Half the Answer

Liberal Currents
  • 4.2 (17)
  • NEWS COMMENTARY
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Caitlin M. Green and Trent R. Nelson interview experts who weigh in on current debates. In the process they seek not only to uncover answers to the questions of the day, but to explore why they are being asked in the first place. To understand the questions we ask, they believe, is half the answer.

  1. 12/26/2025

    The Imaginary "War on Science"—and the Real One

    Trent and Caitlin talk with philosophy of science expert Nathan Oseroff-Spicer about his review of the book "The War On Science," how the book misses the mark, what strategies its authors use to downplay the threats from the right and fabricate a threat from the left, and what motivations could possibly lead thirty-nine scholars to create such a meritless collection of propaganda under the leadership of someone like known pest Lawrence Krauss. Resources: https://www.liberalcurrents.com/wars-on-science-real-and-otherwise/ https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/warscience/ https://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/administration/breaking-this-hurts-unl-eliminates-4-programs-despite-faculty-student-pleas/article_e0d11a61-0fcc-4e66-b364-d16e89bea336.html https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-chatbot-journal-research-fake-citations-1235485484/ https://blog.apaonline.org/2025/11/13/llm-usage-and-manipulation-in-peer-review/ https://www.advocate.com/news/second-ou-instructor-suspended https://www.facebook.com/OUNightlyTV/posts/pfbid02nieL7PmXwUDAnNcHzK9HLBWdCQ1EyjA7S1pDvrRxEaGw7qkqAR3oGtjXwFXkb4KBl UPDATE: grad student no longer teaching https://www.koco.com/article/samantha-fulnecky-professor-graduate-instructor-no-longer-at-ou-oklahoma/69841882 https://pen.org/trumps-compact-for-higher-education-faq/ https://www.science.org/content/article/nsf-pares-down-grant-review-process-reducing-influence-outside-scientists https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/17/aap-hhs-funding-rfk/ https://bsky.app/profile/crampell.bsky.social/post/3ma7aivcros2a https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths/ https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/rumeysa-ozturk-what-i-witnessed-inside-an-ice-womens-prison?srsltid=AfmBOoqRks5pzgFv2QyjsvuUvNt6E41InSCPQmXwWOoFvxftjMoRvkSy https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-releases-palestinian-student-at-columbia-who-was-arrested-at-citizenship-interview https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/11/20/columbia-denies-mahmoud-khalil-sipa-24-campus-access-for-planned-events-citing-security-reasons/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jeffrey-epstein-emails-reveal-ties-to-prominent-scientists/

    2h 42m

  2. 12/18/2025

    What Do Republicans Know?

    Caitlin and Trent talk with Matthew Sheffield about his experiences as a former Republican strategist and the information he wants progressives to know about their strategies and successes. Resources: https://plus.flux.community/p/what-republicans-know https://www.patreon.com/posts/142008768?utm_campaign=postshare_fan https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4qwwk0g0yo https://www.seattletimes.com/business/sinclair- known-for-conservative-political-tilt/ https://deadline.com/2025/12/nexstar-trump-tegna-merger-trump-1236642435/ https://www.xfang.studio/books/we-are-definitely-human-wcnat

    1h 40m

  3. 12/12/2025

    Touring America with Border Patrol and ICE

    Trent and Caitlin catch up with journalist Amanda Moore to hear about her tour of American cities that have been targeted for ICE and Border Patrol operations. Resources: https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/broadview-ice-cbp-gregory-bovino/ https://www.clippings.me/users/noturtlesoup17 https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/29/us/illinois-broadview-ice-protesters-charged https://abcnews.go.com/US/border-patrol-commander-admitted-lied-tear-gas-incident/story?id=127283392 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-top-border-patrol-goon-gregory-bovino-roasted-for-nazi-look/ https://www.npr.org/2025/12/02/nx-s1-5627502/national-guard-shooting-latest https://www.reuters.com/world/us/how-plastic-whistles-are-becoming-an-anti-ice-resistance-tool-chicago-2025-10-23/ https://www.thenation.com/article/society/new-orleans-immigration-raids-operation-catahouls-crumch/

    1h 3m

  4. 12/05/2025

    Sick in America: Is Everyone Else Lying to You?

    Caitlin and Trent talk with Jonathan Howard, a neurologist, psychiatrist, and author of *Everyone Else Is Lying to You* and *We Want Them Infected*, both books analyzing the policies and discourses around the COVID-19 pandemic. Resources Science-Based Medicine website: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/ *Everyone Else Is Lying to You*: https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9781959346999 *We Want Them Infected*: https://bookshop.org/a/115699/9781959346036 Zeb Larson, "Propaganda, Rather than Pandemic Policies, Caused the War on Public Health" https://www.liberalcurrents.com/propaganda-rather-than-pandemic-policies-caused-the-war-on-public-health/ "crank magnetism" https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/crank-magnetism-weston-price-foundation

    1h 5m

  5. 12/02/2025

    Modern Gangsters of Capitalism and the Imperial Boomerang

    Trent and Caitlin talk with journalist and author Jonathan Katz about the gangsters of capitalism, the imperial boomerang, and the moral injuries inflicted when officers, agents, and soldiers engage in the inhumane and depraved acts that are demanded of them. Resources Jonathan's book https://jonathanmkatz.com/gangsters https://theracket.news https://www.tiktok.com/@katzonearth?lang=en https://www.instagram.com/katzonearth/?hl=en imperial boomerang https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/4383-the-imperial-boomerang-how-colonial-methods-of-repression-migrate-back-to-the-metropolis?srsltid=AfmBOorPodSS76ia1ZcpE5D7F77PSU84p0owKWfM2ukUp0s1E10FaYmr the wrongest war https://theracket.news/p/the-wrongest-war moral injury https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/cooccurring/moral_injury.asp LA agents drive away with toddler https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-11-04/ice-border-patrol-dodger-stadium-parking-lot US-Mexico restriction https://www.cbsnews.com/news/warning-signs-mexico-beach-us-department-of-defense-property/ Controlled Pod Into Terrain https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNrA2-FWoOnpgOS-ywSQlow Thumbnail image https://wpde.com/news/nation-world/unauthorized-us-signs-on-mexican-beach-along-texas-border-lead-to-international-dispute-mexico-president-trump-military-action-marines-drug-war-rio-grande

    1h 12m

  6. 11/24/2025

    National Delirium: NatSec in Post-9/11 America, from Dubya to Donny

    Trent and Caitlin speak with journalist Spencer Ackerman about the CIA, DHS, and other parts of the US government ostensibly protecting us from terrorism. How have they achieved this level of impunity? What are the precedents for the intolerable level of human rights and privacy violations we see today? What have we allowed to be done to the “other” in the past and present? Resources https://www.forever-wars.com/ Spencer's upcoming book https://www.forever-wars.com/book-two-majid-khan-iran-troops/ Spencer’s Iron Man issue https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/114934/iron_man_2024_1 Homan Square https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-site USS Gerald Ford in Caribbean https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/uss-gerald-r-ford-caribeean-venezuela-rcna244193 Sexual abuse in ICE detention https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/hundreds-of-immigrants-have-reported-sexual-abuse-at-ice-facilities-most-cases-arent-investigated CIA abusive practices https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/enhanced-interrogation-tactics-included-lunch-tray-gruesome-force-feeding-methods Susan Sontag https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/09/24/tuesday-and-after-talk-of-the-town Stellar Wind https://www.theguardian.com/nsa-inspector-general-report-document-data-collection "surveillance capitalism" https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/03/harvard-professor-says-surveillance-capitalism-is-undermining-democracy/ Palantir and the CIA https://www.fastcompany.com/91446398/cia-police-palantir-alex-karp-predictive-peter-thiel-paypal-sequoia "white innocence" https://www.dukeupress.edu/white-innocence

    1h 9m

  7. 11/21/2025

    Leaving Children Behind: Education Policy from Bush to Trump

    Caitlin and Trent speak with educational policy researcher Derek Gottlieb about what it's like to research education in a country whose administration thinks public education shouldn't really even be a thing. Resources: https://www.derekgottliebphd.com/ "Building a Better Teacher" https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html Kristof, "Obama and Our Schools" https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/opinion/13kristof.html Cavell, "The Claim of Reason" https://academic.oup.com/book/49825 Malcolm Gladwell's quarterback problem https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/12/15/most-likely-to-succeed-malcolm-gladwell Reduction in Force notices https://www.k12dive.com/news/education-department-layoffs-what-to-know-special-education-civil-rights-lawsuits/802779/ Reduction in Force halted https://www.npr.org/2025/10/28/nx-s1-5585083/government-shutdown-trump-rif-layoffs Ahmed, "On Being Included" https://www.dukeupress.edu/on-being-included

    1h 25m

  8. 11/14/2025

    What's It Really Like at the Portland ICE Facility? Part Deux

    Caitlin and Trent speak with livestreamer Audrey Lee about her experiences participating in and documenting protests at the Portland ICE facility. Audrey explains the relationship among the people on the street, the officers of various departments and agencies, and the counterprotesters and right-wing influencers who have been interacting since she arrived this fall. Resources https://www.tiktok.com/@awkwardly_audrey?_r=1&_t=ZT-91NRgOQJsXl https://youtube.com/@awkwardlyaudrey?si=hn9Pm439rt_LO0lx National ICE stories: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/30/us/ice-immigration-customs-enforcement-explained-cec https://www.vera.org/news/more-people-are-in-immigration-detention-than-ever-before https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/new-ice-recruits-showed-training-full-vetting-rcna238739 https://www.wired.com/story/fbi-warns-of-criminals-posing-as-ice-urges-agents-to-id-themselves/ https://newrepublic.com/post/196292/ice-director-tom-homan-immigration-crackdown https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/press-release/congress-approves-unprecedented-funding-mass-detention-deportation-2025/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/stephen-miller-immigration-diplomats-secret-calls-b2856464.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/06/09/trumps-immigration-crackdown-guru-stephen-miller-wants-even-more-arrests/ https://www.yahoo.com/news/stephen-miller-yells-ice-agents-152117107.html Customs and Border Patrol https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/border-patrol-agents-replace-top-leadership-at-ice-offices-despite-human-rights-violations US Citizens detained: https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will Kavanaugh stop: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a169_5h25.pdf New York: https://longisland.news12.com/federal-jury-awards-112m-to-immigrants-detained-by-suffolk-for-ice Florida: https://www.latintimes.com/congressman-reveals-conditions-alligator-alcatraz-that-made-his-heart-sink-after-tour-586655 https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/former-alligator-alcatraz-worker-describes-inhumane-conditions-inside/3673307/ Illinois: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/lawsuit-alleges-inhumane-conditions-at-broadview-ice-processing-facility/3846195/ https://abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chicago-news-lawsuit-filed-aclu-illinois-conditions-inside-broadview-facility-court-tuesday/18111176/ https://time.com/7323334/ice-raid-chicago-pritzker-trump/ Oregon: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/10/ice-in-oregon-pointing-rifles-at-family-stopping-minors-at-gunpoint-laying-on-top-of-man-during-arrest.html https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/14/lawmakers-condemn-ice-arrest-four-gresham-construction-workers/ https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/11/ice-detains-us-citizen-for-7-hours-after-she-photographed-agents-in-gresham.html https://www.opb.org/article/2025/11/08/hillsboro-immigration-customs-enforcement-victor-cruz-ice-oregon-washington-county-democrats/ https://opb.org/article/2025/11/05/washington-county-emergency-increased-ice-activity/ At the Portland facility: https://www.portland.gov/hello/news/2025/7/8/update-chemical-munitions-use-near-ice-facility Right wing influencers aren’t journalists and they’ve got Trump’s ear: https://www.theverge.com/policy/813408/portland-influencers-national-guard-oregon-ninth-circuit https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/11/livestreamers-are-filming-and-sometimes-creating-conflict-at-portland-ice-protests-for-clicks-and-cash.html NG went to OR despite order: https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/29/oregon-national-guard-portland-ice-immigration-karin-immergut-donald-trump/ https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/bonamici-wyden-merkley-dexter-demand-answers-about-portland-ice-facility

    1h 47m
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About

Caitlin M. Green and Trent R. Nelson interview experts who weigh in on current debates. In the process they seek not only to uncover answers to the questions of the day, but to explore why they are being asked in the first place. To understand the questions we ask, they believe, is half the answer.

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  • Creator
    Liberal Currents
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    56
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    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Liberal Currents
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    Half the Answer

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