UNLOCKED from the bird feed to the main feed: Current Affairs host Pete Davis invites Jesse Eisinger — Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist with ProPublica and author of The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives — to the Current Affairs World Headquarters to enlighten us on the topic of corporate crime, feckless white collar prosecutors, and why we should care about the underfunding of the IRS.

Read Jesse's piece on the IRS dropping the ball here. Read Jesse's piece on why only one banker went to jail after the financial crisis here. Read The New York Times' huge report on the Trump family tax fraud here. Read George Scialabba's new book, which Pete quoted at the end of the episode, here.

Many thanks to the amazing Dan Thorn for editing help on this episode.

To listen to interviews when they first come out — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

In our unlucky 13th episode, the Current Affairs panel gets into the Halloween spirit: we investigate the murder of American democracy, Pete makes the case that Halloween is the best holiday, and we all share our favorite unsolved mysteries.

The Death Panel:

Miscellaneous Reading:

The books Pete referenced in segment one are Democracy's Discontent by Michael Sandel and The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism by Daniel Bell. A James Joyce halloween costume is here and a sultry Edgar Allen Poe costume is here. Nathan's writing on the joy of Mardi Gras is here. More on the sinister Countess Báthory is here. More on Ireland's Land War is here. More on Carlo Tresca is here.

Support Current Affairs by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For the written form of Current Affairs — and to subscribe to the beautiful print magazine — visit: CurrentAffairs.org. To join the conversation, leave us a voicemail at 504-867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs host Pete Davis invites Jesse Eisinger — Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist with ProPublica and author of The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives — to the Current Affairs World Headquarters to enlighten us on the topic of corporate crime, feckless white collar prosecutors, and why we should care about the underfunding of the IRS.

To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

Current Affairs superlawyers Vanessa A. Bee and Oren Nimni preview their upcoming Bird Feed series focused on the law, the justice system and this year's Supreme Court term.

To listen to Vanessa and Oren's legal series — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

UNLOCKED from the bird feed to the main feed: Current Affairs host Pete Davis talks with the Modern Money Network's Rohan Grey and Raúl Carrillo about Modern Monetary Theory, the big idea shaking up the Left's view of public spending. They — and their ragtag band of economists, activists and politicians — are questioning everything you thought you knew about debt, deficits, spending, and money.

Read more about MMT in The Nation, Vice, and The Washington Post. Learn more about MMT's leading voice (and Bernie Sanders advisor), Stephanie Kelton, in Barrons and The Huffington Post.

To listen to interviews when they first come out — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

Lyta enters the Lefty Shark Tank to pitch a policy response to the recent Kavanaugh hearings, Malaika Jabali is interviewed about The Color of Economic Anxiety, and the Current Affairs panelists share their favorite utopian communities.

The Panel:

Further reading:

Read Malaika's essay, The Color of Economic Anxiety, here. Read Lyta's essay on Star Trek, The Dismal Frontier, here. Read Lyta's pitch for speculative fiction here and Brianna's pitch for space utopias here.

Many thanks to Anna Lathrop for editing help.

Support Current Affairs by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For the written form of Current Affairs — and to subscribe to the beautiful print magazine — visit: CurrentAffairs.org. To join the conversation, leave us a voicemail at 504-867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs host Pete Davis talks with the Modern Money Network's Rohan Grey and Raúl Carrillo about Modern Monetary Theory, the big idea shaking up the Left's view of public spending. They — and their ragtag band of economists, activists and politicians — are questioning everything you thought you knew about debt, deficits, spending, and money.

Read more about MMT in The Nation, Vice, and The Washington Post. Learn more about MMT's leading voice (and Bernie Sanders advisor), Stephanie Kelton, in Barrons and The Huffington Post.

To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan J. Robinson and contributing editor Briahna Joy Gray discuss the unending stream of lies told by Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation process.

Read Brie's Intercept article on the subject here and Nathan's Current Affairs article on the subject here. Read Nathan's earlier piece on Kavanaugh's judicial record here.

To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

In an episode-long special, Current Affairs social media editor Vanessa A. Bee and amusements editor Lyta Gold launch their new investigative journalism podcast, "Uncovering the Unspeakable," on our sister network, Concurrent Affairs. Their pilot episode: uncovering the curious case of Brett Kavanaugh's patriarchiitis.

The Current Affairs in-house counsel tells us we must share that this is mostly satire. However, we would like to add that all facts about Brett Kavanaugh in this episode are drawn from publicly-available news sources.

For our very-real investigations in Brett Kavanaugh, see editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson's exploration of Kavanaugh's unceasing stream of lies.

Support Current Affairs by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For the written form of Current Affairs — and to subscribe to the beautiful print magazine — visit: CurrentAffairs.org. To join the conversation, leave us a voicemail at 504-867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which legal editor Oren Nimni and senior editor Brianna Rennix talk about the Central American refugee crisis. Brianna is an attorney for asylum seekers on the southern border and Oren just traveled to Central America to see first-hand the effects of the Trump administration’s horrific anti-immigrant, anti-refugee policies. The two share what they have learned from their work and travels about the larger context of the refugee crisis you have been hearing about in the news.

Donate to Brianna's organization, the CARA Pro Bono Project here.

Many thanks to Dan Thorn and Anna Lathrop (@annaaybaci on Insta) for editing help on the episode.

To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.