American Prestige

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Danny and Derek welcome Luis Herrán Ávila, assistant professor of history at the University of New Mexico, to talk about, you guessed it, fascism in Latin America. They define its European forms vs those in Latin American countries, discuss the ideology’s influence on groups like the Tacuara Nationalist Movement (TNM) in Argentina, Nazi refugees’ collab…

Your news roundup for the start of August…with Style. This week: climate collapse continues with heat records shattered and more of the Antarctic lost (0:35); the most recent leader of ISIS is killed in Syria (2:22) and Damascus agrees to open up humanitarian corridors (4:42); US-Saudi-Israel talks move along (6:59); in Iran news, the US deploys “deterrent” troops to the Red Sea (9:07) while Iran agrees to the release several US prisoners (12:09) and sees the Saudi embassy reopening in Tehran (15:05); the Azerbaijani blockade in Karbakh comes with warnings of humanitarian disaster (15:59); Imran Khan is again arrested in Pakistan as the country enters a presidential election amid reports of US involvement (19:14); an update of the situation in post-coup Niger (22:51); the Fano militia of the Amhara region of Ethiopia escalates the conflict with the government (26:03); presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio is assassinated in Ecuador (28:13); and a New Cold War update with US controls over the export of high tech products to China and limits on investment in Chinese tech (30:05), and some dismal numbers for China’s economy (31:21).

Recorded Thursday, August 10, 2023

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Danny and Derek speak with Dawn Marie Paley, investigative journalist and editor of Ojalá, a new online weekly dedicated to in-depth, independent coverage of Latin America in English and Spanish. They discuss a range of social challenges in modern Mexico, touching on the wave of disappearances dating back to Calderon’s so-called War on Drugs, how the drug war is a tool to assert social and territorial control, the role of global capital, US-Mexico security and migration policy, organized movements among marginialized groups in Mexico today, and more.

Be sure to sign up for Ojalá’s English language newsletter!

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 sit down with Quinn Slobodian, professor of history at Wellesley College, for a discussion of neoliberal globalism and capitalist extremism. They touch on Quinn’s own intellectual history, the dream of capitalism, the birth of neoliberalism, the Austrian and Chicago Schools, libertarianism, and more.

Check out Quinn’s books Crack-Up Capit…

Danny and Derek slide on down to deliver the news with the grace of a Boston cop. This week: the Biden administration continues to push for Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization (0:33), an update on the humanitarian situation in Sudan (4:56), Niger’s military junta takes shape and faces a possible ECOWAS intervention (7:10), Ukraine sees some results from the counteroffensive as Saudi Arabia prepares to host peace talks (14:02), tensions between Poland and Belarus (17:59), Brazil sees a drop in deforestation compared with pre-Lula levels (20:44), the Colombia-ELN ceasefire takes effect (22:20), a UN intervention in Haiti takes shape (24:38), and a New Cold War update featuring the Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te visiting the US (27:37) and Italy wanting out of the BRI (28:59).

Recorded Thursday, August 3, 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

Danny and Derek welcome Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel with the Brennan Center’s Liberty & National Security Program, to the podcast for a discussion of the past and present of US constitutional war powers. They touch on the Mexican-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Korean War, congressional resistance to the expansion of war powers, security cooperation authorities, the AUMF, and more.

Check out Katherine’s recent report on the matter, “Secret War”, her piece in Just Security on the risks of codifying the 1202 authority, and her Irregular Warfare Initiative piece on the broken oversight regime for security cooperation.

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 sit down with David Hecht, associate professor of history and chair of the history department at Bowdoin College, to talk about Oppenheimer, both the film and man himself. They talk about his politics, the role of his Jewish identity, his accomplishments as a physicist, his personal life, the relationship between scientists and the milit…

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Derek welcomes back Alex Thurston, assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, for a discussion of this week’s coup in Niger, led by General Abdourahamane Tiani and which ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Check out Alex’s piece in Responsible Statecraft to learn more!

Recorded Friday, July 28, 2023

Ariana Grande hasn’t broken up Danny and Derek…yet. This week: another grim climate update (0:31), the Knesset in Israel votes on the first part of the judicial overhaul package (2:38), Cambodia holds an election and Hun Sen steps down (5:42), a Sudan conflict update (8:22), the food crisis in Ethiopia (10:09), a coup in Niger (12:06), a Ukraine update (17:24), the general election in Spain (20:30), and a New Cold War update featuring John Kerry’s climate talks in China (23:13), the Chinese foreign minister sacked (24:48), and Antony Blinken in Tonga (26:32).

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 welcome back Udi Greenberg, associate professor of modern European history at Dartmouth, to help us understand the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul package, the initial legislation for which was passed on Monday. They discuss its implications, the influence of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, why this is happening now, the domestic and inte…