Best Polemics Podcasts (2024)

1
Preached Acapella and the next Week We Became Acapella 1:10:28

13h ago1:10:28

1:10:28

In this significant episode of Kingdom Polemics, Pastor Aldo Leon presents a thought-provoking sermon preached at Pinelands Presbyterian Church, discussing the biblical and theological rationale for acapella worship in the New Testament church. Aldo addresses the historical use of musical instruments in Old Testament worship and how their role was …

1
S4E9 The Fragility of China: A Conversation with Dennis Unkovic 59:10

1h ago59:10

59:10

In this episode of Madison's Notes, we sit down with Dennis Unkovic to discuss his latest book, The Fragility of China (Encounter Books, 2024). Unkovic delves into the complex forces shaping China's political, economic, and social landscape. From the country's rising internal challenges to its evolving role on the global stage, Unkovic offers a nua…

1
Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor, "Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future" (The New Press, 2024) 32:41

40m ago32:41

32:41

A clarion call for justice in the quest for clean energy California’s Salton Sea region is home to some of the worst environmental health conditions in the country. Recently, however, it has also become ground zero in the new “lithium gold rush”—the race to power the rapidly expanding electric vehicle and renewable energy storage market. The immens…

1
Kamala, Trump or Covenanting? 2:05:53

2d ago2:05:53

2:05:53

In this bold episode of Kingdom Polemics, Aldo Leon delves into the complex relationship between Christianity and political engagement, focusing on the question of whether Christians should support candidates like Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. Aldo argues that while some Christians believe supporting a lesser evil is a pragmatic solution, this app…

1
Jonathan Turley, "The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage" (Simon and Schuster, 2024) 28:31

2d ago28:31

28:31

“It’s a free country.” Many of us recall saying that as children as we learned that we were American citizens who were endowed with certain rights—such as free speech. We would use those words when we wanted to assert our own rights when we were being bullied or chastised. We would use them to let others know that even if we did not agree with what…

1
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, "Corporatocracy: How to Protect Democracy from Dark Money and Corrupt Politicians" (NYU Press, 2024) 1:16:41

3d ago1:16:41

1:16:41

What threatens American democracy and the rule of law? In her new book, Corporatocracy: How to Protect Democracy from Dark Money and Corrupt Politicians (NYU Press, 2024), legal scholar and campaign spending expert Ciara Torres-Spelliscy argues that the USA’s privately-funded campaign finance system – combined with corporate greed and antidemocrati…

1
Alan F. Blackwell, "Moral Codes: Designing Alternatives to AI" (MIT Press, 2024) 55:09

3d ago55:09

55:09

Why the world needs less AI and better programming languages. Decades ago, we believed that robots and computers would take over all the boring jobs and drudgery, leaving humans to a life of leisure. This hasn’t happened. Instead, humans are still doing boring jobs, and even worse, AI researchers have built technology that is creative, self-aware, …

1
Marco Bastos, "Brexit, Tweeted: Polarization and Social Media Manipulation" (Bristol UP, 2024) 52:43

3d ago52:43

52:43

Dissecting 45 million tweets from the period that followed the Brexit referendum, Brexit, Tweeted: Polarization and Social Media Manipulation (Bristol University Press, 2024) by Dr. Marco Bastos presents an extensive analysis of social media manipulation. The book examines emerging changes in partisan politics, nationalist and populist values, as w…

1
Michael J. Thompson, "Descent of the Dialectic: Phronetic Criticism in an Age of Nihilism" (Routledge, 2024) 1:00:50

4d ago1:00:50

1:00:50

In Descent of the Dialectic: Phronetic Criticism in an Age of Nihilism (Routledge, 2024), Michael J. Thompson reconstructs the concept and practice of dialectics as a means of grounding a critical theory of society. At the center of this project is the thesis of phronetic criticism or a form of reason that is able to synthesize human value with obj…

1
Jon Michaels and David Noll, "Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy" (Atria/One Signal, 2024) 1:21:36

6d ago1:21:36

1:21:36

Law professors Jon Michaels and David Noll use their expertise to expose how state-supported forms of vigilantism are being deployed by MAGA Republicans and Christian nationalists to roll back civil, political, and privacy rights and subvert American democracy. Beyond identifying the dangers of vigilantism, Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Ter…

1
Gerald Sim, "Screening Big Data: Films That Shape Our Algorithmic Literacy" (Routledge, 2024) 1:08:10

7d ago1:08:10

1:08:10

Screening Big Data: Films that Shape Our Algorithmic Literacy (Routledge, 2024) examines the influence of key films on public understanding of big data and the algorithmic systems that structure our digitally mediated lives. From star-powered blockbusters to civic-minded documentaries positioned to facilitate weighty debates about artificial intell…

1
From Tribalism to Common Humanity: A Conversation with Dr. John Ellis 56:25

7d ago56:25

56:25

For most of recorded history, neighboring countries, tribes, and peoples everywhere in the world regarded each other with apprehension—when not outright fear and loathing. Tribal or racial attitudes were virtually universal, no one group being much better or worse in this respect than any other—and for good reason given the conditions of life befor…

1
Jerome E. Copulsky, "American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order" (Yale UP, 2024) 1:14:43

9d ago1:14:43

1:14:43

A question has long hung over the the United States regarding the proper role of religion in public life. Those who long for a Christian America claim that the Founders intended a nation with political values and institutions shaped by Christianity. Secularists argue that those same Founders designed an enlightened republic where church and state s…

1
Jonathan Maskit, "Bicycle" (Bloomsbury, 2023) 1:16:54

10d ago1:16:54

1:16:54

These days the bicycle often appears as an interloper in a world constructed for cars. An almost miraculous 19th-century contraption, the bicycle promises to transform our lives and the world we live in, yet its time seems always yet-to-come or long-gone-by. In Bicycle (Bloomsbury, 2024) Dr. Jonathan Maskit takes us on an interdisciplinary ride to …

1
Free Speech 70: Michael S. Roth on the Rise of Student Protests, the Fall of Some College Presidents, and Why Liberal Education Matters 1:16:04

12d ago1:16:04

1:16:04

The campus protests over conflict in Israel and Gaza have engulfed universities, and led to the resignation of several university presidents. In this podcast, recorded live at the New York Institute of the Humanities, Michael S. Roth, the long-time President of Wesleyan College, explains how he navigates sharp disagreements on campus, what he means…

1
Ian Williams, "Vampire State: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Economy (Birlinn, 2024) 1:03:06

13d ago1:03:06

1:03:06

State capitalism. Socialism with Chinese characteristics. A socialist market economy. There have been numerous descriptions of the Chinese economy. However, none seems to capture the predatory, at times surreal, nature of the economy of the world’s most populous nation – nor the often bruising and mind-bending experience of doing business with the …

1
Jeff Schuhrke, "Blue Collar Empire: The Untold Story of U.S. Labor’s Global Anticommunist Crusade" (Verso, 2024) 1:09:00

13d ago1:09:00

1:09:00

How the CIA used American unions to undermine workers at home and subvert democracy abroad. Blue Collar Empire: The Untold Story of U.S. Labor’s Global Anticommunist Crusade (Verso, 2024) tells the shocking story of the AFL-CIO's global anticommunist crusade--and its devastating consequences for workers around the world. Unions have the power not o…

1
Mortification of the Establishment Principle 1:51:24

13d ago1:51:24

1:51:24

In this episode of Kingdom Polemics, host Aldo Leon offers a spirited response to a recent discussion from The Mortification of Spin podcast, where Todd Pruitt and Carl Trueman criticized proponents of the establishment principle and Christian nationalism. Aldo defends the historic Reformed view of the civil magistrate, arguing that Christians who …

1
David L. Swartz, "The Academic Trumpists: Radicals Against Liberal Diversity" (Routledge, 2024) 1:03:35

14d ago1:03:35

1:03:35

Remember the bleach drinking episode? Remember ‘alternative facts’? Remember ‘I have the best words’? These elements of the Trump presidency spoke to a fundamental part of his politics: truth and science were not prime among his considerations. Given this, one may assume that academics would have been especially unlikely to be drawn to the Trump pr…

1
Andrew W. Kahrl, "The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America" (U Chicago Press, 2024) 59:03

15d ago59:03

59:03

In The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America (U Chicago Press, 2024), Andrew W. Kahrl uncovers the history of inequitable and predatory tax laws in the United States. He examines the structural traps within America’s tax system that have forced Black Americans to pay more for less despite being taxpayers with few…

1
David M. Driesen, "The Specter of Dictatorship: Judicial Enabling of Presidential Power" (Stanford UP, 2021) 57:18

17d ago57:18

57:18

At the end of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was asked whether we have a republic or a monarchy. He replied “A Republic…if you can keep it.” In The Specter of Dictatorship: Judicial Enabling of Presidential Power (Stanford UP, 2021), David M. Driesen argues that Donald Trump's presidency challenged Americans to con…

1
Emily M. Bender on AI Hype 1:11:58

17d ago1:11:58

1:11:58

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks to Emily Bender, Professor of Linguistics, Director of the Masters of Science in Computational Linguistics program, and Director of the Computational Linguistics Laboratory at University of Washington, about her work on artificial intelligence criticism. Bender is also an adjunct professor in the School of C…

1
Ilias Alami and Adam D. Dixon, "The Spectre of State Capitalism" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:09:35

18d ago1:09:35

1:09:35

After close to three decades of the hegemony of free market ideas, the state has made a big comeback as an economic actor since the 2008 financial crisis. China’s state-owned companies and international financial institutions have made headlines for their growing influence in the world economy. State-backed investment vehicles based in the Gulf sta…

1
William Cooper, "How America Works and Why It Doesn't: A Brief Guide to the US Political System" (Ad Lib, 2024) 37:40

18d ago37:40

37:40

Twenty-first-century America isn’t working the way it’s supposed to. William Cooper's How America Works and Why It Doesn't: A Brief Guide to the Us Political System (Ad Lib, 2024) explains why. Americans in the twenty-first century are becoming increasingly untethered from both reality and the essential principles and traditions that have shaped th…

1
Man-Made Hymns and Our Eschatology, Masculinity, and View of Scripture 1:12:21

18d ago1:12:21

1:12:21

In this powerful sermon, Aldo Leon explores how the church's music—specifically, the use of Psalms versus man-made hymns—impacts our theology, eschatology, and the way we view Christian masculinity. He emphasizes the need to sing God's inspired songs, as they provide a more robust spiritual foundation, promoting holiness, strong doctrinal convictio…

1
Aideen O’Shaughnessy, "Embodying Irish Abortion Reform: Bodies, Emotions, and Feminist Activism" (Bristol UP, 2024) 47:20

19d ago47:20

47:20

Dr. Aideen O'Shaughnessy is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Lincoln. She has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cambridge, an MA in Gender Studies Research from Utrecht University and a BA in Sociology and French at Trinity College Dublin. Her research focuses on gender, health, and social movements and she is particularl…

1
Shane Burley and Ben Lorber, "Safety through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism" (Melville House, 2024) 1:10:01

19d ago1:10:01

1:10:01

Antisemitism is on the rise today. From synagogue shootings by white nationalists, to right-wing politicians and media figures pushing George Soros conspiracy theories, it’s clear that exclusionary nationalist movements are growing. By spreading division and fear, they put Jews, along with other marginalized groups and multiracial democracy itself,…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Polemics Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
New Books in Politics and Polemics

Marshall Poe

1
Kingdom Polemics

Kingdom Polemics - Your Host: Aldo Leon

1
POLEMICS REC.

POLEMICS

1
Preached Acapella and the next Week We Became Acapella 1:10:28

1
S4E9 The Fragility of China: A Conversation with Dennis Unkovic 59:10

1
Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor, "Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future" (The New Press, 2024) 32:41

1
Kamala, Trump or Covenanting? 2:05:53

1
Jonathan Turley, "The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage" (Simon and Schuster, 2024) 28:31

1
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, "Corporatocracy: How to Protect Democracy from Dark Money and Corrupt Politicians" (NYU Press, 2024) 1:16:41

1
Alan F. Blackwell, "Moral Codes: Designing Alternatives to AI" (MIT Press, 2024) 55:09

1
Marco Bastos, "Brexit, Tweeted: Polarization and Social Media Manipulation" (Bristol UP, 2024) 52:43

1
Michael J. Thompson, "Descent of the Dialectic: Phronetic Criticism in an Age of Nihilism" (Routledge, 2024) 1:00:50

1
Jon Michaels and David Noll, "Vigilante Nation: How State-Sponsored Terror Threatens Our Democracy" (Atria/One Signal, 2024) 1:21:36

1
Gerald Sim, "Screening Big Data: Films That Shape Our Algorithmic Literacy" (Routledge, 2024) 1:08:10

1
From Tribalism to Common Humanity: A Conversation with Dr. John Ellis 56:25

1
Jerome E. Copulsky, "American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order" (Yale UP, 2024) 1:14:43

1
Jonathan Maskit, "Bicycle" (Bloomsbury, 2023) 1:16:54

1
Free Speech 70: Michael S. Roth on the Rise of Student Protests, the Fall of Some College Presidents, and Why Liberal Education Matters 1:16:04

1
Ian Williams, "Vampire State: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Economy (Birlinn, 2024) 1:03:06

1
Jeff Schuhrke, "Blue Collar Empire: The Untold Story of U.S. Labor’s Global Anticommunist Crusade" (Verso, 2024) 1:09:00

1
Mortification of the Establishment Principle 1:51:24

1
David L. Swartz, "The Academic Trumpists: Radicals Against Liberal Diversity" (Routledge, 2024) 1:03:35

1
Andrew W. Kahrl, "The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America" (U Chicago Press, 2024) 59:03

1
David M. Driesen, "The Specter of Dictatorship: Judicial Enabling of Presidential Power" (Stanford UP, 2021) 57:18

1
Emily M. Bender on AI Hype 1:11:58

1
Ilias Alami and Adam D. Dixon, "The Spectre of State Capitalism" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:09:35

1
William Cooper, "How America Works and Why It Doesn't: A Brief Guide to the US Political System" (Ad Lib, 2024) 37:40

1
Man-Made Hymns and Our Eschatology, Masculinity, and View of Scripture 1:12:21

1
Aideen O’Shaughnessy, "Embodying Irish Abortion Reform: Bodies, Emotions, and Feminist Activism" (Bristol UP, 2024) 47:20

1
Shane Burley and Ben Lorber, "Safety through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism" (Melville House, 2024) 1:10:01

Quick Reference Guide