The Chatterbox

John Blair (Oxford University) joins Merle and Lee on the podcast in a discussion about his new book, Vampire Epidemics. The episode begins, as usual, with a definition of a vampire, followed by a survey of where and when these supernatural creatures appear in writings. John then discusses the phenomenon of vampire epidemics over time, noting their increased prevalence after the appearance of the printing press and their association with persecution waves. Near the end of the interview the conversation also touches upon the study of supposedly “less serious” subjects, as well as how vampires entered popular culture.

Hosts and Commonweal contributors Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Nick Tabor chat with historian of Islam Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, professor of religion at Carleton College and author of A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order (Cambridge University Press), which examines Muslim political life in Trump’s America.

In this episode, the three discuss the grassroots faith-based coalition behind Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory in New York, the Muslim community’s response to ICE raids in Minnesota and its roots in post-9/11 organizing, and what the war in Iran reveals about a regional politics driven more by the interests of billionaires and Gulf states than by the lives of ordinary people across the Middle East.

Episode production and original music by Joel Myers.

Donald Trump's war with Iran has led many to a rethink of the global economy. With his presidency already weakening relations between Britain and the US and uniting European nations, events like the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz raise further questions about our dependency on the global oil markets, as well as fossil fuels altogether.

Edward Fitzpatrick of ConFlow Power Group joins Ava to imagine what greener, smarter, genuinely resilient infrastructure could look like in Britain and beyond, and peels back the curtain on the AI powering it.

Subscribe to How to Rebuild Britain now: https://linktr.ee/howtorebuildbritain

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the course of the past year, Peter Thiel—the Trump backing, Vance boosting gay tech billionaire—has been delivering a series of lectures on the Antichrist, using an examination of the Biblical antagonist of the End Times to make an argument about the supposed perils of this political moment. We got our hands on transcripts of these talks as delivered last year in San Francisco, and explain what Thiel said and why it matters. Topics include: Thiel's conservative evangelical upbringing, the influence of Rene Girard on his thinking, and how Thiel's Antichrist lectures relate to his broader thinking and worldview; the place of the Antichrist in the eschatology of different Christian traditions, and the curious similarities between Thiel's understanding of the Antichrist and that found in the work of Timothy LaHaye, co-author of the Left Behind novels; Christianity's recent trendiness in Silicon Valley; the way Thiel's account of how the Antichrist will come to power connects to his economic interests; and more!

** BUY TICKETS FOR KYE x MIKE DUNCAN LIVE IN NYC **

Listen again: 

"Rene Girard and the Right" (w/ John Ganz), KYE, Feb 26, 2024

"A Remedy for Envy? Rene Girard Redux," KYE, March 4, 2024 (for subscribers)

Sources:

Peter Thiel, "The Straussian Moment," 2007

Ross Douthat interviews Peter Thiel (transcript), New York Times, June 26, 2025

Max Chafkin, The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and the Rise of the Silicon Valley Oligarchs (2021)

Timothy LaHaye, Revelation Unveiled (1999)

Elisabetta Povoledo, "Peter Thiel Fears the Antichrist Is Coming. In Rome, Some Call His View Heresy," New York Times, March 17, 2026

Johana Bhuiyan, Dara Kerr, Nick Robins-Early, "Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist," The Guardian, Oct 10, 2025

Peter Thiel & Sam Wolfe, "Voyages to the End of the World," First Things, Oct 1, 2025

Emma Goldberg, "Seeking God, or Peter Thiel, in Silicon Valley," New York Times, Feb 11, 2025

Kate Lucky interview w/ Michelle Stephens, "‘Wouldn’t It Be Funny if We Tricked a Bunch of People into Going to Church?’" Christianity Today, Aug 11, 2025

Laura Bullard, "The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession," Wired, Sep 30, 2025

John Ganz, "What Happened Here," Unpopular Front, Feb 4, 2025

...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon for access to all of our bonus episodes!

Crypto is back—new hype cycles, rising prices, and fresh promises that this time cryptocurrency is changing the financial system for good. But the questions haven’t changed: is this innovation or just another wave of speculation, scams, and financial fraud?

That’s why we’re revisiting this conversation with actor and author Ben McKenzie—whose bestselling book Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud and new documentary, Everyone is Lying to You For Money are once again fueling the debate over crypto’s real impact.

What started as curiosity became a deeper look at how the crypto boom blurred the line between investing and gambling—and what that reveals about an economy increasingly driven by speculation instead of real value. McKenzie joins Nick and Goldy to pull back the curtain on the hype, the believers, and the system that made it all possible.

Ben McKenzie is an actor, author, and director best known for his roles on The O.C., Southland, and Gotham. A graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in economics and foreign affairs, he has emerged as a leading critic of the cryptocurrency industry. He is the co-author, with journalist Jacob Silverman, of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud, and has expanded that work into a documentary, Everyone is Lying to You For Money , examining the rise—and risks—of crypto.

Social Media:

@benmckenzie.bsky.social

mrbenmckenzie

@ben_mckenzie

Further reading: 

Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud

When Prophecy Fails

Mistakes Were Made (but Not By Me)

⁠Everyone is Lying to You For Money

New York Magazine: Congress Just Injected Crypto Directly Into the Most Stable Part of the Economy. What could go wrong?

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com

Facebook: Pitchfork Economics Podcast

Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social

Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics

Threads: pitchforkeconomics

TikTok: @pitchfork_econ

YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics

LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics

Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer

Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠

The Labor MP and former Industry Minister on how the power of the global tech giants and why tech sovereignty is non-negotiable.

Regular panellists Digital Rights Watch Chair Lizzie O’Shea, Health Engine CEO Dan Stinton and Per Capita’s Peter Lewis also delve into: 

Who is enabling the Nudify apps?

Is there a world beyond the US AI stack?

And what on earth is Palintir CEO Alex Karp smoking?

For background notes on these discussions go to Burning Platforms on Substack: https://burningplatforms.substack.com/

Historian Peter Richardson joins Jordan Mattox to discuss his new book, Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine, and to situate the magazine within the broader cultural and political history of the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Richardson — whose previous work includes a biography of Carey McWilliams and studies of Ramparts Magazine and the Grateful Dead — argues that Rolling Stone's founding in November 1967 cannot be understood apart from the counterculture it both chronicled and drew its sustenance from, nor apart from the failures of a mainstream media that created the opening for it in the first place.

The conversation traces Richardson's own intellectual trajectory from medieval English literature to California cultural history; revisits McWilliams's argument that California is less a "great exception" than a national avatar; takes up Hunter S. Thompson's ambivalent relationship to the Haight-Ashbury counterculture; and considers Kevin Starr's conspicuous reluctance to address the 1960s in his otherwise comprehensive survey of the state. The episode closes with Richardson's reflections on Theodore Roszak, on whether the conditions for a new counterculture now exist in the shadow of Silicon Valley, and with a set of book and film recommendations for listeners wishing to pursue these threads further.

When it comes to talking about food, we often to choose to look at what people are eating rather than how. And it's this distinction that today's guest, Amber Husain, explores more fully in her new book, Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power and the Will to Live.

Amber is a writer based in South London, UK. In addition to Tell Me How You Eat, she has also written Meat Love and Replace Me. Her essays on politics, literature, and art have been published in Granta, The New York Times, Baffler, and more. She has a PhD from UCL in the history of art and mind-body medicine in the late 20th-century Britain. She teaches history of art, creative writing, and criticism.

In today's conversation, Amber explores some of the ways that appetites can be re-examined, and challenge persistent tropes of eating that narrow down to individual choices. Using socialist and feminist lenses, she speaks to food movements and moments in history that have revealed reasons to eat and live, and the empowerment that comes from using food as a question rather than an answer.

Resources:

• Book: Tell Me How You Eat: Food, Power and the Will to Live
• Amber's Website: https://amberhusain.com/
• Instagram: @amberhusa1n