American Prestige

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

Kevin Klyman, researcher at Harvard University’s Belfer Center, picked up the red phone for the dedicated AP hotline, so Danny and Derek knew it was time for a special. This time, it’s about Biden’s recent executive order regarding outbound investment controls on China which ban a slew of tech relating to AI, semiconductors, and quantum information. The…

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

Danny and Derek continue their discussion with Lisandro Claudio, associate professor at UC Berkeley, on the history of the Philippines. We’re now at the end of the 19th century, the time of the Philippines’ independence struggle. The crew touches on La Liga Filipina and its revolutionary successor groups, the Philippine Revolution itself, figures like J…

Leading the world in “Derek” podcasts, it’s the great Derek Davison (and Danny) with the news. This week: Saudia Arabia hits a speed bump in attempts to normalize with Israel (0:31) while the Kingdom continues successful talks with Iran (2:47); details emerge from the US-Iran prisoner swap (4:22); the DPRK ramps up activity in its defense industry (7:10) while claiming the American soldier who recently defected was disillusioned (9:14); an update on the Sudan conflict (11:26); promising developments collapse over the weekend as Niger braces for ECOWAS intervention (13:08); the Russian ruble crashes (16:20); an update on the Ukraine counteroffensive (19:04); a strong showing by far-right candidate Javier Milei in the Argentinian presidential primary (23:03); and a New Cold War update featuring Biden hosting a summit with South Korea and Japan (27:55) and new polling on US animosity toward China (29:26).

Recorded Thursday, August 17, 2023

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

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

Erin Pineda, political theorist and professor at Smith College, brings Danny and Derek up to speed on the controversy surrounding the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) decision to hold its flagship conference in Los Angeles on Labor Day Weekend despite an ongoing hotel workers’ strike and requests by UNITE HERE Local 11 (representing over …

Danny and Derek sit down with Noelani Ahia, a Kānaka Maoli community organizer in Maui, to discuss last week’s devastating fire that destroyed much of the city of Lahaina. They discuss the present situation there, the role of the American government’s resource and water management in exacerbating the conditions leading to the fires, the struggle of native Hawaiians, how climate change is affecting Hawaii, and more.

Donate to the Maui Mutual Aid Fund now to help Lahaina and its people recover.

Recorded Wednesday, August 16, 2023

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

It’s Commodity Day here at American Prestige, so Danny and Derek decided to celebrate by speaking with Jonathan Robins, associate professor of history at Michigan Tech, about a ubiquitous product that somehow flies under the radar: palm oil. They touch on the history of oil palm cultivation, the different uses of the oil itself, its role in the story of global capitalism, commodity fetishization, the ecological impacts of oil palm cultivation, and more.

Be sure to grab a copy of Jonathan’s award-winning book Oil Palm: A Global History!

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