Current Affairs
A podcast of politics and culture, from the editors of Current Affairs magazine.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 42 minutes
- Episodes
- 600
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
What Will New Weight-Loss Drugs Do to Us? (w/ Johann Hari)
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Bestselling author Johann Hari, whose Lost Connectionsand Stolen Focus have previously been discussed on this program, returns today to discuss h…
Inside the MAGA Movement on the Ground (w/ Isaac Arnsdorf)
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Who actually comprises the MAGA movement? Where do Trumpian politicians come from? How do they defeat "establishment" Republicans on the local an…
How The Dollar Became America's Most Powerful Weapon (w/ Saleha Mohsin)
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When we think of American power, we often think of missiles, guns, and tanks. But operating in the background is an incredibly powerful weapon wh…
In Praise of Excess (w/ Becca Rothfeld)
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Becca Rothfeld is the nonfiction book critic for the Washington Post. Her new essay collection, All Things Are Too Small: Essays in Praise of Exc…
What Would a Left Foreign Policy Look Like? (w/ Van Jackson)
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We know the left is, generally speaking, anti-war and anti-imperialist. But if a left-wing government ever took power in the U.S., what would its…
How Cars Make Life Worse (w/ Daniel Knowles)
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Daniel Knowles is a reporter for The Economist (yes, that one). His book Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse argues that cars are a problem, an…
Debunking Popular Talking Points on Israel-Palestine (w/ Ben Burgis)
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Ben Burgis is a philosopher and occasional contributor to Current Affairs, who runs the Philosophy for the People Substack and hosts Give Them An…
Why We Need Solidarity Now More Than Ever (w/ Leah Hunt-Hendrix)
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“While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” ―E…
How To Communicate Left Political Ideas to Gen Z (w/ Jessica Burbank)
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Jessica L. Burbank is a broadcaster and commentator who appears on The Hill's Rising, co-hosts the Funny Money podcast, and now hosts her own onl…
Why We Don't Need Borders (w/ John Washington)
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John Washington is a journalist with Arizona Luminaria, whose new book The Case for Open Borders rebuts common anti-immigrant argument and shows …
How Everyone Misunderstands Capitalism (w/ Grace Blakeley)
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Grace Blakeley is one of the left's leading economic thinkers. In her new book, Vulture Capitalism, Blakeley explains how capitalism really works…
Why Animal Liberation Is A Crucial Moral Issue For Our Time (w/ Lewis Bollard)
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Lewis Bollard directs the farm animal welfare program at Open Philanthropy, and writes the organization's farm animal welfare research newsletter…
How The Gains of 20th Century Feminism Are Under Threat (w/ Josie Cox)
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Journalist Josie Cox is the author of the new book Women Money Power: The Rise and Fall of Economic Equality, a history of the 20th century women…
Inside The Chaos at Elon Musk's Twitter (uh, "X")
The Infamous, Blood-Soaked Legacy of Henry Kissinger (w/ Jonah Walters)
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The day Henry Kissinger died, Jacobin magazine released a book, which they had completed years before, called The Good Die Young: The Verdict on …
What The Labor Movement Can Do For You (w/ Hamilton Nolan)
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Hamilton Nolan is a leading labor journalist whose new book The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor is both a study…
A Leading Philosopher Makes The Case for Degrowth (w/ Kohei Saito)
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Marxist philosophers do not often write bestsellers, but as the New York Times wrote in a profile of today's guest, Kohei Saito's work has unexpe…
Understanding the Genocide Case Against Israel (w/ Jeremy Scahill)
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Originally aired January 29, 2024
There is an ongoing case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa against Israel, whi…
The Case for Limiting Wealth (w/ Ingrid Robeyns)
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Ingrid Robeyns is a professor at Utrecht University, where she specializes in political philosophy and ethics. She's the author of Limitarianism:…
How the "Squad" Discovered the Reality of Power in D.C. (w/ Ryan Grim)
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Ryan Grim is the Intercept's D.C. bureau chief and the author of The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution. Ryan's book chronicles th…