Current Affairs

In the fall of 2024, Zohran Mamdani was a long-shot challenger taking on New York City’s political establishment. Today, he’s the mayor. In this early interview with Current Affairs, recorded shortly after he announced his campaign, Mamdani lays out his vision for transforming the city.

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John Sanbonmatsu is a professor of philosophy at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the author of The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and Ourselves.

The book is a response to Michael Pollan’s 2006 bestseller The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and as the title suggests, Sanbonmatsu thinks writers like Pollan are dead wrong about the ethics of food. He maintains that killing and eating animals is entirely indefensible, no matter how “humane” the process supposedly is.

0:00-7:19 The Horror of Meat

7:19-13:02 Comparisons to Slavery

13:02-17:50 The Omnivore's Deception

17:50-20:16 Lab-Grown Meat

20:16-25:15 Evasion of Moral Responsibility

25:15-33:24 Erosion of Moral Decency

33:24-40:33 The Path Forward

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Joshua Cohen is a political theorist and writer of the Ettingermentum Substack: an exceedingly thorough and insightful resource for anyone hoping to understand what the hell is going on in American politics these days. Cohen sat down with Current Affairs to discuss the recent government shutdown, what Democrats actually pay attention to, and what the future looks like for a party controlled by pundits. 

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📰 Follow Ettingermentum on Twitter: https://x.com/ettingermentum

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Medea Benjamin is an anti-war activist and one of the co-founders of CODEPINK: Women for Peace. She’s spent decades fighting the American military-industrial complex, organizing protests against the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s and interrupting speeches by both Barack Obama and Donald Trump. She’s also the co-author, with David Swanson, of NATO: What You Need to Know. She joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss the ongoing push for war, from the Middle East to Venezuela, and how ordinary people can organize and stand against it.

🌸 CODEPINK: https://www.codepink.org/

🌸 Medea's Twitter: https://x.com/medeabenjamin

🌸 Medea's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medea.benjamin

0:00-11:16 Why Disruptive Protest Works

11:16-14:23 Overcoming the Fear of Public Confrontation

14:23-18:36 Making the Human Cost of War Visible

18:36-22:52 The Rise and Limits of Today’s Antiwar Movement

22:52-25:49 The Myth of Trump as an “Anti-War” President

25:49-31:53 NATO’s Role in the Ukraine War

31:53-34:54 Is There a Real Anti-War Right?

34:54-37:56 Why Democrats Lag Public Anti-War Opinion

37:56-40:16 What Keeps People Fighting Back

40:16-47:33 Why Americans Must Confront Their Own Government’s Crimes

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How can someone so delusional attract an audience of millions? What does it say about us that Owens is listened to by anyone other than a psychiatrist?

🧿 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/candace-owens-and-the-decay-of-the-american-brain

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Right-wing megadonors flew mayors to an all-expenses-paid summit in New Orleans, where they pushed a policy framework that codified mainstream criticism of Israel as “antisemitic.”

📰 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/a-dark-money-network-is-recruiting-u.s.-mayors-to-criminalize-pro-palestine-speech

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Nina Turner is a former Ohio State Senator, national co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, and one of the most forceful advocates for working-class politics in the United States. She’s a longtime champion of economic justice and a leading voice in movements for peace and social uplift, including the new Up in Arms campaign challenging the power of the military-industrial complex. Turner joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss why the Democratic Party keeps failing to meet the needs of ordinary people, why insurgent primary challenges are essential to democracy, and how redirecting our vast military spending could transform the lives of millions.

🔥 Nina's Twitter: https://x.com/ninaturner

🔥 Nina's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninaturnerohio/

🔥 Up In Arms Campaign: https://upinarms.life/

0:00–11:33 The Democratic Party's Failures

11:33–14:57 How Harris Squandered Her Campaign

14:57–21:33 Should the Left Primary Hakeem Jeffries?

21:33–28:49 Mamdani’s Affordability Blueprint

28:49–39:33 The Up in Arms Campaign

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Anthony Fantano is the biggest music critic on YouTube, and the self-described “internet’s busiest music nerd.” The New York Times calls him “The Only Music Critic Who Matters (if You’re Under 25),” and his show The Needle Drop has over 3 million subscribers. Fantano is known for his provocative takes, like “AI Music is Evil” and “Taylor Swift is a Coward.” He joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson and associate editor Alex Skopic to talk about the state of the music industry, how streaming platforms exploit artists, and whether Zohran Mamdani should rap again.

🎹 The Needle Drop: https://www.youtube.com/theneedledrop

🎹 Fantano: https://www.youtube.com/@fantano

0:00–7:28 What Right Do Critics Have to Judge Music?

7:28–10:34 AI Music and How It Uses Artists’ Work

10:34–17:13 Why So Much Music in 2025 Feels “Mid”

17:13–23:58 Have Music Critics Become Too Nice?

23:58–32:29 Censorship, Algorithms, and Political Lyrics

32:29–37:13 Paying Artists Fairly and Why They Should Unionize

37:13–40:39 Zohran Mamdani’s Rap Career

40:39–44:53 Underrated Artists Fantano Recommends

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Yet again, the New York Times’ Bret Stephens advocates the overthrow of a sovereign government. Why do the readers of the “paper of record” tolerate this dangerous propaganda?

🌹 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/there-have-to-be-consequences-for-advocating-illegal-wars

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Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mark the passing of a professional liar, war criminal, and mass murderer. Dick Cheney is dead. As you read this, his co-conspirator George W. Bush may be reading his eulogy in Washington National Cathedral. Yet the politics Cheney represented live on—and the media are busy trying to whitewash his record, depicting him as an honorable American statesman. Today, on the day of Cheney’s funeral, we’re joined by Adam McKay, the director of 2018’s Vice, who sets the record straight.

🔥 Adam's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ghostpanther.bsky.social

0:00-5:35 How the Media Is Whitewashing Cheney

5:35-8:24 All the People Cheney Killed

8:24-14:54 Cheney's Rise to Power

14:54-21:42 How Cheney Gave Us Trump

21:42-29:30 "Box Office Poison"

29:30-32:34 How Dick Cheney Betrayed His Daughter

32:34-45:18 The Real Legacy of Dick Cheney

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