Current Affairs

Modern Monetary Theory—three simple words that are tearing apart the left. Pete Davis and Sparky Abraham have spent the last few years feeling curious and confused about this highly contentious theory, which posits that the U.S. government can deficit spend much more than it currently believes it can. (Or maybe it doesn't posit that. We're not sure.) Together, they've decided to launch a new series, in which they will interview people across the spectrum of left economics, ask questions, admit what they don't know, and try and muddle through one of the most complex questions in the world of policy: is MMT real?

Episode #1 in this special series is available here for free, and episodes two through five will be released to our Patreon subscribers throughout the week. In the near future, the series will be published on a separate feed, where it will be made available to all in full. But if you want to hear the series as soon as possible, you can do so by subscribing to our $5 tier at www.patreon.com/CurrentAffairs!

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

Lyta and Brianna discuss Star Trek—its utopias, its assumptions, it fun parts, and its hot people.

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!

Did you know we can build wind turbines that don't stand on the ground? That, in fact, we can catapult wind turbines into high altitude and collect energy from them as they fly?

Current Affairs resident infrastructure enthusiast Sparky Abraham and business manager Allegra Silcox speak to Christof Beaupoil about his passion for the strange new world of flying wind turbines, and his vision for the future of renewable energy.

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!

Nathan, Pete and Sparky discuss the book Cult of Smart: How Our Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice, and education more broadly. Should there be a curriculum? Should twelve-year-olds be allowed to drop out? Is it possible to have a radically democratic school? Is there such a thing as "intelligence"? What is "education" anyway? We answer all these questions and more.

Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/42516771

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!

Pete speaks to journalist Talia Lavin about her new book Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy.

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!

The team responds and reflects to the Biden win, ruminate on conservative octogenarians, and look forward to a vaccinated future.

The panel this week is made up of associate editor Vanessa A. Bee, finance editor Sparky Abraham, managing editor Lyta Gold, and editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson. Your host is newsletter editor Nick Slater.

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

As the US prepares for its second ever Catholic president, Rennix is joined by Current Affairs contributor Daniel Walden for an in-depth discussion on Catholicism: its liberatory side, its troubling side, its complicated side, and the side that says the best gender is "sphere".

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!

Nathan and Oren discuss William B. Fu—sorry, William F. Buckley, the "most important conservative intellectual of the postwar era", and possessor of the second-most ridiculous mid-Atlantic accent in politics.

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!

Infrastructure enthusiast Sparky Abraham is joined by Dr. Magnus Jamieson, an expert in electrical power systems, to discuss the fire which destroyed the town of Paradise, California in November 2018—the most destructive wildfire in California's history, caused by a single faulty electrical line and a whole bunch of systemic problems.

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!

The team discusses the past, the present and the future. Along the way, they get distracted by their favorite election conspiracy theories and the mysteries of New Orleans politics.

The panel this week is made up of administrative Cajun Kate Gauthreaux, poet-at-large Cate Root, legal editor Oren Nimni and editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson. Your temporary host is Aisling McCrea. Kate joined us clandestinely from their workplace, hence their absence from large segments of the podcast and questionable acoustics on their audio.

Cate's article on mutual aid: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/10/what-is-mutual-aid-and-how-can-it-build-power

"Biden Sucks, Vote Biden" by Danny Bradley: https://dannybradleymusic.com/songsforcurrentaffairs/bidensucksvotebiden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEdz1FBCnyU

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