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Current Affairs
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Current Affairs episodes
- Does the Right to Counsel Actually Exist In the U.S.?
Today's guest is Stephen Bright, one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the United States. Prof. Bright teaches at Yale Law School and Georgetown Law, but has spent most of his life working as an advocate for poor people accused of serious crimes. During his decades in charge of the Southern Center For Human Rights, he argued multiple times in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and represented defendants some of the most difficult death penalty cases. Today we discuss the status of the right to a lawyer in the United States. Constitutionally, everyone is guaranteed an adequate defense, but in practice, the amount of representation one gets is based on the amount of money one can spend, and public defenders offices vary wildly across the country. Nobody is better familiar with the situation than Prof. Bright, whose writings include:
Counsel for the Poor: The Death Penalty Not for the Worst Crime But for the Worst Lawyer (1994)
Fifty Years of Defiance and Resistance After Gideon v. Wainwright (2013) (w/ Sia Sanneh)
Prof. Bright has produced an entire 40-part online course on issues of race and class as they apply to capital punishment, which is available for free on YouTube:
Capital Punishment: Race, Poverty, and Disadvantage
More of his work defending capital cases can be seen in the 2005 documentary film Fighting For Life In The Death Belt, which can be viewed free online.
His lecture to Stanford law students on the ethical responsibilities of lawyers can be viewed here.
50 min - Abortion in America, Part II: Diana Greene Foster on "The Turnaway Study"In this, the second part of our look into the realities of abortion in the contemporary United States, Nathan talks to Prof. Diana Greene Foster, Director of Research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) collaborative research group at UC-San Francisco. Prof. Foster is the author of the new book The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having―or Being Denied―an Abortion. The book is based on a remarkable study that followed a thousand women over a decade, some of whom had abortions and some of whom were denied abortions. The study compared life outcomes for the two groups and found that not only does having an abortion not cause lasting regret or harm, but not having a desired abortion creates a host of negative life outcomes. We also discuss:- How those who are denied abortions accurately predict the negative life consequences they will face from the denial- Why access to contraception is still a long way from being universal- How the need to quickly gather enough money to pay for a procedure can mean the difference between having an abortion and not having one- Why, regardless of debates over the moral status of the fetus, we need to acknowledge that allowing people choice objectively makes them better off39 min
- Abortion in America: Carole Joffe on the "Obstacle Course" to Get Necessary Medical CareCarol Joffe is one of the foremost experts on reproductive rights in the United States. A professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, she has been studying and writing about the battle over abortion rights for decades and received lifetime achievement awards from the Abortion Care Network and the Society of Family Planning. She is the co-author of the book Obstacle Course: The Everyday Struggle to Get an Abortion In America, and joined Nathan to discuss the various ways that the anti-abortion movement has already succeeded in creating obstacles to having abortions, as well as:- What a post-Roe America will actually look like: why it may not be quite as bleak as the pre-Roe era thanks to abortion pills, but will be worse if criminal punishments are widely deployed- The sneaky tactics that anti-abortion campaigners often use, including placing fake clinics next to real ones- Why the volunteer actions of ordinary people are essential to ensuring the protection of the right to chooseEdited by Tim Gray44 min
- How Did the Bloating Military Become a Cancer on the US? (w/ Andrew Cockburn)Andrew Cockburn is a veteran journalist who serves as the Washington Editor of Harper's magazine. His new book, The Spoils of War: Power, Profit, and the American War Machine, available from Verso collects his reporting on the military-industrial complex and the way the public coffers are looted by profiteers. He joined Nathan to discuss why he thinks the ever-bloating military has become an out-of-control "virus," as well as:- The bureaucratic waste that means the US military isn't even good at defense- Why profit, rather than war, is what the military is built for- The defense companies that depend on constantly manufacturing new threats, which conveniently pop up just when it looks like the military budget might be scaled back- Why the new stories about Chinese hypersonic missiles are exactly this kind of self-interested threat inflation- The alarming situation with nuclear weapons, which are far too close to being used for anyone's comfort- Why defense spending isn't even a good way to "create jobs"- Why progressives should not just focus on critiquing "militarism" and disastrous wars but on scaling back the giant institution that channels so many of our social resources into manufacturing "weapons that don't work for threats that don't exist"53 min
- Why Are Millennials So Into Astrology?Tara Isabella Burton is the author of Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World. She joined Current Affairs editor Nathan Robinson to discuss changing religious practices in the United States. Traditional organized religion has been on the decline for years, as more and more young people are identifying as nonreligious. But are we really? Tara's book looks at the way that new communities and spiritual practices, from SoulCycle to astrology to online political communities, have arisen in the place of churches. We discuss:- To what extent these are identities versus beliefs- What a "religion" is and whether the term should apply to these other kinds of beliefs and practices- How charlatans sell people the promise of spiritual fulfillment- The pluses and minuses of having "bespoke" religions for everyone. On the one hand, everyone gets the faith that suits them best. On the other, we may lose our sense of belonging in the broader human communityEdited by Tim GrayNathan's audio is absolutely horrible for reasons unknown. Many apologies for this. Figuring out the problem so it can be fixed in future.48 min
- What Does Moral Philosophy Tell Us About Our Obligation To Stop Climate Change?Today Nathan is joined by Oxford University philosophy professor Henry Shue, author of Climate Justice and most recently The Pivotal Generation: Why We Have a Moral Responsibility to Slow Climate Change Right Now. Prof. Shue's new book is about the moral obligations conferred on people by the historical circumstances they find themselves in. The actions of living people have huge consequences for those born to subsequent generations. What responsibilities do we have to those who come after us? We discuss:- The important questions of justice that need to be central to the climate discussion- Why people living in the future are just as morally important as people living now- What elementary principles of moral philosophy can tell us about the political action we need to take on climate- Why individual lifestyle choices are insufficient to fulfill our moral responsibilities- What those countries most responsible for the climate crisis owe to those who will suffer the most from itEdited by Tim Gray47 min
- American Machiavellian: The Rise and Fall of Andrew CuomoRoss Barkan, author of The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York, joins Nathan to discuss the career of the infamous ex-New York governor. We talk about:- How an un-charismatic and unpleasant bully made his inspiring journey from humble beginnings as the son of the governor of New York to become the governor of New York- How Cuomo managed to keep a blue state from actually passing progressive legislation- How his Machiavellian ruthlessness, and New York's broken election system, kept him in power for so long- How the media allows politicians like Cuomo to portray themselves as heroes when their actual policies are disastrousRoss' book is an important document of the lies and manipulation of one of our time's shadiest state leaders. It offers an important case study in how centrists govern and the kind of politics we need to overthrow.Edited by Tim Gray47 min
- Why Isn't the U.S. Trying To End the Pandemic? (w/ Lily Sánchez)Current Affairs editor and physician Dr. Lily Sánchez joins Nathan to discuss her new (and first) Current Affairs article, "Continuing The Pandemic Is A Choice." Lily explains:- the many things the U.S. could do differently if it was actually trying to get COVID-19 cases as close to 0 as possible- the weird lack of a serious public education and messaging campaign around vaccination- why having 50 different state policies makes no sense when you're trying to control a pandemic- the need for us to refuse to accept the status quo, and demand the elimination of preventable sufferingCorrection: the horrifying Rosa Parks tweet is in fact from contrarian writer James Lindsay, not a Daily Wire writer. Nathan was thinking of a different horrifying recent tweet that was from a Daily Wire writer. That one was in defense of genocide.Point of clarification from Lily: "I did not mean to imply I endorsed a "vax or test" approach when I was talking about vaccine outreach and testing. "Vax or test" doesn't really make sense because anyone can spread the virus regardless of vaccination status. I do support a universal testing approach. What I meant was that doing a universal testing program can keep people safe even if you cannot convince everyone to get vaccinated."You can follow Lily on Twitter @lefty_md54 min
- Is Christopher Hitchens' Life A Cautionary Tale For The Left?Ben Burgis is the author of the upcoming book: Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters, as well as the host of "Give Them An Argument" on YouTube. His previous book Give Them An Argument: Logic for the Left was covered in Current Affairs and he and Nathan have co-written before. In today's episode, Ben and Nathan discuss Hitchens' career, writings, and beliefs, including:- The enduring value of Hitchens' leftist polemics against Henry Kissinger and Bill Clinton- The roots of Hitchens' repugnant and despicable views on Islam and the Iraq War- The question of how useful his strident "anti-theism" was- The way the 80s and 90s neoliberal consensus caused certain socialists to lose their way- The need for the left to avoid Hitchens' worst tendencies while learning from his erudition, debating flair, and love of skewering overrated sacred figuresThe Trial of Henry Kissinger can be seen on YouTube. Ben's book on Hitchens is now available for pre-order.Edited by Tim Gray48 min
- How Do You Actually Convince a Climate Denier, Vaccine Skeptic, or Flat Earther? (w/ Lee McIntyre)Lee McIntyre is a philosopher of science who serves as a research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and an instructor in Ethics at Harvard Extension School. His new book, How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason, is about how we can actually successfully talk people out of dangerous erroneous beliefs. Lee recognizes that merely providing people with correct facts does little, but also believes it's a terrible idea to let bad ideas go unrebutted, or conclude that there's "no point trying to reason with people." His book discusses the importance of building relationships and trust as part of the process of getting people to be open to new ideas, and shows why it's essential in an age of vaccine skepticism and climate denial that we learn how to effectively defend scientific truths. He joined Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson to discuss what works and what doesn't when it comes to talking people out of irrational beliefs.Nathan's article on QAnon is here. The story of the QAnoner who gave up his beliefs is from the Washington Post. The George Orwell piece about flat earth beliefs that Nathan quotes is here.If you enjoy the Current Affairs podcast, consider subscribing to our glorious print magazine. Current Affairs is entirely funded by the donations and subscriptions of readers and listeners, and depends on your support to survive.53 min
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A podcast of politics and culture, from the editors of Current Affairs magazine.
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