The Chauncey DeVega Show

Chauncey DeVega
  • 4.7 (251)
  • POLITICS
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The Chauncey DeVega Show is the official podcast of Salon.com politics writer Chauncey DeVega. On a weekly basis the show features a relaxed and free-form conversation with artists, authors, musicians, researchers, academics, journalists, activists, as well as Hollywood actors and directors.

  1. Taking a Holy Ghost Walk -- Honoring the Life and Legacy of Robert Duvall and His Iconic Film "The Apostle"

    MAR 4

    Taking a Holy Ghost Walk -- Honoring the Life and Legacy of Robert Duvall and His Iconic Film "The Apostle"

    This special episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show honors the life and legacy of Robert Duvall, who recently transitioned to the next plane of existence at the age of 95. Duvall's extraordinary career includes unforgettable performances in The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Tender Mercies.  His cult film classics include THX 1138, The Killer Elite, Colors, and Falling Down. Yet it was The Apostle — Duvall's passion project — that may stand as his most intimate and fearless work. In the film, he portrays Euliss F. "Sonny" Dewey, a Pentecostal preacher battling inner demons who, after committing murder, flees to Louisiana and reinvents himself as "The Apostle E.F.," and builds a multiracial church. Longtime listeners know the very special place "Bobby D" and The Apostle hold in the history of this show and in Chauncey's own life journey. For this celebration of life and remembrance, Chauncey is joined by the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, President and CEO of Interfaith Alliance. A leading advocate for civil rights and religious freedom, they reflect on Duvall's embodiment of The Apostle E.F., the film's portrayal of charismatic Christian traditions, the power of faith, and its meditation(s) on the color line and our shared humanity and life journeys. Together, they consider the meaning of Chauncey DeVega's and The Apostle E.F.'s "holy ghost walks" — and how our bodies can become sites of freedom, resistance, and power in dark and oppressive times. On this episode of the podcast, Chauncey also shares his thoughts about Trump's war of choice against Iran, our political vertigo and the worsening disaster. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

    44 min

  2. FEB 12

    The Data Is Clear — A National Security Expert Assesses America's Slide into Authoritarian Rule

    Steve Cash is Executive Director of The Steady State, a non-profit advocacy organization whose members are former senior national security officials. He explains the findings of the organization's new report, Accelerating Authoritarian Dynamics: Assessment of Democratic Decline. Its conclusion is dire: with Donald Trump's return to power, the country is rapidly sliding toward authoritarian rule. According to Steve Cash, the United States now faces its most serious internal threat since the Civil War, with at least a 50–50 chance that "free and fair" elections may not continue in the foreseeable future. Steve Cash also reflects on his long career navigating literal life-and-death situations, and shares some hard-earned wisdom about managing extreme stress, fear, and anxiety. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

    45 min

  3. JAN 20

    Heather McGhee on Racism, Zero-Sum Politics, and Why America Can't Have Nice Things

    Heather McGhee is a leading expert in economic and social policy and the New York Times–bestselling author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. A former president of the think tank Demos, McGhee is a frequent commentator on national affairs and now serves as chair of the board of Color of Change, the nation's largest online racial justice organization. McGhee explores one of the central tragedies of American life: how a majority of white Americans have historically chosen to "drain the public pool," both literally and metaphorically, rather than share it with Black and brown Americans. This zero-sum, winner-take-all politics has left the nation less prosperous, less safe, less humane, and concentrated extraordinary wealth and power in the hands of plutocrats while undermining the American Dream for everyone else. She also reflects on the enduring lessons of the Black Freedom Struggle for resisting authoritarianism and building a more inclusive and democratic future in the Age of Trump and beyond. In this special Martin Luther King Jr. Day episode, Chauncey shares Dr. King's sermon on navigating fear in dark and dangerous times. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

    52 min
  4. Despair Is Not an Option in 2026 -- Thom Hartmann on the Next Year of Trump 2.0

    JAN 2

    Despair Is Not an Option in 2026 -- Thom Hartmann on the Next Year of Trump 2.0

    Thom Hartmann is the nation's #1 progressive talk radio host and a New York Times bestselling author. His new book is The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink. Hartmann reflects on the first year of Trump 2.0 and the destruction and chaos it has unleashed on American democracy, society, and the world. Yet he insists that despair and surrender are not options as we enter 2026. Drawing on history and the cycles of great social change, Hartmann points to signs of a growing people's movement pushing back against Trumpism, as more Americans wake up to the damage inflicted by the oligarchs, gangster capitalism, and other anti-democratic forces. Ultimately, he believes the American people will prevail and push toward a real social democracy modeled on President Franklin Roosevelt's FAIR Deal. On this special New Year's episode, Chauncey DeVega reflects on how we must keep riding the wave out of the great troubles of 2025 — balancing pessimism and optimism, fear and hope. He urges us not to pretend everything is fine or suppress anger and grief, but to acknowledge those feelings and ask the essential question: "Okay — now what are you going to do?" in 2026. And for those fortunate enough to have had a good year amid so much collective pain, Chauncey emphasizes the obligation to share that energy and to uplift others. By learning from the long Black Freedom Struggle and other pro-democracy movements, the American people can better navigate what promises to be a perilous year ahead. In that spirit, Chauncey shares an essay on the tradition of Watch Night, when enslaved and free African Americans — often in secret and at great risk — gathered on New Year's Eve to count down the minutes until the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

    53 min
  5. Christmas Holiday Weekend Special – Our Hope Tanks and Hard Times

    12/26/2025

    Christmas Holiday Weekend Special – Our Hope Tanks and Hard Times

    On this special Christmas holiday episode of the podcast, Chauncey DeVega reflects on this very surreal and challenging year and tries to find some mirth, merriment, positive energy and joy to refill his (and our) hope tanks. Chauncey taps into the joy of childhood nostalgia and a longing for a simpler time as he looks through store catalogues from the 1980s in search of his favorite Transformers and G.I. Joe toys, and then calculates how much they would cost in today's dollars. Chauncey soon realizes he likely would have been the parent telling the kids, "Hell no!" Disney, the WWE, and other entertainment companies have announced that they will be using AI programs to "assist" in their creative process. In the spirit of embracing the future, Chauncey DeVega asks an AI to write a Christmas-themed crossover mega-event movie featuring Star Wars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, James Gunn's version of Superman, Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, and Krampus. The results are "troubling" for what they suggest about the present and future of mass media in the 21st century and beyond.   This year's Christmas and holiday season are a painful reminder that the collapse of American democracy in the Age of Trump is also an extreme moral crisis, touching almost every aspect of American society and life. To that point, Chauncey shares a recent news story about how ICE has enlisted "Santa Claus" — equipped with a red bulletproof vest and handcuffs — to assist in its mass deportation campaign.    WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW?  Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow

    47 min
  6. From The Boondocks to Crownsville: Rodney Barnes Reflects on a Life in Storytelling

    11/29/2025

    From The Boondocks to Crownsville: Rodney Barnes Reflects on a Life in Storytelling

    Rodney Barnes is an American screenwriter, producer, and author. He has written and produced such TV shows as The Boondocks, Everybody Hates Chris, Marvel's Runaways, American Gods, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. His graphic novels and comic books include Killadelphia, Blacula, Monarch, Marvel's Falcon, and the adaptation of the first season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Rodney Barnes' newest comic book series, the horror-noir Crownsville, explores Maryland's Jim Crow–era "Hospital for the Negro Insane." He has received awards and honors from the Peabody Awards, American Film Institute, Writers Guild of America, BET Comedy Awards, and NAACP Image Awards, and the Eisner for creative achievement in American comic books. Barnes shares hard-earned advice from his long career about the importance of discipline, humility, building a moral center, and surviving an industry and world that can overwhelm and corrupt. He also reflects on how a life-and-death health emergency reshaped his views on art, work, relationships, and gratitude. Rodney and Chauncey discuss their mutual love of professional wrestling, Star Wars, and comic books and what shows like Sanford and Son and the other TBS classics of the 1980s taught them as men of a certain vintage. For this Thanksgiving weekend episode, Chauncey DeVega reflects on gratitude in difficult times and reads a story about how Black Civil War soldiers celebrated the holiday. Chauncey is reminded that nobody hates like family as he watches a late-night pre-Thanksgiving verbal brawl and donnybrook between a father and a son at a local business, and issues his annual public service announcement warning about the dangers of physical intimacy and other forms of romance after eating too much food on this (or any other) holiday. And Chauncey DeVega goes to the local cineplex and reviews three new films: Rebuilding, Rental Family, and Eternity.   WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow  https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast

    1h 43m

  7. 11/07/2025

    The American Middle Class is Hanging On By a Thread in the Age of Trump

    This is a special joint episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show and The Truth Report. Mechele Dickerson is the Arthur L. Moller Chair in Bankruptcy Law and Practice at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and author of Homeownership and America's Financial Underclass. Her new book is The Middle-Class New Deal: Restoring Upward Mobility and the American Dream. In this wide-ranging conversation, Mechele explains how the historic federal shutdown and other economic and political policies have pushed the American middle class to the brink, especially Black and brown Americans who already face significant wealth and income gaps. She explores what it has historically meant to be middle class in America, how that definition has shifted over time, and how the wealthy legally protect and expand their economic privileges and advantage, passing critical financial knowledge down to their children. Mechele also offers guidance and encouragement for federal employees and others who have lost jobs due to the shutdown and government cuts, facing the stark realities of reduced income and potential downward mobility. Her message is clear: you are good people who did almost everything right, but circumstances beyond your control have put you in a difficult position. Recovery won't be easy, but it is possible. Donations and other support for The Chauncey DeVega Show and The Truth Report are always appreciated. But this week, listeners are encouraged, if able, to donate to food banks, nonprofits, and other organizations helping Americans under economic pressure. Our animal friends are also at risk in this time of calamity as too many people are having to make very tough choices. Please share your donations and other resources with the organizations that are helping our animal friends. In solidarity. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow  https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast

    1h 3m
  8. The Human Tragedy and Exploitation of the "True Crime" Genre

    10/24/2025

    The Human Tragedy and Exploitation of the "True Crime" Genre

    John J. Lennon is a prison journalist who is currently serving a 25-year sentence in Sing Sing prison in New York. His work has been featured by such leading publications as New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and New York magazine. John's new book is The Tragedy of True Crime. John shares his surreal experience of being on a book tour while inside prison and reflects on his own personal experiences with the "true crime" genre. He also warns about the seductive nature -- and problematic relationship these shows have with reality -- of The First 48, Law and Order, Cops, and others in the reality TV show - crime entertainment genre. John explains how his new book goes beyond the sensationalistic headlines and explores the human side and complexity of four men who have been convicted of murder. Robert Chambers, the so-called "Preppy Killer" of 1980s tabloid fame Milton E. Jones, drawn from petty crime into tragedy as a teenager Michael Shane Hale, a gay man facing the death penalty after a crime of passion Lennon himself, who discovered his voice as a writer while serving time for murder Chauncey DeVega shares what it is like in Chicago as Trump's DHS/ICE immigration dragnet "Operation Midway Blitz" and threats of a National Guard "invasion" have created a climate that feels ripped from a bad dystopian movie. To better understand who would want to take a job working for DHS/ICE as one of its enforcers, Chauncey shares a very important news story from the Intercept where they interview people at a job fair for that government agency. And Chauncey DeVega goes to the local cineplex and reviews three new films: Tron: Ares, The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and Paul Thomas Anderson's essential document and cultural artifact of this era One Battle After Another. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ME? On Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaunceydevega On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chauncey.devega My email: chaunceydevega@gmail.com HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CHAUNCEY DEVEGA SHOW? Via Paypal at ChaunceyDeVega.com: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thechaunceydevegashow  https://www.patreon.com/TheTruthReportPodcast

    1h 55m
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About

The Chauncey DeVega Show is the official podcast of Salon.com politics writer Chauncey DeVega. On a weekly basis the show features a relaxed and free-form conversation with artists, authors, musicians, researchers, academics, journalists, activists, as well as Hollywood actors and directors.

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