How is it that some of the most privileged people in the world — the multimillionaire and billionaire owners of tech and finance companies — are some of the most aggrieved? Journalist Jacob Silverman reflects on the titans of Silicon Valley’s rightward turn, as well as the industry’s financing and its past and present deep … Continued
The United States has often been celebrated as a nation of immigrants. Yet over the last century, the U.S. government expelled more people than were allowed to stay permanently. Historian Adam Goodman describes the U.S. state’s “deportation machine,” motivated by a shifting combination of bureaucratic self-interest, capitalist gain, and racism, which Trump has now put … Continued
Donald Trump infamously targeted immigrants — and many rejoiced when he left office. But, as historian Elliott Young points out, the criminalization of immigrants has been a bipartisan affair, going back 140 years. He discusses the intersection of mass incarceration and the detention of immigrants. Resources: Elliott Young, Forever Prisoners: How the United States Made … Continued
Racism is finally getting the attention it deserves, including the violence that people of color experience at the hands of the police. But can contemporary racism be understood outside of capitalism? Historian Touré Reed argues against artificially separating race from class — what he terms race reductionism. Resources: Touré F. Reed, Toward Freedom The Case … Continued
John Judis joins us to talk about his recently-completed trilogy on U.S. political life and history. The final, new, publication is “The Socialist Awakening: What’s Different about the Left Now”. Hosted by Kris Welch.
Warnings of Russian interference in the 2020 US. elections are increasing. How bad is it? Compared to U.S. interference in foreign elections? David Shimer tells us. Hosted by Kris Welch. Guest: David Shimer is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and an Associate Fellow at Yale University. He is the … Continued
Each election year, politicians make endless appeals for the votes of the middle class. But who, and what, is the middle class? David Roediger looks at the political history of an unwieldy category, from its Cold War role as a bulwark against Communism to the Democratic Party’s rebranding of working class voters to the radical … Continued
On today’s show, editor and senior columnist for Black Agenda Report Margaret Kimberley will discuss her latest article in BAR (blackagendareport.com) entitled “Freedom Rider: The Permanence of White Supremacy”. Hosted and produced by Sabrina Jacobs.
Historian Alfred McCoy argues that the end of the US as an empire may come sooner than most of us realize. He discusses the rise and fall of American global power. Resources: Alfred W. McCoy, In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power Haymarket, 2017
The Untold History of the United States. Filmmaker Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick reveal a riveting account of the rise and decline of the American empire. They trace the American empire through the bloody U.S. suppression of the Filipino struggle for independence; the establishment of U.S. financial hegemony via World War I; the repeated … Continued
