Wide Left

Arif Hasan and Ben Natan discuss the President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords and what it means for the United States and the world when it comes to climate change. A quick rundown on the realities of climate change precedes a discussion about solutions. They also briefly touch on the politics of terror and the new Wonder Woman movie.

Arif Hasan and Ben Natan talk about the most recent Jared Kushner revelations with attempting to establish a backchannel with Russia and then delve into the largely successful H-1B visa program that is now under fire. After that, they briefly discuss the budget once more and talk about why the budget proposed by Donald Trump is both politically and structurally untenable.

Arif Hasan and Ben Natan do a quick rundown on all the updates with the Trump scandal, but they also cover a bevy of news that's been easy to miss over the past week, including updates in health care news, education policy, prison and criminal justice reform, trade policy, Iran, North Korea, free speech and more.

Arif Hasan and Ben Natan review a particularly hectic week for the Trump administration that includes three separate (at least) scandals, including a new one involving Israeli intelligence and the old bogey, Russia. That also means talking about the new developments in the Comey scandal and touching briefly on the Flynn scandal.

Arif Hasan and Ben Natan return to talk about the AHCA, single-payer and the French elections. Once again, a deep dive into policy analysis for the health care bill is interspersed with a larger philosophical discussion about the nature of government services and an ethic of care. After that, they try to divine potential lessons learned from the Macron victory and Le Pen defeat.

There's no podcast this week! Arif Hasan and Ben Natan have been swamped covering the NFL Draft in their other job, so they won't be able to provide you with the fully-researched, detailed podcast you deserve. If you missed it, be sure to listen to last week's podcast, where we discuss the benefits and drawbacks of political strategies centered around purity.

This week, Arif and Ben talk about the controversy surrounding the late-breaking Bernie Sanders endorsement for Jon Ossof and how it contrasts with the easy endorsement he gave Heath Mello. From there, they engage in a wider discussion about the pragmatic implications of demanding ideological purity and how it relates to primaries and general elections.

Arif Hasan and Ben Natan use the Berkeley protests as a jumping off point to discuss the place violence has in politics and how the lens with which we should view violence should start at the structure of politics. Is it ethical to punch Richard Spencer but protest the violence of Nathan Damigo, and what contexts separate the two acts? They also discuss the conflicting definitions of white supremacy and why that distinction is critical to this discussion.

Arif and Ben once again return to the Middle East to talk about the gas attacks by Bashar al-Assad and the retaliatory strikes authorized by Donald Trump at Shayrat airfield. We go through the timeline of the civil war, the nature of deterrence and the importance of policy coherence.

Arif and Ben open with a discussion on the bizarre Mike Pence controversy and then move into a discussion about drone strikes and civilian casualties in Iraq, Syria and other theaters in the War on Terror. Also, a brief discussion on having a "War on Terror"

Ben Natan and Arif Hasan decide to delve deep into the heart of the talk about Russia, and examine not just all of the connections built between Trump, his associates and Russia but the risks the Democrats may incur by pursuing the story and the intentions of Russia as a geopolitical actor.

Ben Natan and Arif Hasan break down a bad budget and dig deep on a nuclear North Korea. We figure out the significance of arts and sciences funding to the fabric of a nation and check out congressional testimony and publicly available intelligence reports on North Korea.

In this week's episode, Ben and Arif devote the entire hour to a tweet sent out from representative Steve King of Iowa, about "restoring civilization with someone else's babies." We talk about the concepts of civilization, culture and boundaries, as well as how the very real history of race implicates the modern rise in hate crimes.

Arif Hasan and Ben Natan take on the repeal-and-replace debate with health care and go deep in the weeds when it comes to health care law. After that, they take on the US-Iranian relationship and it's complicated but important history—especially with clarity on the deal that President Barack Obama struck with Iran not too long ago.

In the inaugural episode for Wide Left, Ben Natan and Arif Hasan not only introduce themselves, they also tackle the recent DNC chair elections featuring Tom Perez and Keith Ellison. After that they have a broad discussion about the refugee crisis and what it means to act as an international actor beyond immediate economic or security gains.