Current Affairs

We dip once again into your voicemails! Topics include expectations for the Biden administration, anarchic education, and aliens. Stay tuned to the end so you can be sad.

The panel this week was business manager Allegra Silcox, contributing editor Eli Massey, legal editor Oren Nimni, and editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson. Your host was, for the final time...Pete Davis.

"Education Gamification": https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/10/education-gamification

"The Past and Future of the Socialist Sunday School": https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/08/the-past-and-future-of-the-socialist-sunday-school

This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

Eli speaks to assistant professor at Michigan State University and writer for In These Times, Shireen Al-Adeimi, about the ongoing war in Yemen—its causes, its human cost, and the role of the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

This episode is also available as a transcript: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/01/interview-shireen-al-adeimi-on-the-u-s-backed-war-in-yemen

This transcript may vary slightly from the audio, as it has been edited for clarity.

"Biden Must End The War on Yemen": https://inthesetimes.com/article/president-biden-obama-yemen-war

International Day of Action on Yemen (Jan 25th 2021): https://masspeaceaction.org/event/international-day-of-action-on-yemen/

This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

Aisling speaks to journalist Libby Watson (@libbycwatson), formerly of The New Republic and Splinter, about her new Substack newsletter, Sick Note. Towards the end, Aisling gets very enthusiastic about Libby's cat, Digby.

Sick Note has launched! Read it here: sicknote.co

This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

With the Supreme Court very much in the news cycle, Oren speaks to Yale professor of law and history, Samuel Moyn, about why we should not "pack the court", as many leftists call for, but instead end the court as we know it.

scotusreform.com

Articles by Moyn:

https://newrepublic.com/article/159710/supreme-court-reform-court-packing-diminish-power

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-case-for-ending-the-supreme-court-as-we-know-it

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/reform-the-court-but-dont-pack-it/614986/

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/09/supreme-court-socialists-ruth-bader-ginsburg-death

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3665032

This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

The team discuss the ensmallening of culture, women in science fiction, and reveal which things they suspect may not be real.

The panel this week was senior editor Brianna Rennix, amusements & managing editor Lyta Gold, and business manager Allegra Silcox. Your host is Oren Nimni.

Music, as ever, is by Current Affairs musician-in-residence Danny Bradley. If you so wish, you can support Danny by purchasing "How Was Your Year?" here: https://dannybradleymusic.com/songsforcurrentaffairs/howwasyouryear

This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

Hello all! We took a week off for the holidays, but now we're back—and we've brought presents!

To ring in the new year, we're bringing everyone five free episodes throughout the week. Some of them will be brand-new, some will be former Patreon exclusives; some will be new episodes that would usually be Patreon-only, but that we want to share with you because we just like you that much. If you enjoy these episodes, we'd recommend you subscribe to our Patreon for more, but either way, we hope you like them.

Today, we return to our Room 101 miniseries, in which two members of the CA team try and convince each other to consign their most hated objects, people and concepts to the deepest, darkest room. Nathan, Oren, Lyta and Brianna have all previously appeared in this miniseries; this time around, it's Nick and Sparky. Candidates for banishment include two geographical regions of the United States, one type of clothing, one political concept, and one beloved television show. Things get a little banish-happy towards the end.

Episodes I and II of this series here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-room-101-i-21532235

https://www.patreon.com/posts/23223335

Cleveland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY

This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

This week, Lyta Gold had an extra-long, two-part conversation with Current Affairs editor-at-large Yasmin Nair, in which they dissect the arts industry, media gossip, creative labor, why writing doesn't pay, and why the arts culture today feels so stagnant.

This is a preview of two episodes available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

This episode was originally on our bonus feed, but we've released it so everyone can listen for free!

Associate editor and real-life French person Vanessa A. Bee speaks to Paris-based journalist Cole Stangler about the recent French protests against police brutality and racism, as well as the broader context of protest and power in France.

Some of Cole's work: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/06/france-racial-justice-protests-adama-traore-assa

https://jacobinmag.com/2020/11/emmanuel-macron-liberalism-without-civil-liberties

This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

The panel dissects Obama's new memoir and what it says about his legacy, investigate the concept of 'cabals', and share their favorite competitive reality shows.

The panel this week was made up of newsletter editor Nick Slater, lieutenant editor Brianna Rennix, poet-at-large Cate Root, and editor-in-chief Nathan Robinson. Your temporary host is Sparky Abraham.

This episode was edited by Dan Thorn of Pink Noise Studios in Somerville, MA.

Associate editor and real-life French person Vanessa A. Bee speaks to Paris-based journalist Cole Stangler about the recent French protests against police brutality and racism, as well as the broader context of protest and power in France.

This is a preview of an episode available in full to our $5 Patreon subscribers. To listen to the whole episode, as well as lots of other brilliant bonus episodes, please consider becoming one of our subscribers at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!