Bad Faith

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This week, we speak to author and journalist David Wallace-Wells about his recent retrospective on the COVID pandemic. With the benefit of a year's perspective, who are the real villains of the pandemic, and how does the persistent ambiguity about the causal factors behind outbreaks obscure blame, and amplify our ability to politicize circumstances beyond our control?

After the interview, Virgil and Brie opine on their dream COVID art, their favorite pandemic flicks, and whether it's appropriate to touch a stranger's puppy.

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).

Brie and Virgil speak to writer Anand Giridharadas about how billionaires managed to gain ground during the COVID crisis, and the narratives elites circulate to justify the growing inequality between the 99% and the 1%. After the interview, Briahna reflects on how in college she was indoctrinated into the "win win" ideology that obscures capitalism's victims. At the top of the episode, Virgil gives an NFT update, and Brie reviews some clips showing how the media is manufacturing consent for the Biden agenda.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to join our hypothetical Discord and instantly unlock our full premium episode library, including this week's subscriber-only bonus episode: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Find Winners Take All at Penguin Random House or your local bookseller.

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

This week we're joined by Bad Faith veteran Leslie Lee III, host of Struggle Session, and Kate Willett, comedian, writer, and co-host of Reply Guys for a freewheeling conversation about Matt Geatz, Biden Town Hall highlights, the infrastructure plan, the latest AOC kerfuffle, and all the other big news from the past week. Also, how Brie nearly got Podesta'd.

Come for the news, stay for the laughs. It's a fun one.

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).

We ask Marxist economic geographer and CUNY professor David Harvey about how to discern incremental reformism from true revolutionary change, what Marx would do if he were a squad member, and what Harvey's post-capitalist fantasy looks like.

But first, Virgil & Brie debate the similarities between Joe Biden & Steve Harvey, break down Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer's burden-shifting strategy to achieve student debt cancellation, and evaluate Schumer's recent claims that next time the all-powerful parliamentarian might generously let us have a living wage.

Stick around until after to interview for some thoughtful ruminations about where the dialectic goes from here, and some healthy West Wing bashing.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library, including this week's subscriber-only bonus episode: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

Find Prof. Harvey's video series "Reading Marx's Capital" on YouTube.

Purchase the official Bad Faith NFT on Rarible or OpenSea, using fake nerd money.

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

Virgil and Brie open with a close read of the recently released AOC interview in DSA's Democratic Left magazine, and the World Socialist Web Site article about said interview that incited the left. They separate the good faith critique from the bad, correct some mischaracterizations in the WSWS article, and offer their own original critique of the political strategy Representative Ocasio-Cortez articulated.

Next, Brie and Virgil interview Jacobin's executive editor Seth Ackerman on his recent essay about one of the most celebrated aspects of the COVID relief bill: the child tax credit expansion. What is the likelihood the bill will be made permanent, how seriously should we take the claims that it halves child poverty, and should we be worried about the social engineering aspects of the tax benefit?

Stick around until the end when Brie and Virgil talk fashion and whether dressing fancy is compatible with left politics.

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).

This week we're bringing you about three podcasts worth of content. Because we're working harder, not smarter.

Virgil successfully explains what an NFT is to Brie, who only gets moderately mad at how stupid the concept is, leading to a philosophical conversation about the nature of value and the show's latest get-rich-quick scheme. Also at the top, Brie roasts Virgil's water bottle for a solid 7 minutes.

Then the pair are joined by our panelists Kylie Brakeman -- the front-facing-camera comedian who won over the left with her parodies of blue-check liberals, and Carlos Ramirez-Rosa -- Chicago Alderman, Illinois Vice-Chair of Bernie's 2020 campaign, and first socialist elected in the Second City in nearly a century. They talk comedy, local politics, and a collection of absurd media clips from Jen Psaki's bromides to Chris Cuomo's prop work.

Finally, Virgil reads Brie some of the unhinged defenses of Andrew Cuomo from his most ardent supporters, and Virgil and Brie tackle the question: Is Cuomo, in fact, a Black woman?

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

Find Kylie and her videos on Twitter at @deadeyebrakeman and Instagram at @deadbrakeman. FInd Carlos on Twitter at @CDRosa and at his website https://www.carlosrosa.org/.

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

Virgil and Brie discuss Rep. Pramila Jayapal's recent Deconstructed interview in which she explained her strategic approach to the fight for fifteen. Why threaten to withhold one's vote for the COVID bill over unemployment checks but not a $15 minimum wage, and what does her rationale tell us about the real obstacles to securing structural reforms?

Next, Brie interviews an RSDW organizer, an Amazon employee, and two members of The Socialist Alternative about the state of play in Bessemer, Alabama. With less than a week left before the vote on whether to unionize, local organizers explain what impact the union drive has had on the community's broader politics.

Finally, Brie and Virgil discuss the Atlanta shootings and recent uptick of anti-Asian violence. Together, they consider the social pressure for members of aggressed identity groups to "weigh in" on high profile tragedies, and the social function doing so serves.

Donate to the survivors and families of the victims of the Atlanta massacre here: https://twitter.com/RedCanarySong/status/1372990146170253318.

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).

We're joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Chris Hedges to get his take on the state of the left: What are the structural factors and ethical rationalizations that keep congressional progressives from taking the adversarial approach required to push a united Democratic government left? How can we parse good faith excuses from the bad, and what does history tell us about the way forward?

But first, we check in with Zoe Muellner who is working to organize Colectivo, a midwestern coffee chain. And at the top, Virgil and Brie briefly follow up on the controversy surrounding this week's premium episode: Has Black Twitter really canceled Virgil?

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

Find Colectivo Collective on Instagram and at their website http://colectivounionyes.com/

Order Colectivo in person/via the app/via the website using "UnionYes[Name]"

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

Sometimes when you start recording you just don't know where the conversation is going to take you. Topics broached in this week's very special Virgil & Brie episode include: Virgil's knowledge of the Black film canon, Brie's quest to understand what is meant by "Lynchian," the fall of Andrew Cuomo, how Democrats killed the #MeToo movement, Adam Sandler classic Little Nicky, and NewNew -- the new app which gives the public more control over content creators. Yay.

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).

Brie and Virgil host veteran progressive journalist and author John Nichols. In one of our favorite interviews, the The Nation journalist provides much needed historical context for the ongoing internecine battles on the left. He helps us answer the tough questions: How much risk tolerance should the left have for battles that must be fought, but aren't easily won? Who will emerge as the next A. Phillip Randolph poised to "make Biden do" what America needs? And what will happen if the progressive organizations that historically filled that role don't step up?

Brie and Virgil discuss the Meghan Markle/Oprah interview and strategies for watching Family Feud.

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

Find John's recent books The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party and The "S" Word at Verso.

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).