Best Leighton Woodhouse Podcasts (2024)

1
Why Democrats Can't Stop Amy Coney Barrett 19:48

4y ago19:48

19:48

Amy Coney Barrett appears to be on a glide path to confirmation to the land's highest court. Why haven't Democrats been able to find a cohesive narrative to stop her? Zaid and Shant discuss.By Zaid Jilani and Shant Mesrobian

1
Is Trump Trolling Princeton? 18:06

4y ago18:06

18:06

The U.S. Department of Education takes Princeton literally, but maybe not seriously. Education Secretary Betsy Devos is opening an investigation into Princeton University following the president's claim that racism persists at his university. Is Devos's civil rights investigation just trolling or is there a more serious point to be made about how c…

1
In Defense of Looting: The Game Show 32:33

4y ago32:33

32:33

*Please support us on Patreon to help keep this channel going* https://www.patreon.com/TheBackchannel National Public Radio recently featured a provocative new book called "In Defense of Looting," which is exactly what it sounds like. It wasn't long before every corner of the Internet was picking it apart, sharing absurd material from the text of t…

1
A Kenosha Native Explains What Happened in Kenosha 42:18

4y ago42:18

42:18

Kenosha isn't just a place where riots broke out after a controversial police shooting. With the media and the President of the United States converging on the Midwestern town, we invited journalist Steve Horn, who grew up there, to tell us about the Kenosha we don't know. We explore the town's history, economy, culture, and political climate in an…

1
WTF is happening in Portland? With Nancy Rommelman 37:55

4y ago37:55

37:55

WTF is happening in Portland? A lot of Americans are asking themselves that as protests and riots have now rocked the city for over 80 days following the death of George Floyd. Reason contributor Nancy Rommelman, a former Portland native who has reported on the demonstrations from the ground, joins us to lay out what's happening. Read her latest di…

1
Study Reveals the Psychological Traits That Unite the Extreme Left and Extreme Right 13:55

4y ago13:55

13:55

It increasingly feels like parts of the left and right agree that they should be able to dictate your personal morality, forcing you to adopt certain norms and values. One new study suggests that this is because parts of the far-right and woke left share the same "Dark Triad" personality traits -- including narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychop…

1
Does the Democratic Party Still Care About Inequality? 14:35

4y ago14:35

14:35

Is the Democratic Party serious about addressing wealth inequality? During negotiations with Republicans about upcoming coronavirus stimulus packages, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wants to repeal the cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which would primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans. Shant and Zaid discuss the w…

1
Why Immigrants Are Happier, More Patriotic, Less Woke, and More Optimistic 29:33

4y ago29:33

29:33

The right has spent years arguing that immigrants don't assimilate well into American culture, while the left has played up America's flaws, arguing that the country simply isn't as desirable as we're told. What if they're both wrong? On this episode, Zaid and Shant talk about a recent piece Zaid wrote for the online magazine Persuasion, in which h…

1
How the Left Became the Right. With Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald 1:13:03

4y ago1:13:03

1:13:03

Why is the left starting to act more like the right? To answer that question, The Backchannel is joined by two of the country's most prominent left-of-center writers: Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi and The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald. The five of us discuss how puritanical attitudes have become so prominent on the progressive left. If you enjoy our sh…

1
Will the Surge in Panic Gun Buying Have a Long-Term Effect? 13:43

4y ago13:43

13:43

The U.S. is experiencing an unprecedented surge in gun purchases by first-time gun buyers amid the pandemic and a period of civil unrest. We talk about why it's happening and what studies show the long-term consequences could be. Studies: Pandemics, Protests and Firearms: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3593956 Ecological and Cu…

1
Chill Out, Ilhan Omar's Mailer Is Not a Scandal. With Daniel Marans 28:20

4y ago28:20

28:20

Facing a well-funded challenger from within her own party, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) dispatched a mailer pointing out that he is backed by a number of out-of-state big donors who made their fortunes on Wall Street. An article in Vice News quickly pointed out that every donor listed is Jewish, leading to complaints by some that these mailers are antise…

1
The Left Is Freaking Out Over…John Kasich? 12:53

4y ago12:53

12:53

Former Ohio Republican governor John Kasich will get a starring role at the Democratic Party's national convention this year. Meanwhile, a group of former Republican consultants are making big bucks with the Lincoln Project, a Super PAC blanketing the airwaves attacking Trump. The left, understandably, feels like it's lost control over the election…

1
It's Now Easier to Fire People for Saying Racist or Sexist Things. Yay? 19:09

4y ago19:09

19:09

Has the National Labor Relations Board gone woke? A ruling by an all-male, all-Republican three-member panel says that employees who use offensive language during a labor dispute can now be fired for that language. Zaid Jilani, Leighton Woodhouse and Shant Mesrobian discuss whether this move towards political correctness is actually cover to make i…

1
Fordham University Gets Triggered [SHORT] 4:30

4y ago4:30

4:30

The Backchannel's Zaid Jilani and Shant Mesrobian talk about the latest speech crime moral panic on a university campus, this time at Fordham University.By Zaid Jilani and Leighton Woodhouse

1
The Defund Police Protests Are Working. Is That a Good Thing? 32:14

4y ago32:14

32:14

Faced with large scale protests and a dire economy, cities around America are defunding their police services. Everywhere from Baltimore to Seattle to Portland are considering large cuts or have passed large cuts in the recent weeks and months since the protests started after the death of George Floyd. Many would argue these cuts would improve poli…

1
Why the Racial Wealth Gap Isn't What You Think It Is, with Matt Bruenig 18:46

4y ago18:46

18:46

People's Policy Project founder Matt Bruenig tells us what the racial wealth gap in America really is and what to do about it.By Zaid Jilani and Leighton Woodhouse

1
Why Are the Victims of the Riots Being Ignored? With Michael Tracey 10:05

4y ago10:05

10:05

Journalist Michael Tracey joins The Backchannel to talk about his trip interviewing people whose businesses were destroyed by rioting. Tracey's interviews highlight the human impact of the riots, demonstrating how many working class people and immigrants suffered from the consequences.By Zaid Jilani and Leighton Woodhouse

1
Introducing The Backchannel 56:39

4y ago56:39

56:39

For our regular listeners of Extremely Offline: It’s been a while! Since we effectively closed down XO, the world has gone to shit. We’re not necessarily saying the one caused the other, but just in case, we’re bringing the pod back, but under a new name. Zaid and I, along with our friend Shant Mesrobian, have launched a new show on YouTube called …

1
Extremely Offline: Wesley Yang and Lee Fang on Being Asian-American in the Age of Identity 1:13:25

4+ y ago1:13:25

1:13:25

With Andrew Yang's insurgent bid for the presidency in the headlines, many are asking what it means to be Asian-American in today's America. To start with, what do we mean when we say "Asian-American"? Does it mean being descended from the world's most diverse continent? Is there a distinct Asian-American culture or politics? I'm Zaid Jilani and my…

1
Extremely Offline: Osita Nwanevu and Jesse Singal on "Cancel Culture" 59:09

5y ago59:09

59:09

“Cancel culture” is the less-than-perfect name for the tendency of extremely online people to form mobs and publicly shame others in response to perceived cultural and political transgressions, from sending racist tweets to selling food of a culture that’s not your own. Sometimes it’s celebrities who are cancelled for choosing a “problematic” role …

1
Extremely Offline: Neil Fligstein and Dylan Riley on Marx v. Weber in Explaining the Current Historical Moment 1:09:52

5y ago1:09:52

1:09:52

We’re living through an era of enormous transition, most significantly from a world governed by free market fundamentalism to something new — something we can’t yet quite discern and which could take radically different forms depending on the political decisions we make as a society. Two of the founding scholars of sociology, Karl Marx and Max Webe…

1
Extremely Offline: Adam Gaffney and Chris Pope on Health Care Reform 1:33:05

5y ago1:33:05

1:33:05

Health care in America remains one of the most important issues for partisans on every side, as costs continue to rise with no end in sight. Adam Gaffney, President of Physicians for a National Health Program, believes that the best way to tackle this problem is through a single-payer health care system, in which everybody receives health insurance…

1
Extremely Offline: Bill Scher and Richard Eskow on Round 2 of the Democratic Debates 16:16

5y ago16:16

16:16

July's Democratic primary debates were an opportunity for the progressive and more establishment factions of the party to hash out their differences and present voters with different visions going into the 2020 presidential elections. Bill Scher is a veteran of liberal politics who has been involved in left-of-center organizing since the early 2000…

1
Extremely Offline: Daniel Marans and Joe Simonson on the 2020 Democratic Presidential Campaign Trail 1:18:06

5y ago1:18:06

1:18:06

There's no one who knows the mood of voters who attend presidential campaign events more than the political reporters who are on the trail. While pundits in DC and New York opine on what voters are supposed to care about, these reporters are actually on the ground taking the temperature of the electorate in realtime. Daniel Marans, a reporter at th…

1
Extremely Offline: Onkar Ghate and Austin Hayden Smidt on Ayn Rand, Objectivism, Capitalism, Selfishness and Altruism 1:35:00

5y ago1:35:00

1:35:00

One of the most influential novelists in the United States is the late Ayn Rand. The Russian-born author's works inspired generations of right-leaning intellectuals, from former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan to former Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Rand's popularity stems from her simple creed that selfishness is a virtue. In …

1
Extremely Offline: Charlie Eaton and Daniel Friedman on the Higher Education Racket 1:01:26

5y ago1:01:26

1:01:26

With more and more Americans going to college every year, there are increasing demands that the federal government step in and make higher education more affordable and tackle burgeoning student debt. But some on the conservative side argue that increasing federal aid will only make the problem worse by contributing to runaway inflation of tuition …

1
Extremely Offline: Jesse Singal and Andy Ngo on Multiculturalism, Diversity and Assimilation in the West 1:19:19

5y ago1:19:19

1:19:19

We live in an increasingly diverse country, and history shows that diversity often introduces challenges that are difficult to overcome, ranging from increased social tensions all the way up to violence. But it has long been argued that diversity is our strength and that with meaningful contact between heterogeneous groups we can break down barrier…

1
Extremely Offline: Peter Daou and Nomiki Konst on the Divided Democratic Party 1:02:52

5y ago1:02:52

1:02:52

During the 2016 Democratic primaries, political strategist Peter Daou was one of Hillary Clinton’s most vocal and prominent boosters, especially on social media. In addition to his relentless advocacy on Twitter, Peter was the co-founder of “Hillary Men,” a website that purported to serve as a “safe space” for male feminists who supported Hillary C…

1
Extremely Offline: Sarah Haider and Shadi Hamid on Islam in the Modern World 1:40:19

5y ago1:40:19

1:40:19

Contrary to popular belief, Islam has been present in the United States since its founding days. Thomas Jefferson even owned a copy of the Quran, Islam's holy text, which Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, used during his swearing-in ceremony. The reality is, we live on an increasingly Muslim planet, as the pace of the…

1
Extremely Offline: Glenn Greenwald and David Klion on the Mueller Report — Russiagate Part 2 55:02

5y ago55:02

55:02

This episode began with a spat on Twitter. Glenn Greenwald, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and co-founder of The Intercept, is famous for his deep, long-standing skepticism of Russiagate. After Attorney General Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report came out, announcing to the world that the special prosecutor had found no basis for bringing c…

1
Extremely Offline: Mike Cernovich and Katie Herzog on Trolls, Social Media Mobs, and the Fever Swamp Outrage Machine We Call the Internet 57:42

5+ y ago57:42

57:42

Mike Cernovich is notorious on the left because of his past behavior as a social media troll, beginning with Gamergate, and continuing on through Pizzagate and countless other Twitter flare-ups. He's often lumped in with the alt-right, even though his actual politics are a mixed bag of economic populism, anti-interventionism, border restrictionism,…

1
Extremely Offline: Cenk Uygur and Michael Tracey on the Mueller Report and Media Accountability — Russiagate Part 1 1:22:49

5+ y ago1:22:49

1:22:49

With the Mueller Report completed, many are still left wondering what exactly occurred in the 2016 election. Did the Russian government work with the Trump campaign to hack Clinton campaign emails? Did the Trump administration engage in collusion with the Russian government to impact the election? While we don't have the full text of the report, th…

1
Extremely Offline: Batya Ungar-Sargon and Omar Baddar on Palestine, Israel, Anti-Semitism, Zionism, and Ilhan Omar 1:09:55

5+ y ago1:09:55

1:09:55

It's unusual for a freshman member of Congress to draw as much attention as Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar. In just a few short months in Congress, she has been the center of numerous media firestorms after making repeatedly making remarks her supporters believe are exposing the influence of a powerful lobbying group and what her detractors would sa…

1
Extremely Offline: Jonathan Blanks and Rafael Mangual on Criminal Justice Reform 1:13:38

5+ y ago1:13:38

1:13:38

When President Trump signed into law the First STEP Act, a wide-ranging federal prison reform bill passed this past December, he marveled at the wide bipartisan vote that got it across the finish line. Indeed, everybody from the Koch Brothers to former Obama adviser Van Jones helped build the wide bipartisan coalition that passed the legislation. B…

1
Extremely Offline: Bhaskar Sunkara and Adam Green on the Left's choice for 2020 — Warren or Sanders? 1:21:07

5+ y ago1:21:07

1:21:07

With Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren both offering their own form of challenge to the Democratic establishment, which candidate would have a better shot at succeeding? Which candidate would ultimately make a better president? To answer that question, on this episode we'll ask two of their strongest supporters. Adam Green is the co-founder of th…

1
Extremely Offline: Lee Fang and Kmele Foster on the Market vs. the State, and Race/Wokeness 1:02:46

5+ y ago1:02:46

1:02:46

This week, we have two guests on opposite sides of our debates about what should be done with the economy. Lee Fang is a reporter for The Intercept and a long-time journalist who has been critical of the structure and function of American capitalism. He looks around the world and sees democratic socialist policies as those which best promote human …

1
Extremely Offline: Elizabeth Bruenig and Jonathan Chait on the Pinko Left and the Mushy Middle 1:26:46

5+ y ago1:26:46

1:26:46

This episode features two guests from opposite sides of the debate over the state of the Democratic Party and the left. First, we have Jonathan Chait, a long time left-of-center writer who argues that the Obama years were a stunning success and form the trajectory the party should pursue in the future. Opposite Chait we have the Washington Post’s E…

1
Extremely Offline: Briahna Joy Gray and Coleman Hughes on What We Get Wrong About Race In America 1:01:53

5+ y ago1:01:53

1:01:53

It's time to admit it: when we argue online, we’re not actually trying to persuade anyone. We’re not even trying to ‘win’ a debate. We’re trying to “dunk” on our rivals, “own” our political enemies. We’re just performing for our followers, who are usually people who share our politics, our attitudes, and our biases. That kind of discourse might be …

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Leighton Woodhouse Podcasts

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