The Nation Podcasts

Donald Trump is sending over what he calls “a massive Armada” to Iran with thepromises to do a reprise of his quick attack on Venezuela that ended with thekidnapping of president Nicolás Maduro. Trump claims that “like withVenezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission.” But will awar with Iran really be so simple? To look at the prospects for war and thelarger politics driving the conflict, I spoke with Amir Handjani of The QuincyInstitute.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The hosts discuss Stephanie Wambugu’s justly-hyped novel Lonely Crowds before they’re joined by Noah Kulwin, an avowed Macdonaldhead who details the pleasures of private eye fiction through 1966’s Black Money. Noah Kulwin is a writer based in New York City. He is also the co-host of the podcast Blowback, a history program about American empire. He has written for a wide variety of publications, but more recently can be found in The Baffler, The Intercept, Screen Slate and Protean. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute.To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWritersAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

While Danny looks after his gold assets, Always at War’s Alex Jordan once again helps Derek bring you headlines from around the globe. This week: the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moves the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight (0:54); the Trump administration renews threats against Iran while demanding a new deal that would eliminate uranium enrichment, missile programs, and regional proxies (3:47); Syria’s government and the SDF agree to a ceasefire extension following more violence in the northeast (12:58); in Gaza, Israel recovers the remains of the final Israeli captive tied to Phase One of the ceasefire, partially reopens the Rafah crossing, and advances plans for large camps in Rafah (16:28); Myanmar’s military completes a staged election delivering the expected victory for the junta-backed party (27:24); China faces fresh turbulence in its military leadership as a senior PLA figure is investigated (30:07); Sudan sees reported new fighting in Blue Nile and claimed gains in Kordofan (34:28); the government of South Sudan launches a campaign against rebels (38:04); there are reports of clashes between government and Tigrayan forces in Ethiopia (40:53); talks involving the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine fail to produce progress (44:02); the EU and India announce a major free trade agreement (47:00); Trump threatens sweeping tariffs against Canada over trade and China policy, amid diplomatic friction and reports of contacts with Alberta separatists (49:32); the U.S. moves toward reopening its embassy in Venezuela as reporting points to CIA interest in establishing a permanent presence (54:07); and a new U.S. National Defense Strategy emphasizes dominance in the Western Hemisphere while maintaining preparations for potential conflict with China (58:20).Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paris Marx is joined by Kat Tenbarge to discuss the explosion of abusive deepfakes on X, including how Elon Musk is profiting from the sexual exploitation of women and children while his followers use Grok to engage in gender-based violence.Kat Tenbarge is an independent journalist who writes Spitfire News.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We have the power to rein in ICE and protect our neighbors, Leah Greenberg argues – she’s co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, the group that organized No Kings 2 last October, the largest demonstration in American history. The key right now, she says, is for Senate Democrats to refuse to fund Homeland Security in this week’s budget vote, unless Republicans agree to put meaningful restrictions on that lawless agency.Also: The group Standing Together says it is still possible for Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side with full equality and justice for everyone. The are the largest Jewish-Arab grassroots movement in Israel, working to create an alternative to the existing reality by building political power. Sally Abed explains -- she’s a Palestinian citizen of Israel, a leader of Standing Together, and she was elected to the Haifa city council in February 2024,Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek speak with historian Sean Delehanty about the invention of shareholder value and the transformation of the American corporation in the late twentieth century. They discuss postwar conglomerates and corporate social responsibility, the crisis of Fordism, the rise of financial economics, and the theory of the firm. They also look at hostile takeovers, leveraged buyouts, private equity, the collapse of the public corporation, and the bipartisan consolidation of shareholder primacy in the 1990s.Buy Sean’s book Company Men: The Invention of Shareholder Value and the Splintering of the American Economy.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made headlines at Davos with a much-noticed speechwhere he candidly acknowledged that the US led alliance system created in World War II wascoming to an end. Carney called for middle powers such as Canada and its European allies togive up the illusion that a US led world is still viable and instead try to create new institutions topreserve their values and their sovereignty. I talked to Canadian journalist Stephen Maher, whohas written a biography of Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau, about the far-reachingimplications of this speech.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Charlotte and Jo spring into the new year with a conversation about ancient poetry: Beowulf, The Iliad, and Dante’s Inferno as translated by Mark Musa, Mary Jo Bang, and Danny Lavery. They’re then joined by the wise and wonderful Hanif Abdurraqib who—after sharing a scoop about what series of book he reads every year (!)—reflects on the formative impacts of his encounter with Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place. Other titles discussed: Toni Morrison’s Jazz, Bebe Moore Campbells’ Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine, Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain. Hanif Abdurraqib is a writer from the east side of Columbus, Ohio.Danny Lavery’s translations of The Inferno can be found here.Please consider supporting our work on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com.Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute.To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWritersAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

While much of America endures an Arctic freeze, Danny and Derek bring to you scorching hot headlines. This week: renewed fighting breaks out between the Syrian government and the SDF as Damascus pushes across the Euphrates and ceasefires collapse (1:39); Israel plans to raze Rafah and construct controlled “humanitarian cities” as a template for postwar Gaza (10:32); Trump hints at striking Iran amid U.S. force movements (14:26); a Cambodian NGO accuses the Thai military of demolishing homes in disputed border villages with Cambodia (17:31); Japan’s prime minister is dissolving parliament and calling a snap election to capitalize on high approval ratings (19:45); heavy fighting breaks out in Sudan’s North Kordofan as the RSF seeks to block a government offensive toward Darfur (22:17); Somalia reaches a new defense cooperation agreement with Qatar (24:18); the EU is reportedly offering Ukraine a rapid partial membership as part of postwar security guarantees (26:27); attendees at Davos discuss a Ukraine reconstruction plan (28:44); Portugal’s far-right Chega candidate reaches the presidential runoff (31:10); the Trump administration is exploring a Maduro-style operation in Cuba (32:47); Trump threatens and then backs off tariffs over Greenland after talks with NATO (35:22); Mark Carney’s Davos speech on the collapse of the rules-based order gains attention (41:01); there is renewed speculation about Havana syndrome following reports the U.S. acquired a suspected energy weapon (43:00); and Trump formally launches his “Board of Peace,” with an unclear mandate and membership (45:00).Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paris Marx is joined by Chris Person to discuss the state of hardware and manufacturing in the tech industry, ways to hack your stuff, options to undermine Microsoft’s software dominance, and how the AI boom is making consumer electronics more expensive. Chris Person is a co-founder of Aftermath and makes Highlight Reel.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The landscape of resistance in Minneapolis, John Nichols reports, includes surprisingly powerful and effective faith groups, plus unions, neighborhood mutual aid and community safety networks, ICE observer teams, and direct action groups, plus the ACLU and its allies, as well as the outspoken mayor and the fighting state attorney general. Also: DOGE did NOT reduce spending – at all. But it did reduce federal employment; 271,000 people lost their jobs in the federal government, according to CATO. Sasha Abramsky set out to find out what it was like for some of those people -- his new book reports on the experiences of eleven fired federal workers: American Carnage: How Trump, Musk, and DOGE butchered the US Government.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this host-only bonus episode, Charlotte and Jo discuss some of their most memorable reads of 2025. Authors discussed include Shon Faye, Sarah Schulman, Ai Yazawa, Marjane Satrapi, Ariana Reines, Kyung-Ran Jo, and more.Please consider supporting us on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Iran is facing upheavals at home and abroad. For more than two decades, the Islamic Republic has faced waves of protests from citizens demanding a more democratic society. Over the past two weeks, these protests have erupted with a new ferocity and are being met with violent repression. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is pushing the United States to renew bombing Iran, a military objective now being given the guise of a humanitarian mission. To discuss the turmoil in Iran and place it in the larger context of regional instability and competing visions of the future of the Middle East, I spoke with Annelle Sheline, a research fellow at The Quincy Institute who studies the region, in this special Friday edition of the podcast. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Derek welcomes Matt Lech to the show to bring you the news while a sick Danny convalesces. This week: Trump pushes U.S. oil companies to reenter Venezuela and outlines plans for a long-term U.S. takeover of the Venezuelan oil industry (1:34); opposition leader Maria Corina Machado presents Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal (7:01); Southern Transitional Council leader Aidarus al-Zubaidi flees Yemen as the group fractures amid competing leadership claims (8:50); Somalia cuts ties with the United Arab Emirates following the latter’s support for Somaliland and the evacuation of Yemeni separatist leaders through Somali territory (12:05); the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire begins as Israel continues to restrict humanitarian aid (14:27); UK Palestine Action prisoners conduct hunger strikes as part of a broader campaign against repression and arms manufacturing, with Matt relaying a statement from the group (18:11); Sudan’s military government announces its return to Khartoum while preparing a major operation against the Rapid Support Forces in Darfur and Kordofan (21:22); China records a $1.2 trillion trade surplus despite U.S. tariffs (24:09); Japan’s prime minister moves toward snap elections amid high approval ratings and ongoing political instability (26:30); the UN reports 2025 as the deadliest year for Ukrainian civilians since 2022 (28:40); American, Danish, and Greenlandic officials meet in Washington as Trump continues to press claims over Greenland (31:06); the Trump administration halts immigrant visa processing for 75 countries (33:15); and the New York Times reports on possible U.S. war crimes involving the use of disguised military aircraft in “anti-smuggling” operations (34:23). Derek then speaks with Negar Mortazavi, journalist and host of The Iran Podcast, about the causes, trajectory, and implications of Iran’s recent nationwide protests (37:11). Find more of Matt’s work over at Left Reckoning, The Majority Report, and The Jacobin Show.  Here is the complete statement from UK Palestine Action.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paris Marx marks the beginning of 2026 by discussing some of the big themes that will be moving the conversations he’ll be having this year, particularly digital sovereignty and rethinking the value of the tech we admit into our lives.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As Trump’s support collapses, he has lashed out in two directions--sending an unprecendented number of ICE agents to Minneapolis, where one of them murdered Renee Good, and sending the military to Venezuela, where he says he has seized control of the oil industry. Harold Meyerson comments.Also: Twenty Minutes Without Trump: There’s a new TV series about how capitalism came to Communist China, 30 episodes made for Chinese TV by the great Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, running now on the Criterion Channel. John Powers, critic-at-large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, explains.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek are joined by Shadi Hamid, columnist at The Washington Post and author of The Case for American Power, to talk about American hegemony and Hamid’s argument for it as a morally preferable and potentially reformable force in international politics. They discuss Gaza and the crisis of liberal internationalism, democracy and self-correction, American decline, China and Russia, intervention and restraint, the Middle East exception, Libya and “humanitarian war,”and whether it is possible to separate the “good” uses of American power from the bad. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In a scandalous rejection of holiday spirit, Jo and Charlotte reflect on the dark, elegant pleasures of Gabrielle Wittkopf’s The Necrophiliac alongside contemporary novel conventions as deployed in Rebecca Novack’s Murder Bimbo. The hosts are then joined by dear friend Clio Chang, who outlines the timeless, charming, annoying allure of Cheryl Strayed’s hit memoir Wild (2012).Also discussed in this episode: Charlotte Roche’s Wetlands, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Lillian Fishman’s Acts of Service.  Clio Chang is a staff writer at Curbed who can do three pullups. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute. To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWritersHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek return from their holiday retreat at Bohemian Grove to bring you news from around the world. This week: Delcy Rodríguez assumes Venezuela’s presidency following Nicolás Maduro’s U.S. rendition (1:31), as questions mount over the indictment (3:51) and Washington moves toward de facto control of Venezuelan oil exports (6:36); Saudi-backed forces push back Southern Transitional Council gains in southern Yemen, with STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi fleeing to the UAE and facing treason charges (11:10); Israel bans 37 humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (15:33), and advances the E-1 settlement project in the West Bank (17:49); protests spread across Iran amid currency collapse and renewed sanctions (21:05); Thailand and Cambodia’s December ceasefire largely holds despite a reported accidental mortar incident (25:33); U.S. airstrikes in northwestern Nigeria raise questions about targets and objectives (27:52); Israel becomes the first country to recognize Somaliland, prompting regional backlash and speculation about military basing and Gaza resettlement plans (30:44); European leaders discuss security guarantees for Ukraine as part of potential peace negotiations with Russia (36:00); Trump escalates rhetoric and planning around annexing or purchasing Greenland (37:54); the Trump administration pushes for a $1.5 trillion U.S. military budget (42:12); and Trump orders a U.S. withdrawal from dozens of UN and international institutions, particularly those related to climate governance (44:30).Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trump’s attack on Venezuela is likely to weaken his political support even further, because it does nothing about affordability or health care. And it’s not at all clear the big oil companies want to spend billions restoring Venezuelan production. John Nichols comments.Also: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the VA to provide housing for disabled vets on its land in Los Angeles, something they have refused to do for more than a decade. The ruling should end homelessness among disabled vets everywhere – Mark Rosenbaum of Public Counsel, who won the case, explains.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy