Behind the News – July 17, 2025
Host Doug Henwood covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.
Upcoming Episode
Behind the News
12:00 PM (Noon) Pacific Time: Thursdays
Host Doug Henwood covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.
Too much work—and what to do about it
Juliet Schor, author of Four Days a Week, on experiments in reducing the workweek • Katherine Moos and Noé Martin Wiener, authors of this paper, on overwork among teachers
NATO summit, the depredations of private equity
Lily Lynch, author of this report, on the NATO summit • Megan Greenwell, author of Bad Company, on the depredations of private equity
Iran, fake work
Sohrab Ahmari, US editor of UnHerd, on Iran, Israel, and the US • Leigh Claire La Berge, author of Fake Work, on the ludicrous side of capitalism
Israel’s war on Iran: two perspectives
Two perspectives on Israel’s war on Iran: Mouin Rabbani on the regional/global context and Joel Schalit on Israeli society and politics
BYD—whence it came, where it’s going • Marx in America
Paolo Gerbaudo on the Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD’s rise (articles here and here) • Andrew Hartman, author of Karl Marx in America, on the bearded one’s reception in the US
Weapons and technology, China surpassing the US
Laleh Khalili, author of this review, on the long relationship between the US military and industry • Kyle Chan, author of this article, on how China is surpassing the US
Capitalism and its critics, real abundance vs. bogue abundance
John Cassidy, author of Capitalism and Its Critics, on just that • Sandeep Vaheesan, author of this review, will talk about abundance—neoliberal vs. genuine
Fundraising special: two views of Israel–Palestine
Meron Rapoport, co-author of this article, on Israel’s strategy of destruction in Gaza • Mouin Rabbani on Israeli politics, the fate of the Palestinians, and Trump’s scheming
Fundraising special: wobbly dollar, perpetual wars
Fundraising special: Barry Eichengreen on why the gyrations in the value of the US dollar matter • Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan, hosts of Always at War, on why the US is always buying more weapons and bombing people
Fundraising special: Trumpian ideology
A look at Trumpian ideology: Kristin Du Mez on theology, Quinn Sloboidan on the latest iteration of neoliberalism (both rebroadcasts of interviews from February)