Left Anchor

With Democrats looking likely to win a blowout victory in the upcoming midterms, the Trump regime has decided to start fake prosecutions of their political opponents. The first target is Ilhan Omar, because she is a Black Muslim woman, but if they succeed, she won't be the last. We discuss what to do about Trump's highly likely escalation of authoritarian crimes next year, what ordinary citizens should do, the latest news from Ukraine, Elon Musk's unprecedented election spending, and more. Enjoy!

With Democrats looking likely to win a blowout victory in the upcoming midterms, the Trump regime has decided to start fake prosecutions of their political opponents. The first target is Ilhan Omar, because she is a Black Muslim woman, but if they succeed, she won't be the last.

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This time we've got the organizer and activist Yotam Marom on to talk about his new book For Louder Days: Reaching Beyond a Politics of Powerlessness. It's all about his experience in Occupy Wall Street and his experience organizing on the left over the subsequent 15 years. What did OWS get right, why did it fail, and how has the left built on that experience? We get into that and more.

Today we've got our old pal Astra Taylor on to talk about the new book she co-wrote with Naomi Klein: End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World. What distinguishes today's neofascists--from MAGA to the AfD in Germany--from their predecessors in the 1930s, what is their plan for the world, and how do we defeat them?

Today we've got our old pal Astra Taylor on to talk about the new book she co-wrote with Naomi Klein: End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World. What distinguishes today's neofascists--from MAGA to the AfD in Germany--from their predecessors in the 1930s, what is their plan for the world, and how do we defeat them?

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Today we've got the classicist Jase Short back on to discuss Christopher Nolan's new film. Is it any good, does it illuminate our present issues or those of humanity in general, and most importantly, is it loyal enough to the source material to please the die-hard Homer fanbase? Enjoy!

Trump is back to escalating his shooting war against Iran, and his trade war against Canada, and he's quite obviously losing both of them. Subscribe now to hear the whole episode! 

Joe Biden was the best American president on climate change by maybe three orders of magnitude. Yet it didn't cement a Kamala Harris victory in 2024, and Trump has since rolled back most of Biden's signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.

Today we've got UC Santa Barbara Professor Leah Stokes on to discuss her upcoming book The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet, to talk about her role in the passage of the IRA, what's left of it, what Trump's victory says about climate policy, and what we should...

In this excerpt we discuss why so many American leftists struggled to get to the correct understanding in Ukraine, and why so many liberals have struggled to get to the correct understanding in Israel-Palestine.

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Today we've got David Dayen back on to talk about his reporting on how awful it is to attempt to make it as a franchisee for the Kitchen and Bath Tune-Up company. We also discuss the flailing incompetence of various Trump lawyers in their efforts to persecute critics of the regime, the return of tariffs, and the resumption of endless war with Iran, again. Enjoy!

We are still recovering from vacation and travel, so enjoy this premium episode from awhile back.

Zohran Mamdani is now arguably the most politically successful socialist in American history, having won the mayoralty of New York City. So we've got longtime socialist organizer and DSA member David Duhalde back on the podcast to discuss his recent review of Organize or Burn: How New York Socialists Fight for Climate Survival, by Fabian Holt, as well as the overall state of DSA nationally under the second Trump regime.

Today we have Professor Harvey Kaye back on to talk about so-called Christian nationalism, and not only why all the Founding Fathers would have regarded such an idea with horror, but also so would have Jesus Christ. People like Elon Musk and Pete Hegseth loudly proclaim their religiosity while simultaneously massacring innocent children, starving poor people by the millions, and welcoming the moneychangers into the temple.

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Today we've got noted author and historian Rick Perlstein on to discuss the late Alan Greenspan's 20-year reign as the chair of the Federal Reserve, the damage he did to the American working class and New Deal financial regulations, and what that says about the history of the 1990s and 2000s. Then we turn to what the rise of bareknuckle boxing has to say about MAGA's particularly chintzy and gross brand of fascism. Enjoy!

Check out Rick's newsletter here, and his books here.

In this latest bonus episode, we are talking about how former Labour Prime Minister Kier Starmer frittered away one of the biggest parliamentary majorities in British history, and what lessons that holds in general. Then we talk about the on-again-off-again Iran deal, and Trump's epic debacle with the Reflection Pool on the National Mall.

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Alexi is off today, so this time we are cross-posting a conversation Ryan had with Shawn Howard, who runs the newsletter American Vets in Defense of Democracy. They discussed why the economy hasn't collapsed, how the green energy transition has accelerated, why so much of the world is struggling to come to grips with the fact that the American president is a senile madman, and more. Enjoy!

Today we are unlocking our episode with William Lawrence, who is running to represent Michigan's 7th congressional district in and around Lansing, and has the geographical hand tattoo to prove it. Unlike the previous Democrat to represent the seat, current junior Senator Elissa Slotkin, William is a strong progressive. How does he plan to win a swing district on a platform of social housing, taxing the rich, bolstering union rights, and so on? Listen to find out!

Check out William's campaign website here.

Today we're are talking Trump's latest on-again, off-again deal with Iran, Zohran Mamdani's record after a few months as mayor of New York City, and whether AOC is worth considering as a presidential candidate in 2028. 

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The dumbest president in American history, with his world-historically stupid war on Iran choking off trade through the Strait of Hormuz, with no end in sight, has de facto imposed a gigantic carbon tax on the entire planet. As a result, the green energy transition is leaping ahead at the fastest pace yet--led by China, which is cementing its position as the economic and technological powerhouse of the 21st century. That's...good?

We also discuss the Supreme Court's latest bowel movement in Callais vs. Louisiana, the continual acceleration of Republican gerrymandering, and more. Enjoy!

Today we have William Lawrence, who is running to represent Michigan's 7th congressional district in and around Lansing, and has the geographical hand tattoo to prove it. Unlike the previous Democrat to represent the seat, current junior Senator Elissa Slotkin, William is a strong progressive. How does he plan to win a swing district on a platform of social housing, taxing the rich, bolstering union rights, and so on? Listen to find out!

Check out William's campaign website here, and listen to the rest of the episode here. 

Today we've got Bethany Andres-Beck, a DSA member who is running for Congress in the 6th District of Massachusetts, on to discuss why that state and the House of Representatives could use a nonbinary trans socialist with a lot of coding experience. Enjoy!

Trump's war on Iran has led to Iran closing the Strait of Homuz, and hence probably the worst single energy shock since oil became a bulk commodity. There is no end in sight. We discuss why it was such a catastrophically stupid decision, what it reveals about Trump's decaying brain, how Iran has gained the upper hand, and more. We also discuss the elections in Hungary and Mexico's forthcoming single payer healthcare system. 

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Today we have Adam Johnson on to discuss his forthcoming book How to Sell a Genocide: The Media’s Complicity in the Destruction of Gaza. He brings elaborate receipts about how centrist and liberal media downplayed, excused, and denied the Gaza genocide, and in general treated Palestinians as subhumans. 

Check out Adam's newsletter here and his podcast here.

Today we have Rep. Rick Krajewski, who represents the 188th District--entirely contained within West Philadelphia--in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A DSA member and longtime organizer, Rick primaried the longtime incumbent in 2020, and has spent the last several years learning the political ropes. We discuss the state of play in Harrisburg, what he has learned and gotten done in office, the prospects of Democrats taking full control of the state government in the elections this year, and more. Enjoy!

Zohran Mamdani is now arguably the most politically successful socialist in American history, having won the mayoralty of New York City. So we've got longtime socialist organizer and DSA member David Duhalde back on the podcast to discuss his recent review of Organize or Burn: How New York Socialists Fight for Climate Survival, by Fabian Holt, as well as the overall state of DSA nationally under the second Trump regime.

Subscribe here to listen to the rest of the episode!

Today we have the philosopher Jase Short on to discuss what is going on in Iran: What is happening, why did Trump and Israel do such a crazy thing, and what can be done about it?

Check out Jase's newsletter here.

Today we have the philosopher Jase Short on to discuss what is going on in Iran: What is happening, why did Trump and Israel do such a crazy thing, and what can be done about it?

Check out Jase's newsletter here.

For the second half of the episode, subscribe here! 

Today we're zooming out and taking a broader look at the Jeffrey Epstein phenomenon. How did an evidently barely-literate freak end up as one of the linchpins of the global oligarchic elite? It's a highly telling indication of the rot in post-Cold War democracies, above all the United States.

Also, we are changing the way our Patreon tiers work. The Prospect is getting rid of digital memberships and subscriptions, so our $10 Leftenants will instead get a discount code for 60 percent off a print subscription. Hopefully that's both simpler and easier!

Today we are unlocking our episode on the update on the situation in Minneapolis. Note that most of the episode was recorded before Alex Pretti was martyred by CBP thugs, but Ryan provides a brief update on that at the start. This might just be seen as the turn of the tide.

Then we move on to discuss Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's remarkable speech and Davos, what it revealed about the previous "rules-based international order," and just how deliriously insane Trump's aggression against Canada and Greenland is.

Check out some excellent coverage of the...

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Today we've got an update on the situation in Minneapolis. Note that most of the episode was recorded before Alex Pretti was martyred by CBP thugs, but Ryan provides a brief update on that at the start. This might just be seen as the turn of the tide.

Subscribe here for the full episode!

Also, check out some excellent coverage of the Minneapolis resistance here and here.

Today Will Stancil joins Ryan to discuss the organized community efforts to stymie ICE ethnic cleansing in Minneapolis. What are these goons doing there, how are people fighting back, and what can others learn from their experience?

Today we've got NYU historian Alejandro Velasco on to discuss Trump's kidnapping of Venezuela's now-former president Nicolas Maduro. We talk about the historical context, details about the oil sector there, what Trump's goals might be and whether they make any sense, and what it all might mean. Enjoy!

Check out Alejandro's recent article in the Guardian here.

This time we are discussing Wake Up Dead Man, the latest Knives Out picture, and its themes of faith, humility, forgiveness, and right-wing assholes in the pulpit. We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday break!

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The dumbest people in politics are always going on about how we need more "debate" between various factions. But Stanford political scientist James Fishkin has a much more sophisticated argument that actual deliberation--not cable news morons shouting at each other--has a vital role to play in democratic functioning, and has actually carried out several experiments to that effect. He joins us to talk about his book Can Deliberation Cure the Ills of Democracy?

Today we've got Rutgers labor historian Eric Blanc back on to discuss his recent article on the sewer socialists of Milwaukee. Back in the early 20th century, Wisconsin was the epicenter of the most successful socialist movement in American history, with socialists running Milwaukee for nearly 50 years starting in 1910. How did they win, how did they build power, and what did they do with it? With Zohran Mamdani poised to take charge of New York, this is some highly relevant history.

Check out the second half of the episode here!

Today we have Dr. Lucian Staiano-Daniels on to talk about his book The War People: A Social History of Common Soldiers during the Era of the Thirty Years War. It is something of an obscure conflict these days, but he explains why understanding it matters today, and in particular how the era is quite similar to 2025 in many ways—we also are experiencing a severely destabilizing revolution in information technology (social media now, the printing press then), political problems in a federalized empire with a rickety, anachronistic structure (America now, the Holy Roman Empire then), and a good old cr...

Today we have economics professor Marshall Steinbaum on to talk about the potential fall of Larry Summers due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein, and what it reveals about the culture of the economics profession and policymaking in the Democratic Party.

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Here are the articles mentioned in the discussion:

1. Claudia Sahm’s initial post: “Economics is a Disgrace.”

2. Claudia’s account of the retaliation she faced for that post: “Economics Truly is a Disgrace.”

3. Writeup of the resulting controversy in the Georgetown student news...

Zohran Mamdani won in New York City, and so did Democrats in New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and even Mississippi. What happened and why? We dig in.

Check out Ryan's articles on Zohran and Chuck Schumer, as well as our previous episode on Zohran.

Today we are discussing the home stretch of the New York City mayoral race, Andrew Cuomo's decent into outright gutter racism and Islamophobia, the ongoing ICE raids across the country, Trump's escalating war on Venezuela, and the surprising story of how rent control in Hong Kong led to a building boom in the 1920s.

Is it possible to reform America's blighted hellscape of car-dependent suburban sprawl, big box stores, strip malls, and stroads into something more healthy and human? Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon (of the podcast The War on Cars) argue yes, in their new book Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile. They outline the gruesome history of automobiles, what they've done to American lives and cities, and how we might RETVRN.

Check out the famous Andre Gorz essay "The Social Ideology of the Motorcar" here.