Current Affairs

Current Affairs
  • 4.5 (48)
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A podcast of politics and culture, from the editors of Current Affairs magazine.

  1. 9 HRS AGO

    Israel Wants to Turn Lebanon Into Gaza (w/ Rania Khalek)

    🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Rania Khalek is a journalist based in Beirut and the host of Dispatches on BreakThrough News. In this conversation with Current Affairs editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson, she describes life under bombardment in Lebanon as Israel’s assault displaces over a million people and spreads fear across Beirut. Khalek discusses the silence of U.S. Democrats, what Americans are responsible for as their government backs the war, and the broader escalation across the region. She also examines the failures of U.S. media coverage, the dehumanization that enables mass killing, and why Iran’s response must be understood in the context of self-defense and the breakdown of international law. 🇱🇧 Subscribe to  @BreakThroughNews  🇱🇧 Rania's SubStack: https://substack.com/@raniakhalek?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=58m7xg 🇱🇧 Rania's Twitter: https://x.com/RaniaKhalek 🇱🇧 Rania's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raniakhalek/?hl=en 0:00-14:05 Life under bombardment in Lebanon 14:05-18:45 Democratic silence on Lebanon 18:45-24:10 What Americans should understand about Lebanon 24:10-29:56 Escalation and nuclear fears 29:56-36:19 Media failure and dehumanization 36:19-45:20 Iran, self-defense, and international law 🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 MERCH: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/ 🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

    45 min

  2. 1D AGO

    What Really Happened at the Washington Post (w/ Becca Rothfeld)

    🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Becca Rothfeld is a staff writer at The New Yorker, an editor at The Point, and the former nonfiction book critic at The Washington Post, where she wrote until the paper eliminated its books section amid sweeping layoffs. She explains why book reviews matter and how criticism can introduce readers to ideas they didn’t know interested them. Rothfeld also discusses the role of negative reviews, what it means for a book to be “instructively bad,” and why criticism should challenge rather than flatter its audience. She also argues that the growing use of AI risks degrading human thought, and reflects on beauty, “looksmaxing,” and the kind of intellectual and cultural life worth preserving. 📚 Becca's New Yorker Articles: https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/becca-rothfeld 📚 Becca's Website: https://www.beccarothfeld.com/ 📚 Becca's Book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250849915/allthingsaretoosmall/ 0:00–5:41 What Happened to the Washington Post 5:41–13:08 Why Review Books 13:08–22:02 Reviewing “Bad” Books 22:02–39:20 AI and the Death of Thinking 39:20–45:46 Looksmaxing and Beauty 45:46–50:58 Favorite Book Reviews 🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 MERCH: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/ 🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

    51 min

  3. 6D AGO

    Joe Biden Set the Stage for Trump's War on Iran (w/ Annelle Sheline)

    🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Annelle Sheline is a research fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a former U.S. State Department official who resigned in protest over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. In this conversation with Current Affairs editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson, she discusses why she chose to resign while other senior officials—including former USAID administrator Samantha Power—remained in their positions. Sheline also examines how U.S. policy and unconditional support for Israel helped lead to the current war with Iran, the devastating human toll of the conflict, and why the erosion of international law could have dangerous consequences for the future of global order. 🌹 Annelle Sheline's New Republic Article: https://newrepublic.com/article/207300/trump-israel-madness-war-iran 🌹 Follow Annelle Sheline: https://x.com/AnnelleSheline 🌹 The Quincy Institute: https://quincyinst.org/ 0:00-18:25 Samantha Power's moral bankruptcy 18:25-28:21 How Biden policy led to this 28:21-33:48 Intentionally targeting civilians 33:48-43:41 Why we still need international law 🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 MERCH: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/ 🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

    44 min

  4. MAR 10

    America Will Pay the Price for Israel’s War on Iran (w/ Trita Parsi)

    🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Trita Parsi is the co-founder and Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and one of the leading analysts of U.S.–Iran relations. In this conversation with Current Affairs editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson, he explains how the escalating U.S.–Israel war on Iran is affecting civilians, how sanctions and propaganda shaped the political climate leading up to the conflict, and why Israel and the United States may see the war very differently in strategic terms. Parsi also discusses why he believes the war is a mistake for Washington, how Trump ended up launching it, how the conflict might end, and how a very different path might have been possible if diplomacy had prevailed. 🌹 Trita Parsi's latest in Responsible Statecraft: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-war-trump-press/ 🌹 Follow Trita Parsi: https://x.com/tparsi 🌹 The Quincy Institute: https://quincyinst.org/ 0:00-7:08 The human toll of the war 7:08-9:49 Justifying the unjustifiable 9:49-12:45 What is Israel’s strategy? 12:45-14:51 America will pay the price for Israel 14:51-20:13 Why did Trump get the U.S. into this war? 20:13-23:02 How does this war end? 23:02-24:16 What is Europe doing? 24:16-29:23 How things could have been different 🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 MERCH: https://shop.currentaffairs.org/ 🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

    29 min

  5. MAR 10

    The Democrats Still Don't Get It

    🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Trump's fake-anti-imperialism only works because Democrats refuse to embrace the real thing. 🌹 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/remember-when-people-thought-trump-was-anti-war 🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs 🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

    15 min

  6. MAR 7

    The Iran War Is Unfathomably Depraved

    🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership  Our media’s sanitized coverage obscures the human toll. Are we able to confront the full sickening evil of what the U.S. is doing?  🌹 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-iran-war-is-unfathomably-depraved  🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership  🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs  🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

    37 min

  7. MAR 4

    Wait, Why Is Israel Allowed To Have Nukes?

    🦩 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership  According to our elected leaders, we should be very scared of the possibility that Iran could get a nuclear bomb. But Israel already has them, and its government is increasingly unstable and belligerent.  🔥 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/wait-why-is-israel-allowed-to-have-nukes  🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership  🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs  🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

    25 min

  8. MAR 2

    The U.S. Military is Destroying the Planet (w/ Abby Martin)

    🦩 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership In their new documentary “Earth’s Greatest Enemy,” Abby Martin and Mike Prysner reveal that the climate and anti-war movements are really one and the same—because the U.S. military is the worst polluter of all. 🌏 Watch Earth's Greatest Enemy: https://earthsgreatestenemy.com/ 🌏 Current Affairs Review: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-u.s.-war-machine-is-earths-greatest-enemy 🌏 Subscribe to The Empire Files: https://www.youtube.com/@EmpireFiles 0:00-7:27 The Film’s Core Thesis 7:27-15:19 The Military As A Destructive Cancer 15:19-18:21 Security Dilemma 18:21-22:34 The Human Cost 22:34-25:34 RIMPAC & Political Evasion 25:34-36:50 Resistance Movements 36:50-42:50 Organizing And Mass Education 🦩SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership 🦩 PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/CurrentAffairs 🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

    43 min
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4.5
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About

A podcast of politics and culture, from the editors of Current Affairs magazine.

Information

  • Creator
    Current Affairs
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    600
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Current Affairs

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