Current Affairs

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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🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

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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🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs 

🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/ 

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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🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs 

🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/ 

🦩 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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🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs 

🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

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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🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

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 

🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 

🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs 

🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

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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Kishore Mahbubani is a renowned diplomat, scholar, and one of the most insightful analysts of global power dynamics. He served as Singapore’s Ambassador to the United Nations and as President of the UN Security Council, and is the author of books including "Has China Won?" and "Has the West Lost It?"

Mahbubani joins Current Affairs to explain why the United States is losing ground to China--not because of Chinese aggression, but because of internal dysfunction, elite failure, and strategic incoherence. He critiques the emotional, zero-sum mindset dominating U.S. foreign policy and calls for a more rational, cooperative approach to global affairs.

🌏 Follow Kishore on Twitter: https://x.com/mahbubani_k

🌏 Buy Kishore's Books: https://mahbubani.net/books/

0:00-3:57 The Good News

3:57- 6:54 Why Americans Fear China

6:54-9:51 The Failure of American Elites

9:51-15:31 Why Trump Should Work With China

15:31-21:38 Is China Communist?

21:38-23:37 Is America The Best Model?

23:37-27:14 Does America Think Strategically?

27:14-30:08 America's Wasteful Defense Spending

30:08-35:15 America's Strategic Errors

35:15-41:17 America's Disdain for the UN

41:17-46:17 The Potential For Cooperation

🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership

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🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

He has shown that a socialist message can win people over. His campaign is a model that should be emulated everywhere.

🗽 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/zohran-mamdanis-victory-is-just-what-the-left-needed

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🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

The latest Democratic fad sidelines equality and justice in favor of a focus on cutting red tape. This is not the path forward.

🌎 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/abandon-abundance

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