Plus: attacks on Lebanon, a brewing battle in Sudan, Russia’s push into Ukraine, a US drawdown in Europe, and the deadly toll of DOGE cuts.
US Vice President JD Vance makes an opening statement at the start of a quadrilateral meeting between the U.S., Iran, Pakistan, and Qatar at the Lake Lucerne Summit.(Nathan Howard-Pool / Getty Images)
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Danny and Derek are in backchannel talks with the reflecting pool algae. In this week’s news: the United States and Iran sign a Memorandum of Understanding (1:26), which addresses sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, reconstruction, sovereignty, and the nuclear program (6:46); Israel continues its attacks on and occupation of Lebanon despite the MoU dictating otherwise (26:12); Gaza is excluded from the MoU (30:25) as West Bank annexation continues (31:46); in Sudan, RSF forces appear to be preparing for a major battle (34:27); in Ukraine, Russia makes advances (35:58) while Crimea is hit hard (37:26); the G7 is relatively uneventful, but does express support for Ukraine (39:24); the US announces plans for a military drawdown in Europe (41:21); in Peru, Keiko Fujimori leads the vote count in the presidential election (42:57); and a UNAIDS report shows the dire effect of DOGE cuts (44:37).
Check out our episode with Caitlin Tulloch on the fallout from ending USAID.
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Danny and Derek are in backchannel talks with the Reflecting Pool algae. In this week’s news: The United States and Iran sign a Memorandum of Understanding (1:26), which addresses sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, reconstruction, sovereignty, and the nuclear program (6:46); Israel continues its attacks on and occupation of Lebanon, despite the MOU dictating otherwise (26:12); Gaza is excluded from the MOU (30:25) as West Bank annexation continues (31:46); in Sudan, RSF forces appear to be preparing for a major battle (34:27); in Ukraine, Russia makes advances (35:58) while Crimea is hit hard (37:26); the G7 is relatively uneventful, but does express support for Ukraine (39:24); the US announces plans for a military drawdown in Europe (41:21); in Peru, Keiko Fujimori leads the vote count in the presidential election (42:57); and a UNAIDS report shows the dire effect of DOGE cuts (44:37).
Check out our episode with Caitlin Tulloch on the fallout from ending USAID.
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Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Danny and Derek speak with artist and writer Molly Crabapple about her book on the history of the Jewish Labor Bund, Here Where We Live Is Our Country. They discuss Molly's personal connection to the story, the Pale of Settlement and Jewish emancipation, the founding of the Bund in 1897, the Bund's armed self-defense against pogroms, its fraught relationship with Lenin and the Bolsheviks, the Bund's rivalry with Zionism, the flourishing of Bundist culture in interwar Poland, and the lessons of the Bund’s story for the Jewish left today.
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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is a historian of US foreign relations and is the author of, among other books, Imperialist Realism.
Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.