Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Left Anchor

Today we have Danish MP Pelle Dragsted on to talk about his book Nordic Socialism: The Path Toward a Democratic Economy. We discuss what is distinctive about the Nordic socialist tradition, how much of it is left after many decades of neoliberal attacks, what people can learn from it today, and more. 

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Today we have Phil Christman on to talk about his book Why Christians Should Be Leftists. Is there a model of Christianity aside from right-wing fundamentalism--something more in like with the teachings of this fellow Jesus Christ?

The David Bentley Hart essay mentioned can be found here.

Today we have Dr. Jonathan Howard, who writes at Science Based Medicine, on to discuss his new book Everyone Else Is Lying to You: How the medical establishment weaponized doubt to spread COVID, normalize quackery, and undermine public health. It's all about a cohort of highly credentialed and elite doctors who spread grotesque disinformation about Covid from the very start of the pandemic, and kept doing so even as their predictions were repeatedly proven wrong. And now many of those people are in charge of America's public health bureaucracy, tearing it to shreds--when they aren't getting Jonathan's YouTube channel nuked by abusing the company's copyright policy.

Why and how did they do this, and what might we do to stop this from happening in the future?

Today we have writer and friend of the pod Osita Nwanevu on to talk about his new book The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding. He goes back to political brass tacks--what democracy actually is, why it's important, why we don't have it, and why we should work to achieve the goals set forth in the Declaration of Independence for the first time.

Ryan recently visited Greenland to report on their public sector, which turns out to be extremely large and critical to the local economy. How and why did this develop? Then we discuss some recent gerrymandering news.

Stay tuned for the full article in the next issue of the Prospect! And subscribe here to hear the rest of the episode.

Today we're interviewing Katie Brennan, who just won the primary for the New Jersey state Assembly in Hudson County. She explains how the state Democratic machine de facto abolished democracy with a rigged ballot design, how it changed, and how she overcame a tidal wave of money to win.

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Today we've got Layla Al-Sheik on to discuss recent events in Gaza, where an onrushing famine has suddenly become widely acknowledged, even among parts of the Israeli far right. Is it because reality finally broke through, or Europe getting fed up--or perhaps an Ezra Klein column? And is there a chance to save Gazans and get a permanent peace settlement?

Check out our previous episode with Layla here and the Isaac Chotiner interview of Amit Segal here.

Alexi is still on vacation, so this time we are replaying a recent American Prospect Weekly Roundup show, in which Evan Urquhart of Assigned Media helps Ryan dig into the Supreme Court's latest transphobic decision and how The New York Times played a vital role in it.

Today we've got David Dayen on to discuss the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: massive tax cuts for the rich, massive cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, evisceration of Joe Biden's climate program, and huge subsidies for oil and coal companies, plus a number of bizarre smaller items. Republicans seemingly also forgot to waive another budget law, meaning there will also be $500 billion in cuts to Medicare over the next decade. Not great!

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Back in 2011 Peter Frase wrote an article for Jacobin called "Four Futures," later turned into a book, speculating about how politics and the economy might evolve in the future as automation progresses. The four possibilities, outlined in broad strokes, are: communism, rentism, socialism, and exterminism. Fourteen years on, how have his predictions borne out, with the rise of global temperatures, green energy, and artificial intelligence?

Today we’ve got New York City politics expert Michael Caley on to discuss how Zohran Mamdani managed to assemble a coalition that bested Andrew Cuomo—where did he rack up big margins and why, how did Cuomo’s campaign fail, and what does it mean?

Check out Michael’s Substack here, and Michael Lange’s voting analysis here.

Today we have Dr. Matthew McManus on to discuss his book The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism. It turns out that there is an extensive tradition of socialism emerging out of classical liberal theory in the 19th century that is clearly relevant for today. What can modern leftists learn from John Stuart Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Rawls, and many others? Listen to find out.

Today we've got Derek Davison of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter and American Prestige podcast on to talk about Israel's sweeping attack on Iran. What is happening and why, how much has each side suffered, and is there a chance that the U.S. might get involved? It doesn't look good.

Check out Kerry Howley's essay on Pete Hegseth here.

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Back in 1943 the Polish economist Michał Kalecki published one of the all-time great essays about political economy, “The Political Aspects of Full Employment.” We dig into his argument and how it holds up applied to the 2024 election. Then we turn to an essay in Spectre Journal called “‘Experience’ as the Best Teacher” by Vanessa Wills about the intellectual approach (or lack thereof) of Joe Rogan, and what it reveals about his class position.

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Today we are talking Elon Musk’s alleged retreat from DOGE, the ungodly horrors he has unleashed in that time, and why someone would commit such evil. Then we move on to Trump’s loss in tariff court, his prospects at the Supreme Court, the lie about “white genocide” in South Africa, and what’s going on in Gaza and Ukraine.

Check out Ryan’s piece on Musk leaving here, David Dayen’s piece on Trump’s tariff smackdown here, and the documentary series on Larry Krasner here.

Back in 2011 Peter Frase wrote an article for Jacobin called "Four Futures," later turned into a book, speculating about how politics and the economy might evolve in the future as automation progresses. The four possibilities, outlined in broad strokes, are: communism, rentism, socialism, and exterminism. Fourteen years on, how have his predictions borne out, with the rise of global temperatures, green energy, and artificial intelligence?

Subscribe now to hear the full episode!

Today we have economist and YouTuber Cahal Moran on to talk about his book Why We're Getting Poorer: A Realist’s Guide to the Economy and How We Can Fix It. We discuss what the economics profession has learned since 2008, what lessons the left can learn from it, why lefty YouTubers seem to be rather weak in this area, and more. Enjoy!

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Today we've got David Dayen on to talk about the big Apple decision limiting fees on the company's app store, and then the building supply disruptions thanks to Trump's tariffs, which look to be comparable to what happened during the pandemic. Gulp.

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What the heck is going on with the economy and the markets? We've got financial expert George Pearkes on to discuss tariffs, stocks, whether the bond market is blowing up, and the economy writ large.

Today we are speaking with professor Adam Kotsko about his new book Late Star Trek: The Final Frontier in the Franchise Era. Why Trek so successful and beloved through the 1990s, why have the recent shows struggled to recapture the magic, and how does that relate to changing dynamics in the entertainment industry? 

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Today we have Matt Bruenig of the People's Policy Project, NLRB Edge, and The Bruenigs podcast on to talk about Ezra Klein's and Derek Thompson's book Abundance. We discuss the strengths and accuracies of the book, but also where it turns squirrelly, why it's gotten so much attention, and the suspicious cast of characters behind it. 

Check out Matt's review of the book here.

Today we are talking with Professor Eric Blanc about his book We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing Is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big. It's all about how innovative organizers have managed to unionize some highly dispersed workplaces like Starbucks, but also how institutional labor unions have failed to take advantage of that knowledge. We also discuss what labor should do given the Trump administration's unprecedented threat to labor power as such.

Check out Eric's Substack here.

As Eric mentions, if you want to organize your workplace visit here, if you want to get another job so you might organize that workplace visit here, and if you want to support federal workers visit here.

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Today we are bringing back David Austin Walsh to talk about the Trump/Musk attack on American higher education--not just DEI programs, but advanced science and research of any kind. Why are they doing this and what damage will it cause?

Check out David's book Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right here, our previous interview with him here, and Chuck Schumer's ridiculous interview with The New York Times here.

Ryan is on vacation this week, so here's an episode from the archives.

Today we're discussing the article "Truth and Politics" by Hannah Arendt. We talk about her idea that truth has both a weakness and a power to it, what the Herman Cain Award subreddit tells us about the power of propaganda, Joe Rogan getting owned on his own show, why Bernie Sanders is better at science communication than the CDC, and more. Enjoy!

Today we are talking to Harvard Law Professor Mark Tushnet about his book Who Am I to Judge: Judicial Craft versus Constitution Theory. It’s common today for Supreme Court justices to outline a theory of constitutional interpretation, but it turns out that not only is this dishonest, but also something that only developed in the late 20th century. Enjoy!

The Ian Toll book series Ryan mentions can be found here.

Today we are discussing the book Assholes: A Theory, by Aaron James. It turns out there are important distinctions between the asshole, the douchebag, the jerk, and the psychopath, and they are highly relevant to the men (they are usually men) running the American government.

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This time we've got Eoin Higgins on to talk about his book Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left. He uses Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi as case studies in how shifting monetary incentives created by tech oligarchs like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen combined with certain personal pathologies turned formerly respected progressive journalists into right-wing blowhards.

Coincidentally, Ryan also made videos on both Greenwald and Taibbi, which make for a nice pairing.

This time we are taking a step back to consider just what is going on with shadow president Musk and his gang of thugs seizing control of core government functions. It's important, we feel, to foreground the grave political implications of what is happening.

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Today we're bringing back Professor Harvey Kaye to talk about Trump's inaugural address and some of his first executive orders.

Check out the Prospect's coverage of Trump's actions: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4.

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Alexi is off, so David Dayen joins Ryan to discuss the events over the holiday. What are Republicans going to do? Is anyone driving the GOP train--maybe Elon Musk? And what in God's name is Trump going on about with conquering Greenland, Canada, and Panama? We live in hell.

Today economics professor Rob Larson comes on to discuss his new book Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More. We discuss how the ultra-rich got their money, what they do with it, why it's a problem, and what to do about it. Enjoy!

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What worked and what didn't about the Biden administration's program, and why didn't it pay off politically? We discuss, and at the end we give a brief update on what's going on in Syria.

Read President Biden’s defense of his record here.

Today we are talking the United Healthcare CEO assassination, the attempted coup in Korea, and the revolution in Syria. Subscribe now to listen to the whole thing!

Pennsylvania Senator Nikil Saval, who represents the First District in South Philadelphia, talks about what went wrong with the Harris campaign in Philadelphia and across the nation, and how the left might rebuild going forward.

Check out Nikil's recent book Rage in Harlem: June Jordan and Architecture.

This time we are talking about what went wrong and what to do going forward. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing! 

Trump won. Ryan and the Prospect's David Dayen discuss.

Less than a week to go before the election, so we've got Daniel Nichanian on from the great publication Bolts. We talk about Trump's Nuremburg Rally in New York and what effects it might have, how the Republican ground game is shaping up, and the most important races for state supreme court, prosecutors, and sheriffs.

Check out the rest of Bolts' excellent 2024 coverage here.

The second-largest reservoir in the United States is called Lake Powell on the Colorado River. It has not been filled since 1999, and in 2022 reached a record low of about 23 percent full--nearly the point of "dead pool," where the lake would be below the outlet pipes. The reason is that with climate change and reservoir overcapacity (the largest reservoir of all, Lake Mead, is downstream of Powell), there is too much storage on the river relative to demand for agriculture, cities, and water lost from reservoir evaporation.

What to do? Science writer Zak Podmore examines the question in his book Life After Dead Pool: Lake Powell's Last Days and the Rebirth of the Colorado River, where he argues it's time to drain the lake, save a lot of water, and restore the wondrous beauty of flooded Glen Canyon.

Zak and University of Utah economist Marshall Steinbaum join us to talk about the political economy behind the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, how environmentalists went wrong attacking it with conservative arguments, and how the Colorado can be better managed as a resource for both people and nature. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

Today we are talking the killing of Yahya Sinwar, Kamala Harris's outreach to Black male voters, and most importantly, Trump's unbelievably crappy line of merch. Enjoy!

Israel's occupation is much worse than South African apartheid. Subscribe here to listen to the whole episode.

Today we are talking about philosopher Harry Frankfurt's famous essay "On Bullshit," and how it applies to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and J.D. Vance. We also discuss the damage caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, aid links here.

Check out the new book by Ryan Mac and Kate Conger as well. Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter.

This time we are talking Mark Robinson and the Olivia Nuzzi-RFK Jr affair. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

Hey folks, Ryan has been sick with Covid, so this week we're unlocking a bonus episode. 

Donald Trump visited Wilkes-Barre, much to Ryan's surprise, but his appearance fell flat. What's going on with his campaign? We discuss that, plus Kamala Harris's policy rollout, and the outbreak of riots in the UK. Enjoy!

Today economics professor Rob Larson comes on to discuss his new book Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing! 

We've got historian Harvey Kaye back on to talk about the major DNC speeches and what they reveal about the state of the Democratic Party. Enjoy!

Today we're talking Trump, Harris's policy rollout, and UK riots. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!