Left Anchor

Episode 215 - Carceral Con with Kay Whitlock and Nancy A. Heitzeg

Today we've got the authors of Carceral Con: The Deceptive Terrain of Criminal Justice Reform on to discuss their book. We discuss some of the downsides of how criminal justice reform has been portrayed in popular media, in particular the downsides of the austerian logic that doing so will save the government money. Enjoy!

Episode 214 PREVIEW - The Davos Climate Cuddle Puddle with Kate Aronoff

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Also don't miss Kate's book here.

Episode 213 - Seeing Like an Activist with Erin Pineda

Today we've got Smith College Assistant Professor of Government Erin Pineda on to talk about her book Seeing Like An Activist: Civil Disobedience and the Civil Rights Movement. We discuss how her work relates to the famous James Scott book Seeing Like a State, how civil disobedience really worked during the civil rights movement, how the movement against police brutality today has been sidetracked by fussy liberals, and more. Enjoy! 

Episode 212 PREVIEW - The Grim Legacy of 2008 with David Sirota

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And check out David's podcast series "Meltdown" here.

Episode 211 PREVIEW - Democrats in Disarray with David Dayen

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Episode 210 - The American Gulag, with Ashley Lucas

Today we have Ashley Lucas on to talk about her essay "The End of Rage" about a man named Russell "Maroon" Shoatz. He was a Black Panther and political radical in the 1970s who ended up in prison for killing a police officer, despite a lack of any direct evidence he was the culprit, and later served over 22 years in solitary confinement after attempting to escape. He is now old and has terminal cancer, and after recording the episode he was (remarkably enough, by American standards at least) released into hospice care.
Check out Maroon's book of essays here, and a piece on the horrid conditions in Riker's Island here.

Episode 209 PREVIEW - On Popularism with Alex Pareene

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Also, don't miss Alex's newsletter.

Episode 207 - Making Monsters with David Livingstone Smith

This time we've got philosopher David Livingstone Smith (last seen here on episode 165) to discuss his book Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization. We talk about the sources of dehumanizing ideology, what purpose it can serve politically, why even Heinrich Himmler couldn't take witnessing a massacre of Jews during the Holocaust, and more. Enjoy!

Episode 206 PREVIEW - The Facebook Faceplant and the Sinema Syndrome

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Episode 205 - The Fascism Question, Part II

After unlocking our episode about the January 6 putsch, Ryan is doing a quick follow-up on our episode with John Ganz from February. This time we're talking about Robert Paxton's book The Anatomy of Fascism in the context of Trump lawyer John Eastman's coup memo, and various aspects of current right-wing culture. Enjoy!
Also check out the Adolph Reed essay mentioned here.