Podcast / The Time of Monsters / Oct 12, 2025

Revolutionary Violence and One Battle After Another.

Revolutionary Violence and “One Battle After Another”

On this episode of The Time of Monsters: David Klion on the historical resonance of Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie.

The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer

The Time of Monsters podcast features Nation national-affairs correspondent Jeet Heer’s signature blend of political culture and cultural politics. Each week, he’ll host in-depth conversations with urgent voices on the most pressing issues of our time.

Revolutionary Violence and One Battle After Another w/ David Klion
byThe Nation Company LLC

Few movies have ever been as timely as Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film One Battle After

Another, which traces the battle between revolutionary resistance groups trying to protect

immigrants and an authoritarian government run by racists. There are scenes from the movie

that feel like they are being played out right now on the streets of Chicago, Los Angeles and

Portland. Although it presents a stylized version of reality, the film raises important questions

about different strategies of resistance. David Klion, a frequent guest, wrote about the movie

for The New Republic. David and I talked about the film, its roots in actual history but also

variance with that history as well as its relationship with the Thomas Pynchon novel Vineland.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Fans cheer at an event for the movie "One Battle After Another" on September 18, 2025, in Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico.

Fans cheer at an event for the movie One Battle After Another on September 18, 2025, in Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico.

Few movies have ever been as timely as Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, One Battle After Another, which traces the battle between revolutionary resistance groups trying to protect immigrants and an authoritarian government run by racists. There are scenes from the movie that feel like they are being played out right now on the streets of Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland. Although it presents a stylized version of reality, the film raises important questions about different strategies of resistance. David Klion, a frequent guest, wrote about the movie for The New Republic. David and I talked about the film, its roots in actual history but also variance with that history, as well as its relationship with the Thomas Pynchon novel Vineland.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer

The Time of Monsters podcast features Nation national-affairs correspondent Jeet Heer’s signature blend of political culture and cultural politics. Each week, he’ll host in-depth conversations with urgent voices on the most pressing issues of our time.

Gaza and Elite Accountability w/ Connor Echols
byThe Nation Company LLC

Many of Joe Biden’s closest advisors are now well-ensconced in the sinecures reserved for the elite, working at think tanks, academia, and major media outlets. Normally, they could expect to have future jobs when the Democrats retake the White House. But this cozy situation is being disrupted by ongoing reporting showing the extent of their complicity in the Gaza genocide and other US crimes in the Middle East. I spoke about this with Connor Echols, managing editor of Responsible Statecraft, who wrote an excellent article on the efforts to hold these officials accountable.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column “Morbid Symptoms.” The author of In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The Guardian, The New Republic, and The Boston Globe.

More from The Nation

Taking Data Centers to Court—With Martha Dark

Taking Data Centers to Court—With Martha Dark Taking Data Centers to Court—With Martha Dark

Paris Marx is joined by Martha Dark to discuss how legal challenges are holding data centers accountable, strengthening oversight, and challenging Big Tech’s narratives.

Podcast / Tech Won't Save Us

Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks shoots the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 12, 2026, in New York City.

The Only Eastern Conference NBA Preview You Need The Only Eastern Conference NBA Preview You Need

Arya Shirazi joins us again for our annual NBA preseason predictions.

Dave Zirin

National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez endorses Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Findlay Toyota Center on October 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

The Political Power of Police Unions—With Stuart Schrader The Political Power of Police Unions—With Stuart Schrader

Stuart Schrader joins Danny and Derek to explore the history and political influence of police unions, their relationship to organized labor, and the future of police reform.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo delivers remarks as President Donald Trump listens during an event at Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa on August 5, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

GOP Election Deniers Running for Governor— Plus John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” GOP Election Deniers Running for Governor— Plus John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing”

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Harold Meyerson analyzes Democrats’ key campaigns for governor, and John Powers comments on critic and writer John Berger.

Jon Wiener

Audience members walk out of the Metropolitan Development Commission meeting on March 4, 2026, in Indianapolis, Indiana, after a one-month continuance was granted for the hearing of the Metroblocks data center in the Martindale Brightwood community.

Dispatch From the Front Lines of the Data Center Wars—With Ben Inskeep & Bryce Gustafson Dispatch From the Front Lines of the Data Center Wars—With Ben Inskeep & Bryce Gustafson

Data centers and AI, AI and data centers. We all know how pivotal these issues have become. But lots of the analysis on these topics has been coming from pundits who are the farthe…

Podcast / Fighting Fascism

Demonstrators protest outside the US Supreme Court as justices hear the “Suncor v. Boulder” climate case in Washington, DC, on October 5, 2026.

Why SCOTUS Is Climate Action’s Biggest Threat—With Elie Mystal Why SCOTUS Is Climate Action’s Biggest Threat—With Elie Mystal

“If you don’t control the Supreme Court, you don’t control anything.”

Shilpi Chhotray and Mindy Ramaker

x