American Prestige

Danny and Derek speak with Rachel Kleinfeld, senior fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about her recent article co-authored with Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, "How to Prevent Political Violence". They explore different types of political violence, the connection between online threats and real life action, the rise of political violence in the US since 2015, "violence entrepreneurs", polarization, the role of ideology, and more.

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Note: This interview was recorded December 3, 2024, i.e. one day before UHC CEO Brian Thompson was shot.

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The news roundup is once again delivered to your temporal lobe. This week: 2024 is officially the hottest year on record (0:57), particularly because the Arctic is no longer a carbon sink, but rather a net carbon emitter (2:40); regarding the situation in Syria, an update on the political transition (5:16), renewed fighting between the SDF and Turkish proxies (10:56), and Israel makes a land grab for an extended "buffer zone" (15:01); in Israel-Palestine, Hamas makes a major ceasefire concession (18:22); rebels in Myanmar seize the Bangladesh border (21:29) while other factions call for a ceasefire (22:51); President Yoon of South Korea survives his first impeachment vote and chaos ensues (24:30); Ethiopia and Somalia strike a deal to settle their recent tensions (30:14); in Russia-Ukraine, Trump's demand for a ceasefire panics Zelenskyy (33:22); Romania's constitutional court annuls the first round of its presidential election (37:14); an armed group commits a massacre in Haiti (40:25); and the Biden administration is building migrant detention facilities (42:00).

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Derek once again speaks with translator and historian Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, this time to break down the ousting of Bashar Al-Assad from power in Syria. They discuss why the regime collapsed so quickly after this particular offensive, the armed groups at play, what this means for Syrian civilians, how support from outside actors factors into things, what kind of polity might emerge, and more.

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Check out Aymenn's forthcoming The Conquest of al-Andalus: a Translation of Fatḥ al-Andalus.

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Danny and Derek welcome back to the show Ben Fong of Arizona State University for the second part of their discussion about his book Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge. In this episode, they explore psychedelic drugs and their journey from CIA attempts at mind control to modern biohacking, the bourgeois, neoliberal drug of cocaine, the cultural connotations of its powder form vs crack, marijuana and the "green rush", and the quick fix of both using drugs and attempts at suppressing their usage.

Check out more of Ben's work at his Substack on labor and logistics, On the Seams.

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Danny and Derek once again combine powers to find that they have none. This week: an update on the "ceasefire" in Lebanon (0:29); the situation in Syria progresses as rebels take Hama (4:38); in Israel-Palestine, Amnesty accuses Israel of genocide (12:34) as parties make another push for a ceasefire (14:27); South Korea's President Yoon (briefly) declares martial law (17:05); the Zamzam displacement camp is shelled in Sudan (19:59); Chad's government breaks a military agreement with France (21:46); in Ukraine, Zelenskyy broaches territorial concessions, but demands NATO membership in return (24:53); the Barnier government in France falls in a no confidence vote (27:49); NATO makes a new push to ramp up defense spending amidst concerns over sabotage (30:48); and President Biden makes his first (and last) trip to Africa (34:21).

Be sure to check out our special on South Korea with Eun A Jo.

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Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast Eun A Jo to talk about this week's events in South Korea, where President Yoon declared martial law after accusing the opposition of “anti-state activities”. They discuss why Yoon made this move, the mobilization of Koreans against the attempted coup, regional responses, the imminent vote on Yoon's impeachment, and more.

Eun A is an Edelson Fellow in international security at Dartmouth College’s Dickey Center for International Understanding and an incoming assistant professor of government at William and Mary. She works on questions of memory, democracy, and peace in East Asia, with a focus on South Korea and Taiwan.

Check out Eun A's explainer of the events.

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Derek is joined by translator and historian Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi to take a closer look at the past week's events in Syria. They delve into groups like Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, Turkey's role and its current goals, the timing of the offensive, the quick seizure of Aleppo, the mood on the ground, and more.

Check out Aymenn's forthcoming The Conquest of al-Andalus: a Translation of Fatḥ al-Andalus.

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Danny and Derek welcome to the show Ben Fong of Arizona State University for a two-part discussion of his book Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge. In this episode, the group covers everything from coffee to opiates to antidepressants, how they interact with capitalist society, the CIA, commodity fetishism, licit vs. illicit as distinct from legal vs. illegal, and more.

Check out more of Ben's work at his Substack on labor and logistics, On the Seams.

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Danny and Derek update everyone on this week's advance by rebel factions in northwestern Syria wherein they took control of Aleppo.

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Danny and Derek are back with Patrick Wyman, host of the Tides of History podcast and author of The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World, for the second part of their discussion about Ridley Scott's Gladiator films. This episode explores father-son relationships, Numidia, why the original film outshines the sequel and most depictions of Rome since, the military campaigns depicted in the movies, different types of gladiators, the Praetorian Guard, treacherous personal trainers, and more.

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Read Patrick's piece for Slate, "The Case for Gladiator II".

Be warned, this is full of spoilers.

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