American Prestige

Danny and Derek welcome back Aaron Good, host of the American Exception podcast and author of a book by the same name, for a discussion of American foreign policy education and historiography. They talk about what drove Aaron to write the book, individual actors’ power within the “US regime,” the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the value of highlighting the US’s political dark side for political change, 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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In the first part of our two-hour finale to our History of Afghanistan series, Tim Nunan, lecturer in global history at the Free University of Berlin, moderates a panel discussion where he, Danny, and Derek are joined by Pashtana Durrani, founder of LEARN Afghan, and Haroun Rahimi, lawyer and visiting professor at Università Bocconi. In this first part of the discussion, Pashtana and Haroun share experiences of their respective childhoods in Afghanistan and Iran, their families’ connections to the modern events in Afghanistan, cultural touchstones for them in the eras of the Taliban and Karzai, and more.

Danny and Derek once again deliver The News™. This week: more trouble in the US-Saudi relationship (0:48), the Lebanon-Israel maritime deal (5:47), a new president of Iraq (9:34), the continuing Iran protests (12:50), an Ethiopia war update (15:22), protests in Haiti (17:26), a Ukraine war update (19:58), and a new US national security strategy (24:50).

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 Katie Halper, host of The Katie Halper Show, to discuss her recent dismissal from The Hill’s program Rising due to a segment critical of Israel. They discuss the segment itself, the accusations thrown her way, voices of support in the wake of her firing, and more.

Like and subscribe Katie on YouTube or throw her some support on Patreon.

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 speak with Gregory Brew, postdoctoral fellow at Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, about OPEC+’s oil production cut, the bloc’s history, the state of the global oil market, and the US-Saudi relationship.

Danny and Derek speak with Rob Karl, professor of arts and humanities at Minerva University, about the history of Colombia. They discuss wars between liberals and conservatives in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Colombian political structure, the Colombian state, and more, in this first episode of a series.

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 Alexander Aviña, associate professor of history at Arizona State University, to continue the discussion of his book Specters of Revolution: Peasant Guerrillas in the Cold War Mexican Countryside. In this episode, they pick up in the 1970s and discuss President Luis Echeverría, the advent of neoliberalism in Mexico, the 1982 default, the transformation of the drug trade in the 1980s, changes in the PRI during the same era, the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, and more through the 1995 Aguas Blancas massacre.

Check out Alexander’s book here!

Listen to the first episode here!

Danny and Derek are back with the hottest news update on this side of the dial. This week: a Ukraine update (0:31), the DPRK conducts numerous missile tests over several days (10:22), a Yemen ceasefire expires (15:34), OPEC cuts oil production (18:46), the second coup of the year in Burkina Faso (22:00), and an update on the Brazilian election (25:54).

Recorded Thursday, October 6, 2022

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 to the program Hamza Zafer, associate professor in the department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Washington, to discuss the world as it stood in the early days of Islam. The conversation focuses on the material conditions of the Arabian peninsula around the 7th century, touching on culture and economy of Mecca, the Red Sea Wars, early historiography of the Qur’an, pre-Islamic civic cults, ḥunafā’, the controversial ideas of Hagarism, 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

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

Danny and Derek welcome Benjamin Fogel, contributing editor to Jacobin and historian of Brazil at NYU, to discuss the results of the first round of the 2022 Brazilian general election, the far right and left in Brazil, what the results portend, and more.

Check out Benjamin’s piece on the election in the Daily Maverick and another one in The Nation.

Recorded Monday, October 3, 2022