American Prestige

Danny and Derek welcome James Cavallaro, professor of law and executive director of the University Network for Human Rights, for a discussion of the State Department’s recent decision to withdraw his nomination to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights over comments categorizing the treatment of Palestinians by Israel as “apartheid”. They discuss James’ work in human rights advocacy, the weaponization of anti-Semitism, the US goverment’s particular aversion to the word “apartheid”, and more.

The University Network for Human Rights has released this statement on the incident.

Recorded Thursday, February 16, 2023

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Danny and Derek welcome back Emma Ashford, senior fellow with the Reimagining US Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center, and Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, for a discussion examining the Russian invasion of Ukraine one year into the conflict. They discuss the present circumstances of the war and how they compare with initial expectations, the response of Europe and the US, negotiations and what a potential endgame might look like, the ramifications of the rise in anti-Russian sentiment, the effect of sanctions on Russia, and more.

Check out Emma’s book Oil, the State, and War: The Foreign Policies of Petrostates as well as Anatol’s most recent book Climate Change and the Nation State: The Case for Nationalism in a Warming World!

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Danny and Derek welcome to the program Adam Tooze, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis professor of history at Columbia University and author of Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy. They discuss the phenomenon of the public intellectual, the role of intellectuals in the 2023 North Atlantic world, the current debate around fascism, the polycrisis, …

Derek descended from Mount News and Danny received The Message. This week: the balloon saga (1:17), Israel continues killing Palestinians and ignores US pleas to pause settlement construction (10:00), Peru protests continue amid calls for an election (14:41), a Ukraine update (18:16), and the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria (24:05).

*Note: This episode was recorded earlier than typical News Roundups, on Wednesday, February 8, 2023

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Danny and Derek welcome to the program Erin Bartram, school programs coordinator at the Mark Twain House and co-founder of Contingent Magazine, for a discussion of the decline of the history profession and humanities programs in general. They discuss the effect of consistent loss of knowledge production on a given field, the American Historical Association’s (AHA) response to the state of the academic job market, organizing in academia, moving on to non-academic fields after leaving the academy, and more.

Check out Erin’s controversial piece on leaving academia, “The Sublimated Grief of the Left Behind”.

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Danny and Derek are hot off the presses, albeit with serious injuries. Stories this week: violence in Israel and the threat of a Gaza war looms (0:32), Iran reacts to an (allegedly) Israeli drone strike on the city of Isfahan (5:40), Russia makes gains in Ukraine and Biden rejects prospect of supplying F-16s (9:10), the Sweden-Finland-Turkey NATO saga continues (17:34), the Tuareg Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) pulls out of the constitutional process plus other developments in Mali (20:31), and another New Cold War update featuring a new US-Philippine military agreement (24:03), the US opening an embassy in the Solomon Islands (25:21), and a disturbing USAF memo on a future conflict with China (27:29).

Recorded Thursday, February 2, 2023

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Danny and Derek welcome American Prestige champion Matt Christman and first-timer Chris Wade—hosts of Chapo Trap House’s Thirty Years’ War spinoff series, Hell on Earth—for a special AP-Hinge Points-Hell on Earth mashup episode. What if Henry IV of France was not assassinated? What if there was no defenestration of Prague? What if Gustavus Adolphus lived?

Check out Hell on Earth and Hinge Points!

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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Danny and Derek welcome Ken Klippenstein, investigative reporter for The Intercept, for a discussion of the hottest ticket for Bond villains: the 2023 World Economic Forum at Davos. They touch on what exactly the World Economic Forum is, the recurring themes among the participants’ commentaries, the ideology of the event, the warm welcome to gulf state …

Derek, along with his trusty lackey Danny, again conquers the news. This week: the US restricts the flow of dollars into Iraq, the dinar collapses (0:33); Israel sees Netanyahu firing Deri and the IDF kills more Palestinians in the West Bank (2:45); NGOs threaten to withdraw from Afghanistan over Taliban restrictions on women’s rights (5:02); Eritrean soldiers are seen leaving the Tigray Region in Ethiopia as the peace deal is implemented (7:53); Burkina Faso gives France one month to withdraw troops (9:44); the US designates Russia-based Wagner Group a criminal organization (12:26); a Ukraine update including newly-arrived tanks (13:37); Turkey threatens to veto Sweden’s NATO application (18:41); and in Peru, Boluarte calls for a “truce” while protests carry on and a movement for her impeachment gathers steam in Congress.

Recorded Thursday, January 26, 2023

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Danny and Derek welcome Lamin Keita, PhD candidate in political science at Northwestern University, and Alex Thurston, assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, for a discussion on the situation in the Sahel, namely Mali and Burkina Faso. They talk about the 2022 coups in each country, the role of jihadist conflicts in the region, where the respective junta governments currently stand, the role of the United States in the coups and the Sahel in general, and more.

Note: This discussion was recorded before the expulsion of French troops by Burkina Faso.

Check out Alex’s work at Sahel Blog, the issue of Middle East Report he guest edited, and his book Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel!

Check out Lamin’s AfroSaharo Research Network!

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