Episode 483 - "Woke" Academia vs. the New Red Scare (w/ Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly)

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast In 2021, DSA candidate India Walton successfully won the Buffalo, NY primary over establishment incumbent mayor Byron Brown. She would have been the first socialist mayor of a large city since Frank Zeidler left office as mayor of Milwaukee in 1960. But she never became mayor. Brown sued to get on the ballot, failed, but then launched a successful write in campaign. Though she was backed by WFP and had secured endorsements from Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, and AOC, Governor Hochul declined to endorse Walton, Echoing the current Zohran Mamdani moment. Now, Walton returns to Bad Faith to give her unique perspective on what it's like to win a Democratic Party primary, only to be beaten by the Democratic Party establishment, to offer advice to Zohran Mamdani, who once campaigned for Walton in Buffalo, and to unpack her feelings on the viability of using the Democratic Party as a vehicle for real change. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Bernie 2020 speechwriter and founder of The Lever David Sirota returns to Bad Faith to confront a quickly emerging consensus among centrist politicos: "we were right all along." Now that the energy is behind a charming Socialist mayoral candidate, the Pod Save bros, Abundance Libs, & MSNBC "progressives" are all rushing to offer explanations for why Zohran Mamdani won that downplay his substantive politics and elide the fact that, for years, they have supported candidates who are the antithesis of Zohran, all while claiming that a move to the center is the only way to win. Sirota, who has long been an advocate for more adversarial politics, pushes back against efforts by the center-left to co-opt Zohran's win, and breaks down how it happened with Briahna Joy Gray. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Axios National Political Correspondent & co-author of Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again with Jake Tapper Alex Thompson joins Bad Faith to discuss the backlash around his book detailing the Biden administration's coverup of the President's declining health and cognitive ability. Alex takes hard questions about Tapper's complicity in the coverup, why he extended anonymity to various sources, and why he chose not to focus on the media's role in facilitating the White House's deceit. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

The first victim of Andrew Cuomo's serial harassment to come forward, former aide to the Governor Lindsey Boylan,  takes a break from canvassing to join Bad Faith to remind the audience why no one should rank Cuomo. She explains why the Democratic Party has a crisis of credibility as a consequence of selectively weaponizing the #metoo movement for political ends, and Briahna shares her own tale of workplace harassment. 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 Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Journalist & author of CUOMO: Return of the Dark Prince Ross Barkan returns to Bad Faith to discuss with Brie his tight coverage of the New York City mayoral race. Barkan worked closely with socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani back when Zohran managed Ross' 2017 State Senate campaign, and he can offer unique insight into how Mamdani has managed to surge to the top of the polls against corrupt, billionaire-backed sex pest and former governor Andrew Cuomo. Also discussed: what it means to run a good campaign, what we might expect to see on election day, and what the left can learn from Zohran no matter the outcome. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Professor of African-American Studies, scholar of political economy and historical sociology, and author of Black Scare / Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States Charisse Burden-Stelly returns to Bad Faith to discuss the No Kings protests, the media backlash to the L.A. protests, the new Red Scare, and what history tells us about how to fight back. She also weighs on on why neoliberal pundits from Jake Tapper to Zadie Smith have been attacking the paradigm of "oppressed vs. oppressor," and why it may be time for the left to firmly defend "woke." Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Journalist Abby Martin returns to Bad Faith to discuss Israel's bombing of Iran, the hypocrisy of the "antiwar" Trump right receiving pushback from the Tucker Carlson wing of the party, Zohran's NYC mayoral debate performance & what his possible victory means for the left, & Trump's military parade. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Craig Mokhiber, international human rights law specialist who stepped down from his post as director of the New York office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights after October 7th, returns to Bad Faith to discuss the Rafah massacre in which dozens of Palestinians were killed by the IDF while waiting for aid, the Gaza Tribunal's Sarajevo Conference in which legal scholars, human rights experts, journalists, and survivors pushed a civil society-led initiative for accountability for Israel; and the potential for U.N. reform now that the U.S. is withdrawing funding, and perhaps influence, from the United Nations. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

The Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, ended its relationship with noted Brown University economist Glenn Loury after he was critical of Israel's actions in Gaza. The cancelation followed an appearance from fellow Brown professor and Israeli historian Omar Bartov on his podcast, during which Bartov offered an analysis of the Gaza genocide that reflected international consensus on Israeli violations of international law. Professor Loury joins Briahna Joy Gray for a must-watch two hour discussion in which Loury reflects on his career as a Black conservative, Ta-Nehesi Coates' book The Message, and the fact that his own Blackness informs his sympathetic attitude toward the Palestinian people. Does identity matter after all? As conservatives attempt to strip funding from the National African American History Museum and obstruct educators from teaching diverse histories, does Loury have any regrets about supporting attacks on "woke" pedagogy? Also, Loury debriefs on his viral interview with Tucker Carlson, and how his lefty wife has helped him to become more establishment in recent years. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Journalist, comedian, and host of The Bitchuation Room Francesca Fiorentini joins Bad Faith on the heels of breaking news that former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is leaving the Democratic Party because it was too mean to Joe Biden. After recovering from the absurdity of Jean-Pierre’s grift, Briahna and Francesca discuss Fran’s increasing openness to third parties, fissures on the left over Force the Vote, and whether the left can be united around a 2028 candidate and avoid succumbing to Vote Blue No Matter Who pressure. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).