News - US and Iran Inch Toward Conflict, Myanmar Earthquake, Trump Tariffs

Danny and Derek welcome to the show Andy Liu, professor of history at Villanova, for a discussion on Trump, Xi, their respective histories, and the current trade situation between the US and China. They explore Trump’s relationship with Japan in the 80s and how that helped shape his idea of trade and tariffs, the US security apparatus emboldening Trump’s “dealmaking”, Xi’s own background as a “nepo baby” in the transformative era of Deng Xiaoping, he and the Chinese government’s effort to move China from exporting mostly cheap goods to higher-end products, the current Trump administration’s actions and (lack of) communication with Beijing, and more. Subscribe now to listen to the full episode. Note: this episode was recorded in mid-March, i.e. before the latest round of tariffs. Read Andy’s piece for n+1, “Back to the ‘80s?”.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny and Derek welcome to the show Vivek Chibber, editor of Catalyst and host of the Confronting Capitalism podcast, to talk about the widespread tariffs Trump announced this week, what it would mean to try and bring back manufacturing to the US, the leftist critique of this approach, neoliberalism and neomercantilism, and what we might expect to happen. Subscribe now for the full episode and much more content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the news roundup: the US and Iran are making moves risking escalation to a conflict (0:43); Israel rejects another Gaza ceasefire as it plans to carve up the Strip (7:28); the IDF resumes bombing Beirut (11:41); Myanmar suffers a devastating earthquake (13:44); the South Korea supreme court will rule on Yoon’s impeachment today (17:16); the Sudanese military secures the capital, Khartoum (18:38); the African Union sends a mediation team to South Sudan (20:26); the US approves a UK-Mauritius deal on the Chagos Archipelago (22:42); President Trump is now displeased with both Putin and Zelenskyy (24:54); President Bukele of El Salvador is reportedly in direct talks with MS-13 (29:03); the Trump administration admits innocent people were among those deported to El Salvador (31:23); far-right influencer Laura Loomer appears to have influenced Trump into firing members of the National Security Council (33:08); and President Trump announces quite a few tariffs for what he calls “liberation day” (34:49). Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and much more content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yoni Appelbaum, a deputy executive editor at The Atlantic, joins the program to talk about his book Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. They discuss mobility in the US and how that might sacrifice community for opportunity, the “frontier” as a way of taking land and easing class antagonism, the birth of American zoning from anti-Chinese practices in 19th century California, the move toward the single-family home and it being a symbol of the American identity, how we can make homes accessible once more for working Americans, and more.  For an ad-free experience and much more content, subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aziz Rana, J. Donald Monan, S.J., University Professor of Law and Government at Boston College, is back on the program to talk about the 20th and 21st century constitutional order leading to the current crisis under Trump. They delve into the attack on racial liberalism, the balance between the disavowed and embraced aspects of McCarthyism, the theory of the unitary executive, defending and regulating capitalism, the advent of the carceral state, and more. Read Aziz’s piece on the matter at New Left Review, “Constitutional Collapse”. Subscribe now for the full episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in the world: the IDF seizes more territory in Gaza (1:01) and the Israeli government forms a “voluntary emigration bureau” (5:19), while protests against Hamas break out in the Strip (7:53); there’s unrest in Turkey over the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor (10:27); a court in South Korea overturns the impeachment of PM Han Duck-soo (13:31); in Sudan, the military makes major gains in Khartoum and kills scores in a Darfur airstrike (15:17); South Sudan VP Riek Machar is arrested, stirring up further unrest (18:40); the proposed ceasefire is in limbo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (21:29); in Ukraine-Russia, talks make progress on matters including energy and the Black Sea (23:40); Trump pushes an expanded minerals deal with Ukraine (25:52); Canada schedules an April 28 election (28:20); Greenland is concerned by JD Vance’s visit (30:00); Trump unveils a “sixth generation” fighter, the F-47 (32:15); the Signal leak fallout involving Atlantic reporter Jeffrey Goldberg continues (34:37). Check out Danny’s newest piece in Jacobin, “This is America”. For an ad-free experience and much more content, subscribe today! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hugh Wilford, professor of history at California State University, Long Beach, is on the program for the first of two episodes on his book The CIA: An Imperial History. In this first part, they explore the historiography of intelligence today, how the CIA fits into an imperial lens of US history, whether the CIA is a liberal way of managing the world, the agency’s origins and shift from intelligence gathering to covert actions, gender relations among officers, their families, and agency partners, individuals like Kim Roosevelt, and whether CIA personnel truly believed in the threat of communism. Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and much more content! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny and Derek welcome back to the program Mark Ames, co-host of Radio War Nerd, to talk about where things stand in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They discuss Trump and Putin's relationship, the state of the Russian economy, the situation on the ground in Ukraine, Zelensky and Trump's infamous meeting, the so-called "minerals deal", Trump potentially recognizing Crimea as Russian territory, and more. Subscribe now for the full episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s news: Israelis break the Gaza ceasefire (0:33); Trump resumes America’s war on Yemen’s Ansar Allah/Houthis (6:09); clashes break out on the border of Syria and Lebanon (10:15); a presidential candidate is arrested in Turkey (12:27); the South Sudan peace process continues to break down (16:02); calls for a ceasefire go unheeded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (18:16); the US expels the ambassador from South Africa (21:08); in Russia-Ukraine news, Trump and Putin talk by phone (23:24) while the Kursk operation is effectively over (26:32); Canada welcomes its new prime minister, Mark Carney (28:45); and Donald Trump ignores a court ruling in order to deport hundreds of Venezuelans (31:14).  Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and much more content! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny and Derek speak with Chicago-based historian and writer Charlotte Rosen about the end of so-called “Resistance history”, a particular strain of liberal historiography that emerged during the first Trump administration. They talk about Resistance history’s defining characteristics, how it might have been an overcorrection to defend liberal democracy against attacks by Trump, how historians who engaged in this form of history viewed it as political action, some of the movement’s biggest figures, the apparent elitism and self-promotion among its proponents, the AHA and the decline of the history profession, and more. Read Charlotte’s piece “The End of Resistance History” over at Protean Magazine.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices