Derek sits down with Nathaniel Powell, West Africa analyst at Oxford Analytica and honorary researcher at Lancaster University’s Centre for War and Diplomacy, for a discussion of Wednesday’s coup in Gabon. Nathaniel gets into the background of ousted president Ali Bongo Ondimba and his family, what we know about the junta, the domestic and international reaction, the possible role of US military training, how France fits into the equation, and more.

Check out Nathaniel’s book France’s Wars in Chad and follow him on Twitter @natkpowell!

Recorded Friday, September 1, 2023

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Danny plays Ed McMahon to Derek’s...You don’t know who these people are, anyway. This week: the Palestian Authority continues to lose control in the West Bank (0:30); an update on the Sudan conflict (5:22); Niger expels the French ambassador while Algeria tries to play peacemaker (7:58); the coup in Gabon (11:34); Russia makes a shock announcement about Wagner chief Prigozhin’s death (17:14); Ukraine may possess long-range weapons and reaches a potential breakthrough in the counteroffensive (18:20); and a New Cold War update featuring BRICS expansion (24:08), US secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo in China (28:28), and China releasing a map that irritates the neighbors (30:19).

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Danny and Derek speak with Andre Pagliarini, assistant professor of history at Hampden-Sydney College, about the American left’s relationship with leaders and movements in Latin America in light of the recent trip several progressive legislators made to Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. They discuss the aims of this trip, what was actually accomplished, what…

Danny and Derek are joined by Emily Greble, professor of history at Vanderbilt University, to discuss the story of Balkan Muslims’ place in the modern European project. In this first part, the group touches on the Balkans’ frequent exclusion from notions of Europe, how centering Islam contributes to the larger European story, the effect of rapid political change on Balkan Muslims beginning in the late 19th century, the “Muslim legal other”, and more leading to the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Be sure to grab a copy of Emily’s eponymous book, Muslims and the Making of Modern Europe!

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Derek chats with Alexandra Sharp, writer at Foreign Policy’s daily World Brief newsletter, about the BRICS political and economic bloc, which just wrapped up its annual summit last week in South Africa. Alexandra gets into the origin of BRICS, the main issues broached at the summit, what the newly added countries (which double its size) both bring to th…

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Danny and Derek continue their discussion with Lisandro Claudio, associate professor at UC Berkeley, on the history of the Philippines. It’s the dawn of the 20th century and the beginning of American colonial rule. The group touches on William Howard Taft’s tenure as governor of the archipelago, Filipino roles in colonial politics, the Moro Wars on Mind…

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Danny and Derek welcome back Mark Ames, co-host of the Radio War Nerd podcast, to further discuss the death of Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin this week. Mark helps try to make sense of why Prigozhin and Wagner’s top brass left themselves so vulnerable, contextualizes Prigozhin’s place among Russian military leadership like (former) General Sergey…

Everyone wants to get to the Moon, but little do they know that Danny and Derek are the stars in their eyes. This week’s news: the 2023 BRICS summit sees the bloc expanding significantly (0:34); India makes a historic lunar landing (5:19); meanwhile, the DPRK has a disastrous satellite launch (7:11); Japan begins releasing waste water from the Fukushima disaster into the Pacific (8:46); an update on Sudan, where the militant group the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North has entered the picture (10:11); things remain tense as ECOWAS declares a “d-day” for intervention in Niger (12:25); Wagner Group head Yivginy Prigozhin is said to have died in a plane crash in Russia (15:43); an update of the situation Ukraine, where the counteroffensive continues to inch toward the city of Melitopol (18:14); and a New Cold War update featuring the Japan-South Korea summit at Camp David (23:04) and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan (24:51).

For more on Prigozhin’s death, check out our special from Wednesday and keep your eyes peeled for a follow-up with Mark Ames of Radio War Nerd.

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Danny and Derek jumped on the mic to catch us all up with the latest in Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death in a plane crash earlier today.

Recorded August 23, 2023

Emma Ashford, senior fellow at the Stimson Center, joins Danny and Derek for a discussion on petrostates. They define what exactly “petrostate” means, the different ways these countries may use their resources to affect geopolitics, the intersection of oil wealth and personalized autocratic systems of government, the future of these states in the era of climate collapse, and more.

Be sure to grab a copy of Emma’s book Oil, the State, and War: The Foreign Policies of Petrostates.

Recorded April 14, 2023

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