How Land Determines Our Fate
On American Prestige: Michael Albertus on his new book, Land Power.

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.
Michael Albertus, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, joins the program to talk about his bookLand 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 “land to the tiller,” and much more.
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

– A worker stands inside the paw paw farm owned by Matsamo Community Property Association (Matsamo CPA) in the Kaalrug area near Malalane on March 12, 2025. The Matsamo Communal Property Association (CPA) now owns over 14,000 hectares which they farm in two joint ventures, as one of the rare models of successful land reform in South Africa.
(Phill Magakoe / AFP via Getty Images)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 “land to the tiller,” and much more.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

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 joined by Shadi Hamid, columnist at The Washington Post and author of The Case for American Power, to talk about American hegemony and Hamid’s argument for it as a morally preferable and potentially reformable force in international politics. They discuss Gaza and the crisis of liberal internationalism, democracy and self-correction, American decline, China and Russia, intervention and restraint, the Middle East exception, Libya and “humanitarian war,”and whether it is possible to separate the “good” uses of American power from the bad.
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
