Left Anchor

Silicon Valley Brain Rot - 351 PREVIEW

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Empty Shelves Are Coming - 350

Today we've got David Dayen on to talk about the big Apple decision limiting fees on the company's app store, and then the building supply disruptions thanks to Trump's tariffs, which look to be comparable to what happened during the pandemic. Gulp.

Whiskey Pete - 349 PREVIEW

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Stonks - 348

What the heck is going on with the economy and the markets? We've got financial expert George Pearkes on to discuss tariffs, stocks, whether the bond market is blowing up, and the economy writ large.

Late Star Trek - 347 PREVIEW

Today we are speaking with professor Adam Kotsko about his new book Late Star Trek: The Final Frontier in the Franchise Era. Why Trek so successful and beloved through the 1990s, why have the recent shows struggled to recapture the magic, and how does that relate to changing dynamics in the entertainment industry? 
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Abundance Incoherence - 346

Today we have Matt Bruenig of the People's Policy Project, NLRB Edge, and The Bruenigs podcast on to talk about Ezra Klein's and Derek Thompson's book Abundance. We discuss the strengths and accuracies of the book, but also where it turns squirrelly, why it's gotten so much attention, and the suspicious cast of characters behind it. 
Check out Matt's review of the book here.

How the Union Movement Can Rebuild - 345 EXCERPT

Today we are talking with Professor Eric Blanc about his book We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing Is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big. It's all about how innovative organizers have managed to unionize some highly dispersed workplaces like Starbucks, but also how institutional labor unions have failed to take advantage of that knowledge. We also discuss what labor should do given the Trump administration's unprecedented threat to labor power as such.
Check out Eric's Substack here.
As Eric mentions, if you want to organize your workplace visit here, if you want to get another job so you might organize that workplace visit here, and if you want to support federal workers visit here.
To listen to the second half of the episode subscribe here!

Trump's Assault on Universities - 344

Today we are bringing back David Austin Walsh to talk about the Trump/Musk attack on American higher education--not just DEI programs, but advanced science and research of any kind. Why are they doing this and what damage will it cause?
Check out David's book Taking America Back: The Conservative Movement and the Far Right here, our previous interview with him here, and Chuck Schumer's ridiculous interview with The New York Times here.

The Power of Propaganda with Hannah Arendt - 220 UNLOCKED

Ryan is on vacation this week, so here's an episode from the archives.
Today we're discussing the article "Truth and Politics" by Hannah Arendt. We talk about her idea that truth has both a weakness and a power to it, what the Herman Cain Award subreddit tells us about the power of propaganda, Joe Rogan getting owned on his own show, why Bernie Sanders is better at science communication than the CDC, and more. Enjoy!

The Failure of Constitutional Theory - 343

Today we are talking to Harvard Law Professor Mark Tushnet about his book Who Am I to Judge: Judicial Craft versus Constitution Theory. It’s common today for Supreme Court justices to outline a theory of constitutional interpretation, but it turns out that not only is this dishonest, but also something that only developed in the late 20th century. Enjoy!
The Ian Toll book series Ryan mentions can be found here.