This week, a philosophical conversation about the environmental movement with eco-philosopher Timothy Morton. We discuss the Stop Oil soup/Van Gogh protest, the value of political performance, Don't Look Up, meaninglessness as an attribute, & more. (Some Glass Onion spoilers!)
Whenever something crazy is going down in Congress, Thomas Frank is here to talk about it. We chatted while the Capitol was stormed on 1/6, and now the historian, writer, and populism expert returns to Bad Faith as the House Republicans struggle to meet the 218-vote threshold to elect a Speaker. Inside: discussions about the parallels between this historical moment and the ones Frank has written about, the wisdom of Force The Vote, and whether Briahna is right to be jealous of the rogue Republicans in this moment.
This week, Jennifer Briney of Congressional Dish returns to the podcast to discuss her read on the 1/6 congressional hearings and report which she's been reviewing for one of her deep-dive podcast episodes. Some on the left have seen these hearings as somewhat of a distraction from more substantive, material issues. But is that a mistake? She explains what we should know and whether a populist movement must consider the "normie' appeal of holding Trump accountable.
Briahna speaks to Security Policy Reform Institute co-founder Stephen Semler, about his thorough and viral analysis of the 2023 Omnibus bill. No. one is breaking down military spending like Stephen. We discuss how the bill undermines Biden's climate "victories," increased spending on the Ukraine/Russia conflict, the complacency of elected progressives, and whether the American dream exists outside of the military.
Last time he joined Bad Faith, Steven Donziger explained how he was victim of a corporate prosecution: After wining an unprecedentedly large judgement against oil company Chevron for polluting the Ecuadoran Amazon and positing thousands of indigenous people, Chevron took revenge on Steven, mounting a corporate prosecution that landed him with 45 days in prison and a combined total of 993 of house arrest. Now he's out and talking about how draconian sentences against environmental protestors are being used prevent activist from doing what he did and more.
Elon Musk is having a normal one on Twitter -- banning journalists who reported on the "Elon Jets" account that posted information about the location of his private plane, prohibiting links to sites like Mastodon & Instagram, and issuing polls asking the public whether he should step down from Twitter. (As of writing, more than 8 million have voted -- and he's losing.) It's a perfect time to talk to internet policy expert Evan Greer about legislation pending in congress that might help ensure some degree of the consistency and transparency that Elon promised, but has not yet provided. We discuss Parler, PayPal, & app store tyranny; the hypocrisy of Alejandra Caraballo's condemnation of right wing violence after calling for SCOTUS members to be "accosted," post-Dobbs, and more.
Author, pundit, & professor Marc Lamont Hill returns to Bad Faith to reflect on (Kan)Ye West, Kyrie Irving, and why Black Hebrew Israelites hold such appeal for these big name Black American celebs. Was Van Jones right to apologize to Jewish people on behalf of Black Americans? Are Black folks being held collectively responsible in a way that differs from what is demanded of other group members when one of their own transgresses? What is it about the Hebrew Israelite ideology that's considered de facto anti-Semitic? And does Dave Chappelle's thesis, that anti-Blackness isn't treated with the same gravity as some other types of bigotry, hold up? If it does, what do we do about it?
Consumer activist and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader on whether the Squad betrayed rail workers, the corruptive influence of the Congressional Black Caucus, what Hakeem Jefferies means for progressives 'inside game,' the reordering the Democratic Primary, whether Dems will hold SBF accountable, Kyrsten Sinema's party switch, Tesla's quality issues, the unprecedentedly large pentagon budget, the electoral landscape for 2024, and more.
Seattle city councilmember & Socialist Alternative member Kshama Sawant joins Bad Faith to debate the strategy, adopted by most of the squad, to vote for the union-crushing tentative agreement that averted a legal railworkers strike. Ryan Grim has been accused of "running cover" for the squad members' strategy, while Kshama Sawant argued their vote for a union voting bill was a clear betrayal. Is Ryan right to say it made sense for the squad to follow the advice of some union members who wanted them to adopt that strategy? Or is Kshama right to call that "political gaslighting?" Ryan joins the conversation about half an hour in, and it's a hot but productive conversation. you wont want to miss it.
This week, Briahna speaks to Teddy Schleifer, a journalist who covers Silicon Valley billionaires for Puck News, about Sam Bankman-Fried, the collapse of his crypto exchange FTX, and his obsession with media. Why does he keep exposing himself via high profile interviews (and DM exchanges) that amount to free depositions for the SEC and DOJ -- both of whom are investigating him? Was his emphasis on "effective altruism" part of his effort to charm the media into seeing him as a good faith actor in an unregulated financial sector primed for fraud? Is it possible to be a "good billionaire?" This conversation took a philosophical turn. Come for a play by play of his NYT DealBook interview, stay for a materialist analysis of billionaire philanthropy.