Episódios
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The Democratic Party is sclerotic. It’s easy to heap blame on Joe Biden now that he is weak and powerless. But that’s a convenient way of avoiding a major reckoning.
Nathan J. Robinson, editor of Current Affairs, reads his article "The Problem Goes Well Beyond Biden"
🦚 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-problem-goes-well-beyond-biden
🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership
🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs
🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/
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🦩 This episode originally aired on May 16, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs
Chas Freeman is one of the most insightful voices in U.S. foreign policy, with a distinguished career as a diplomat and a deep expertise in U.S.-China relations. In this conversation with Nathan J. Robinson, Freeman offers a searing critique of America's current approach to diplomacy, the global balance of power, and its role in key international conflicts.
Freeman challenges the pervasive "China threat" narrative, arguing that the U.S. has misunderstood China's rise and wrongly positioned it as an existential threat. He compares the foreign policy approaches of Presidents Biden and Trump, highlighting the surprising continuities in their handling of China. Freeman also deconstructs the oversimplified and inflammatory discourse surrounding Taiwan, calling for a more nuanced understanding. Shifting to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Freeman explains how U.S. diplomatic failures helped fuel the war and why America’s actions have deepened the crisis. Finally, Freeman offers a sharp critique of U.S. policy towards Israel, urging the U.S. to stop enabling Israel’s expansionist policies and to push for a real peace agreement with the Palestinians.
0:00-6:03 The Decline of American Diplomacy
6:03-15:26: China
15:26-18:30: Biden v. Trump Approach to China
18:30-23:58: Taiwan
23:58-35:07: Russia/Ukraine
35:07-49:09: Israel/Palestine
🤝 Buy Chas Freeman's Books: https://chasfreeman.net/books-and-publications/
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🦩 This episode originally aired on May 14, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs
Ted Rall is one of the most influential political cartoonists on the left today. In his new book “What’s Left: Radical Solutions for Radical Problems," he presents a manifesto for left-wing politics in 2025, blending incisive analysis with his political cartoons.
Rall outlines what it means to be a leftist in an era where the Democratic Party has abandoned progressive ideals. He argues that the left must focus on real, substantive demands — from healthcare and the defense budget to a livable wage, offering both a critique of the past and a vision for what the future could hold if we organize around principles that actually improve people's lives.
0:00-7:04 A Manifesto for the Left
7:04-11:49 Defining Core Leftist Values
11:49-19:20 The Power of Simplifying Complex Ideas
19:20-27:48 Liberals vs. Leftists
27:48-41:17 Key Priorities for the Left
41:17-46:58 The Broad Appeal of Left-Wing Ideas
🎨 Buy Ted's Book: https://rall.com/2025/05/01/book-ted-rall-whats-left
🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership
🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs
🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/
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🦩 This episode originally aired on April 18, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs
America is in crisis, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Around the world, other countries have already solved many of the problems we’re told are unsolvable here: from unaffordable healthcare to lack of parental leave, crumbling infrastructure, climate disaster, and more. So why can’t the U.S. do what other nations have already done?
We’re joined by journalist and lecturer Natasha Hakimi Zapata, author of Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe, a new book that explores how other countries have tackled problems the U.S. treats as unsolvable. From universal healthcare in the U.K. to paid family leave in Norway, public housing in Singapore, and green energy in Uruguay, Zapata shows what’s possible and how it was achieved. She traces the political fights, the movements, and the leadership that made these victories real, offering lessons for Americans ready to demand more. The solutions exist. The question is whether we’re willing to fight for them.
0:00–15:17 The Fight to Create the NHS
15:17–21:44 Parental Leave & Childcare That Actually Works
21:44–27:00 Why These Aren’t “Handouts”
27:00–29:32 How Singapore Made Public Housing Work
29:32–33:52 Estonia’s Model of Digital Democracy
33:52–36:47 Uruguay’s Green Energy Revolution
36:47–45:23 How to Win These Fights in the U.S.
🌎 Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Another-World-Possible-Lessons-America/dp/162097844X
🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership
🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs
🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/
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In “On Democracies and Death Cults,” Murray offers a straightforward “good versus evil” account of the Israel-Palestine conflict. He does this by excluding every piece of information that undercuts his thesis and even spreading outright falsehoods.
🦚 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/douglas-murrays-expertise-is-a-sham
🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership
🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs
🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/
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🦩 This episode originally aired on May 6, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs
Lorne Michaels might be the most powerful figure in American comedy — and yet, most people barely know who he is. In this episode, New Yorker editor Susan Morrison joins us to discuss her new book Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, a deeply reported, wildly entertaining biography of the man behind SNL. We explore how Michaels built a cultural institution from scratch, reinvented the variety show format, and launched the careers of generations of comedy legends — all while staying deliberately out of the spotlight. Morrison explains how Michaels has shaped American humor and politics, maintained control over a live show for nearly 50 years, and earned a reputation as one of the most inscrutable and effective bosses in showbiz.
0:00–1:55 Spy Magazine vs. Trump
1:55–14:54 Why Lorne Michaels?
14:54–28:50 Reinventing the Variety Show
28:50–31:28 How SNL Shaped Comedy
31:28–34:21 SNL and Politics
34:21–38:01 Lorne’s Management Style
38:01–43:20 Favorite Sketches
🎭 Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/532520/lorne-by-susan-morrison/
🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership
🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs
🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/
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🦩 This episode originally aired on April 29, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Liberalism and socialism are often treated as opposites — but what if they’re actually part of the same fight for freedom, equality, and democracy? We’re joined by political theorist Matt McManus, author of The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, a new book that challenges conventional narratives about liberalism, socialism, and the history of political philosophy.
McManus explains how thinkers from John Stuart Mill to John Rawls argued that true freedom requires not just political rights, but freedom from domination in the workplace and economy. He also addresses the deep confusion around the word "liberal" today — why many leftists recoil at liberalism after decades of association with hollow technocrats like Matt Yglesias — and why the older liberal tradition, rooted in egalitarian principles, is worth retrieving.
0:00–6:45 Why Political Philosophy Matters
6:45–23:34 Recovering the Radical Roots of Liberalism
23:34–27:20 John Rawls Was More Radical Than You Think
27:20–32:30 Can Liberalism Be Saved From Its Hypocrisy?
32:30–38:42 What Separates Liberal Socialists From Other Socialists
38:42–46:06 Why Understanding Liberalism and Socialism Still Matters Today
🌹 The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism: https://www.routledge.com/The-Political-Theory-of-Liberal-Socialism/McManus/p/book/9781032647234
🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership
🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs
🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/
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🦩 This episode originally aired on April 22, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs
Most people never think twice about shrimp. But as it turns out, these creatures make up the majority of animals alive on farms at any given time—hundreds of billions every year. And the conditions they endure are often horrifying: overcrowding, eye mutilation, and inhumane slaughter methods are all standard practice. So why don’t we care?
We’re joined by Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla, chairman of the Shrimp Welfare Project. He walks us through the shocking scale of global shrimp farming, the mounting scientific evidence for shrimp sentience, and the practical reforms that can drastically reduce animal suffering.
0:00–5:20 Why We Care About Pandas But Not Shrimp
5:20–10:54 The Most Abused Animals on Earth
10:54–17:18 Can Shrimp Feel Pain?
17:18–22:36 Inside the Brutal World of Shrimp Farming
22:36–31:32 How We Can Make Shrimp Suffer Less
🦐 Yes, Shrimp Matter: https://asteriskmag.com/issues/09/yes-shrimp-matter
🦐 Shrimp Welfare Project: https://www.shrimpwelfareproject.org/
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A bit of a change of pace for the CA podcast today: We're going to be doing SCIENCE instead of politics. We're joined by one of the world's leading popular science writers, physics professor Sean Carroll, whose bestselling books include The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself and Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime. His latest book is The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Quanta and Fields.
Sean is here today to discuss how our understanding of the world around us has developed over time, how much stranger the world is than our "common sense" perceptions of it would indicate, and how laypeople with no background in the physical sciences can begin to grasp and appreciate the deepest hidden truths about the Universe. Sean is an eloquent spokesperson for the view that a godless universe can still be a poetic and beautiful one, and there may be more connections between the political and the physical than it first appears...
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🦩 This episode originally aired on April 4, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Sophia Rosenfeld is a distinguished historian and the author of Common Sense: A Political History. She joins Nathan to discuss how the idea of “common sense” has been used as a political weapon—from Thomas Paine to Donald Trump. Rosenfeld explains how appeals to common sense can both empower ordinary people and shut down dissent, why the term has become central to right-wing populism, and how it helps mask deeply ideological claims as obvious truths. She also reflects on her new book, The Age of Choice, and the hidden politics behind the freedoms we take for granted.
0:00-6:04 How Trump uses "common sense" as a political weapon
6:04-16:15 How "common sense" is used to make radical ideas normalized
16:15-21:03 How "common sense" undermines expertise
21:03-27:57 What are the origins of "common sense?"
27:57-32:33 How "common sense" can be manipulated for good
32:33-39:25 The politics of “choice” and why freedom of choice isn’t always liberating
39:25-44:34 Is “common sense” real, or just a rhetorical tool?
🧠 Common Sense: A Political History https://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-Political-Sophia-Rosenfeld/dp/0674057813
🧠 The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691164717/the-age-of-choice?srsltid=AfmBOoqca43cL20XoW5ImlNs1_bkxT9eIkiK_I08g7sKYOv9yWo0yvE0
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🦩 This episode originally aired on April 8, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Zohran Mamdani represents the 36th District in the New York State Assembly. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he is currently running for mayor of New York City, hoping to unseat the controversial Eric Adams, who recently escaped federal corruption charges after signaling a willingness to help the Trump administration crackdown on immigrants. Mamdani is running on a platform of lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers. He joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss his city and his campaign.
0:00-6:12 What's the Deal With Eric Adams?
6:12-11:55 The Real Challenges Facing New Yorkers
11:55-14:43 The Rent is Too Damn High
14:43-19:48 How Zohran Plans to Win
19:48-21:59 Confronting Genocide from Local Office
21:59-26:51 Responding to Right-Wing Talking Points
26:51-29:56 Zohran's Vision for New York City
🗽 Zohran Mamdani's Website: https://www.zohranfornyc.com/
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🦩 This episode originally aired on February 21, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Joe Biden is gone, but we are now living with the consequences of Biden's presidency, and it's important in this moment to look back over the last four years and try to understand what exactly happened to get us to this point. Was Biden's presidency doomed from the start? Which of the many competing narratives about it is true? Was it an America-wrecking catastrophe, as Trump says, or an underrated golden age, as Biden's defenders would have it?
We are joined for this assessment by the world's leading Bidenologist, Branko Marcetic, who is the author of the 2020 book Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden, and has written a two-part assessment of the Biden presidency for Jacobin, Part I being on domestic policy and Part II being on foreign policy. Branko recounts the political history of the last four years, explaining how it all went wrong and we ended up back at another Trump presidency.
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🦩 This episode originally aired on February 26, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Sam Seder and Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report have spent years tracking the rise of the far right, the decay of liberal institutions, and the Democratic Party's refusal to meet the moment. They join Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to talk about what Trump and the conservative movement are really planning, why most Democrats still don’t understand the threat, and how the left can actually fight back.
“If you're looking for fraud and waste, everyone knows you start where the most fraud and waste is already on record—and that’s the Defense Department, which has failed seven, maybe eight audits over the past few decades. It has the biggest budget by far. If this were a genuine attempt to root out fraud and waste, you’d start there." —Sam Seder
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🦩 This episode originally aired on March 18, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Peter Beinart is one of the most important Jewish intellectuals writing about Israel today. A professor, journalist, and former liberal Zionist, Beinart has undergone a profound personal and political transformation over the course of his career. In this episode, he joins Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss his new book Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. Together, they explore the religious, political, and moral narratives that have shaped Jewish identity in relation to Zionism, and why Beinart now believes that Jewish safety cannot be built on Palestinian dispossession.
“There’s a fundamental flaw in thinking that you can make yourself safe by making the people who live next door to you radically unsafe.” —Peter Beinart
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🦩 This episode originally aired on March 5, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Dr. Cornel West is one of the most electric and morally serious voices in American public life. A philosopher, theologian, activist, and jazzman of the intellect, West fuses the prophetic traditions of Black Christianity with a ferocious critique of capitalism, empire, and nihilism. His books—from Race Matters to Democracy Matters to The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought—confront the spiritual decay of our age with love, courage, and uncompromising honesty. Dr. West joins Current Affairs to reflect on the collapse of civic virtue in the American empire, the nihilistic impulse at the core of Trumpism, and the moral cowardice of our ruling elites. He challenges us to resist both neofascism and neoliberalism not with smugness or cynicism, but with a blues-soaked spirituality rooted in historical memory and genuine care for the most vulnerable.
“The blues is about wrestling with catastrophe but never allowing catastrophe to have the last word, because we have a love and a courage and a joy inside of us that can never be taken away.” —Dr. Cornel West
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🦩 This episode originally aired on March 14, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Francesca Fiorentini is a comedian, journalist, and host of The Bitchuation Room. She joins Nathan to discuss her viral showdowns on Piers Morgan Uncensored, why compromising with the right is a losing strategy, and why the left-wing resistance should be bold and aggressive—but also fun.
0:00–12:32 Piers Morgan
12:32-22:27 Why we can't meet the right halfway
22:27-25:57 James Carville and the liberal resistance
25:57-29:19 Luigi Mangione
29:19-35:31 The class war is on
35:31-38:22 Does the Democratic Party have what it takes?
38:22-41:16 We have to get money out of politics
41:16-44:24 The resistance should be fun
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🦩 This episode originally aired on March 11th. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/Current Affairs!
Dr. Omar Suleiman is a distinguished Islamic scholar, civil rights activist, and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research. He joins Nathan to discuss the deep roots of Islamophobia in American politics and the moral consequences of U.S. foreign policy—particularly the genocide in Gaza. Dr. Suleiman explains how systemic dehumanization shapes American policy and what can be done to fight back. -
This episode originally aired on February 10, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Eric Blanc is the author of We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing Is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big, which covers the recent wave of unionization drives in America and summarizes the lessons we can learn from them. Eric shows that today's new unions have succeeded against incredible odds through bottom-up organizing: the workers themselves decide to organize a union, rather than existing large unions launching campaigns. Eric argues that we can learn from what baristas and Amazon workers and media workers have been doing, and that there is a substantial possibility of reversing the ongoing decline in unionization rates. His book is a vital toolkit for those seeking to transform their workplaces and the world, and he joins to day to give us clear, concrete lessons that he gleaned from hundreds of interviews with union members around America.
"Courageous shop-floor organizers have dared to take on corporate behemoths, from Amazon to Starbucks to Volkswagen. Waves of unionization have begun to spread across multiple industries, including higher education, journalism, food service, auto, social services, retail, tech, and museums, as well as nonprofits. And not only are workers fighting back—they’re winning. Despite widespread assumptions among labor leaders and pundits that lightly-staffed organizing can’t compel employers to collectively bargain, workers have won first contracts in a wide range of industries and companies, including at deep-pocketed chains like Apple. Grassroots workplace fightbacks have also wrested major concessions for millions more workers. No less importantly, these struggles have empowered and transformed their protagonists. In a society where people are conditioned to quietly obey bosses—and at a moment in history marked by pervasive hopelessness—joining together with your coworkers to fight back can be an ecstatic, liberating experience." — Eric Blanc, We Are The Union
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This episode originally aired on February 6, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Dr. Genevieve Guenther, the founding director of End Climate Silence, thinks a lot about one of the most important questions of our time: How we can combat climate change denial and actually bring about the transformations to our energy systems that will halt runaway climate catastrophe. She has written a book, The Language of Climate Politics: Fossil Fuel Propaganda and How to Fight It, that looks at how climate change is discussed in the media and how we can talk about it more effectively in ways that actually show people what the problem is and give them actionable solutions to fight for. She stresses the importance of avoiding "doomerism" and maintaining hope through action. She joins us today for a NON-doomerist conversation on the present state of the climate movement and what we should be doing right now.
"It's so hard to think about the future in America right now, and that's in part because the future is going to be a future with climate change in it. And either the future is going to involve resolving the climate crisis and creating a new system and a new form of human flourishing, or it's going to be death by a thousand cuts. [So] when you start thinking about this stuff, if you start to have feelings of grief or terror or depression or hopelessness, just know that that comes with the territory. It's normal. You're not the only one. But it doesn't mean that it's hopeless. You're taking on these feelings because you have courage. It's a sign of your bravery. But don't think about the stuff you can't control. Don't think about the scientific impacts that feel overwhelming or somehow too scary and depressing to deal with. Take your attention and focus it on the people who are preventing us from halting the climate crisis." — Genevieve Guenther
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This episode originally aired on February 3, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!
Rob Larson is Current Affairs' In-House Economist. He is also the author of Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More. Rob covers the grotesque contrast between the lives of the rich and poor in this country, and the outsized power that the super-rich have over our lives. He shows how our country's wealth is squandered and outlines strategies for ending the plutocracy.
Rob and Nathan's article on the Wall Street Journal's Mansion section is here. This interview pairs well with Michael Mechanic's episode about his book Jackpot.
This book is not just for ogling the velvet lives of the ruling class, although there’s plenty of room for that. It’s about taking the rich out of the cockpit of society and putting a democratic system in their place. Because beyond their multiple gigantic homes and private jet miles, the control of the ruling class over the rest of us is pretty stunning, not to mention utterly grossly undeserved... To achieve anything, important labor and environmental movements require a good understanding of what’s going on—including the shifting strategies of the owning class and their corporate property. The point of this book is not just to study the rich, but to learn their vulnerabilities, and to help build the growing movements that could put some limits back on the power of the ruling class that owns our economy and runs the government. — Rob Larson, Mastering the Universe
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