Podcast / American Prestige / Jul 8, 2025

The Human Cost of Economic Sanctions

On this episode of American Prestige, Mark Weisbrot talks about economic sanctions and how they affect people’s lives.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

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.

The Human Cost of Economic Sanctions | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

⁠Get your limited edition "Robo Washington" poster now⁠⁠!

Economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Mark Weisbrot joins the show to talk about economic sanctions and how they affect people’s lives. They discuss the effect of sanctions on migration flows, how the PR about them targeting governments and not civilians is false, how the international financial system and dollar hegemony allow the US to sanction so freely, whether sanctions on other countries actually benefit ordinary Americans, whether tariffs can be considered a form of sanctions, and more.

Check out CEPR’s work for much more material on sanctions.

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

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

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks about US sanctions on Russia.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks about US sanctions on Russia.

(Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Economist and codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Mark Weisbrot joins the show to talk about economic sanctions and how they affect people’s lives. They discuss the effect of sanctions on migration flows, how the PR about them targeting governments and not civilians is false, how the international financial system and dollar hegemony allow the US to sanction so freely, whether sanctions on other countries actually benefit ordinary Americans, whether tariffs can be considered a form of sanctions, and more.

Check out CEPR’s work for much more material on sanctions.

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

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

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.

Rome and Ancient Iran w/ Jake Nabel / American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

Danny and Derek are joined by Jake Nabel, Tombros early career professor of classical studies and assistant professor of classics and ancient Mediterranean studies at Penn State, to talk about Roman-Parthian relations in antiquity. The group discusses the geopolitical landscape of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, the rise of the Parthian Empire and the Arsacid dynasty following the fall of the Achaemenids and Alexander the Great, and the inherent challenges of relying on Greco-Roman historiography. They also delve into how Iranian and Armenian sources reshape our understanding of the period, the deep cultural misunderstanding between Roman hostage-taking and Parthian cliental fosterage, the cultural barriers preventing intermarriage, and the modern Iranian reception of pre-Islamic empires, including contemporary parallels to Reza Pahlavi.

Read Jake’s book The Arsacids of Rome: Misunderstanding in Roman-Parthian Relations

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

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

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Daniel Bessner

Daniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.

Derek Davison

Derek 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.

More from The Nation

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15, 2026.

How Zionism Failed—With Omer Bartov How Zionism Failed—With Omer Bartov

Omer Bartov joins the program to talk about Zionism’s transformation from an emancipation movement into a form of ethnonationalism.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

Former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez is escorted by Members of the Police Special Forces to be extradited to US to face charges of taking bribes from drug traffickers.

HondurasGate and US Power in Latin America—With José Luis Granados Ceja HondurasGate and US Power in Latin America—With José Luis Granados Ceja

Danny and Derek talk to José Luis Granados Ceja, head of the Latin America desk at Drop Site News, about the HondurasGate scandal and US policy in Latin America.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

An oil tanker is loaded at the Westridge Marine Terminal at the end point of the Trans Mountain Pipeline System in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

Why Big Oil Wants to Splinter Canada Why Big Oil Wants to Splinter Canada

Nora Loreto on the politics of Alberta separatism.

Jeet Heer

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre as Israeli forces continued to expand their invasion in south Lebanon.

Israel Escalates Lebanon Strikes, Taiwan Arms Sale Stalls, US Stockpiles Run Low Israel Escalates Lebanon Strikes, Taiwan Arms Sale Stalls, US Stockpiles Run Low

The AP UFC dome is regrettably being held up by producer Jake’s HOA

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

A woman wears a “Trump Was Right ”hat as people pray and sing during the PrayVoteStand Summit at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington, DC.

The Christian Right Is Weaponizing Scripture—With John Fugelsang  The Christian Right Is Weaponizing Scripture—With John Fugelsang 

Danny and Derek welcome to the show John Fugelsang, author of Separation of Church and Hate, to talk about the rise and influence of right-wing Christianity in the Unite...

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

CIA Director John Ratcliffe and President Trump at the White House on April 6, 2026.

The CIA’s Assassination Campaign in Mexico The CIA’s Assassination Campaign in Mexico

Alexander Aviña on Trump’s new imperialism in Latin America.

Jeet Heer

x