Episode 581 - Sick Saad World (w/ Matt McManus)

A few weeks ago, we had an all star panel to discuss AI data centers and the pivot in both liberal and left publications away from embracing climate change as an issue. One of those articles was written in the New York Times by Syracuse professor Matt Huber, who teachers in the geography and environment department. Today, Huber joins the podcast with AI panelist Aaron Reguberg to push back on how his argument was characterized, and to defend his take that Democrats don't have to campaign on climate change anymore because they can win by prioritizing economic issues. Are these ideas in tension? Does opposing AI data centers constitute both a material and environmental issue? Did Green New Deal advocacy hurt Democrats? Was it unpopular, or was it thwarted by the Democratic establishment before it had a chance to be explained? Is the takeaway from Mamdani's success in New York City that Democrats should decenter climate? Why is Briahna defending AOC?

Executive director of the Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah, returns to Bad Faith to break down the latest attempt by Zionists to push the "mass rape" narrative that has greased the runway for Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, but stays to debate the role Tucker Carlson should play in advancing the lefts anti war and anti imperialist aims. A fascinating exploration of ethnics, media, and progressive values with one of the left's best journalists. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Spelman College professor and author of The Political Right & Equality, & The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, returns to Bad Faith to to discuss his recent article on the Gad Saad, the poor man's Jordan Peterson, his case against "suicidal empathy," and what it shows about the status of the conservative movement. But first, we cover the latest Graham Platner sexting scandal, the NYC Israel Parade, & the California election results. https://jacobin.com/2026/05/saad-empathy-conservatism-book-review Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Dr. Margo Paez, an expert on climate change modeling & water resources & fellow at the Bitcoin policy institute, joins with Jae Holzman, a journalist reporting on climate change for Heatmap news, for a surprising conversation about AI data centers and how they're being litigated across the political identity spectrum. Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to listen in full. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for an extended video clip of this episode that's longer than this promo. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Poet, musician, actor, & writer Saul Williams joins Bad Faith podcast for the first time to talk about how art can help feed this revolutionary moment and expand our understanding of our potential as a global community. But also, Briahna is still hyper-fixated on the prominent role the Israel-critical right is playing in the anti-war space, and what the implications are for building a left, anti war, internationalist movement that can't be "America first" insofar as our way of life is dependent on the immiseration of the global south. We work through all of this in a deeply nuanced, compassionate, and musical 2 hour chat. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube to listen to this episode in full. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). California-based leftist comedian median & film maker Ron Placone joins Bad Faith to help us laugh through what feels like America's curtain call. We cover the DNC autopsy report which was, fittingly, dead on arrival, the California mayoral and gubernatorial elections, and why billionaire Tom Steyer is winning so much support from the left despite opposing Bernie's AI data center moratorium. For Tour Dates : ronplacone.com @RonPlacone on IG/Substack/Twitter Left At Wall on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQgYuiln4N0 (edited)  Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

We've assembled an all-star panel of journalists to break down the controversy around the AI data centers being built across the country. We start with a discussion of the curious & controversial Jacobin piece by Holly Buck in which she opposes Bernie Sanders' data center moratorium. Why would a left publication advance a take that so obviously benefits big AI? Journalists Levine, Ongweso & Regunberg go on cover Tucker Carlson's take down of Billionaire Kevin O'Leary over O'Leary's Utah data center that's anticipated to be twice the size of Manhattan, the surveillance implications of said centers, the media campaign to get Democrats to stop talking about all environmental issues, the ratcheting up of criminal penalties for protestors, and what this means for millions of Americans who find themselves living in the shadow of these AI energy hogs. Further reading: https://jacobin.com/2026/04/data-center-ai-moratorium-bernie https://aaronregunberg.substack.com/p/corporate-dems-are-climate-scapegoating https://jacobin.com/2024/08/climate-crisis-disinformation-fossil-fuels Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Biotech entrepreneur and producer of The Voice of Hind Rajab, Rami Elghandour, was scheduled to speak at his alma mater, Rutgers University, but two weeks before graduation his appearance was canceled -- apparently due to complaints from a small number of students on campus. Though never given a clear explanation, some have pointed to Israel-critical social media posts relating to Nicholas Kristof's viral op-ed about IDF rape culture as the reason. In other words, he was targeted for anti-Zionist speech. Rami joins Bad Faith to discuss what happened, the fall out from the Kristof piece, and the future of the party politics post-Gaza. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Independent journalist, formerly of Al Jazeera, Sana Saeed returns to Bad Faith to break down Benjamin Netanyahu's 60 Minutes interview on Bari Weiss's CBS, the New York Times finally covering Israel's mass rape of Palestinian hostages in an opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof, & the internecine debate on the left about AOC's feud with Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the utility of acknowledging that some conservative figures have gained rhetorical high ground over some on the left when it comes to Israel. Also, Stephen A Smith on wishing Black Americans would vote Republican, Zohran Mamdani balancing NYC's budget, and Saeed's latest article on whether charismatic leftists like Mamdani serve to normalize establishment politicians like Barack Obama. https://sanasaeed.substack.com/p/the-charisma-of-empire-obama-mamdani Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

British journalist and Senior Editor at Novara media, Ash Sarkar, joins Bad Faith to unpack the UK Green Party's huge successes last week under the new leadership of Zack Polanski. After winning big, Polanski declared that Britain's two party politics are "dead and buried," and that Green vs Reform has replaced the old Labor vs Conservatives dynamic. What techniques might translate into lessons for the US Green Party which hopes to displace Democrats in our two party system, and what obstacles are unique to the US? Will Polanski be derailed by anti-semitism allegations, or will he continue to succeed where Corbyn failed? How should the left handle bad faith attacks from establishment media? Should we take a cue from Trump and simply never apologize or back down? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).