Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, physician, former Detroit health commissioner, and candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, joins Current Affairs editors Nathan J. Robinson and Alex Skopic to discuss the Democratic Party’s deep unpopularity, why Medicare for All remains a moral and economic imperative, the bipartisan silence surrounding the genocide in Gaza, and why all U.S. military aid—offensive and defensive—should end.

🌹Abdul's Website: https://abdulforsenate.com/

🌹Abdul's Book: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/02/the-definitive-case-for-medicare-for-all

🌹Abdul's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abdulelsayed/?hl=en

🌹 Abdul's Twitter: https://x.com/AbdulElSayed

0:00-5:42 Unpopularity of the Democratic Party

5:42-14:01 Medicare for All

14:01-17:19 Labor

17:19-27:23 Gaza

27:23-31:31 Islamophobia

31:31-40:28 Abdul's Senate Race

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Nathan J. Robinson delivers remarks during the Current Affairs 10th anniversary party on the evening of August 8th, 2025 in New Orleans. 

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Saikat Chakrabarti, co-founder of Justice Democrats and former chief of staff to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, joins Nathan J. Robinson to discuss his 2026 congressional campaign to unseat Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Party’s failure to respond to genocide in Gaza, and how decades of complacent leadership have left the party morally bankrupt and politically adrift.

🔥 Saikat's Website: https://www.saikat.us/en 

🔥 Saikat's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saikatforcongress/ 

🔥 Saikat's Twitter: https://x.com/saikatc 

0:00–5:30 Gaza 

5:30–19:27 The Democratic Party 

19:27–21:41 Nancy Pelosi 

24:00–29:00 Zohran Mamdani 

29:00–36:14 Saikat's Policy Agenda 

36:14–42:27 Campaigning in a Hopeless Moment 

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Dr. Elisabeth Potter, a reconstructive surgeon and healthcare advocate, joins Nathan J. Robinson and Emily Topping to discuss her viral criticism of UnitedHealth, the systemic cruelty of the insurance industry, and how corporations are quietly reshaping American medicine through coercion, denial, and intimidation.

🩺 Dr. Potter's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrElisabethPotterMD

🩺 Dr. Potter's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drelisabethpotter?lang=en

🩺 Dr. Potter's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drelisabethpotter/

🩺 Dr. Potter's Website: https://www.drpotter.com/

🩺 New York Times article on Dr. Potter: https://archive.ph/vrnN6

0:00-10:00 Insurance Is Out of Control

10:00-14:05 "Peer-to-Peer" Calls

14:05-20:07 The Cruelty of Insurance Companies

20:07-24:14 The Waiver System

24:14-30:42 UnitedHealth's Intimidation Tactics

30:42-37:28 Luigi Mangione + The Need for Reform

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Podcast bros are interviewing presidents and power players without doing basic research beforehand. The result is a propagandistic catastrophe.

💀 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/rise-of-the-idiot-interviewer 

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Max from UNFTR joins Nathan J. Robinson to discuss Zohran Mamdani's victory, the limits of third-party politics, and how the Democratic Party can be taken over with five bold, non-negotiable demands for progressive transformation. 

⚙️ Subscribe to UNFTR: https://www.youtube.com/@UNFTR 

⚙️ Read the 5 Non-Negotiables: https://www.unftr.com/5nn 

0:00-8:10 Zohran Mamdani 

8:10-36:57 Can Third Parties Succeed? 

36:57-59:50 The Five “Non-Negotiables" 

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🦩 This episode originally aired on July 15, 2025. Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs

Barry Eisler, a former CIA agent and bestselling novelist, joins Nathan J. Robinson to discuss his new book, The System. They talk about how power actually works in Washington, how politicians get absorbed into the duopoly, why partisan conflict is mostly theater, and how language, fiction, and euphemism shape our understanding of violence, war, and the state. 

🕸️ Purchase The System: https://barryeisler.com/books/the-system/ 

🕸️ Barry's Other Writing: https://barryeisler.com/books/ 

🕸️ Follow Barry on Twitter: https://x.com/barryeisler 

🕸️ Follow Barry on Substack: https://barryeisler.substack.com/ 

0:00–5:33 Introducing *The System* 

5:33–10:41 The Illusion of Partisanship 

10:41–15:14 Understanding the Duopoly 

15:14–27:06 The Co-optation of AOC 

27:06–34:09 Chomky's Martian 

34:09–39:28 How Language Masks Violence 

39:28–45:24 Rationalizing Atrocity 

45:24–56:03 “Are We the Baddies?” 

56:03–1:06:15 The Politics of Thrillers 

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Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani joins Nathan J. Robinson to discuss the ongoing genocide in Gaza. They examine the illusion of ceasefire negotiations, the weaponization of humanitarian aid through the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, and the eugenic logic underpinning Israel’s military campaign. They also explore how death tolls are systematically undercounted, how Palestinian voices are censored in Western media, why Israeli hasbara no longer works, and how genocidal logic is rationalized through propaganda. 

🇵🇸 Follow Mouin on Substack: https://substack.com/@mouinrabbani 

🇵🇸 Follow Mouin on Twitter: https://x.com/MouinRabbani 

0:00-9:55 The Illusion of Negotiations 

9:55-21:54 Weaponization of Aid and the "Gaza Humanitarian Foundation" 

21:54-25:24 Genocide as Eugenics 

25:24-30:15 Undercounting Deaths 

30:15-37:49 Media Censorship of Palestinian Voices 

37:49-41:21 The Collapse of Israeli Hasbara 

41:21-50:33 Genocidal Rhetoric and International Law 

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MAGA followers say they want to expose powerful, predatory billionaire elites. But Donald Trump is the exact person who should be their enemy.

🏝️ Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-epstein-case-reveals-the-fraud-of-trumpism 

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Honor Cargill-Martin, a historian of the ancient world, discusses how myths about the Roman empire originated and continue to warp our political discourse.

🏛️ Honor's Substack: https://allancienthistory.substack.com/

🏛️ Honor's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRIbS3NQ4ksTUrMiaMVQ-Q

🏛️ Interview Transcript: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/what-the-right-doesnt-know-about-rome

0:00-4:28 The Roman Empire TikTok Trend

4:28-12:27 The Roman Empire Loved by MAGA Never Existed

12:27-15:17 What JD Vance Doesn't Understand About Rome

15:17-20:53 Do All Democracies Have to Die?

20:53-32:30 Myth vs. Reality in Roman History

32:30-42:46 Messalina

42:46-49:01 How to Understand Our Own Time

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