ceasefire claim and what’s actually happening
6:04–10:15 Who controls U.S. policy, Washington or Israel?
10:15–14:39 Zionism and the crackdown on dissent
14:39–16:59 How criticism of Israel gets suppressed
16:59–24:46 Why the pro-Israel consensus is breaking down
24:46–29:40 The gap between Trump’s rhetoric and reality
29:40–32:26 What Trump’s threats reveal about the war
32:26–39:45 The moral case against the war
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Ben Cohen is the co-founder, along with Jerry Greenfield, of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream company. But he has also been involved throughout his life with a number of major activist efforts on issues of peace, social justice, anti-racism, and climate change.
He is currently heading the Up In Arms campaign to rein in military spending. Cohen was a national co-chair of Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. He has been arrested multiple times in the course of his activism, including disrupting an RFK Jr. Senate hearing to protest the genocide in Gaza. He is the author of the book Above The Law: How Qualified Immunity Protects Violent Police (OR Books, featuring an introduction by Killer Mike) and he is currently running a campaign to "free Ben and Jerry's" from its corporate overlords to protect its social activism.
🍦 Ben's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yobencohen/
🍦 Ben's Book: https://orbooks.com/catalog/above-the-law/
🍦 Up in Arms Campaign: https://upinarms.life/
0:00–10:16 War, military spending, and moral priorities
10:16–15:10 U.S. security logic and NATO expansion
15:10–17:56 The profit motive behind war
17:56–21:16 Impunity and lack of accountability
21:16–28:12 Explaining militarism with BBs and Oreos
28:12–33:50 Ben & Jerry’s social mission explained
33:50–41:34 The Unilever/Magnum fight
41:34–46:04 Should you boycott Ben & Jerry’s?
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Amy Goodman is the longtime host of Democracy Now!, the independent news program she helped launch 30 years ago, which has since grown from a small network of community radio stations into a global media institution.
She spoke to Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson and Digital Editor John Ross, alongside filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, about the new documentary Steal This Story, Please!, which traces the history of Democracy Now! and Goodman’s career in independent journalism.
🗽 Watch Steal This Story, Please!: https://stealthisstory.org/
0:00–4:51 What makes Democracy Now! different from corporate media
4:51–9:14 Amy Goodman’s approach to journalism
9:14–12:48 How antiwar voices get sidelined in corporate media
12:48–20:26 Who corporate media really serves
20:26–25:15 Objectivity vs. taking a stance
25:15–36:53 What Democracy Now! adds to the historical record
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Dr. Butch Ware is a historian, public intellectual, and the Green Party candidate for Governor of California. He is an associate professor at UC Santa Barbara, a former Green Party vice presidential nominee, and an advocate for universal healthcare, housing, and divestment from war.
He spoke to Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson about his campaign to get on the ballot and what he describes as efforts by the Democratic Party to block third-party candidates.
🍊 Butch Ware's website: https://www.butchware4gov.com/
🍊 Follow Butch on Twitter: https://x.com/butchware?lang=en
🍊 Follow Butch on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butchware/?hl=en
0:00–11:37 ballot access battle
11:37–17:36 blocking third parties
17:36–23:58 UK Green Party surge
23:58–33:34 Gavin Newsom critique
33:34–37:21 abortion & trans rights
37:21–42:02 Butch Ware’s vision for California
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Jasper Nathaniel is an independent journalist who recently returned from documenting Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where he has spent years reporting on land seizures, settler attacks, military raids, and the daily realities of life under Israeli military rule.
He spoke to Current Affairs Digital Editor John Ross about what Americans misunderstand about the West Bank, how settler violence actually works on the ground, why settlers have become increasingly emboldened, and how land seizures are often carried out by settlers and then legalized by the state after the fact. Nathaniel also discussed Israel’s military court and prison system, the new death penalty law, the limits of debate inside the Democratic Party, the silence of American politicians when violence occurs, and what Israeli public opinion reveals about where the country may be heading.
🇵🇸 Subscribe to Infinite Jaz: https://www.infinitejaz.com/
🇵🇸 Follow Jasper on Twitter: https://x.com/infinite_jaz
0:00–6:55 What Americans Don’t Understand About the West Bank
6:55–14:50 Pogroms in the West Bank
14:50–19:25 Why Settler Are More Emboldened
19:25–29:41 Israel's New Death Penalty Law
29:41–35:52 Who Ends Up in Israeli Prisons
35:52–42:55 A Litmus Test for Democrats?
42:55–46:26 The Myth of the Two-State Solution
46:26–51:53 Why American Politicians Stay Silent
51:53–57:49 What’s Happening Inside Israeli Society
57:49–1:01:57 How Bad It Really Is
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Afshin Matin-Asgari is an Iranian historian and professor of Middle East history at California State University, Los Angeles, and the author of Axis of Empire: A History of Iran–U.S. Relations. He spoke to Current Affairs about the long history of U.S. involvement in Iran—from the 1953 CIA-backed coup to the present conflict—and why foreign intervention has repeatedly strengthened authoritarian forces rather than weakened them. A participant in the 1978 revolution who opposed both the Shah and the Islamic Republic, Matin-Asgari offers a rare perspective on Iranian politics, the nuclear issue, and the current war, arguing that while the Islamic Republic is repressive, Iran’s future must be determined by Iranians themselves, not by the United States or Israel.
🇮🇷 Buy Afshin's Book: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2694-a-history-of-iran-us-relations
0:00-3:05 Afshin's background and how he feels about the war
3:05-5:46 What attacks mean for Iranian dissidents
5:46-9:25 The 1978 revolution
9:25-19:26 The U.S., the 1953 coup, and the Shah
19:26-27:26 Origins of U.S.–Iran conflict
27:26-30:48 Are Iranian leaders irrational?
30:48-35:13 Iran’s nuclear program
35:13-43:02 Iran’s strategy and risk of wider war
43:02-46:48 What stance the left should take
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Donald Trump is trying to starve the island nation into submission, but an international coalition of volunteers is coming to Cuba’s aid. We’re joining them.
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Rania Khalek is a journalist based in Beirut and the host of Dispatches on BreakThrough News.
In this conversation with Current Affairs editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson, she describes life under bombardment in Lebanon as Israel’s assault displaces over a million people and spreads fear across Beirut. Khalek discusses the silence of U.S. Democrats, what Americans are responsible for as their government backs the war, and the broader escalation across the region. She also examines the failures of U.S. media coverage, the dehumanization that enables mass killing, and why Iran’s response must be understood in the context of self-defense and the breakdown of international law.
🇱🇧 Subscribe to @BreakThroughNews
🇱🇧 Rania's SubStack: https://substack.com/@raniakhalek?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=58m7xg
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🇱🇧 Rania's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raniakhalek/?hl=en
0:00-14:05 Life under bombardment in Lebanon
14:05-18:45 Democratic silence on Lebanon
18:45-24:10 What Americans should understand about Lebanon
24:10-29:56 Escalation and nuclear fears
29:56-36:19 Media failure and dehumanization
36:19-45:20 Iran, self-defense, and international law
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Becca Rothfeld is a staff writer at The New Yorker, an editor at The Point, and the former nonfiction book critic at The Washington Post, where she wrote until the paper eliminated its books section amid sweeping layoffs.
She explains why book reviews matter and how criticism can introduce readers to ideas they didn’t know interested them. Rothfeld also discusses the role of negative reviews, what it means for a book to be “instructively bad,” and why criticism should challenge rather than flatter its audience. She also argues that the growing use of AI risks degrading human thought, and reflects on beauty, “looksmaxing,” and the kind of intellectual and cultural life worth preserving.
📚 Becca's New Yorker Articles: https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/becca-rothfeld
📚 Becca's Website: https://www.beccarothfeld.com/
📚 Becca's Book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250849915/allthingsaretoosmall/
0:00–5:41 What Happened to the Washington Post
5:41–13:08 Why Review Books
13:08–22:02 Reviewing “Bad” Books
22:02–39:20 AI and the Death of Thinking
39:20–45:46 Looksmaxing and Beauty
45:46–50:58 Favorite Book Reviews
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