The landscape of resistance in Minneapolis, John Nichols reports, includes surprisingly powerful and effective faith groups, plus unions, neighborhood mutual aid and community safety networks, ICE observer teams, and direct action groups, plus the ACLU and its allies, as well as the outspoken mayor and the fighting state attorney general. 

Also: DOGE did NOT reduce spending – at all. But it did reduce federal employment; 271,000 people lost their jobs in the federal government, according to CATO. Sasha Abramsky set out to find out what it was like for some of those people -- his new book reports on the experiences of eleven fired federal workers: American Carnage: How Trump, Musk, and DOGE butchered the US Government.

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In this host-only bonus episode, Charlotte and Jo discuss some of their most memorable reads of 2025. Authors discussed include Shon Faye, Sarah Schulman, Ai Yazawa, Marjane Satrapi, Ariana Reines, Kyung-Ran Jo, and more.

Please consider supporting us on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. 

Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  

Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute. 

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Iran is facing upheavals at home and abroad. For more than two decades, the Islamic Republic has faced waves of protests from citizens demanding a more democratic society. Over the past two weeks, these protests have erupted with a new ferocity and are being met with violent repression. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is pushing the United States to renew bombing Iran, a military objective now being given the guise of a humanitarian mission. To discuss the turmoil in Iran and place it in the larger context of regional instability and competing visions of the future of the Middle East, I spoke with Annelle Sheline, a research fellow at The Quincy Institute who studies the region, in this special Friday edition of the podcast. 

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Derek welcomes Matt Lech to the show to bring you the news while a sick Danny convalesces. This week: Trump pushes U.S. oil companies to reenter Venezuela and outlines plans for a long-term U.S. takeover of the Venezuelan oil industry (1:34); opposition leader Maria Corina Machado presents Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal (7:01); Southern Transitional Council leader Aidarus al-Zubaidi flees Yemen as the group fractures amid competing leadership claims (8:50); Somalia cuts ties with the United Arab Emirates following the latter’s support for Somaliland and the evacuation of Yemeni separatist leaders through Somali territory (12:05); the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire begins as Israel continues to restrict humanitarian aid (14:27); UK Palestine Action prisoners conduct hunger strikes as part of a broader campaign against repression and arms manufacturing, with Matt relaying a statement from the group (18:11); Sudan’s military government announces its return to Khartoum while preparing a major operation against the Rapid Support Forces in Darfur and Kordofan (21:22); China records a $1.2 trillion trade surplus despite U.S. tariffs (24:09); Japan’s prime minister moves toward snap elections amid high approval ratings and ongoing political instability (26:30); the UN reports 2025 as the deadliest year for Ukrainian civilians since 2022 (28:40); American, Danish, and Greenlandic officials meet in Washington as Trump continues to press claims over Greenland (31:06); the Trump administration halts immigrant visa processing for 75 countries (33:15); and the New York Times reports on possible U.S. war crimes involving the use of disguised military aircraft in “anti-smuggling” operations (34:23). Derek then speaks with Negar Mortazavi, journalist and host of The Iran Podcast, about the causes, trajectory, and implications of Iran’s recent nationwide protests (37:11). Find more of Matt’s work over at Left Reckoning, The Majority Report, and The Jacobin Show.  Here is the complete statement from UK Palestine Action.

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Paris Marx marks the beginning of 2026 by discussing some of the big themes that will be moving the conversations he’ll be having this year, particularly digital sovereignty and rethinking the value of the tech we admit into our lives.

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As Trump’s support collapses, he has lashed out in two directions--sending an unprecendented number of ICE agents to Minneapolis, where one of them murdered Renee Good, and sending the military to Venezuela, where he says he has seized control of the oil industry. Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: Twenty Minutes Without Trump: There’s a new TV series about how capitalism came to Communist China, 30 episodes made for Chinese TV by the great Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, running now on the Criterion Channel. John Powers, critic-at-large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, explains.

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Danny and Derek are joined by Shadi Hamid, columnist at The Washington Post and author of The Case for American Power, to talk about American hegemony and Hamid’s argument for it as a morally preferable and potentially reformable force in international politics. They discuss Gaza and the crisis of liberal internationalism, democracy and self-correction, American decline, China and Russia, intervention and restraint, the Middle East exception, Libya and “humanitarian war,”and whether it is possible to separate the “good” uses of American power from the bad.

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In a scandalous rejection of holiday spirit, Jo and Charlotte reflect on the dark, elegant pleasures of Gabrielle Wittkopf’s The Necrophiliac alongside contemporary novel conventions as deployed in Rebecca Novack’s Murder Bimbo. The hosts are then joined by dear friend Clio Chang, who outlines the timeless, charming, annoying allure of Cheryl Strayed’s hit memoir Wild (2012).

Also discussed in this episode: Charlotte Roche’s Wetlands, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Lillian Fishman’s Acts of Service.  

Clio Chang is a staff writer at Curbed who can do three pullups. 

Please consider supporting our work on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. 

Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  

Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute. 

To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWriters

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Danny and Derek return from their holiday retreat at Bohemian Grove to bring you news from around the world. This week: Delcy Rodríguez assumes Venezuela’s presidency following Nicolás Maduro’s U.S. rendition (1:31), as questions mount over the indictment (3:51) and Washington moves toward de facto control of Venezuelan oil exports (6:36); Saudi-backed forces push back Southern Transitional Council gains in southern Yemen, with STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi fleeing to the UAE and facing treason charges (11:10); Israel bans 37 humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (15:33), and advances the E-1 settlement project in the West Bank (17:49); protests spread across Iran amid currency collapse and renewed sanctions (21:05); Thailand and Cambodia’s December ceasefire largely holds despite a reported accidental mortar incident (25:33); U.S. airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria raise questions about targets and objectives (27:52); Israel becomes the first country to recognize Somaliland, prompting regional backlash and speculation about military basing and Gaza resettlement plans (30:44); European leaders discuss security guarantees for Ukraine as part of potential peace negotiations with Russia (36:00); Trump escalates rhetoric and planning around annexing or purchasing Greenland (37:54); the Trump administration pushes for a $1.5 trillion U.S. military budget (42:12); and Trump orders a U.S. withdrawal from dozens of UN and international institutions, particularly those related to climate governance (44:30).

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Trump’s attack on Venezuela is likely to weaken his political support even further, because it does nothing about affordability or health care. And it’s not at all clear the big oil companies want to spend billions restoring Venezuelan production. John Nichols comments.

Also: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the VA to provide housing for disabled vets on its land in Los Angeles, something they have refused to do for more than a decade. The ruling should end homelessness among disabled vets everywhere – Mark Rosenbaum of Public Counsel, who won the case, explains.

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