Start Making Sense

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Jeet Heer and Swing Left’s Yasmin Radjy discuss the importance of getting out the vote.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's American Prestige world news roundup: the 2024 BRICS summit was held, featuring Vladimir Putin pushing for a dollar alternative and potentially alienating some member states (1:36); in Palestine-Israel, an update on Northern Gaza (9:10), Antony Blinken visits (12:31), and a leaked document on Israel's planned counterattack on Iran (16:22); in Lebanon, the IDF targets the Qard al-Hassan banking network (18:22), US special enovy Amos Hochstein visits with special demands (21:13), and the IDF targets Tyre for the first time in this assault (23:45); in Turkey, a terrorist attack interferes with the Kurdish peace process (25:19) and Fethullah Gülen of (of the eponymous movement) dies (28:02); India and China negotiate a border agreement, with Xi and Modi meeting while at the BRICS summit (31:11); in Sudan, an RSF commander defects (34:18); the M23 ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo appears to have failed (36:03); in Ukraine, Russian forces are pressuring several towns (37:57)

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Ulises A. Mejias and Nick Couldry to discuss how Silicon Valley's extractive data collection regime and the power it grants them resembles a much older form of exploitation: colonialism.Ulises A. Mejias is a professor of Communication Studies at SUNY Oswego and Nick Couldry is a professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory at the London School of Economics. They are the co-authors of Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back and among the co-founders of the network Tierra Común.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Latino and Black voters in swing states, we are told by the New York Times, are “drifting away from the Democrats.” But how good is the evidence here? Steve Phillips has our analysis.Also: Melania has published a memoir: “Melania,” where she revisits plagiarizing Michelle Obama for her 2016 RNC convention speech, and wearing that jacket that said “I don’t care, do U?” when she visited INS detention camps for children separated from their parents at the border. Amy Wilentz comments on her explanations—and on the rest of the book.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of American Prestige, Derek speaks with ProPublica's Brett Murphy about recent revelations about the US government continuing to arm Israel despite the State Department's knowledge of Israel preventing humanitarian aid getting into Gaza. They delve into the laws regarding arming countries engaging in such policies, Antony Blinken's denial of knowing Israel's humanitarian aid obstruction in Gaza, America's rationale for an unconditional flow of arms, and more.Brett's pieces on the matter:Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, Two Government Bodies Concluded. Antony Blinken Rejected Them.Inside the State Department’s Weapons Pipeline to IsraelAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by Chris Lehmann to discuss the elite denial of presidential candidate’s mental decline.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of See How They Run, Ben Wikler and John Nichols join D.D. Guttenplan to discuss how the election will turn out in the very particular, very important swing state of Wisconsin.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week’s edition of the American Prestige world news roundup: It’s another dose of doom, but we tacked on a relatively feel-good animal story. It appears that Israel has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (1:32), the IDF’s brutal operation continues in northern Gaza (4:56), and the Biden administration floats withholding arms over the Strip’s humanitarian situation (6:42); an update on Israel’s invasion of Lebanon (13:09); the world continues to await Israel’s response to Iran’s ballistic missile strike (16:07); a diplomatic crisis for India and Canada (19:28); the DPRK/North Korea strikes unused rail lines connecting it with South Korea (21:04); an update on the war in Sudan (22:50); a devastating drought in southern Africa (26:12); in Russia-Ukraine, a Russian counteroffensive in Kursk makes progress (27:44) while Zelenskyy reveals part of his Victory Plan (31:19); stock prices soar for US defense contractors (34:22); and China has sent pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, DC (36:04).Advertising In

Paris Marx is joined by Julia Black to discuss who Curtis Yarvin is and how his anti-democratic, far-right writings have influenced the politics of Silicon Valley and the wider American extreme right.Julia Black is a features reporter on The Information’s Weekend Team.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

One in six voters, pollsters say, are “still unsure of their choice.” What do people mean when they say they are “undecided”? Rick Perlstein says political writers have failed to understand the undecideds—and what Kamala might do to win their votes.Also: Pennsylvania is the state where this year’s election may well be decided—and where nearly two-thirds of voters don’t have college degrees. Eyal Press went to Pennsylvania to find out what working class people there are thinking about and talking about in this election.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of American Prestige, we're joined by Rhys Machold, senior lecturer in international relations at the University of Glasgow, to talk about how India tries to achieve homeland security through its relationship with Israel. They talk about the watershed 2008 Mumbai attacks (aka 26/11), the origins of India's relationship with Israel, the latter's security tech industry, post-Mumbai attack ramifications like Modi and Hindutva's rise, and how the concept of homeland security permeates many aspects of the culture.Buy a copy of Rhys' book Fabricating Homeland Security: Police Entanglements Across India and Palestine/Israel.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Kate Wagner on the polarizing politics of Megalopolis.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Jane Kleeb, Anthony Flaccavento, and Sarah Taber to discuss how the party can win in small-town America.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's world news roundup from American Prestige: In Palestine-Israel, the one year anniversary of October 7 (1:45), damning ProPublica and Drop Site reports on US complicity in aid worker deaths (5:10), a new IDF siege in northern Gaza (10:55), and Biden and Netanyahu discuss a retaliation for Iran (13:47); Netanyahu threatens to turn Lebanon into Gaza (17:27) while the IDF invades and orders evacuations of southern Lebanon (19:40), Beirut's airport seems to be the next target (21:50), and more Hezbollah leadership is killed (23:15); the DPRK/North Korea is cutting road and rail ties to South Korea (25:32); Japan has a new PM and snap election (27:51); in Sudan, new fighting in North Darfur state (30:28); escalation in Ethiopia's Amhara region (31:42); several Russian advances in Ukraine (33:43); the UK and Mauritius reach an agreement on the Chagos Islands (39:57); Claudia Sheinbaum takes office as president of Mexico (43:28); and Haitian armed groups kill dozens in Pont Sonde (45:17).Ad

Paris Marx is joined by Spencer Ackerman to discuss the past year of Israel's actions in Palestine and the innovations in war technology being used to carry out what the ICJ has deemed a "plausible" genocide in Gaza.Spencer Ackerman is a Pulitzer-prize winning author of Reign of Terror. He’s a contributor at Zeteo and publishes the Forever Wars newsletter. He’s also writing a new series of Iron Man comics that come out very soon.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The polls have had disastrous failures for decades, but people continue to focus on them; Rick Perlstein has a better idea: ‘don’t follow polls—organize.’Also: Democrat Marie Gleusenkamp Perez won a House seat in a Trump district, pointing the way for others. Marc Cooper analyzes her current reelection campaign in southwestern Washington State, starting from the fact that she’s a working class woman in a rural area.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Translating Marx’s Capital might be daunting to some, but Paul North, professor of Germanic languages and literature at Yale, and Paul Reitter, professor of Germanic languages and literature at Ohio State University, felt up to the task. On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek talk to them about their new translation of Capital, what goes into capturing the nuances of the original German text, why they chose the second edition in particular, the cosmopolitanism of the book, Marx’s anger, and what they each brought to the table in taking on this massive project.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by Matt Duss, a seasoned foreign policy analyst at the Center for International Policy, to discuss how the Biden administration keeps adding fuel to the fire.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of See How They Run, D.D. Guttenplan is joined by Chris Lehmann and Jeet Heer to discuss the Walz-Vance showdown.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this episode of American Prestige, Daniel Bessner interviews Derek Davison on whether he sees any way out of the status quo in Western/North Atlantic politics.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy