American Prestige

Danny and Derek sit down with Emily Conroy-Krutz, historian of nineteenth-century America specializing in the global history of the early American republic, to talk about the volume she co-edited with Michael Blaakman and Noelani Arista, The Early Imperial Republic: From the American Revolution to the U.S.–Mexican War. They explore the delineation of empire vs. republic vs. nation-state, challenging the narrative of 1898 being America’s imperial turn, settler colonialism and the dispossession of Indigenous Americans, shifting notions of imperialism over time, and how the framing of America as an imperial project from the beginning can better help us understand its history.

Be sure to also grab a copy of Emily's book Missionary Diplomacy: Religion and Nineteenth-Century American Foreign Relations.

Further Reading:

* Michael Blaakman - Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic

* Daniel Immerwahr - How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

* Paul Kramer

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

It’s the second and final news-less week for AP as the team is on its annual podcast whitewater rafting retreat. In the meantime, please enjoy this unlocked episode covering Biden’s policy on Palestine/Israel.

Danny and Derek speak with Jonathan Guyer, contributing editor at The American Prospect, about the piece he recently wrote for the magazine on Biden’s ideological commitment to Israel and his administration’s handling of the current crisis. The group discusses his obstinacy in changing his approach Israel/Palestine, the domestic and global political implications of America’s conduct, the enabling figures with whom he’s surrounded himself, the U.S.’s long-term goal for the region, how Trump might handle things differently, and more.

Check out Jonathan’s recent work in The Guardian, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, and follow him on Twitter @mideastXmidwest

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

Danny and Derek welcome back to the program Aziz Rana, the incoming J. Donald Monan, S.J., professor of law and government at Boston College, for a multi-part discussion about how Americans came to revere the Constitution and the worldwide implications. In this episode, the group discusses the latest Supreme Court ruling as of the recording date (Trump v. Anderson), how America’s treatment of its constitution compares with those of other nations, the Constitution’s development in the country’s first century, debates around the document in the Civil War and Reconstruction, and more through WWI.

The conversation continues on this Sunday’s bonus episode!

Be sure to grab a copy of the book inspiring this series, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.americanprestigepod.com

Danny and Derek once again welcome to the program Michael Brenes, co-director of the Brady-Johnson program in grand strategy at Yale University and publisher of Warfare and Welfare, this time to talk about his article with William D. Hartung in The New Republic, “A.I. Won’t Transform War. It’ll Only Make Venture Capitalists Richer.” The group discusses …

In the first of two consecutive non-news Friday releases, Danny sits down for another rigorous academic exchange, this time with David Austin Walsh, historian at Yale’s program for the study of antisemitism and author of Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right. The two dig into the big issues broached by the book, including the “right-wing popular front” opposed to socialism, communism, and New Deal liberalism, the nature of conservatism vs fascism, figures from Pat Buchanan to Richard Spencer to Donald Trump, the advent of the left-right divide, and what, if anything, American liberals and leftists can do to defeat American fascism/semi-fascism/fascistish-ism.

NB: this is what some might call a “debate episode” wherein things get a little heated, but everyone left as friends in the end.

Also check out David’s May op-ed in the New York Times, “Do You Want a ‘Unified Reich’ Mind-Set in the White House?” and see him at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 29 to talk about the 2024 election.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

Happy July 4th to American Prestigeheads and patriots holding citizenship elsewhere. Please enjoy this unlocked episode, and a gentle reminder that tomorrow will be another interview given the absence of our news sage, Derek, from the pod for the next two weeks.

Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast Matthew Kruer, assistant professor of history at the University of Chicago, to discuss his essay “Indigenous Subjecthood and White Populism in British America”. The discussion focuses on the American colonies of the 17th and 18th century, touching on the antimony between sovereignty and subjecthood, England’s notion of “benevolent colonialism”, the Chesapeake region’s indigenous leaders and their forms of political theory as they interacted with the English, and more.

Check out Matthew’s book Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

Danny and Derek speak welcome to the program Marc-William Palen, senior lecturer in history at the University of Exeter, for a discussion on his book Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World. They delve into 19th century liberal radicalism and anti-slavery trade policies, how Marx and early socialists approached free trade, the role of consumption, where feminists and Christian pacifists fell on the matter, the advent of neoliberalism, “free” vs “preferred” trade, and more.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.americanprestigepod.com

Danny and Derek welcome back Sam Lebovic, professor of history at George Mason University, for the second part of their discussion on the Espionage Act of 1917 and its use over the years. The group picks things up in the postwar era, exploring how the advent of the national security state and Cold War influenced America’s use of the Act, the Pentagon Pa…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.americanprestigepod.com

Danny and Derek speak with Bret Gustafson, professor of sociocultural anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, about the failed coup attempt in Bolivia this week: who were the players, what transpired, and what happens now.

Be sure to check out Bret’s book Bolivia in the Age of Gas.

Yesterday was Debate Night in America, today we see the results. This week: in Palestine/Israel, a grim Save the Children report on Gaza (0:30), Netanyahu again rebuffs a ceasefire and suggests a new phase of the operation (2:41), a new court ruling on ultra-Orthodox Jews’ conscription (7:14), and Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich again pushes West Bank annexation (10:17); Lebanon is still on edge as the US—while hosting Israeli minister of defence Yoav Gallant—warns Hezbollah that it will not stop Israel from attacking (13:00); a preview of Friday’s presidential election in Iran (17:06); a disputed weapons test in the DPRK/North Korea (20:50); rumblings of an imminent coup in Burkina Faso (22:38); widespread protests break out in Kenya, leading President Ruto to back off of the controversial tax legislation (26:28); deadly attacks in Dagestan (29:47); the espionage trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich begins in Russia (32:02); a failed coup attempt in Bolivia (33:16); Kenyan police arrive in Haiti to face armed groups (36:23); and Julian Assange has reached a plea deal with the United States (38:27).

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.americanprestigepod.com/subscribe