American Prestige

Daniel Bessner & Derek Davison
  • 4.8 (1K)
  • POLITICS
  • UPDATED DAILY

A podcast from Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison that provides listeners with everything they need to know about what’s going on in the world. americanprestige.supportingcast.fm

  1. 20H AGO

    News - Trump Threatens to Invade Nigeria, Sudan Famine and RSF Offensive, Russia To Also Pursue More Nuclear Testing

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our content! Air travel might grind to a halt, but our news roundup marches on. After reflections on the Mamdani victory (0:30), Danny and Derek get into this week’s stories: Trump threatens to invade Nigeria (10:10); in Israel-Palestine, a Gaza ceasefire update (19:31) and West Bank olive harvest violence (26:06); Afghanistan and Pakistan resume ceasefire talks (27:10); Sudan’s IPC declares famine as the RSF prepares a new siege and agrees to a ceasefire (29:11); a new report details the UAE’s role as a global gold smuggling hub (33:40); attacks on civilians continue in Ethiopia (36:30); Ukraine braces as Pokrovsk is about to fall (38:53); the Netherlands confirms a centrist election win (40:59); Putin orders plans for nuclear testing in response to Trump (43:23); reports suggest the U.S. may deploy special forces to Mexico (45:25); the U.S. is preparing strikes on Venezuela, though Trump is hesitating (47:45); and new revelations emerge about drug boat operations (51:23).

    57 min

  2. TRAILER

    Special - Dick Cheney (Preview)

    Danny and Derek invite Spencer Ackerman to discuss the life and legacy of Dick Cheney. Check out Spencer's newsletter Forever Wars and his book Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump.

    11 min

  3. 3D AGO

    E333 - The Wagner Group and the New Era of Private War w/ John Lechner

    Danny and Derek welcome journalist and author John Lechner to discuss his book, Death is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries in the New Era of Warfare. The conversation cuts through the mainstream narrative of the Wagner Group to explore the true history of Yevgeny Prigozhin, from his start as a product of post-Soviet "gangster capitalism" in 1990s St. Petersburg to his ascent as Vladimir Putin's de facto military entrepreneur. They analyze how Prigozhin leveraged the Russian state’s grand ambitions with limited resources to create a self-funding war machine in Syria and across Africa, ultimately turning his own military success in Bakhmut into a fatal political challenge to the decadent Moscow bureaucracy—a challenge that ended with a suspiciously accidental plane crash.

    1h 7m

  4. TRAILER

    Bonus - The Men’s Suit and the Aesthetics of Power w/ Derek Guy (Preview)

    Subscribe now to hear the full episode and get access to all of our Sunday bonuses! Danny speaks with writer and menswear critic Derek Guy about the politics of fashion, exploring how style reflects class, power, and ideology. They explore fashion’s moral economy, how neoliberalism turned personal style into a marker of moral worth, the influence of Savile Row and Brooks Brothers, the evolution of men’s dress from the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the aesthetics of American politics from JFK to Trump (including why Derek contends Reagan was the most stylish modern president), and how taste became a language of power. Read Derek's piece in The Nation, "How Did Republican Fashion Go From Blazers to Belligerence?" Also check out his piece at Die, Workwear!, "The Suit Died, but for Good Reasons."

    10 min

  5. OCT 31

    News - Trump Asia Tour and Xi Summit, RSF Massacres in Sudan, US Continues Bombing Boats Off South America Coast

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more content! What’s spookier than international relations? This week in the news roundup: Trump tours Asia to talk trade deals (1:28), a Thai-Cambodia accord (7:11), and to meet with Xi (8:45); the RSF captures of Al-Fashir in Sudan with reports of mass killings (12:19); Gaza sees the deadliest day of Israeli bombardments since the ceasefire began (17:19); the PKK makes more concessions in talks with Ankara (21:53); Afghan-Pakistan ceasefire negotiations collapse in Istanbul (24:34); Myanmar rebel groups agree to a Chinese-brokered ceasefire (26:59); elections in Ivory Coast and Cameroon keep longtime incumbents in power (29:44); Nigeria’s military sees a shake-up amid rumors of a coup plot (33:30); Dutch elections sideline Geert Wilders and the far-right (36:26); Trump freezes trade talks with Canada and raises tariffs over an ad (39:50); the UN General Assembly votes to condemn the U.S. embargo on Cuba (42:35); the U.S. expands its boat-bombing campaign in the Pacific and sends a carrier to the Caribbean (44:21); and Trump suggests that the U.S. resume nuclear testing (47:57).

    54 min

  6. OCT 31

    AP x NonZero - Trump-Xi Truce, Gaza Ceasefire & Other Sketchy Deals

    The greatest recurring crossover in the biz, between AP and ⁠NonZero Newsletter⁠, returns. ⁠Subscribe now to AP⁠ and you'll also get the overtime segment as well as a discounted membership to Nonzero! ⁠Part One Video⁠ (0:00) Bob tries to lower American Prestige’s self-esteem  (3:07) The Trump-Xi trade talks  (6:44) Making sense of Trump’s nuclear saber-rattling  (10:34) Signs of a US-China vibe shift  (16:36) Is AI accelerating science?  (23:25) Bill Gates’s climate change of heart  (29:30) This week’s Gaza ceasefire death toll  (34:19) Overtime preview: Bob vs Danny on international law

    41 min

  7. OCT 28

    E332 - ICE and the Age of Grift w/ Alex Aviña

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get much more content! Alex Aviña is back on the podcast, this time to talk about the evolution of ICE and the U.S. security state. They discuss the convergence of the war on terror, the war on drugs, and the war on migrants; the transformation of the border into a domestic counterinsurgency project; ICE’s roots in settler colonialism; the role of whiteness and assimilation in immigration politics; the use of surveillance and drones in law enforcement; the privatization and grift at the core of Trumpism; the legacy of Latin American death squads; the erosion of constitutional rights; and migration as the consequence of empire.

    1h 1m

  8. TRAILER

    Bonus - The Forever War in Ukraine w/ Andrew Weiss (Preview)

    Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our Sunday bonuses! Danny and Derek welcome to the program Andrew Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin. They discuss the state of the war in Ukraine, the Biden and Trump administrations’ approaches, why U.S. support has faltered, the limits of American power, the moral contradictions of empire, the future of European security, and whether Vladimir Putin still thinks he can outlast everyone.

    11 min
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4.8
out of 5
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About

A podcast from Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison that provides listeners with everything they need to know about what’s going on in the world. americanprestige.supportingcast.fm

Information

  • Creator
    Daniel Bessner & Derek Davison
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © American Prestige
  • Show Website
    American Prestige

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