This Is Hell!

Historian Alfred McCoy joins us to discuss his new book, "Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage" from Haymarket Books. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

Check out Alfred's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2631-cold-war-on-five-continents

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Clara E. Mattei, a professor of economics at The University of Tulsa. She is the Founding President of FREE—the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation (https://www.freefreeforum.org/)—and the author of "The Capital Order”, which was praised by The Financial Times as one of the ten best economics books of 2022 and has been translated into over a dozen languages. Clara joins This Is Hell! to talk about her new book, "Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention”, by Simon & Shuster. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Escape-from-Capitalism/Clara-E-Mattei/9781668085141

We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answers to this week's Question from Hell! from Patreon.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

Séamus Malekafzali returns to discuss his recent piece at The Nation, "The Assassination That Paved the Way for Trump’s Venezuela Attack: How Trump’s illegal 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani—and the West’s indifferent response—laid the groundwork for the brazen abduction of Nicolás Maduro." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

Check out Séamus' article here: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/trump-soleimani-venezuela-maduro/

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

Maureen Tkacik makes her debut on This Is Hell! to talk about her new investigative piece for American Prospect, “The Narco Terrorist Elite”, which goes into how narco terrorists have historically operated with right wing Latin American dictatorships and US imperialism and how Marco Rubio’s recent actions within the Trump administration might become a new version of Iran-Contra. https://prospect.org/2025/12/23/narco-terrorist-elite-rubio-south-america-iran-contra/

We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answers to this week's Question from Hell! from Patreon.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

Terence Keel returns to discuss his new book from Beacon Press, "The Coroner's Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

Check out Terence's book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/790545/the-coroners-silence-by-terence-keel/

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

Sarah Lazare returns to This Is Hell! to talk about her new In These Times piece “They Worked Underground in the Uranium Mines. They've Been Surrounded by Death Ever Since”. Sarah investigates how the uranium industry left a trail of sickness and loss through Navajo territory while President Trump is pushing for another mining boom.

We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answers to this week's Question from Hell! from Patreon.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

Daniel Trilling returns to discuss his new Equator piece, "Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco: How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart."

Check out Daniel's article here: https://www.equator.org/articles/inside-the-bbc-s-gaza-fiasco

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

Quincy Institute scholars William Hartung and Ben Freeman join us to discuss their new book from Bold Type Books, "The Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

Check out William and Ben's book here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/william-d-hartung/the-trillion-dollar-war-machine/9781645030638/

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

Professor Emeritus and pro footballer Michael Oriard joins us to discuss his new book from University of North Carolina Press, "Sanctioned Savagery: A History of Violence in American Football." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

Check out Michael's book here: https://uncpress.org/9781469690667/sanctioned-savagery/

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

Richard Seymour returns to This Is Hell! to talk about his new book "Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization”, published by Verso Books. Seymour discusses the ideologies amplifying the contemporary right that is distorting modern politics into a nihilistic disaster nationalism.

We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answers to this week's Question from Hell! from Patreon.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell