Shows
American PrestigeBonus - Venezuela, the Drug War, and U.S. Power in the Caribbean w/ Aileen Teague (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode.
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Danny and Derek are joined by historian Aileen Teague to discuss the renewed U.S. focus on Latin America as part of the War on Drugs. They talk about recent U.S. actions in the Caribbean and Venezuela; the return of “narco-terror” rhetoric; political forces driving Washington’s approach to the region; where these developments fit within the longer history of U.S. intervention, sanctions, and militarized security; and what this all means for regional stability, migration, and U.S.–Latin Am...
2025-12-2810 minAmerican PrestigeRe-Post - The Medievalist's Guide to Christmas w/ Eleanor JanegaDanny and Derek welcome back to the podcast Eleanor Janega, medieval historian, author, and broadcaster, to get down to brass tacks: What is Christmas? They discuss its practice in early and medieval Christian societies, mummers’ plays and gambling, Saint Nicholas providing dowries and resurrecting boys killed for their meat, the post-Reformation treatment of Christmas, and more.
Grab a copy of Eleanor’s book The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women's Roles in Society.
2025-12-251h 03American PrestigeBonus - The Muppet Christmas Carol w/ Justin Boyd and VJ Boyd (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode.
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Danny welcomes writer Justin Boyd and writer/producer VJ Boyd to the show to talk about The Muppet Christmas Carol. They discuss Charles Dickens as a transitional figure in 19th-century literature, Victorian ghost stories and Christmas, Jim Henson’s pre-Disney career and the regional TV ecosystem that produced the Muppets, the film’s melancholy as a post-Henson/post–Richard Hunt work, Michael Caine’s performance and Jonathan Rosenbaum’s critique, anti-capitalist themes vs liberal moral reform, chronos versus kairos in Scrooge...
2025-12-2410 minAmerican PrestigeE239 - Lula and the Rise of the Workers’ Party in Brazil w/ Andre PagliariniSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
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Danny and Derek welcome back historian Andre Pagliarini to discuss Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his political project, and its significance for Brazil’s democracy and labor movement. They explore the emergence of “new unionism” in the late 20th century and the founding of the Workers’ Party (PT); how a leader shaped by labor activism ended up governing through institutional politics; what Lula inherited from Brazil’s corporatist past; how he has navigat...
2025-12-231h 07American PrestigeBonus - Protests Without Politics w/ Vincent Bevins (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode.
Get an annual subscription for $45 with our holiday discount code XMAS2025.
Danny and Derek are joined once again by Vincent Bevins, this time to talk about the recent wave of so-called “Gen Z protests.” They explore why that framing explains almost nothing; how contemporary mass protests actually form, why they tend to resemble each other, and why their political outcomes rarely meet their original demands; and the crisis of representation, the collapse of ideology, “explosive mobilization,” and why the military generally decides what comes next. The conversation also touches on wheth...
2025-12-2110 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Thailand–Cambodia Fighting, Venezuela Escalation, Yemen SeparatistsSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Use the holiday discount code XMAS2025 for a $45 annual subscription (offer valid through 1/1/26)!
Jolly Saint Nick is giving the U.S. government lots of coal this year, a boon to fossil fuel companies. In this week’s news: Thailand–Cambodia fighting resumes despite Trump’s ceasefire claim (1:52); an Israeli airstrike in Gaza threatens what remains of the ceasefire (6:00), and a winter storm devastates Gaza as Israel continues blocking shelter materials and aid (9:10); Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council prepares to declare a new government amid Saud...
2025-12-1950 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - Who Controls Southern Yemen? w/ Annelle ShelineSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Derek is joined by Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute to discuss the Southern Transitional Council’s recent territorial advances in Yemen, what they mean for the country’s already-fractured political order, and why the “internationally recognized government” remains mostly theoretical. They also delve into the history of southern secessionism, the dysfunction of the Presidential Leadership Council, and how Emirati-backed forces have consolidated control over much of former South Yemen.
Follow Annelle on Twitter.
2025-12-171h 06American PrestigeE238 - Trump’s National Security Strategy w/ Julia Gledhill and Van JacksonSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Danny and Derek welcome to the show Julia Gledhill and Van Jackson, co-hosts of the Un-Diplomatic podcast, to talk about the Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy. They discuss how the document leans on civilizational framing, portrays competition as existential conflict, omits diplomacy and institutions in favor of coercion and deal-making, and deemphasizes democracy promotion. They also touch on the strategy’s treatment of Europe and Latin America, its assumptions about American power, and what the new NSS suggests about the direction of U.S...
2025-12-161h 13American PrestigeUNLOCKED - The History of the Maccabees w/ Joseph ScalesSubscribe now to ditch the ads.
Chag Sameach! Danny and Derek are joined by independent scholar Joseph Scales to talk about the history of Hanukkah. They discuss the rivalry between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires that preceded the conflict; the Maccabean/Hasmonean revolt and the family's ascension to power within Judea; the Judean expansion; and much more.
Originally published November 27, 2021
2025-12-151h 26American PrestigeBonus - Managing Gaza After the “Ceasefire” w/ Rashid Khalidi (Preview)Subscribe now and get access to this episode as well as our series A Modern History of Palestine with Dr. Khalidi.
Danny and Derek are joined once again by historian Rashid Khalidi to discuss Gaza two months after the announcement of a ceasefire. They begin with Dr. Khalidi's class on Palestine at the People’s Forum after his decision to leave Columbia University, and what that experience says about the state of American higher education. They then turn to Gaza, exploring why Israel continues its assault, how it continues to slow the flow of aid and reconstruction materials...
2025-12-1410 minAmerican PrestigeAP x NonZero - Venezuela, China, and Trump’s IncoherenceSubscribe for the full version!
The greatest recurring crossover in the biz, between AP and NonZero Newsletter, returns. Get your discounted membership to NonZero now!
Part One Video
0:00 The incoherence of Trump's foreign policy7:16 The paucity of debate around Chinese chip restrictions19:13 Danny: Is this the stupidest foreign policy establishment ever? 25:27 Should AGI worry us? 34:40 Bob’s Overtime bait
2025-12-1240 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Gaza Aid Blocked Amid Winter Storm, Thailand–Cambodia Conflict Resumes, M23 Advances in DRCSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Listen to our Chinese Prestige miniseries!
Danny and Derek will sadly not be doing a CBS News town hall event. This week in the news: the Thailand–Cambodia conflict resumes (1:47); the DRC–M23 conflict also resumes as M23 makes new advances (7:05); in Gaza, questions remain over the “second phase” of the ceasefire as a winter storm hits (10:38); separatists in Yemen gain control of the country’s south (17:18); the RSF takes Sudan’s largest oilfield (21:02); an attempted coup is foiled in Benin (23:31); Trump gives NATO a 2027...
2025-12-1245 minAmerican PrestigeE237 - Sudan’s Endless War in Darfur and Beyond w/ Mat NashedSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Derek and journalist Mat Nashed assess the state of Sudan’s ongoing civil war, particularly the fall of Al-Fasher and the Rapid Support Forces’ consolidation of control across much of Darfur. They discuss the throughline from the 2003 genocide to today; the wider humanitarian catastrophe; the shifting battlefield in Kordofan; the growing role of drones; the international dimension of the war, including the UAE’s backing of the RSF and the Sudanese army’s search for external patrons; and they examine why accountability remains elusive as Sudan’s...
2025-12-091h 23American PrestigeBonus - The Life and Death of Hollywood w/ Andrew deWaard (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode.
Danny and Derek welcome back to the show media scholar Andrew deWaard to discuss Netflix’s reported acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and what it says about the economic forces driving contemporary media. They talk about how conglomeration and financialization have reshaped Hollywood; zero interest rates, asset inflation, and Wall Street driving mergers; how intellectual property, streaming platforms, and algorithmic “background TV” are transforming both culture and labor; the decline of cable and mass entertainment to Netflix’s rent-based (and subsequent subscription) business model; the influence of Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon on media...
2025-12-0709 minAmerican PrestigeUnlocked - Blowback: The Forgotten Cold War Front in Angola w/ Brendan James and Noah KulwinSubscribe now for immediate access to all of our bonus episodes.
Danny and Derek welcome back Brendan James and Noah Kulwin, of the Blowback podcast, for a tour through their latest season, which takes the show to Angola. They discuss how Angola became one of the largest and least-remembered battlefields of the Cold War, Reagan’s return to proxy wars, Cuba’s decision to send troops without Soviet approval, South Africa’s “total onslaught” ideology, the Reagan era’s fanaticism, its echoes in today’s politics, and what happens when the U.S. exports its wars (and mythology) acros...
2025-12-061h 09American PrestigeNews - U.S. Moves Toward Venezuela Attack, Double-Tap Strike in Caribbean, DRC–Rwanda Peace Deal CollapsesSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content.
Don’t forget to download our Chinese Prestige miniseries, currently on sale for $5. Annual subscribers get the series free!
Despite sitting on a large surplus of Labubus, Danny and Derek work hard to bring you the news. This week: in Russia-Ukraine, new US diplomacy goes nowhere (1:08), Ukraine is now attacking Russian commercial ships (5:55), and the EU moves to phase out Russian natural gas (8:35); in the DRC-Rwanda conflict, Trump hosts a peace deal signing as fighting resumes with M23 in the eastern DRC (11:17); new fighting erupts in...
2025-12-0552 minAmerican PrestigeE236 - The Political Economy of Porn w/ Molly LambertSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Danny and Derek welcome to the show Molly Lambert, creator of the JENNAWORLD podcast, to talk about the rise of the modern porn industry and its roots in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley. They discuss the medium’s origins in underground stag films and the porno chic era; the shift to home video and the corporate studio model; breakout stars like Ginger Lynn Allen and Jenna Jameson; porn as an outsider industry mirroring Hollywood; gender, labor, and power in late-20th-century media; the relationship betw...
2025-12-0258 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - Capitalism After Neoliberalism w/ Ilias Alami (Preview)Subscribe now to listen to the full episode and get access to all of our Sunday bonuses.
Danny and Derek speak to Ilias Alami, assistant professor of political economy at Cambridge, about the global shift from neoliberalism to new forms of state capitalism. They discuss the rebalancing of economic power toward East Asia; sovereign wealth funds, policy banks, and state-owned enterprises; and the role of states in industrial strategy, technology, and supply chains. They also touch on China, AI, and the overlap between economic rivalry and geopolitical confrontation.
Check out the book Ilias co-authored, The...
2025-11-3009 minAmerican PrestigeChinese Prestige: The Making of the PRC w/ Yidi WuInstead of a news roundup, we are releasing the second episode of our new miniseries Chinese Prestige. Annual subscribers already have access, while everyone else can get the 8 episodes for $5 for two weeks only.
This conversation examines China’s early post-Korean War period and the political and social campaigns that defined the new PRC. The group discusses land reform, the Three-anti and Five-anti campaigns, Soviet-style economic planning centered on heavy industry, and the technocratic overhaul of higher education. They also explore China’s deteriorating relationship with the United States, shifting ties with the Soviet Union after Stalin’s death, e...
2025-11-2851 minAmerican PrestigeHyperfixed - Third Eye BlindDanny speaks with Alex Goldman about his new podcast Hyperfixed, in which he works to get to the bottom of listeners’ complex problems, or at least enough of an explanation that they’re ok with the annoyance. We have then provided the full episode of “Third Eye Blind,” where one Mitchell finds out he's missing something almost everyone else has, and he wants to know -- who would I be if I had it?
If you like what you hear, why not support Alex and join Hyperfixed?
Otherwise, have a great holiday, and keep your eyes peeled for th...
2025-11-2741 minAmerican PrestigeChinese Prestige: From May Fourth to Mao w/ Yidi WuIn lieu of a typical Tuesday episode this week, we are releasing the first episode of our new miniseries Chinese Prestige. Annual subscribers already have access, while everyone else can get the 8 episodes for a whopping $5 for two weeks only. Enjoy!
In this first episode of Chinese Prestige, Yidi, Danny, and Derek trace the origins of the Chinese Communist Party from the May Fourth Movement to the civil war with the Nationalists. They explore the party’s strategic shift from cities to the countryside, the role of land reform and mass mobilization, the impact of the Japanese in...
2025-11-2555 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - Radio War Nerd in Print! w/ Mark AmesMark Ames of Radio War Nerd is on the program to tell us a little about the new book penned by his partner in podcast crime, John Dolan, titled They Should Have Been Hanged: War Nerd Essays on the U.S. Civil War.
2025-11-2420 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - Liberal Zionism After Gaza w/ David Klion (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our bonus
Danny and Derek speak with writer and editor David Klion about the collapse of the liberal Zionist project and how the moral and political implication of the Gaza genocide have reshaped American Jewish identity. They discuss how October 7 and Israel’s assault on Gaza forced a reckoning among liberals who once believed in the two-state promise; the fracturing of institutional life and why so many public figures have avoided accountability; the generational realignment in American Judaism; legacy news organizations managing and obscuring this shift; x an...
2025-11-2310 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - What Was Sarah Hurwitz Thinking? w/ Emily Tamkin (Preview)Subscribe now to listen to the full episode.
Danny and Derek are joined by the writer Emily Tamkin to discuss Sarah Hurwitz’s comments on the Holocaust, education, and the Jewish people.
2025-11-2205 minAmerican PrestigeNews - MBS White House Visit, US Pushes New Ukraine Deal, UN Votes on GazaSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Danny and Derek are praying for Kim Kardashian to pass the bar. In this week’s news: Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia visits the White House (1:56); the U.S. pushes a new Ukraine peace deal (8:58); Israel continues killing people in Gaza (12:30), Palestinians’ shelters are failing in heavy rain (13:57), the UN votes on Trump’s Gaza plan (15:22), and Palestinians seeking relief are put on flights to South Africa, raising ethnic cleansing concerns (18:11); Israel continues to bomb and move borders in Lebanon and Syria (21:50); the U.S. and...
2025-11-2144 minAmerican PrestigeE235 - Dignity, Memory, and Surveillance w/ Lea YpiSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Danny and Derek speak with political theorist and author Lea Ypi about her new book Indignity: A Life Reimagined, which explores how personal memory intersects with imperial collapse, nationalism, and the surveillance state. They discuss her grandmother’s journey from Ottoman Salonika to Albania amid the rise of competing political projects; archives and the stories they erase; the challenge for universalist ideals in a capitalist world; the parallels between the 1930s and today’s anti-migrant politics; and whether collective political action remains possible as we’re sha...
2025-11-181h 01American PrestigeBonus - The Trump Tariff Order and the Future of U.S. Influence w/ Nicholas MulderDanny and Derek welcome back historian Nick Mulder, writer at Weltinnenpolitik, to discuss Trump’s new tariff regime. They get into Trump’s focus on taxing goods while leaving finance untouched; how U.S. allies are obediently eating higher economic costs; why this approach resembles a “subscription model” of empire rather than a coherent industrial strategy; early signs of backlash in places like India, Brazil, and Europe; how immigration enforcement and H-1B restrictions now operate as tools of economic coercion; and why sanctions under Trump increasingly fall on partners instead of adversaries.
2025-11-1610 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - Jeffrey Epstein and Elite Power w/ Murtaza Hussain (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all news specials.
Danny and Derek sit down with journalist Murtaza Hussain of Drop Site News to talk about his ongoing reporting on Jeffrey Epstein’s extensive political and financial influence. They get into how Epstein operated as a fixer and connector for powerful people and entities around the world; the private meetings and backchannel negotiations he helped facilitate, from Israel to Russia to Côte d'Ivoire; the role he played in brokering surveillance and security agreements; and why this part of his life went unreported or was dismiss...
2025-11-1405 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Thailand–Cambodia Ceasefire Breaks Down, U.S. Escalates Military Presence Around Venezuela, Gaza Ceasefire Framework Stalls w/ Nathaniel PowellSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our content!
Danny and Derek are vigorously programmed to bring you the news headlines. This week: the Thai-Cambodia ceasefire breaks down as border fire and incidents escalate (0:30); in Gaza, Trump’s framework stalls while governments debate the shape and purpose of an international security force (4:27); Syria’s President Ahmed al-Shara visits the White House (13:49); Iraq’s elections conclude with Prime Minister Sudani claiming victory despite an uncertain coalition (17:37); suicide attacks in Pakistan raise tensions with Afghanistan (20:11) while a constitutional amendment increases military rule (23:00); in Sudan, new reports sugges...
2025-11-1457 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - The American Jewish Divide w/ Jamie Beran (Preview)Subscribe now to listen to the full episode.
Danny talks with Jamie Beran, CEO of Bend the Arc, about the political and generational tension reshaping the American Jewish community. They discuss the fallout from Zoran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign in New York; the role of legacy institutions like the ADL; how debates over Israel-Palestine, antisemitism, and safety are redefining American Jewish political identity; and what these shifts mean for progressive movements and Jewish organizations navigating rising authoritarianism in the United States.
2025-11-1205 minAmerican PrestigeE234 - Silicon Valley and the Israeli Occupation w/ Omar ZahzahSubscribe now to skip the commercials and get all of our content.
Derek is joined by Omar Zahzah, Assistant Professor of Arab Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies at San Francisco State University, to talk about his book Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital Settler Colonialism. They discuss the Sheikh Jarrah uprising and the digital front of the Palestinian struggle, the difference between “digital apartheid” and “digital settler colonialism,” Meta’s censorship, the IDF Unit 8200–Silicon Valley pipeline, how AI and tech infrastructure are being weaponized, the legacy of Edward Said’s “Permission to Narrate,” and how Palestinians h...
2025-11-1152 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - Escalating Settler Violence in the West Bank w/ Jasper NathanielSubscribe now for all of our breaking news specials.
Danny and Derek talk with journalist Jasper Nathaniel about his reporting from the West Bank on settler attacks that have become routine and state-backed. They discuss the town of Turmus Aya, the far-right ministers pushing annexation, a mob attack on an American‐Palestinian lawyer’s neighbor, and Jasper’s firsthand account of a violent mob assault during the olive harvest.
Stop demolitions in Umm al-Khair.
Help free Mohammed Ibrahim.
2025-11-1154 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - What Happened to Liberal Politics? w/ Tim Shenk (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
Danny and Derek speak with historian Tim Shenk of George Washington University about how American liberalism lost its way. They discuss the Cold War purge of the left and the rise of the “vital center,” the Clinton-Obama years and the hollowing of class politics, the Democratic Party’s embrace of the professional-managerial elite, meritocracy, the implications of organized labor’s decline, the financialization of everything, and whether a new populist coalition can still be built.
2025-11-0910 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Trump Threatens to Invade Nigeria, Sudan Famine and RSF Offensive, Russia To Also Pursue More Nuclear TestingSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our content!
Air travel might grind to a halt, but our news roundup marches on. After reflections on the Mamdani victory (0:30), Danny and Derek get into this week’s stories: Trump threatens to invade Nigeria (10:10); in Israel-Palestine, a Gaza ceasefire update (19:31) and West Bank olive harvest violence (26:06); Afghanistan and Pakistan resume ceasefire talks (27:10); Sudan’s IPC declares famine as the RSF prepares a new siege and agrees to a ceasefire (29:11); a new report details the UAE’s role as a global gold smuggling hub (33:40); attacks on civilians contin...
2025-11-0757 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - Dick Cheney (Preview)Danny and Derek invite Spencer Ackerman to discuss the life and legacy of Dick Cheney.
Check out Spencer's newsletter Forever Wars and his book Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump.
2025-11-0510 minAmerican PrestigeE233 - The Wagner Group and the New Era of Private War w/ John LechnerDanny and Derek welcome journalist and author John Lechner to discuss his book, Death is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries in the New Era of Warfare. The conversation cuts through the mainstream narrative of the Wagner Group to explore the true history of Yevgeny Prigozhin, from his start as a product of post-Soviet "gangster capitalism" in 1990s St. Petersburg to his ascent as Vladimir Putin's de facto military entrepreneur. They analyze how Prigozhin leveraged the Russian state’s grand ambitions with limited resources to create a self-funding war machine in Syria and across Africa, ultimately turning his own military success in...
2025-11-041h 06American PrestigeBonus - The Men’s Suit and the Aesthetics of Power w/ Derek Guy (Preview)Subscribe now to hear the full episode and get access to all of our Sunday bonuses!
Danny speaks with writer and menswear critic Derek Guy about the politics of fashion, exploring how style reflects class, power, and ideology. They explore fashion’s moral economy, how neoliberalism turned personal style into a marker of moral worth, the influence of Savile Row and Brooks Brothers, the evolution of men’s dress from the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the aesthetics of American politics from JFK to Trump (including why Derek contends Reagan was the most stylish modern president), and how taste beca...
2025-11-0210 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Trump Asia Tour and Xi Summit, RSF Massacres in Sudan, US Continues Bombing Boats Off South America CoastSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content!
What’s spookier than international relations? This week in the news roundup: Trump tours Asia to talk trade deals (1:28), a Thai-Cambodia accord (7:11), and to meet with Xi (8:45); the RSF captures of Al-Fashir in Sudan with reports of mass killings (12:19); Gaza sees the deadliest day of Israeli bombardments since the ceasefire began (17:19); the PKK makes more concessions in talks with Ankara (21:53); Afghan-Pakistan ceasefire negotiations collapse in Istanbul (24:34); Myanmar rebel groups agree to a Chinese-brokered ceasefire (26:59); elections in Ivory Coast and Cameroon keep longtime incumbents in power (29:44); Nigeria’s mili...
2025-10-3154 minAmerican PrestigeAP x NonZero - Trump-Xi Truce, Gaza Ceasefire & Other Sketchy DealsThe greatest recurring crossover in the biz, between AP and NonZero Newsletter, returns. Subscribe now to AP and you'll also get the overtime segment as well as a discounted membership to Nonzero!
Part One Video
(0:00) Bob tries to lower American Prestige’s self-esteem
(3:07) The Trump-Xi trade talks
(6:44) Making sense of Trump’s nuclear saber-rattling
(10:34) Signs of a US-China vibe shift
(16:36) Is AI accelerating science?
(23:25) Bill Gates’s climate change of heart
(29:30) This week’s Gaza ceasefire death toll
(34:19) Overtime preview: Bob vs Danny on international l
2025-10-3141 minAmerican PrestigeE232 - ICE and the Age of Grift w/ Alex AviñaSubscribe now to skip the ads and get much more content!
Alex Aviña is back on the podcast, this time to talk about the evolution of ICE and the U.S. security state. They discuss the convergence of the war on terror, the war on drugs, and the war on migrants; the transformation of the border into a domestic counterinsurgency project; ICE’s roots in settler colonialism; the role of whiteness and assimilation in immigration politics; the use of surveillance and drones in law enforcement; the privatization and grift at the core of Trumpism; the legacy of...
2025-10-281h 01American PrestigeBonus - The Forever War in Ukraine w/ Andrew Weiss (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our Sunday bonuses!
Danny and Derek welcome to the program Andrew Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin. They discuss the state of the war in Ukraine, the Biden and Trump administrations’ approaches, why U.S. support has faltered, the limits of American power, the moral contradictions of empire, the future of European security, and whether Vladimir Putin still thinks he can outlast everyone.
2025-10-2610 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Gaza Ceasefire Tenuous, US Strikes More “Drug Boats,” Saudi State VisitRest assured, no one on the AP team has any undeclared tattoos. In this week’s news roundup: In Israel-Palestine, Gaza’s so-called ceasefire holds after another weekend of Israeli strikes (1:36), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders Israel to allow more humanitarian aid (8:16), and reports emerge of a plan to partition Gaza (11:48) as J.D. Vance arrives in Israel and the Knesset advances West Bank annexation votes (14:21); Donald Trump looks set to host Mohammed bin Salman for the Saudi crown prince’s first U.S. visit since the Jamal Khashoggi murder (18:36); Afghanistan and Pakistan agree to a fragile ceasef...
2025-10-2455 minAmerican PrestigeE231 - The Myth of Free Speech w/ Fara DabhoiwalaSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes!
Danny and Derek speak with historian Fara Dabhoiwala, author of What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea, about the complex history of one of liberalism’s proudest ideals, and how it largely emerged from hypocrisy and self-interest. They trace its 18th-century birth in the polemics of corrupt British journalists, its exclusion of women and colonized peoples, the U.S. founders’ rejection of France’s more balanced model, and the later reappropriation of the slogan by abolitionists and reformers. The group also traces free s...
2025-10-211h 01American PrestigeBonus - The Insurrection Act, Trump, and the Crisis of Civil Authority w/ Joshua Braver (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our Sunday bonuses!
Danny and Derek speak with Joshua Braver, assistant professor of law at the University of Wisconsin, about Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act. They discuss the president’s power to federalize the National Guard, the Posse Comitatus Act, the limits of judicial deference, Trump’s schizophrenic relationship to the law, the weakness of the liberal legal establishment, why the Great Recession didn’t produce a New Deal moment, and what it means when the only thing left to restrain the executive is the e...
2025-10-1911 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Gaza Ceasefire, CIA in Venezuela, Madagascar Coup w/ Nathaniel PowellSubscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our content.
Lead might be in our protein supplements, but Danny and Derek bring you the news free of most heavy metals. This week: the ceasefire in Gaza begins with prisoner exchanges (1:38), but controversy arises over deceased captives (5:30), plus Israeli violations and Hamas clashes with armed factions (9:35), and a summit in Sharm El Sheikh (14:36); a United Nations report shows a record-breaking spike in atmospheric carbon levels and growing evidence that natural feedback loops are worsening climate collapse (17:14); border clashes escalate between Afghanistan and Pakistan following a failed...
2025-10-171h 05American PrestigeE230 - American Sociocide w/ Charles DerberSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more episodes.
Danny and Derek speak with sociologist Charles Derber about how American society is tearing itself apart, as explored in his book Bonfire: American Sociocide, Broken Relations, and the Quest for Democracy. They discuss the decline of civic trust, the rise of atomized “me” culture, the tech-driven Gilded Age, neoliberalism and loneliness, Silicon Valley’s alliance with the national security state, how a country built on expansion and individualism turned those forces inward, and what, if anything, can stop us from destroying the relationships that hold this society togeth...
2025-10-141h 27American PrestigeBonus - The Historical Columbus w/ Juan Ponce VázquezProducer's note: This is a re-posted episode originally from Columbus Day 2023.
Subscribe now to skip the ads and get access to more bonus episodes like this one.
Danny and Derek speak with Juan Ponce Vázquez, associate professor history at the University of Alabama, about Christopher Columbus. They explore his Genoese origins, his journeys to the Americas on behalf of the Crown of Castile, the geopolitical situation at the time, what we know about his contact with native peoples, how the modern holiday came to be.
2025-10-1355 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - Blowback: The Forgotten Cold War Front in Angola w/ Brendan James and Noah Kulwin (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
Danny and Derek welcome back Brendan James and Noah Kulwin, of the Blowback podcast, for a tour through their latest season, which takes the show to Angola. They discuss how Angola became one of the largest and least-remembered battlefields of the Cold War, Reagan’s return to proxy wars, Cuba’s decision to send troops without Soviet approval, South Africa’s “total onslaught” ideology, the Reagan era’s fanaticism, its echoes in today’s politics, and what happens when the U.S. exports its wars (and mythology) across continents.
2025-10-1213 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Venezuela-US Escalation, Myanmar Airstrike, France’s Political CrisisSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content!
Yes, we will be releasing 25 subtle variations of this news roundup in order to catapult ourselves to the top of the podcast charts, and no, we are not sorry. This week: a ceasefire agreement was reached for Gaza, but there was too much information for us to cover in the news, so please check out our special here. Syria’s interim government handpicks a new “parliament” under tight presidential control (1:01); Iran debates moving its capital from Tehran as drought and other ecological issues worsen (3:24); Myanmar’s junta carries...
2025-10-1041 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - Hamas Accepts the Ceasefire Deal (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all breaking new specials.
Danny and Derek break down the first stage of the ceasefire deal reached between the U.S., Hamas, and Israel. They talk about the phased releases, Israel’s partial withdrawal, and the question of whether Marwan Barghouti will be freed. They also discuss Trump’s role in pushing the agreement, Gaza’s future under “reconstruction,” Netanyahu’s political calculus, and the shifting U.S. political landscape.
2025-10-0905 minAmerican PrestigeLAST CALL: Vote for American Prestige in the 2025 Signal Awards!Greetings Everyone,
There's just one more day to vote for American Prestige in the 2025 Signal Awards for best News & Politics program (viewer's choice). If you can take a second, please go there now and do so! Jon Stewart is gaining on us!
You'll have to confirm the vote via your email, but we promise it's a quick and easy process. It'd be great to show the fat cats what's what!
Again, voting is open through tomorrow, Thursday, October 9, and that's it! Thank you as always for your support.
2025-10-0800 minAmerican PrestigeE229 - How The Simpsons Reshaped American Comedy w/ Alan SiegelSubscribe now to skip the ads and get much more content.
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In a break from the (overtly) political, Derek and Danny are joined by The Ringer’s Alan Siegel to talk about his new book Stupid TV: Be More Funny, a cultural history of The Simpsons and how it changed American comedy. They discuss how a bunch of Harvard Lampoon alumni turned the show into art, the role of Fox and Rupert Murdoch in promoting a show that mocked them both, how Bart Simpson once...
2025-10-0757 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - The Gaza Negotiations w/ Sami Al-Arian (Preview)Derek speaks with Sami Al-Arian, Public Affairs Professor and Director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Zaim University, about the forthcoming Gaza talks and the prospects for a ceasefire.
2025-10-0626 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - The Death of the Iran Deal w/ Esfandyar Batmanghelidj (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode.
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Derek welcomes back to the show Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, founder of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation and professor at Johns Hopkins, to talk through the slow demise of the Iran nuclear deal. They delve into Europe’s decision to trigger the UN “snapback” mechanism, factors that lead to this moment, from Trump’s withdrawal and Biden’s hesitation to Europe’s impatience and Iran’s deepening ties with Russia and China, the effects of sanctions being imposed without diplomacy, and why the JCPOA’s...
2025-10-0510 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - The Gaza Ceasefire w/ Mohammad Alsaafin and Dalia HatuqaSubscribe now for the full episode!
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Danny and Derek update everyone on what we know about the Gaza ceasefire that Hamas just accepted and where things go from here. Then, for subscribers, they speak with Mohammad Alsaafin, journalist at AJ+, and Dalia Hatuqa, a journalist specializing in Israeli/Palestinian affairs and regional Middle East issues, to unpack the finer details.
2025-10-0513 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Trump’s Gaza “Peace Plan,” UN Reimposes Sanctions on Iran, "Gen Z Protests" in Madagascar and MoroccoSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content.
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Danny is back on American soil and joins Derek to bring you the news. This week: Trump circulates a Gaza ceasefire proposal with Hamas’ response pending (2:39), Israel issues its final evacuation notice for Gaza City (9:30), and the Samud flotilla is intercepted (11:04); Trump forces Netanyahu to apologize to Qatar while also giving Doha a NATO-style defense pledge (14:06); the UN reimposes sanctions on Iran (16:55); Trump pushes to retake Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan as the country brie...
2025-10-0350 minAmerican PrestigeE228 - How The Internet Broke America w/ Garrett GraffSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content.
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Danny welcomes to the show journalist and historian Garrett Graff, host of the podcast Long Shadow. They talk about the show’s latest season on the internet, tracing how its promise of democratization and liberation devolved into an engine of polarization and conspiracies. Topics include: Facebook’s cynical algorithmic choices, Watergate’s enduring influence on American political culture, the economic wreckage of deindustrialization and deregulation, the rise of Trumpism as a “burn it down” vote, and...
2025-09-3041 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - Dead End Democrats w/ Ross Barkan (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
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Danny and Derek talk with writer Ross Barkan about his new essay collection Fascism or Genocide. They get into the “uncommitted” revolt during the 2024 primary and what that says about the Democratic Party’s failures, the decline of party elites from the Hillary coronation in 2016 to Biden’s cognitive decline, generational change inside the party like Zoran Mamdani, Democrats resistance to their own base, Trump’s enduring but limited appeal, the failures of “woke” politics to build lasting institutions, and the need for a fut...
2025-09-2810 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - The U.S. Military vs. the Environment w/ Gretchen HeefnerSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content.
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No news today because Derek needs a break!
Danny and Derek speak with historian Gretchen Heefner about how the U.S. military (unsuccessfully) set out to conquer extreme environments and what those efforts reveal about empire, climate, and power. They discuss the U.S. Army training for a desert war that turned out to be mud, the Pentagon’s disastrous attempts to master Greenland’s ice, early blueprints for building on the moon, efforts to gath...
2025-09-2655 minAmerican PrestigeE227 - A New History of the Americas, Pt. 2 w/ Greg GrandinSubscribe now to get skip the ads and get more content!
Danny and Derek once again speak with historian Greg Grandin about his recent book, America, América: A New History of the New World. In this second part of the conversation, they follow US–Latin American relations from the American Civil War through the present. The discussion covers the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the contradictions of U.S. expansion cloaked in the language of human rights, the Mexican Revolution as a defining challenge to US power, Woodrow Wilson’s and FDR’s occupations and the Good Neighbo...
2025-09-231h 10American PrestigeBonus - Maduro, Trump, and Washington’s Narco-Terrorism Fixation w/ Alex Aviña and Gabriel Hetland (Preview)Derek welcomes back Gabriel Hetland, associate professor at the University at Albany, and Alex Aviña, associate professor at Arizona State University, to talk about America’s latest moves against Venezuela. They discuss the long US campaign to topple Nicolás Maduro, Washington’s resurrection of the “narco-terrorism” label, the oil politics behind US incoherence in the region, Maduro’s domestic maneuvering, and how Trump’s recent assertions of dominance risk sparking a wider regional crisis.
2025-09-2110 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Gaza City Ground Invasion, US War on “Narco-Terror” in the Caribbean, Russia Sanctions StandoffSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content!
Derek is joined once again by guest co-host Alex Jordan to bring you the news. This week: in Israel-Palestine, Israel commences its ground operation in Gaza City (1:50), a UN commission rules that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza (8:14), and Netanyahu touts a “Sparta” model for Israel while Smotrich talks Gaza real estate (9:39); fallout from Israel’s strike in Qatar continues (15:04); nuclear talks between Iran and European nations make little progress (20:39); India’s Maoist rebels suspend their insurgency (23:28); Nepal elects a new interim prime minister via Discord (25:52); the US and C...
2025-09-191h 06American PrestigeE226 - A New History of the Americas, Pt. 1 w/ Greg GrandinDanny and Derek welcome back historian Greg Grandin to talk about his recent book, America, América: A New History of the New World. In this first part of the discussion, they explore how the Spanish conquest produced unprecedented violence while also starting discussions about human rights, the role of Bartolomé de las Casas and the Salamanca School, how English settlers dealt with their own brutality, and the emergence of social democracy in Latin America. They also discuss the Monroe Doctrine, the Panama Congress, and the Mexican-American War as early flashpoints in US–Latin American relations.
2025-09-161h 08American PrestigeIntroducing Fiasco: Benghazi — The DictatorHere’s a preview from a podcast you might enjoy, Fiasco:
Slow Burn co-creator Leon Neyfakh transports listeners into the reality of America’s most pivotal historical events, bringing life to the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present. In his new season, Leon looks at the 2012 Benghazi attack that left four Americans dead—and the ensuing political storm, which raised questions about America’s role in the world, established a playbook to weaponize attention in the social media age, and ultimately changed the course of U.S. history. Find Fiasco: Benghazi...
2025-09-1549 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - Gulf Politics after the Doha Strike w/ Giorgio Cafiero and Annelle Sheline (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
Derek is joined by Giorgio Cafiero of Gulf State Analytics and Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute to take a closer look at Israel’s bombing of Doha, Qatar, this week. They discuss how the strike undermines Qatar’s role as mediator in Israel-Hamas negotiations, US complicity, and why Gulf leaders now view Israel, not Iran, as the region’s chief destabilizer. They further explore Qatar’s hosting of Hamas at America’s request, the GCC’s tenuous unity in the face of Israeli aggression, the domestic politics driving Netanyahu, and the risks of...
2025-09-1410 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Israel Bombs Qatar, Nepal Protests, Russian Drones Enter Polish AirspaceSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content!
While Danny remains in talks with Russia, Alex Jordan again helps Derek bring you the headlines. This week: Israel targets Hamas negotiators in a Doha strike (3:30), effectively ending ceasefire talks (8:43); the IDF orders the evacuation of Gaza City (13:11) while reports emerge that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hired an anti-Islam biker gang for “security” (15:42); in Russia-Ukraine, Russian drones entered Polish airspace, prompting an Article 4 NATO meeting (18:36); Iran and the IAEA announce a tentative deal to resume inspections (22:41); Nepal sees mass protests over a social media ban, leading to the...
2025-09-121h 12American PrestigeWelcome to the Crusades, Episode 3: Baghdad and Cairo, 1096Danny and Derek recently reunited with Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters of We’re Not So Different for a special mailbag episode of their cross-pod collaboration, Welcome to the Crusades: The First Crusade. We have already posted Episode 1 and Episode 2 in the feed, so we figured we’d give everyone the third episode to further entice you to dig into this miniseries. Enjoy!
We leave the Crusaders behind temporarily to grapple with conditions in the Near East of the late 11th century. We’ll discuss the emergence and disintegration of the Great Seljuk Empire in Baghdad as well as the rise of th...
2025-09-101h 18American PrestigeSpecial - Israel Bombs Qatar (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode and access to all of our breaking news specials.
Grab the last couple of Robo Washington posters from our store!
Danny and Derek break down Israel’s strike on Doha, which targeted a meeting of Hamas’s political leadership. They discuss the possibility of US complicity in the attack, its impact on negotiations, and what it means for Gaza and for what remains of US credibility.
2025-09-0903 minAmerican PrestigeE225 - From The Gilded Age to American Decline w/ Morgan SpectorSubscribe now to skip the ads and get much more content!
Danny and Derek welcome actor Morgan Spector (The Gilded Age, The Plot Against America) to the show for a conversation on politics, Hollywood, and capitalism. They trace his political development from the Iraq War and Obama era to Bernie Sanders and democratic socialism, discuss his documentary The Big Scary “S” Word, and reflect on how Hollywood politics skew liberal but not radical (particularly when it comes to Palestine). They also explore Spector’s role as a Gilded Age robber baron, how today’s tech oligarchs compare with the...
2025-09-091h 22American PrestigeBonus - Language, Genocide, and American Power w/ Shadi HamidSubscribe now to enjoy all of our Sunday bonus episodes.
Danny and Derek welcome Washington Post columnist and Wisdom of Crowds co-host Shadi Hamid to the show to discuss the shift in rhetoric and framing around the genocide in Gaza. Shadi explains why he hesitated to use the word “genocide” until this year, reflects on reactions to his Washington Post piece, and explores with Danny and Derek how language shapes mainstream debate. They further discuss the future of the Democratic Party, the absence of left institutions, and whether shifting the discourse can translate into policy given the curr...
2025-09-0758 minAmerican PrestigeNews - AI and Drone Warfare in Ukraine, “Trump Riviera” Gaza Plan, US Bombs Venezuelan BoatSubscribe now to skip the ads, get more content, and generally support us!
Danny is in talks with the Kremlin to unfreeze his accounts, so Derek is joined instead by the Quincy Institute’s Alex Jordan to bring you the news. This week: a new study warns that the Atlantic circulation system could collapse (2:32); Ukraine introduces AI-driven drone swarms, raising the prospect of autonomous killing machines (5:55); in Israel-Palestine, Israel declares Gaza City a “dangerous combat zone” (9:45), The Washington Post details the “Trump Riviera” plan (13:50), more European states move toward recognizing a Palestinian state (18:20), and Israel appears to be buildin...
2025-09-051h 06American PrestigeE224 - Christianity and 20th Century European Politics w/ Udi GreenbergSubscribe now to skip the ads.
Danny and Derek welcome back to the program historian Udi Greenberg to discuss his reinterpretation of modern Christianity in The End of the Schism: Catholics, Protestants, and the Remaking of Christian Life in Europe, 1880s–1970s. They explore the alliances Catholics and Protestants forged under the pressures of fascism, the Cold War, and decolonization, and how both Christian Democracy and radical left-Christian movements were shaped as much by expedience as reconciliation.
2025-09-021h 01American PrestigeBonus - The Global Turn of American Policing w/ Stuart Schrader (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
Danny and Derek speak with historian Stuart Schrader about the global history of American policing and how US police power has been shaped by struggles both at home and abroad. They discuss police opposition to oversight in the 1960s, the development of the Border Patrol and ICE, Joe Biden’s “tough on crime” record, Trump’s plan to outsource detention, the ways counterterrorism blurred into immigration enforcement, and the resistance on display in Los Angeles this summer.
Read Stuart’s book Badges without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American P...
2025-08-3109 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Nasser Hospital Bombing, Trump’s Eyes on Venezuela, India TariffsSubscribe now to skip the ads!
Danny and Derek get in one last news update before Danny moves to an undisclosed American Prestige satellite campus. This week: In Israel-Palestine, the IPC formally declares a famine in Gaza (3:21), Israel bombs Nasser Hospital (6:34), and Trump hosts a White House “day after” meeting (13:25); Europe moves to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran (16:16); Trump’s 50% tariff on Indian goods goes into effect (12:04); changes to de minimis rules force postal services to suspend US-bound shipments (27:23); South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung visits DC and avoids the Zelensky treatment (29:45); in Sudan, RSF forces advance around Al-Fashi...
2025-08-2956 minAmerican PrestigeE223 - Columbia, Trump, and the Palestine Exception w/ Rashid KhalidiSubscribe now to skip the ads!
Danny and Derek welcome historian Rashid Khalidi back to the program, this time to talk about Columbia University’s agreement with the Trump administration. They discuss the university equating criticism of Israel with antisemitism, the school bringing in outside monitors, bipartisan U.S. support for Israel despite shifting public opinion, and how donor influence and neoliberal management are both reshaping universities and eroding the humanities. They also preview Dr. Khalidi’s upcoming free public lecture series on Palestinian history.
2025-08-261h 07American PrestigeBonus - The Trump-Putin Summit w/ Charles Kupchan (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode.
Danny and Derek welcome back to the show Charles Kupchan, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, to talk about this week’s summit in Alaska attempting to find an end to the Ukraine war. They examine Trump’s chaotic Ukraine diplomacy, the future of security guarantees, whether Russia will relinquish occupied territory, the US geostrategic interest in Ukraine, America’s declining global dominance, and the failures of US foreign policy expertise.
Read Charles’s piece in Foreign Affairs, “Close NATO’...
2025-08-2409 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Trump-Putin Summit, India Turns From US to China, and Bolivia Election w/ Olivia Arigho-StilesSubscribe now to skip the ads and hear the full interview on the Bolivia election.
Don’t forget our Welcome to the Crusades and Of This World series!
Derek took away Danny’s iPad, so now Danny has to help with the news. This week: the great Trump-Putin summit takes place (1:39) as Zelensky visits the White House (5:44); Hamas accepts the newest ceasefire (9:39), the IDF appears to have begun its Gaza City operation (12:44), and the Israeli government approves the E1 settlement in the West Bank (15:46); Wang Yi of China visits India in a sign of improving rela...
2025-08-2250 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - The US Military’s On-Base Slot Machine Racket w/ Molly Longman (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
Danny and Derek speak with freelance journalist Molly Longman about her piece for Wired detailing how the US military makes over $70 million annually from slot machines on overseas bases, and the implications for exploitation, addiction, and security risks.
2025-08-2005 minAmerican PrestigeE222 - Self-Censorship w/ Glenn LourySubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content!
Don't forget our new series Of This World and Welcome to the Crusades!
Danny and Derek Davison welcome to the program economist Glenn Loury, host of The Glenn Show, to talk about the re-release of his 1994 book Self-Censorship. They discuss the reasons he originally wrote the book, including self-censorship among intellectuals in late 1980s Eastern Europe as well as the response to Glenn’s critiques of US debates on race and civil rights at the time. They then tie these themes to postwar economics, current de...
2025-08-191h 17American PrestigeBonus - Is Economics a Science? w/ Erik BakerSubscribe now for the full episode!
Danny welcomes back to the show Erik Baker, a lecturer in the history of science at Harvard, to discuss criticisms of economics as a science and touch on nuclear history. They talk about the struggle of early 20th-century economists to formalize their field, the Progressive Era desire to rationally manage society, the postwar effort to quantify economics and the role of the university therein, the paradigms structuring economics that rely too much on “experts,” the actor-network theory critique, the pitfalls of reducing complex issues to quantification and modeling, and whether there’s a be...
2025-08-1708 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Deal, Israel Seeks Country to Expel Palestinians, Upcoming Russia-Ukraine SummitSubscribe now to skip the commercials.
Don't forget to check out our series "Welcome to the Crusades" and "Of This World."
Danny and Derek’s The Life of a Go-Go Boy album is shelved indefinitely. Meanwhile, in world news: Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a U.S.-brokered peace deal (1:35); Israel prepares for an operation in Gaza City as it continues its search for countries willing to take in expelled Palestinians (8:36); Australia announces plans to recognize Palestine (12:59); Iran hosts an IAEA representative (14:58) as European states prepare to reimpose sanctions (16:45); the Thai-Cambodian border sees two new incidents (19:34); a Sudanese m...
2025-08-1545 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - Federal Takeover of Washington DC Police w/ Chris Myers Asch (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
Danny and Derek speak with historian Chris Myers Asch about Trump's federal takeover of DC police and the deployment of the National Guard.
Be sure to check out Chris's book Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital.
2025-08-1408 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - The Murder of Anas al-Sharif and Gaza’s Future w/ Mohammad AlsaafinMohammad Alsaafin, journalist at AJ+, returns to the program to discuss recent events concerning Palestine. He and Derek talk about journalists killed by Israel in Gaza, including Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif; the broad dehumanization of Palestinian journalists by many mainstream outlets; the planned military occupation and potential ethnic cleansing of the Strip; the use of starvation as a weapon; why certain countries are re-recognizing a Palestinian state at this moment; and much more.
2025-08-1356 minAmerican PrestigeOf This World: Politics in the Era of Rage w/ Carlo Invernizzi AccettiIn lieu of a typical Tuesday episode this week, we are happy to present the first episode of our new miniseries with Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, Of This World.
Subscribe now at the annual tier for access to this series and other AP series going forward.
First, Danny Bessner speaks with Daniel about what inspired this series. In the episode itself (6:25), Daniel speaks with Carlo Invernizzi Accetti about his recent book (published in Italian) Twenty Years of Rage: From No-Globals to Trumpism. Topics include the crisis in democracy and liberalism, grievance politics, Peter Sloterdijk's concept of the mode...
2025-08-1249 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - The First Months of Post-Assad Syria w/ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
Derek welcomes back historian Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi for a discussion about developments in Syria under the new government, which toppled that of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. They talk about the massacres of Alawites at the beginning of this year, the non-governmental militias still operating in the country, clashes between Druze and Bedouin armed groups in the southern city of Suwayda, Israeli involvement, Syrian Democratic Forces activity in the northeast of the country and Turkey’s role, and whether the government under Ahmed al-Sharaa can make a “Syria for all Syrians.”
Chec...
2025-08-1009 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Lebanon Moves to Disarm Hezbollah, Netanyahu Announces Gaza Occupation, 80th Anniversary of Atomic Bombing in HiroshimaSubscribe now to skip the ads.
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The AP team will wear formal Tevas to the new White House ballroom. Otherwise, in this week’s news: Danny and Derek reflect on the 80th anniversary of the US dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (1:46); in Israel-Palestine, Netanyahu announces his “full occupation” plan (8:24) as the US expands the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (13:58); the Lebanese government moves to disarm Hezbollah (16:48); the US looks to host an Armenia-Azerbaijan peace summit (20:51); Trump punishes India for purchasing Russian oil (24:20); Thailand and Cambodia agree to the...
2025-08-0851 minAmerican PrestigeE221 - Land Power w/ Michael AlbertusSubscribe now to skip the ads.
Michael Albertus, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, joins the program to talk about his book Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies. The group explores notions of land from archaeological evidence thousands of years ago, the enclosure movement of the medieval era, the European mindset vs those of indigenous peoples in the era of colonization, South Africa land redistribution, gender in Canadian homesteading, how changing notions of land play into larger histories of race, the postwar of concept of...
2025-08-0554 minAmerican PrestigeBonus - The Unwinnable War in Taiwan w/ Jennifer Kavanaugh and Stephen Wertheim (Preview)Subscribe now for the full episode!
Jennifer Kavanaugh, senior fellow & director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, and Stephen Wertheim, senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, join the program to talk about their piece, “The Taiwan Fixation: American Strategy Shouldn’t Hinge on an Unwinnable War.” The group delves into the contours of the debate around Taiwan in DC, whether there’s any daylight between the two parties, strategic ambiguity and where it stands in Trump 2.0, how a decline in US hegemony in East Asia affects plans for a Taiwan i...
2025-08-0308 minAmerican PrestigeSpecial - Democratizing the AHA w/ Alexander Aviña and Ahmad ShokrDanny invites Alex Aviña and Ahmad Shokr to discuss recent goings on at the American Historical Association.
2025-08-0232 minAmerican PrestigeAP x NonZero - Gaza Awareness WeekThe bi-monthly collaboration between AP and NonZero Newsletter
returns. Subscribe now to AP and you'll also get a discounted
membership to Nonzero!
Get that Crusades series now!
Part One Video
0:00 Derek and Danny plug their new Crusades series
2:55 This week’s shift in Gaza discourse
11:56 The real danger Gaza poses for Israel
21:41 Does the left’s rhetoric on Israel miss the mark?
32:00 Elite media’s think tank problem
36:03 Is American imperialism really the problem?
39:40 Heading to Overtime
2025-08-0143 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Israel Continues Starving Gaza, Thailand and Cambodia Ceasefire, Global Fresh Water Supply DwindlesSubscribe now to skip the ads!
Don’t forget to purchase our “Welcome to the Crusades” special series!
Danny and Derek are monitoring the Liam Neeson-Pamela Anderson situation. Otherwise, in this week’s news: a new study says most countries are exploiting groundwater aquifers at an unsustainable rate (2:26); in Israel-Palestine, another Gaza ceasefire breaks down (4:56), Israel’s “humanitarian pause” has little effect on the starvation in Gaza (7:22), the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is under scrutiny (10:13), West Bank violence is once again on the rise (12:23), and several European leaders float the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state (14:11); Trump threaten...
2025-08-0152 minAmerican PrestigeE220 - The Perils of Competition With China w/ Michael BrenesSubscribe now to skip the ads.
Great Power Week continues here at American Prestige as historian Michael Brenes joins the show to talk about how prolonged competition with China threatens democracy, peace, and prosperity. They compare Biden and Trump’s respective approaches to China, whether the national security establishment is trying to manufacture an existential threat out of The People’s Republic, whether there is any national interest in a new Cold War, the degradation in American leaders, why rivalry is bad economically, erodes American society’s social fabric, and leads to violence, and alternatives to the great...
2025-07-291h 02American PrestigeBonus - The Era of Great Power Competition w/ Stacie Goddard (Preview)Danny and Derek speak with Stacie Goddard, the Betty Freyhof Johnson '44 Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College, about her piece for Foreign Affairs, “The Rise and Fall of Great-Power Competition.” They discuss the “great powers” of today, the shift from liberal hegemony to great power competition, Trump’s disposal of multilateralism and Biden following suit, the era of the Concert of Europe, US postwar hegemony, the rhetoric around China that became entrenched during the Obama administration, the foreign policy blob’s aversion to tradeoffs, the framework of of coercion, competition, and collusion, financialized capitalism and declining societies, and more.
2025-07-2710 minAmerican PrestigeA Culture of Empire | Always at War x American PrestigePrestigeheads: Today we bring you a very special episode from our friends over at the Quincy Institute's Always at War show, which can be found here and on all podcast apps. Check it out!
In this episode of Always at War, hosts Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan are joined by American Prestige's Daniel Bessner to discuss how Americans have come to understand — and however begrudgingly, accept — the costs and consequences of our nation’s military empire.
2025-07-2645 minAmerican PrestigeNews - Thai-Cambodian Border Clash, Gaza Starvation, ICJ Climate RulingSubscribe now to skip the ads.
Don’t forget to buy our “Welcome to the Crusades” miniseries!
Danny and Derek also rail against the war pigs, but lack the heavy riffs. This week: the International Court of Justice rules that wealthy nations must take action on climate change or bear responsibility (1:20); clashes escalate on the Thai-Cambodian border (4:08); a ceasefire holds in Syria’s Suwayda province after clashes between Druze and Bedouin groups (9:06); in Israel-Palestine, Gaza’s starvation reaches catastrophic levels (13:19) as ceasefire talks barely limp along (16:23); Iran is reengaging with the International Atomic Energy Agency (20:49); the Democr...
2025-07-2544 minAmerican PrestigeE219 - The CIA’s Imperial History, Pt 2 w/ Hugh WilfordSubscribe now to skip the ads and get more content.
Hugh Wilford, professor of history at California State University, Long Beach, is back on the program to conclude the discussion of his book The CIA: An Imperial History. In this episode they talk about figures like Edward Lansdale and James Angleton, “regime maintenance,” counterinsurgency, the agency’s use of publicity, the effect of the War on Terror on the CIA, and more.
Listen to Part 1 here!
2025-07-221h 01
Unf*cking The RepublicPhone a Friend: Daniel Bessner + Derek Davison of the American Prestige Podcast.Our inaugural edition of Phone a Friend, where we interview luminaries in different fields, features Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison from the American Prestige podcast. The pair answer some easy questions on lighthearted topics like Israel/Palestine, the war in Ukraine, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and whether the United States even has a foreign policy anymore. Chapters Intro: 00:00:43 Israel/Palestine: 00:07:25 U.S. Relations with China: 00:16:51 Russia/Ukraine: 00:28:07 U.S. Foreign Policy: 00:39:16 Lightning Round: 00:44:37 Outro: 00:48:23 Resources ...
2022-06-2049 min
Foreign Exchanges: the PodcastThe Institutions Behind US Foreign Policy, with Daniel BessnerUniversity of Washington professor, Quincy Institute fellow, and (above all) Foreign Exchanges columnist Daniel Bessner joins me for a chat about his first two FX pieces, the development of US foreign policy and the foreign policy establishment in DC, and some of the structural obstacles to overhauling that foreign policy for leftists.There are lots of links for this one:* Daniel’s first two FX pieces are here and here* You can read his piece on the Military-Intellectual Complex at The New Republic* The Center for International Policy’s new study on t...
2020-10-161h 06
Foreign Exchanges: the PodcastThe Dollar's Role in American Empire, with David Adler and Daniel Bessner (PODCAST 2-04-2020)David Adler of the Democracy in Europe Movement and the University of Washington’s Daniel Bessner join me to discuss the US dollar’s global influence and how that it with the more overtly military aspects of Empire USA. Their recent The New Republic piece is called “To End Forever War, End the Dollar’s Global Dominance.” Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe
2020-02-0458 min