Current Affairs

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As Trump creates economic havoc and commits war crimes, the socialist mayor of New York City demonstrates what serious, responsible government looks like.

🗽 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/meanwhile-zohran-is-just-getting-things-done

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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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After being a leading Democratic enabler of the genocide of Palestinians, Cory Booker now has the audacity to publish a book about moral virtue.

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Adam Johnson is a media analyst and co-host of the podcast Citations Needed, whose work has appeared in The Nation, The Intercept, and other major outlets. He joined Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson to discuss his new book How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza, an analysis of how U.S. corporate media covered Israel’s assault on Gaza.

🇵🇸 Buy Adam's new book: https://www.plutobooks.com/product/how-to-sell-a-genocide/

🇵🇸 Follow Adam on Twitter: https://x.com/adamjohnsonCHI

🇵🇸 Citations Needed: https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/

0:00–5:51 Yes, it's a genocide

5:51–9:32 How liberal media failed

9:32–16:25 The myth of journalistic neutrality

16:25–21:40 The “Hamas-run” framing

21:40–28:03 How Hamas is portrayed as ISIS

28:03–34:22 Erasing historical context

34:22–37:46 Media double standards

37:46–47:05 Biden’s role and response

47:05–51:04 Whose voices are excluded

51:04–54:39 What happens to dissenting journalists

54:39–59:43 The Atlantic (ugh)

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Mouin Rabbani is a Middle East analyst and researcher, and one of the most incisive commentators on U.S. foreign policy in the region. He joined Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson to discuss the latest escalation in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and the broader Middle East, including ceasefire negotiations, U.S.-Israel relations, and the shifting balance of power.

🇵🇸 Buy Mouin's new book: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gaza-apocalypse/

🇵🇸 Follow Mouin on Twitter: https://x.com/MouinRabbani

0:00–6:04 Trump’s ceasefire claim and what’s actually happening

6:04–10:15 Who controls U.S. policy, Washington or Israel?

10:15–14:39 Zionism and the crackdown on dissent

14:39–16:59 How criticism of Israel gets suppressed

16:59–24:46 Why the pro-Israel consensus is breaking down

24:46–29:40 The gap between Trump’s rhetoric and reality

29:40–32:26 What Trump’s threats reveal about the war

32:26–39:45 The moral case against the war

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Ben Cohen is the co-founder, along with Jerry Greenfield, of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream company. But he has also been involved throughout his life with a number of major activist efforts on issues of peace, social justice, anti-racism, and climate change. 

He is currently heading the Up In Arms campaign to rein in military spending. Cohen was a national co-chair of Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. He has been arrested multiple times in the course of his activism, including disrupting an RFK Jr. Senate hearing to protest the genocide in Gaza. He is the author of the book Above The Law: How Qualified Immunity Protects Violent Police (OR Books, featuring an introduction by Killer Mike) and he is currently running a campaign to "free Ben and Jerry's" from its corporate overlords to protect its social activism. 

🍦 Ben's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yobencohen/ 

🍦 Ben's Book: https://orbooks.com/catalog/above-the-law/ 

🍦 Up in Arms Campaign: https://upinarms.life/ 

0:00–10:16 War, military spending, and moral priorities 

10:16–15:10 U.S. security logic and NATO expansion 

15:10–17:56 The profit motive behind war 

17:56–21:16 Impunity and lack of accountability 

21:16–28:12 Explaining militarism with BBs and Oreos 

28:12–33:50 Ben & Jerry’s social mission explained 

33:50–41:34 The Unilever/Magnum fight 

41:34–46:04 Should you boycott Ben & Jerry’s? 

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Amy Goodman is the longtime host of Democracy Now!, the independent news program she helped launch 30 years ago, which has since grown from a small network of community radio stations into a global media institution.

She spoke to Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson and Digital Editor John Ross, alongside filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, about the new documentary Steal This Story, Please!, which traces the history of Democracy Now! and Goodman’s career in independent journalism.

🗽 Watch Steal This Story, Please!: https://stealthisstory.org/

0:00–4:51 What makes Democracy Now! different from corporate media

4:51–9:14 Amy Goodman’s approach to journalism

9:14–12:48 How antiwar voices get sidelined in corporate media

12:48–20:26 Who corporate media really serves

20:26–25:15 Objectivity vs. taking a stance

25:15–36:53 What Democracy Now! adds to the historical record

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Dr. Butch Ware is a historian, public intellectual, and the Green Party candidate for Governor of California. He is an associate professor at UC Santa Barbara, a former Green Party vice presidential nominee, and an advocate for universal healthcare, housing, and divestment from war.

He spoke to Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan Robinson about his campaign to get on the ballot and what he describes as efforts by the Democratic Party to block third-party candidates.

🍊 Butch Ware's website: https://www.butchware4gov.com/

🍊 Follow Butch on Twitter: https://x.com/butchware?lang=en

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0:00–11:37 ballot access battle

11:37–17:36 blocking third parties

17:36–23:58 UK Green Party surge

23:58–33:34 Gavin Newsom critique

33:34–37:21 abortion & trans rights

37:21–42:02 Butch Ware’s vision for California

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Jasper Nathaniel is an independent journalist who recently returned from documenting Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where he has spent years reporting on land seizures, settler attacks, military raids, and the daily realities of life under Israeli military rule. 

He spoke to Current Affairs Digital Editor John Ross about what Americans misunderstand about the West Bank, how settler violence actually works on the ground, why settlers have become increasingly emboldened, and how land seizures are often carried out by settlers and then legalized by the state after the fact. Nathaniel also discussed Israel’s military court and prison system, the new death penalty law, the limits of debate inside the Democratic Party, the silence of American politicians when violence occurs, and what Israeli public opinion reveals about where the country may be heading. 

🇵🇸 Subscribe to Infinite Jaz: https://www.infinitejaz.com/ 

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0:00–6:55 What Americans Don’t Understand About the West Bank 

6:55–14:50 Pogroms in the West Bank 

14:50–19:25 Why Settler Are More Emboldened 

19:25–29:41 Israel's New Death Penalty Law 

29:41–35:52 Who Ends Up in Israeli Prisons 

35:52–42:55 A Litmus Test for Democrats? 

42:55–46:26 The Myth of the Two-State Solution 

46:26–51:53 Why American Politicians Stay Silent 

51:53–57:49 What’s Happening Inside Israeli Society 

57:49–1:01:57 How Bad It Really Is 

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Afshin Matin-Asgari is an Iranian historian and professor of Middle East history at California State University, Los Angeles, and the author of Axis of Empire: A History of Iran–U.S. Relations. He spoke to Current Affairs about the long history of U.S. involvement in Iran—from the 1953 CIA-backed coup to the present conflict—and why foreign intervention has repeatedly strengthened authoritarian forces rather than weakened them. A participant in the 1978 revolution who opposed both the Shah and the Islamic Republic, Matin-Asgari offers a rare perspective on Iranian politics, the nuclear issue, and the current war, arguing that while the Islamic Republic is repressive, Iran’s future must be determined by Iranians themselves, not by the United States or Israel.

🇮🇷 Buy Afshin's Book: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2694-a-history-of-iran-us-relations

0:00-3:05 Afshin's background and how he feels about the war

3:05-5:46 What attacks mean for Iranian dissidents

5:46-9:25 The 1978 revolution

9:25-19:26 The U.S., the 1953 coup, and the Shah

19:26-27:26 Origins of U.S.–Iran conflict

27:26-30:48 Are Iranian leaders irrational?

30:48-35:13 Iran’s nuclear program

35:13-43:02 Iran’s strategy and risk of wider war

43:02-46:48 What stance the left should take

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Donald Trump is trying to starve the island nation into submission, but an international coalition of volunteers is coming to Cuba’s aid. We’re joining them.

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