Current Affairs

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Daniel Ellsberg was the Pentagon Papers whistleblower whose decision to expose government lies about the Vietnam War changed American history. In this conversation with Current Affairs editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson, Michael Ellsberg, Jan R. Thomas, and Robert Ellsberg discuss Truth and Consequence, a new collection of Ellsberg's previously unpublished writings. They reflect on his thinking about nuclear war, conscience, patriotism, civil resistance, and why his ideas remain as relevant today as ever.

🌹 Buy the book: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/truth-and-consequence-9781639735518/

0:00–6:19 The Hidden Writings of Daniel Ellsberg

6:19–15:32 The Ideas That Defined His Life

15:32–22:00 "Don't Delegate Conscience"

22:00–27:28 What Makes an Ordinary Person Resist?

27:28–33:30 What Is Patriotism?

33:30–40:29 Ellsberg's Legacy

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Trita Parsi is the co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and one of the leading analysts of U.S.–Iran relations. He joins Current Affairs editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson to explain how the ceasefire between the United States and Iran unraveled, why he believes both Washington and Tehran miscalculated, and what the renewed fighting means for the prospects of diplomacy.

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Follow Trita Parsi: https://x.com/tparsi

🌹 The Quincy Institute: https://quincyinst.org/

0:00–7:05 Collapse of the MOU & Return to War

7:05–11:44 Trump's Strategy & U.S. Miscalculation

11:44–14:52 Why Endless Wars Continue (John Mearsheimer)

14:52–17:31 Best- & Worst-Case Scenarios

17:31–20:22 Trump's Anti-War Promises & the MAGA Split

20:22–25:26 Biden, Gaza & Democratic Accountability

25:26–29:57 The Future of International Law & the ICC

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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/

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When you stand for nothing, nobody wants to stand with you.

🌹 Full article by Alex Skopic: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/keir-starmers-downfall-is-a-warning-for-the-democrats

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Eric Beinhocker is a professor at the University of Oxford and executive director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. Nick Hanauer is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and founder of Civic Ventures. Together, they are the authors of the booklet Markets Built for Humans.

Beinhocker and Hanauer joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss why they believe neoliberal economics has failed, what the evidence really shows about the minimum wage and inequality, how bad economic ideas have shaped climate policy, and why they argue a thriving middle class is the foundation of a healthy economy and democracy. 

📘 Get the book for FREE: https://www.marketsbuiltforhumans.org/ 

0:00-9:14 How Neoliberalism Broke the Economy 

9:14-15:07 How Much Better Off Americans Could Be 

15:07-20:04 Why Markets Naturally Produce Plutocracy 

20:04-30:39 How Economists Got the Minimum Wage Wrong 

30:39-34:53 How Neoliberal Economics Failed on Climate Change 

34:53-44:42 Building an Economy for the Middle Class 

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The Israel lobby’s attempt to destroy Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign is a disturbing example of how money warps democracy.

🌹 Full article by Nathan J. Robinson: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/how-an-aipac-smear-campaign-works

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Kshama Sawant is a socialist organizer, former Seattle City Council member, and candidate for Congress in Washington’s 9th congressional district. Sawant joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss Adam Smith’s record on war, why she believes Democrats cannot be relied on to fight for working people, and why revolutionary socialists should fight for immediate reforms while building power outside the two-party system. 

0:00-2:48 Adam Smith, Warmonger 

2:48-9:27 Why Democrats Keep Failing 

9:27-19:39 How to Build Power Outside Congress 

19:39-27:53 Why Socialists Fight for Reforms 

27:53-33:01 Kshama Sawant’s Agenda 

🌹 Kshama Sawant's Website: https://www.kshamasawant.org/ 

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There’s barely any pretense that Trump cares about Cuban democracy. This is about privatizing Cuba’s public assets and getting them into the hands of Trump’s cronies. 

🇨🇺 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-u.s.-is-terrorizing-cuba-to-make-rich-men-richer 

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They rejected kings and were sincerely concerned about the possibility of a dictatorship. But we need to move past founder-worship and focus on justice.

👑 Full article by Nathan J. Robinson: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/of-course-the-founding-fathers-would-have-hated-trump

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Charles Booker is a former Kentucky state representative and the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. His campaign centers on Medicare for All, ending endless war, strengthening labor rights, raising wages, and building a multiracial working-class coalition from “the hood to the holler.”

Booker joined Current Affairs associate editor Alex Skopic to discuss why Kentucky should not be written off as a “red state,” how progressive policies can win in places ignored by the national Democratic Party, what the left can learn from Mitch McConnell’s coalition-building, and why working people need leaders willing to fight for health care, peace, and economic justice.

⛰️ Charles Booker's Website: https://charlesbooker.org/

0:00-9:32 Why Charles Booker Supports Medicare for All

9:32-20:42 Ending Endless War

20:42-23:10 Why Kentucky Isn’t Just a “Red State”

23:10-25:05 Why Progressive Policies Can Win in Red States

25:05-26:43 What “From the Hood to the Holler” Means

26:43-28:19 What the Left Can Learn From Mitch McConnell

28:19-33:34 Building Coalitions With Republicans

33:34-35:56 Andy Barr’s Racist Campaign

35:56-37:16 JD Vance and the Exploitation of Appalachia

37:16-42:02 Labor, Unions, and Working People

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Mark Graham is the director of the Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive, and Chris Freeland is the Internet Archive’s director of library services and one of the co-authors of the new report Vanishing Culture: A Report on Our Fragile Cultural Record. Their work focuses on preserving digital materials that might otherwise disappear.

Graham and Freeland joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss why the internet is not forever, how digital culture vanishes through deletion, paywalls, broken links, platform decay, and corporate control, and what can be done to preserve public access to our collective cultural record.

0:00-4:59 Is the Internet Forever?

4:59-9:52 Intentional Erasure vs. Accidental Loss

9:52-14:14 What Happens When We Lose Access?

14:14-20:41 The Problem With Social Media Archives

20:41-24:39 Ownership vs. Licensing

24:39-29:52 The Truth Is Paywalled But the Lies Are Free

29:52-34:38 The Loss of Historically Significant Media

34:38-38:02 The Vanishing Culture Report

38:02-49:20 What Can We Do?

💻 Vanishing Culture Report: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026/mode/2up

💻 Internet Archive: https://archive.org/

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