Bad Faith

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For this very special 100th episode, we're elevating house discourse by inviting two of the best minds on the left to interrogate the ethical questions that are driving the controversy. Marxist economist Richard Wolff and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and theologian Chris Hedges weigh in on whether there is a moral maximum income, by what standard we should judge leftists who become wealthy in the course of their advocacy, and why the left is so easily distracted by superficial internecine battles during this time of great crisis. We then move on to discuss more substantive divides on the left, and whether the so-called "institutional left's" theory of power is, in fact, demobilizing people at the very moment they should act. It's a banger.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube to access our full video library. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod)and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend).

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

After a week of Afghanistan hot takes, one thing is clear: the left has an isolationism problem. Everyone agrees that imperialism is bad. But disagreement has emerged over what obligation, if any, America has to the country it's occupied for 20 years, and the individuals left behind. On one hand, some folks are arguing that there's no good way to withdraw, and that any discussion about how to improve Biden's actions this month is an expression of imperialist sympathies. On the other hand, leftists shocked by images of men falling from cargo planes and stories about the unique threats faced by women are horrified by the indifference to the human cost of withdrawal. Is there a principled middle ground between isolationism and imperialism? Is it possible to articulate a standard by which "intervention" is justified? Would the left argue against humanitarian intervention in Rwanda? What about WWII? This week, we have a robust conversation about the vacuum created by the fact that the world lacks international institutions with the authority to mediate global disputes, what America should do in lieu of said institutions, and how we got into this mess in the first place. Our guests assess whether we should all be "Biden Bros" on this issue, or if a more nuanced approach would serve the left better. We're joined by Graeme Smith, journalist and author of The Dogs are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan, Stephen Semler, co-founder of Security Policy Reform Institute -- a think tank developing and promoting ideas to align U.S. foreign policy with working-class interests -- and Shahid Buttar, a former congressional candidate and constitutional lawyer. It's a conversation you won't hear anywhere else on the left.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend).

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Noam Chomsky argued that a vote for Biden was a vote to save the planet. But it's clear now, if it wasn't already then, that Biden would to fail to meet the moment. Biden's climate platform was insufficient to begin with, but the winnowed version that's made it into the infrastructure bills leaves even more to be desired. Brie asks this week's guests, Eric Holthaus, meteorologist, journalist, author of The Future Earth, and Peter Kalmus, NASA technical scientist & author of Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution, to measure the implications of the new IPCC report against Biden's infrastructure plans and answer the question: Is it time for doom and gloom or for things to go boom-- as in non violent sabotage against dirty energy infrastructure? Is eco-pessimism a natural outgrowth of the climate crisis or is it caused by the failure of activists to connect climate consequences to political actors and hold them accountable? And why are so few scientists willing to call out meager climate budgets as a form of climate denialism?

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube to access our full video library. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod)and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend).

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Originally on Patreon, Brie's first person report from Cleveland on Ohio's 11th district congressional race between Senator Nina Turner and Shontel Brown. From the ground, she experienced the volleys of negative cable TV ads first hand, went to church with the candidates, observed the lawn sign wars, and spoke to myriad voters and politicians about the effect the negative campaigning has had on their incentive to vote and their choice of candidate. From interviews with AG Kieth Ellison and DFA's Yvette Simpson to speeches by Nina Turner and Danny Glover, this is a perspective you're not going to get anywhere else. Not only is Brie's family from Cleveland, she was able to embed with the Turner campaign and gain access other reporters can only dream of. 

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

In part two of Brie's interview with Bernie 2020 Deputy Campaign Manager Ari Rabin-Havt Brie drills down on the tough questions: Why did Bernie endorse so soon? Why didn’t he hold out for more confessions? Why not force the vote on 15? Why the alleged reluctance to be remembered like Ralph Nader? We’re we right to want to force the vote? It’s tense. It’s informative. It’s helps us know where we are and where we need to be. It’s worth listening to.

Listen to Part One here.

Lots of folks have thoughts and feelings about why Bernie lost, and whether Nina Turner fell into the same traps as Bernie during her bid to represent Ohio's 11th district. But it's time to talk to the experts. This week, we spoke to someone with inside knowledge: Deputy Campaign Manager for Bernie 2020 Ari Rabin-Havt. Few people were as close to Bernie on the campaign as Ari, so Brie asked him hard questions about what went wrong in 2020, before pivoting to questions about the future: Are Bernie and the squad truly maximizing their leverage to fight for the issues that got them elected? This is an epic two-parter, filmed in person at chez Brie. The first part will be released free, even though it's a Monday. Thursday's episode -- part two -- will be premium. Video of part one will also air Monday. Let us know if you have follow up questions, because Ari has said he will make himself available for a livestream. (We had end the interview at 2.5 hours, but there's a ton more to discuss).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to join the Bad Faith Discord and instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend).

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

After he tweeted about Bertrand Cooper's viral Current Affairs article "Who Actually Gets to Create Black Pop Culture?," we invited Very Smart Brothers co-founder Damon Young to dialogue with Cooper about his piece. The two pop culture commentators debate whether it's a problem that so few poor Black Americans are able to create art about poor Black folk -- even though that version of "the Black experience" is increasingly marketable as an avenue for White catharsis in the age of Black Lives Matter. As tragedies like George Floyd's death open the door for "Black content," how concerned should we be that creative opportunities flow to elite, often Ivy League Black folks rather than members of communities like the one George Floyd came from? Do affluent Black creators have an obligation to disclose the gap between their own life experiences and the cultural products they produce? Is it "right" for Dave Chapelle or Donald Glover allow their audiences to assume they're "from the streets", or is it appropriative for them to profit off of assumed "authenticity?" Must a creator share the class identity of the characters they produce? Is the Black middle class sufficiently precarious that it's "entitled" to tell all Black stories? We tackle these questions and more on this week's episode of Bad Faith.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to join the Bad Faith Discord and instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend).

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Subscribe to Bad Faith Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our full premium episode library: patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Thanks to your Patreon support, I was able to fly to Cleveland this weekend to report on how locals in Ohio's 11th district are feeling about the congressional race between Senator Nina Turner and Shontel Brown. From the ground, I experienced the volleys of negative cable TV ads first hand, went to church with the candidates, observed the lawn sign wars, and spoke to myriad voters and politicians about the effect the negative campaigning has had on their incentive to vote and their choice of candidate. From interviews with AG Kieth Ellison and DFA's Yvette Simpson to speeches by Nina Turner and Danny Glover, this is a perspective you're not going to get anywhere else. Not only is my family from Cleveland, I was able to embed with the Turner campaign and gain access other reporters can only dream of. Spend a day with me on the campaign trail as we await Tuesday's election results.

This week, Brie debates one of America's foremost Black conservative public intellectuals, Brown University Economics Professor Glenn Loury. Is there overlap between conservative critics of liberal race politics lefty critics of liberal "woke" culture? Or does the conservative focus on fixing "Black culture" serve the same function as the liberal focus on "curing racism" to the exclusion of material interventions? It's a difficult but productive conversation. Stick around to the end at which point Professor Loury dishes on what it's like to be a Black conservative married to a Black "Bernie Bro," and how Brie can learn to date across the aisle.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to join the Bad Faith Discord and instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend).

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Over 1000 coal miners in Alabama have been on strike since April 1st over cuts in pay, loss in paid holidays and time off, and spiking health insurance costs. But nearly 4 months into the strike, the mainstream media channels have stayed silent. This week, Brie spoke to Kim Kelly, an independent journalist who has been covering the strike on the ground, and Phil Smith, Director of Communications and Governmental Affairs United Mine Workers of America. The pair offered context for the strike, including violent acts of intimidation by the company, and went on to offer a nuanced assessment of whether the miners could see a left populist movement as a political solution to the labor conflict at hand. How does a "Bernie style" message go over in Alabama? Is it possible to pitch the Green New Deal to coal country? Is a distain for big government an insurmountable bias for Democrats, or is the real issue that government so far has failed to address ongoing problems like high healthcare costs and the opioid epidemic? Can a left populist movement turn Alabama blue?

UMWA Strike Fund: https://umwa.org/umwa2021strikefund

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube to access our full video library. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod)and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend).

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).