The Nation Podcasts

“Those who own the land get to be decision makers over what happens to the land. They get to decide whether they're gonna frack and how much they’re going to pollute.”

Corporations have made fortunes by extracting from the land, while Black and Indigenous communities who have long understood land as something to steward have been systematically pushed off of it. But what if reparations could both repair the legacy of land theft and help solve the climate crisis? 

In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray speaks with writer and organizer...

Danny and Derek considered helping Flavio Bolsonaro mount a political comeback here in the States, but cut ties on the advice of Danny's psychic. In this week’s news: Israel's election leaves Netanyahu without a parliamentary majority (1:41); Lula wins Brazil's presidential runoff and Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil for the United States after his defeat (8:53); Serbia's student-led opposition topples the ruling party (14:33); the United States and Gulf states pursue a new peace initiative with Iran as the United States prepares for another military campaign after the midterms (18:35); a Sudanese military drone strike kills more than 100 people in Nyala (23:55); Turkey hos...

No one is comfortable with police surveillance in the US, which is why there’s a bipartisan backlash to Flock cameras. Jason Koebler joins Paris Marx to discuss the rise of Flock, how their cameras are being pitched by right-wing politicians and police agencies, and how they’re being used to stalk residents from coast to coast.

Jason Koebler is a co-founder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast.

Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters, co-hosts of the We’re Not So Different podcast and our collaborators on Welcome to the Crusades (Season 2 out now!) are on the show to help tell the story of Halloween. They explore Halloween's Christian (and possibly pagan) origins, medieval beliefs about death and purgatory, ghosts and the Protestant Reformation, the origins of costumes and jack-o'-lanterns, its commercialization and global spread, and the rise of sexy Halloween costumes.

Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠Welcome to the Crusades: The Second Crusade⁠!

Trump's efforts to interfere with voting, and with certification of the results, have not been successful. Rick Hasen of the UCLA Law School says “We're doing well on election protection”: the courts have been strong, the blue states have been a bulwark, and—most important—early voting has been big. Rick is also director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project and editor of the Election Law Blog.

Also: If the election goes roughly as the polls say it will, next Tuesday will mark the beginning of the end of the Trump era. Harold Meyerson comments, focusing on getting to 51 in t...

We haven’t had any political candidates on Fighting Fascism yet. But we decided to make an exception for Jane Kim, who is running to be the next insurance commissioner of California. Part of that exception is because Jane is an old friend. But part of it is because the office she’s running for touches on such interesting and important issues. We don’t think often about insurance, particularly property and casualty insurance. But it’s the foundation for so much of our economic world. And right now it’s not working. Well, it’s actually working great for the mass...

“No one has a right to tell you how to organize, to free yourself, and to liberate yourself.”

The fight over Cop City was never just about a police training center. In Atlanta, a multiracial, multigenerational movement brought together environmental justice, land conservation, police abolition, and grassroots organizing to challenge the destruction of a forest and expansion of police power.

In this episode of A People’s Climate, Shilpi Chhotray talks with organizer Kamau Franklin about the strategies behind the Stop Cop City movement—and the lessons it offers for fights still to come. Although the Atla...

Neera Tanden has not yet posted a tirade about AP, and we’re starting to take it personally. In this week’s news: the U.S. and Israel prepare for renewed strikes against Iran after the midterms (1:07); an Ansar Allah/Houthi missile strike kills at least 73 people at a military camp in Yemen, while continued attacks force Saudi Arabia to cancel a major investment conference and Pakistan, Britain, Egypt, and France offer defensive support to the kingdom (7:52); Israeli settlers assault an American journalist and attack European diplomats, while Israeli forces detain dozens of volunteers in the West Bank (15:05); North Kore...

Hyperscale data centers are not an inevitable infrastructure, but a product of capitalist financialization pushing us further from a livable future. Ingrid Burrington interviews Paris Marx about his new book Hyperscale, discussing the history behind the rise of hyperscale data centers and how companies are obscuring their true social and environmental costs to maximize profits before the overinflated bubble bursts.

Ingrid Burrington is the author of Networks of New York and host of RIP Corp. She’s been writing about internet infrastructure for over a decade, including an 18-story online series for The Atlantic in 2015.

It’s Tech Day here at AP, so Danny and Derek speak with Quinn Slobodian, professor of international history at Boston University, and writer Ben Tarnoff, co-authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, about Elon Musk's role in contemporary capitalism. They discuss Fordism and Muskism; the influence of apartheid South Africa on Musk's approach to production; his vision of AI and human-machine integration; the political significance of his acquisition of Twitter; DOGE's expansion of government data collection and immigration enforcement; and the potential for regulating or replacing Big Tech.

Republicans are spending hundreds of millions on the midterms, but their money hasn’t been able to counter the crisis of affordability, the disgust with Trump’s corruption, and the quality of many of the Democratic candidates. Harold Meyerson comments – he’s editor at large of The American Prospect.

Also: Katha Pollit argues that the gang rape at a Cornell fraternity party could have been stopped--if someone had bothered to intervene. But no one did. “Where were the good guys?” She asks.

Dr. Isabella Weber’s new book is called Anti-Fascist Economics. As a native of Nuremberg, where the Nazis staged their famous mass rallies, there’s another term she also uses: the economics of “never again.”

We think this book is such an important intervention in the world right now. So we were thrilled to have Isabella on the show to discuss why the rise of today's authoritarian movements is not an accident, but is rooted in an economic order that has treated regular people as expendable while elevating markets above democratic choice.

In the face of risin...

“This is about life. And this extractive industry is not a giver of life, it is a taker of life.”

On March 23, 2026, a massive explosion tore through the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, shaking homes and sending a plume of smoke over a community that has lived with oil and petrochemical pollution for generations. In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray talks with John Beard Jr., a former refinery worker who spent 38 years inside the industry, about what happens when global oil decisions become local realities.

From U.S. policy toward...

Metallica says they stay out of politics, so Danny and Derek are reassessing their approach to the show. In this week’s news: Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize, angering Trump (3:51); Ansar Allah strikes Saudi airports and oil facilities (7:58) while fighting continues on multiple fronts in Yemen (11:35); attacks on commercial ships escalate near the Strait of Hormuz (13:45), and the U.S. prepares a new bombing campaign against Iran (15:59); Israeli forces kill at least eight people in Gaza on the first anniversary of the “ceasefire” as the Palestinian Authority postpones elections until at least September 2027 (19:12); in southern Lebanon, Israeli forces...

Data centers are being approved without proper oversight into their broader impacts, but there are organizations pushing back. Martha Dark joins Paris Marx to discuss her work at Foxglove and how legal challenges against data centers are imposing stronger rules and reframing false narratives from policymakers and Big Tech.

Martha Dark is co-executive director of Foxglove.

Danny and Derek speak with historian Stuart Schrader about the history and political power of police unions in the US. They discuss the rise of police unions in the 1960s, their relationship with organized labor, resistance to the civil rights movement and affirmative action, the role of race in policing, bipartisan support for policing and the 1990s crime bills, the growing political influence of the Border Patrol union, and the future of police reform and abolition.

Get your copy of Stuart’s book Blue Power: How Police Organize to Protect and Serve Themselves.

Most political reporting has been about Democrats’ chances of taking control of Congress, but the Governors’ races hold the key to election protection in the 2028 presidential vote. Harold Meyerson explains, and examines the contest now underway in Nevada. Harold is Editor-at-Large of The American Prospect.

Also: John Berger, author of the classic “Ways of Seeing,” was more than a Marxist art critic. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, John Powers comments on his life and work—both of which were extraordinary. John is critic-at-large on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

Data centers and AI, AI and data centers. We all know how pivotal these issues have become. But lots of the analysis on these topics has been coming from pundits who are the farthest removed from them.

That’s why we wanted to speak with Ben Inskeep and Bryce Gustafson from Citizen Action Coalition. Bryce and Ben have been helping communities on the frontlines of data center fights in Indiana organize and stand up against Big Tech, and their on-the-ground insights—about what’s motivating the backlash, the potential for a broader political realignment, and more—are critical...

That’s why The Nation’s justice correspondent Elie Mystal thinks the Supreme Court should matter to everyone who cares about climate and environmental justice. The Court can block laws, limit the government’s ability to regulate polluters, and prevent communities from holding powerful companies accountable. In this episode of A People’s Climate, Shilpi Chhotray talks with Mystal about what happens when some of the biggest climate battles are being decided by a few unelected judges.

Mystal explains how the Supreme Court has changed, why its decisions have such far-reaching consequences for climate policy, and what recent c...

Derek has returned, but he keeps trying to get Danny to go to some seminar led by a charismatic “mentor” he encountered in his travels. In this week’s news: war breaks out in Ethiopia’s Tigray region (0:43); Flavio Bolsonaro wins the first round of Brazil’s presidential election as the right makes major gains (6:46); in Yemen, the government’s counteroffensive against Ansar Allah stalls (9:51), the group attacks airports in Saudi Arabia and Yemen (12:40), and Saudi Arabia seeks outside military support (13:42); the U.S. prepares to resume its war against Iran as the Islamic Republic intensifies attacks on oil tankers near...

Brazil’s renewable energy is being exploited to justify unnecessary data center construction. Laís Martins joins Paris Marx to discuss why the renewable energy sector is behind a rise in Brazilian data center development, how this is impacting communities, and the ways this greenwashing is redirecting funding away from more socially progressive projects.

Laís Martins is a technology reporter at The Intercept Brasil.

Danny and Derek welcome back to the show Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and author of Palestine: A Primer, to talk about changes in the regional and political landscape of Palestine since October 7. They discuss adapting The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine for a younger audience, the devastation of Gaza, Hamas’s October 7 strategy and its miscalculations, the Biden administration’s support for Israel, changes in the Middle East after the war with Iran, shifting American attitudes toward Israel and Palestine, the prospects for Palestinian resistance, and the destruction of Gaza’s cultur...

The real threat of AI is not the destruction of humanity, but rather replacing human labor with machines—that’s what Garrison Lovely argues. He’s the author of Obsolete: The AI Industry’s Trillion Dollar Race to Replace Us—and How to Stop It.

Also: Our right to peaceful protest is under assault. To save it, we need to “respect it, defend it, and more than anything – use it.” that’s what Annie Leonard says - she’s a longtime activist who spent 17 years with Greenpeace USA, then she helped launch the Jane Fonda Climate PAC. And she’s co-author of t...

Staten Island is often referred to—by its inhabitants—as the Forgotten Borough of New York City. But who knew that in the 1990s, Staten Islanders literally tried to secede. Our guest this week, Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, is a journalist and senior producer for the Revisionist History podcast, and he’s created a brilliant new series called The Staten Island Problem that tells the history of this moment when New York City almost came apart.

Ben sees this story as an early example of the politics of resentment that dominates America today. To understand Staten Island is to unders...

Many of Joe Biden’s closest advisors are now well-ensconced in the sinecures reserved for the elite, working at think tanks, academia, and major media outlets. Normally, they could expect to have future jobs when the Democrats retake the White House. But this cozy situation is being disrupted by ongoing reporting showing the extent of their complicity in the Gaza genocide and other US crimes in the Middle East. I spoke about this with Connor Echols, managing editor of Responsible Statecraft, who wrote an excellent article on the efforts to hold these officials accountable.

“National security has always explicitly been about fossil fuels.”

The U.S. military is the world’s largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels—and one of the largest sources of environmental destruction. Yet its role in the climate crisis is rarely part of mainstream climate or environmental justice conversations. In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray talks with independent journalist and documentary filmmaker Abby Martin about why meaningful climate action must confront militarism.

As military spending rises and wars continue to devastate communities and ecosystems, the connections between war, fossil fuels, and enviro...

As Derek completes the final phase of his vision quest, Alex Jordan of the Always at War podcast fills in once more. In this week’s news: U.S.-Iran talks stall over the order of concessions (1:28); Gulf oil exports return to prewar levels (4:34); Netanyahu uses an attempted seizure of a FlyDubai flight to reinforce his agenda as an election approaches (11:15); in Iraq, the U.S. ends its counter-ISIS mission (16:06); Pete Hegseth launches Project Meridian to study the “future of warfare” (21:35); Trump hosts tech leaders who pledge “tremendous” self-regulation (24:49); British police arrest five men near RAF Fairford amid claims of Iranian...

Tech companies are working with the fossil fuel industry to push unnecessary data center projects while misrepresenting the climate impact — and governments are letting it all happen. Ketan Joshi joins Paris Marx to discuss how the data center buildout is driving a surge in fossil fuel investment, and how it’s all playing out in Australia.

Ketan Joshi is a climate writer and data analyst based in Oslo working with climate and environmental groups.

Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, answers the question, “What’s the Plan -- for the next No Kings Nationwide Day of Action?” This one shifts from mass protest in the streets to organizing for early voting – and preparing for whatever Trump does to disrupt or undermine the vote, the count, and the certification.

Also: The Supreme Court last Friday issued an order allowing states to use Trump’s SAVE database to purge their voter rolls of people the DHS considers ineligible – but it’s too late to apply to the midterms. Rick Hasen explains – he teaches law at UCLA and he...

Last week, we spoke with campaign manager Ben Shanahan about David Morales’s winning strategy in his successful campaign for Providence mayor. Today, we have a very different conversation with Jenn Steinfeld, David’s field director, about how they built the grassroots operation that knocked proportionately more doors than Zohran’s, without burning anyone out. It turns out campaigns really can run field the right way and win. Let’s do it more often!

My Nation colleague Kate Wagner has written a brilliant critical essay on the Obama Center, which just opened in Chicago. I talk to her about how the history of presidential libraries, a now anachronistic form as well as the controversies surrounding the Obama Center’s displacement of public space and the dissatisfying way it memorializes the Obama presidency.

A People’s Climate is back for Season 2. Host Shilpi Chhotray takes you inside the fight for climate and environmental justice with organizers, legal experts, filmmakers, and movement leaders challenging the corporate and political forces blocking real change — from Big Oil and militarism to over-policing and the Supreme Court. This is essential listening for anyone serious about building a mass climate movement.

New episodes every Saturday starting Oct 3, 2026.

Guests this season include:

Danny and Derek talk with Noam Scheiber, New York Times reporter and author, about the radicalization of American college graduates. They discuss a Starbucks union campaign, underemployment among recent grads, the Taylorization of white-collar jobs, AI, corporate fixation on labor costs, the “con” of college for millennials, and the collapse of meritocracy.

Buy your copy of Noam’s book on the subject, Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class.

The primary force behind the settlement that will allow Trump’s allies at Paramount to take over Warners-Discovery and CNN was Gavin Newsom, who pressured California Attorney General Rob Bonta to end the anti-trust fight defending media independence. Norm Eisen explains – he’s co-founder and executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Defenders Action, and, the New York Times reported, “the leader of a coalition of entertainment and news industry professionals who opposed the deal.”

Also: After Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House newsroom, the TV networks united in refusing coverage of...

Two weeks ago, 28-year-old democratic socialist David Morales defeated Providence's incumbent mayor Brett Smiley in the latest electrifying win for the Democratic Party's populist wing. But how did it happen? And how can it be repeated? In the first episode of this two-parter, Aaron and Matt talk to David's campaign manager Ben Shanahan about the message, strategy, and tactics that powered this insurgent victory. Next week, we expand this conversation with David's field director, Jenn Steinfeld, who gives a window into what it looks like to combine electoral campaigns with movement building.

For more analysis on David's...

My Nation colleague Joan Walsh recently profiled Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff for the magazine. Georgia is very much a purple state. The fact that Ossoff won there and stands a good chance at re-election is evidence of his political talent, turning him into an increasingly prominent national figure. Joan and I talked about Ossoff’s background and the long struggle to transform Georgia, a formerly red state where Democrats are making headway.

Derek has journeyed to Bolivia seeking contact with the newly discovered cat species, so Alex Jordan of Always at War steps in to bring you the headlines. This week: in New Delhi, BRICS member states issue a fractured joint statement on restraint in the Middle East (1:12); Iran strikes a U.S.-contracted vessel near the Strait of Hormuz (5:42); a cyberattack disables Texas-bound tankers (8:30); a new Pentagon report puts the Iran war’s cost at $33.4 billion (9:59); the Houthis/Ansar Allah advance in Taiz and hit Saudi Arabia (14:46); Yemeni government forces strike back while the U.S. rules out direct involvement (19:00); Ch...

Danny and Derek welcome back Akbar Shahid Ahmed, Diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Sun and author of Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War on Gaza, to talk about the Biden administration’s role in enabling the genocide in Gaza. They discuss the conditions in the Strip as of the current day; Biden’s small inner circle of Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, and Brett McGurk; Jack Lew’s role of ambassador and the dubious war crime review process he implemented; the Rafah red line and its immediate collapse after Israel invaded; and the Democratic Party’s domestic...

Only two Justices backed Trump in the Court’s ruling blocking his efforts to enlist the postal service in restricting voting by mail in the midterms. David Cole explains why this is a huge victory, but far from the end of Trump’s effforts to undermine Democratic voting.

Also: The blue state attorneys general have succeeded in blocking the efforts of Trump’s allies at Paramount-Skydance from taking over Warners-Discovery, at least for now, but their lawsuit followed months of protests organized by, among others, Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment. Rashad Robinson has our analysis –...

Yotam Marom has been helping build movements—and many of the most important movement organizations—for the last 20 years. His new book, For Louder Days: Reaching Beyond a Politics of Powerlessness, is an essential read for everyone on the left who wants to win a better world.

Yotam, who became an organizing leader in Occupy Wall Street alongside Jonathan approximately a million years ago, joined us to talk about the left's conflicted relationship to power, leadership, identity, and strategy. We discuss how and why movements too often get in our own way, turn on each other, and play...