Current Affairs

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs host Pete Davis invites Jesse Eisinger — Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist with ProPublica and author of The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives — to the Current Affairs World Headquarters to enlighten us on the topic of corporate crime, feckless white collar prosecutors, and why we should care about the underfunding of the IRS. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

Current Affairs superlawyers Vanessa A. Bee and Oren Nimni preview their upcoming Bird Feed series focused on the law, the justice system and this year's Supreme Court term. To listen to Vanessa and Oren's legal series — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

UNLOCKED from the bird feed to the main feed: Current Affairs host Pete Davis talks with the Modern Money Network's Rohan Grey and Raúl Carrillo about Modern Monetary Theory, the big idea shaking up the Left's view of public spending. They — and their ragtag band of economists, activists and politicians — are questioning everything you thought you knew about debt, deficits, spending, and money. Read more about MMT in The Nation, Vice, and The Washington Post. Learn more about MMT's leading voice (and Bernie Sanders advisor), Stephanie Kelton, in Barrons and The Huffington Post. To listen to interviews when they first come out — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

Lyta enters the Lefty Shark Tank to pitch a policy response to the recent Kavanaugh hearings, Malaika Jabali is interviewed about The Color of Economic Anxiety, and the Current Affairs panelists share their favorite utopian communities. The Panel: Lyta Gold, amusements editor Briahna Joy Gray, contributing editor Brianna Rennix, senior editor Vanessa A. Bee, social media editor Further reading: Read Malaika's essay, The Color of Economic Anxiety, here. Read Lyta's essay on Star Trek, The Dismal Frontier, here. Read Lyta's pitch for speculative fiction here and Brianna's pitch for space utopias here. Many thanks to Anna Lathrop for editing help. Support Current Affairs by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For the written form of Current Affairs — and to subscribe to the beautiful print magazine — visit: CurrentAffairs.org. To join the conversation, leave us a voicemail at 504-867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs host Pete Davis talks with the Modern Money Network's Rohan Grey and Raúl Carrillo about Modern Monetary Theory, the big idea shaking up the Left's view of public spending. They — and their ragtag band of economists, activists and politicians — are questioning everything you thought you knew about debt, deficits, spending, and money. Read more about MMT in The Nation, Vice, and The Washington Post. Learn more about MMT's leading voice (and Bernie Sanders advisor), Stephanie Kelton, in Barrons and The Huffington Post. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs Editor-in-Chief Nathan J. Robinson and contributing editor Briahna Joy Gray discuss the unending stream of lies told by Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation process. Read Brie's Intercept article on the subject here and Nathan's Current Affairs article on the subject here. Read Nathan's earlier piece on Kavanaugh's judicial record here. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

In an episode-long special, Current Affairs social media editor Vanessa A. Bee and amusements editor Lyta Gold launch their new investigative journalism podcast, "Uncovering the Unspeakable," on our sister network, Concurrent Affairs. Their pilot episode: uncovering the curious case of Brett Kavanaugh's patriarchiitis. The Current Affairs in-house counsel tells us we must share that this is mostly satire. However, we would like to add that all facts about Brett Kavanaugh in this episode are drawn from publicly-available news sources. For our very-real investigations in Brett Kavanaugh, see editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson's exploration of Kavanaugh's unceasing stream of lies. Support Current Affairs by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For the written form of Current Affairs — and to subscribe to the beautiful print magazine — visit: CurrentAffairs.org. To join the conversation, leave us a voicemail at 504-867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which legal editor Oren Nimni and senior editor Brianna Rennix talk about the Central American refugee crisis. Brianna is an attorney for asylum seekers on the southern border and Oren just traveled to Central America to see first-hand the effects of the Trump administration’s horrific anti-immigrant, anti-refugee policies. The two share what they have learned from their work and travels about the larger context of the refugee crisis you have been hearing about in the news. Donate to Brianna's organization, the CARA Pro Bono Project here. Many thanks to Dan Thorn and Anna Lathrop (@annaaybaci on Insta) for editing help on the episode. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

The Current Affairs panel discusses whether the political is personal, Nathan waxes poetic about Wikipedia, and we all share something that is trending in the right direction. The Panel: Briahna Joy Gray, contributing editor Oren Nimni, legal editor Lyta Gold, amusements editor Nathan J. Robinson, editor in chief Pete Davis, host Further reading on Wikipedia: Here's more on Wikipedia's government structure. Here's The Guardian waxing poetic about Wikipedia. Here's a relatively recent profile of Jimmy Wales. Here's the Wikipedia page on gender bias on the site. Here's a group working to increase black representation among Wikipedia's articles and editors. Many thanks to Dan Thorn for editing help. Support Current Affairs by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For the written form of Current Affairs — and to subscribe to the beautiful print magazine — visit: CurrentAffairs.org. To join the conversation, leave us a voicemail at 504-867-8851.

BBC radio used to have a show, Room 101, in which celebrities came on and discussed their pet gripes, trying to convince the host to consign the object of their gripes to the titular Room 101... the punishment room from George Orwell’s 1984. In today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, legal editor Oren Nimni and editor in chief Nathan J. Robinson recreate the show, sharing their loathing for a famous lawyer, a classic book, a gummy bear brand, a social media platform, a famous Leftist, a genre of movies, a mode of transportation, a major city, and... garnishes. We present an excerpt here. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which, continuing the conversation from Episode 9, social media editor Vanessa A. Bee talks tackling monopoly power with modern day trust busters Lina Khan and Sandeep Vaheesan. Read Vanessa's recent piece on the modern day anti-monopoly movement here. Follow Lina here and Sandeep here. Many thanks to @spaventacular for editing help on the episode. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

A Current Affairs megapanel opens up the Current Affairs voicemailbag again to answer listener questions on topics ranging from separation of powers to policy prioritization to workplace democracy to the lack of a recent Chomsky drop...and more. The Panel: Briahna Joy Gray, contributing editor Oren Nimni, legal editor Lyta Gold, amusements editor Sparky Abraham, finance editor Brianna Rennix, finance editor Nathan J. Robinson, editor-in-chief Pete Davis, host Miscellany: Nathan's prison abolition article is here. Brianna's open borders essay is here. Brie's race reductionism essay is here. Support Current Affairs by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For the written form of Current Affairs — and to subscribe to the beautiful print magazine — visit: Current Affairs.org. To join the conversation, leave us a voicemail at 504-867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which, just in time for the beginning of the season, amusements editor Lyta Gold and legal editor Oren Nimni discuss all things football: its labor politics, its racial politics, and why (according to Lyta) it is the masculine version of drag. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851. Special thanks to Caitlin Reilly for editing help. You can follow her @reilly_cait on Twitter.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs finance editor Sparky Abraham and editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson discuss John Carreyrou's recent book about the Theranos scandal, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. Discussed: why you should be skeptical of prestige (and allegedly liberal lawyers); the importance of good investigative journalism; Silicon Valley boosterism; the cult of Steve Jobs; and more. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851. Thanks to Anna Lathrop (design work on Instagram @annaaybaci) for editing support.

The People's Policy Project's Matt Bruenig enters the Lefty Shark Tank to pitch a social wealth fund and modern day trustbusters Lina Khan and Sandeep Vaheesan stop by to explain antitrust. (Plus, in between, the debut of the official Current Affairs Ben Shapiro diss track). Read the People's Policy Projects full report on social wealth funds here. Read Matt's pitch for one in the New York Times here. Vanessa's recent article on monopoly is here. Lina's groundbreaking Yale Law Review article on Amazon is here. Sandeep on worker power and monopoly is here. Barry Lynn's monopoly primer is here. Lina and Sandeep are out of the Open Markets Institute. Support Current Affairs by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For the written form of Current Affairs — and to subscribe to the beautiful print magazine — visit: CurrentAffairs.org. To join the conversation, leave us a voicemail at 504-867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs legal editor Oren Nimni and social media editor Vanessa A. Bee interview Indiana Law professor, First Mondays host, and rising legal star Ian Samuel about being a lefty in the law. Discussed: the three's lefty origin stories, the consequences of a Kavanaugh nomination, why the law is a conservatizing profession, and more. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which Current Affairs amusements editor Lyta Gold and senior editor Brianna Rennix discuss myths with Classics scholar Daniel Walden, who recently wrote in the magazine about how the whole concept of “Western civilization" is a myth. Tune in to learn about why the myth of dragons may be a lefty one, why Jordan Peterson is confused about myths, what an anti-pope is, what myths can teach us about national origin stories, the purpose of trickster gods, and more. Many thanks to Harrison Montgomery (@AugmentFourth) for help with edits and audio gags. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

The Current Affairs panel discusses what the end of racism and sexism might look like, legal star Ian Samuel enters the Lefty Shark Tank to pitch Supreme Court packing, and we all share our favorite historical what-ifs. (Plus, the segment breaks are haunted by disturbing 20th century ghosts!) Further reading on racial and gender utopias: Matt Bruenig and Economic Policy Institute have good data on the racial wealth gap here and here. The New York Times Magazine had a report this past spring on the crisis in black maternal health. Data on the gender gap in government is here and gender and racial pay gap information is here. We also read two conservatives in preparation for this episode: Michael Lind on the melting pot and John McWhorter on identity politics. The question that inspired this segment was asked by Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy, who wrote about it here. Further reading on Supreme Court packing: Ian's original tweet is here. His Tucker clip is here. National Review responds to his proposal

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson discusses all things Michigan with amusements editor (and Michigan native) Lyta Gold. Topics covered in under an hour: white flight, urban planning, the world’s largest porch, elk, college rivalries, pastries, the decline of local journalism, the Northern KKK, Henry Ford, and more. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.

An excerpt from today's bonus episode, available in full to our Patreon patrons, in which editor-in-chief Nathan Robinson and legal editor Oren Nimni discuss Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, which they argue is, at least partially, a left-wing television show...or, at the very least, a useful spotlight on the petty tyranny of bad bosses. To listen to this episode — and gain access to our patrons' "Bird Feed" — consider becoming a monthly patron at our Patreon page. Call into Current Affairs anytime at (504) 867-8851.