The Israeli incursion into Lebanon has rapidly shifted from a bombing campaign into a ground invasion, one that the Pentagon now says might last for some time. This current escalation of the Middle Eastern conflict, which has also seen Iran and Israel trade blows, reflects the wider failure of Joe Biden’s bear-hug foreign policy. To discuss the con…

Host Theo Shouse sits down with Matt McManus, author and political science lecturer at the University of Michigan, to talk about his book on liberal socialism, the history of conservatism in the United States, and egalitarianism.By McGill International Review

Joe Biden’s foreign policy team was hoping for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas before his term was over, perhaps as early as the end of September. This always seemed wishful thinking but now is almost impossible as Israel not only continues to fight in Gaza but has expanded its conflict with Palestinian forces in neighboring Lebanon. The expa…

Host Patrick Nelson sits down with economist and blogger Bryan Caplan to discuss the economics and ethics of housing deregulating, immigration, and adjacent topics.By McGill International Review

Kamala Harris and many other Democrats often warn that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. This is true enough, but it raises the question of how a ridiculous reality-TV star got in a position to be so dangerous. The excellent new podcast Master Plan shows that democracy has been under siege in the United States for decades due to a concerted ef…

In his final episode as host, Andrew Xu sits down once again with Vivian Wang, a China correspondent for The New York Times. They discuss the difficulties of covering the nuances of Chinese politics as a foreign correspondent, the true extent of the Chinese government's surveillance state, and the insularity within the Chinese government's decision…

After the convention and on the cusp of a debate, the presidential election is a near dead heat. The polls show Kamala Harris has a slight edge, but it is well within the margin of error. This is a massive improvement over the performance of Joe Biden, who was on a path to a major defeat but it is by no means a guarantee of victory. To take up the …

Host Theo Shouse sits down with Jeet Heer, a political correspondent for The Nation, to discuss the Democrats’ and Republicans’ foreign and labour policies.By McGill International Review

On June 28, I delivered a speech at the central branch of the Regina Public Library on the history of American support for Israel. The speech almost didn’t happen. The library briefly cancelled it because they claimed the group promoting it was encouraging discrimination against Jews. Fortunately, a city councillor intervened to sponsor the talk. F…

Joe Biden’s performance on the first presidential debate, held on Thursday in Atlanta, has been widely criticized. Much of the criticism has focused on Biden’s style: his horse voice, frequent halting digressions and verbal flubs. But the substance of Biden’s comments, as Moira Donegan pointed out in her Guardian column, was equally troubling. In t…

Joe Biden has often been described as among the most pro-Israel politicians in America, a characterization which has a large element of truth but misses some important nuances. As David Klion argues in a deeply researched essay for The Nation, Biden’s support for Israel has long been accompanied by rhetorical gestures indicating opposition to aspec…

Donald Trump does not like sharks. During his memorable encounter with Stormy Daniels, he fixated on a documentary about the predator that was playing on the hotel television and muttered, “I hope all the sharks die.” The former president returned to this topic at a recent campaign rally where he went on bizarre and lengthy digression asking what w…

The summer season has started with a fizzle for Hollywood, as expected hits like The Fall Guy, and Furioso have far underperformed their expectations. This isn’t a matter of a few films. Over the last few years, Hollywood is discovering that audiences are no longer reliably willing to buy tickets for the action adventure franchises that are the mai…

What was going through Brown's head at Harpers Ferry? The story of his remarkably successful raid into Missouri gives us clues. The second of a two-part bonus series about Brown's final days in Kansas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Jeff Stein and Rowley Amato

In May 1858, a proslavery gang massacred 11 unarmed Free Staters in eastern Kansas. The incident sparked outrage, and led John Brown to embark one of his most daring exploits. The first of a two-part bonus series about John Brown's final months in Kansas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Marty Peretz has led a large life, one he recounts with aplomb in his autobiography The Controversialist. As long time publisher and editor-in-chief of The New Republic, from 1974 to 2011, he transformed the venerable liberal magazine into an organ of neoliberalism, with a politics that emphasized deregulation of the economy, scaling back the welfa…

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Tom Durkin and Joe Ferguson on FISA renewal. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBy The Nation Company LLC

Host Theo Shouse sits down with Pamela Paul, a columnist for the New York Times. They talk about free speech on university campuses, pro-Palestinian protests, and the books they're going to read this summer.By McGill International Review

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Yousef Munayyer on a president at war with his base. According to a recent CNN poll, 81 percent of voters age 18 to 35 disapprove of President Joe Biden support of Israel’s war in Gaza. This number should be a concern to Biden, because for his reelection bid to succeed he absolutely needs young voters to be …

Host Andrew Xu sits down with Richard Reeves, the President of the American Institute for Boys and Men. They discuss the underrepresentation of male students on college campuses, the significance of biological differences between boys and girls, and changes in the perception of feminism over time. References "Stop Pretending You're Not Rich" by Ric…

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Joe Howley on how Israel’s war in Gaza is coming to the home front. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBy The Nation Company LLC

Host Theo Shouse sits down with Substack writer and Jacobin columnist Ben Burgis to discuss the morality of war and democratic socialism.By McGill International Review

Host Andrew Xu sits down once again with David French, a columnist for The New York Times. They discuss gender polarization, the ways that men are falling behind in society, and roles that religious institutions have traditionally played in cultivating cultural norms.By McGill International Review

Writing in The Nation, David Klion recently reviewed Alexander Ward’s new book on Biden’s foreign policy, which offers a redemption arc whereby an administration wounded by the botched exit from Afghanistan made good by its handling of the Ukraine invasion. But as Klion notes, the two year frame of the book is too narrow. In conversation on this po…

Host Alex Ritch sits down with Kyle Matthews, the Executive Director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. They discuss digital concerns surrounding online extremism and speculate on the future trajectory of the issue.By McGill International Review

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Daniel Bessner on Larry David. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBy The Nation Company LLC

In the last few weeks, Hollywood has given us Drive-Away Dolls (directed by Ethan Coen, who also co-wrote it in collaboration with Tricia Cooke) and Live Lies Bleeding (directed by Rose Glass who co-wrote it with Weronika Tofilska). Although very different in tone, the two movies have some striking commonalities, both are set in the late 20th centu…

Host Ines Fahmi sits down with Rose Horowitch, an assistant editor for the Atlantic. They discuss the phenomenon of Gen Z men and women drifting apart politically, and some of the potential causes and correlations for this sentiment.By McGill International Review

Host Ines Fahmi sits down with Dr. Gloria Mark, the Chancellor’s Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. They discuss her research on the decline of our attention spans, and the impact that new technologies have had on our productivity.By McGill International Review

Donald Trump recently hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, praising the would be autocrat to the skies as “fantastic” and “a boss.” Of course Trump’s love of autocrats is nothing new. Jacob Heilbrunn has written a valuable new book, America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators, that places Trump’s love of dictators…

This episode explores a few current trends around femininity on social media and beyond. Senior Editor Clare and Staff Writer Charlotte join hosts Alison and Teodor in discussing Sephora tweens and coquette “tradwives” and what kinds of femininity are valued and what this may say about the state of patriarchy today.…

Host Theo Shouse sits down with Substack writer, former Federal Reserve economist, and Bloomberg opinion columnist Claudia Sahm, to discuss inflation, consumer sentiment, Biden's stimulus package, and the Federal Reserve. References "Decomposing Supply and Demand Driven Inflation" by Adam Shapiro, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco "Is the Landi…

Steven D. Levitt, best known for co-writing the bestselling 2005 book Freakonomics, is retiring from the University of Chicago with a bang. On the Capitalism and Freedom podcast, Levitt gave a farewell interview where he detailed many internecine feuds in the discipline and examples of toxic abuse, with particular focus on his long-time colleague a…

Host Anzhu Wei sits down with Sara Mbago-Bhunu, the Regional Director of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)'s East and Southern Africa Division. They discuss smallholder farmers, and the role of agricultural investment in adapting to climate change.By McGill International Review

Host Andrew Xu sits down with Melissa Kearney, the Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. They discuss her recent book The Two-Parent Privilege, which examines the economic advantages that two-parent households have over one-parent households. References "The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married …

What was it, exactly, about John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry that contributed to the abolition of slavery? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Jeff Stein and Rowley Amato

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, David Klion and Jeet Heer on Dune: Part Two, the science fiction epic with real world echoes. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBy The Nation Company LLC

The Best International Feature Film Oscar has a strange set of nomination rules that have resulted in intrigue, controversies, and international soft power plays. To unpack this awards season enigma, host Anzhu Wei sits down with Professor Laura Isabel Serna of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Correction: Totem was …

Host Theo Shouse sits down with Matthew Rosenberg, a Pulitzer Prize–winning correspondent at the New York Times. They discuss the Afghanistan war, which Rosenberg reported on for many years, and the conflict between US forces and Iranian proxies in the Middle East. Finally, they discuss political violence in the United States and the upcoming presi…

Host Andrew Xu sits down with Will Stancil, a research fellow on the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity. They discuss the state of the US economy, concerns surrounding Biden's age, and the incentives of mainstream journalism.By McGill International Review

John Brown envisioned a mass slave uprising. So where were they? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Jeff Stein and Rowley Amato

Host Theo Shouse sits down with Nadim Houry, the executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative, a think tank advocating for social justice and democracy in the Middle East. They discuss Israel's offensive in Gaza, tensions between Iranian proxies and US forces, and American military interventionism.…

The mathematician Chandler Davis, who died in 2002 at age 96, was one of the notable victims of the second Red Scare. In 1960, Davis was sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to answer questions about his membership in the Communist Party. Davis’s lawyers defended him with the innovative legal argument that the First Amendment barred such …

From January 31st to February 2nd, 500 McGill students went on strike to oppose the Québec tuition hike. In this episode, host Anzhu Wei talks with striking students on the picket line and student leaders, to understand the situation.By McGill International Review

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, a discussion with Adam Johnson on the Democrats' failed border policy. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBy The Nation Company LLC

Le 15 septembre, les dirigeants du United Automobile Workers (UAW) ont annoncé le début d’une grève syndicale. Le 20 octobre, 34,000 membres du syndicat étaient en grève et environ 5,000 employés avaient été mis à pied par le big three automobile américain. Vincent Guillotte revient sur cette grève syndicale avec Joseph Abounohra, éditeur principal…

On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Moira Donegan on Joe Biden’s need to embrace pro-choice politics. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyBy The Nation Company LLC

Host Andrew Xu sits down once again with Jessica Grose, an opinion writer for The New York Times. They discuss the negative effects of pandemic-induced school closures, the increased prominence of grade inflation in schools, and other contributors to teacher demoralization in the United States. References "The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Professi…

Gaza, under siege and bombardment from Israel, remains ground zero for violence in the Middle East, sending shock waves through the region. The Gaza onslaught is provoking a series of escalating wars with the United States and Israel on one side against Iran and its allies and proxies on the other. Fighting of various degrees of intensity has broke…

Host Andrew Xu sits down with Yascha Mounk, the head of Persuasion and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. They discuss his new book The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time, and the set of ideas, ideologies, and cultural attitudes which he dubs "the identity synthesis" in his book. References "The Identity Trap: A Story of Ide…