American Prestige

Danny and Derek welcome Laila Al-Arian, executive producer of Fault Lines on Al-Jazeera English, to discuss her family’s experience as Muslim, Arab Americans persecuted by the state before and after the War on Terror. They get into the case of her father, Sami Al-Arian, beginning in the 1990s and culminating with his 2015 deportation from the US, the imprisonment of her uncle, the phenomenon of “secret evidence”, George W. Bush’s pre- and post-9/11 relationship with Muslim and Arab Americans, and more.

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Hello Prestigeheads! We just wanted to share Derek’s grand return to podcasting over at Foreign Exchanges in the form of this great discussion of the Mamluks. Be sure to subscribe to FX for content like this, the daily World Roundups, and more. Enjoy!

Hello everybody! After a very extended hiatus we’re back with a real, full blown Foreign Exchanges podcast (more on that at the end of the show)! I’m joined by Carl F. Petry, Hamad ibn Khalifa Al Thani Professor of Middle East Studies and Professor of History Emeritus at Northwestern University and author of The Mamluk Sultanate: A History, a book that you can—nay, should—buy today. Professor Petry and I discuss who the Mamluks were, how they came to rule much of Egypt, Syria, and the Hejaz in the mid-13th century, and why it took until 2022 for the emergence of an accessible English language survey of their sultanate to emerge.

Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Professor Petry’s book!

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Danny and Derek welcome Beverly Gage, professor of history and American studies at Yale University, to discuss the life and work of J. Edgar Hoover. They touch on his DC upbringing, early years at the nascent FBI, the 1930s War on Crime, the effect of WWII and the Cold War on the agency, COINTELPRO, his sexuality, religiosity, racism, and more.

Grab your copy of Beverly’s book G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century!

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Daniel Steinmetz Jenkins, assistant professor in history at Wesleyan College, moderates a debate between Danny and Jason Stanley, Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and author of the 2018 book How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, about fascism discourse in the United States. The discussion was centered around Danny’s pie…

Derek busted through the window with a boombox to “school” Danny on “how it is”, also known as giving the News Roundup. This week: an Israel update (0:31), the DPRK sees Kim ordering more nuclear material (6:39), Russia might be positioning nukes in Belarus (9:20) and the US pulls out of another part of New START (12:02), a Ukraine update on the situation in Bakhmut (14:01), France continues to see protests and King Charles delays his visit (15:39), an ELN attack threatens peace talks in Colombia (16:45), the US hosts the glorious Summit for Democracy (19:10), a New Cold War update featuring Honduras officially switching recognition to China (21:23), Saudi Arabic investing in Chinese companies and affiliating with Shanghai Cooperation Organization (22:33), and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visits the US (25:15).

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Danny and Derek speak with Udi Greenberg, associate professor of history at Dartmouth College, about the protests in Israel over Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s legislation seeking to overhaul the Israeli judiciary. They discuss the background and scope of the protests, concessions made to the far right while the legislation is shelved, and more.

Danny and Derek welcome back Alex Thurston, assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, to discuss the 2023 Nigerian presidential election. They discuss the three main candidates, controversy around the election itself, issues the country is currently grappling with, what a Bola Tinubu presidency might look like, the legacy of incumbent Muhammadu Buhari, the international response, and more.

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

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The greatest franchise in podcast history, the American Prestige Mailbag, is back with stunning developments. Actually, it’s like the other mailbags, where our dear paid subscribers submit questions and prompts of the highest quality for Danny and Derek (and sometimes Jake). This edition of the mailbag features questions about the New Cold War, world-sy…

Our mainframe computer, DEREK, gave us the news before it became sentient and we had to unplug it. This week: the new IPCC report on climate and UN report on water access (0:38), good and bad news from Yemen (4:34), Israel makes moves on a new bill legalizing old settlements and Smotrich gets in trouble with Jordan (6:45), Ethiopia sees progress in implementing the Tigray peace deal (10:44), pension problems in France (13:42), a Russia/Ukraine update (18:16), and a New Cold War update (26:50) featuring Xi Jinping visiting Russia, Kishida Fumio visiting Ukraine, and Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen visiting the US.

Recorded Thursday, March 23, 2023

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Hello, Prestigeheads! We had such a great response last week that we’re bringing you another episode of Shoot the Messenger! This week we continue with the story of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi with friends of the pod Nando Vila & Rose Reid. We learn Khashoggi wasn't just targeted — he was hunted. This is the behind-the-scenes story of how Pegasus works, and how it was discovered (and found in Khashoggi's inner circle). This episode is part of Shoot the Messenger's 10-part series on "Espionage, Murder & Pegasus Spyware." 

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