Share

cover art for Michael and Us: America Would Never

Jacobin Radio

Michael and Us: America Would Never

A ragtag gang of Beltway misfits discover how to start a proxy war in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (2007), a lighthearted look at American intervention from the combined forces of Tom Hanks, Mike Nichols, and Aaron Sorkin. We discuss how this celebration of the Reagan Doctrine from the very heart of "liberal Hollywood" offers a, shall we say, sanitized version of the end of the Cold War. PLUS: We discuss matters Pablo-matic and not.


Preorder "Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality," the new Ed Broadbent memoir coauthored by our own Luke Savage - https://ecwpress.com/products/seeking-social-democracy-ed-broadbent


"Fake News" by our own Luke Savage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crSeqJafFt8&ab_channel=JusticeDemocrats


"With Hannah Gadsby’s ‘It’s Pablo-matic,’ the Joke’s on the Brooklyn Museum" by Jason Farago - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/arts/design/hannah-gadsby-brooklyn-museum-picasso.html


"The True Mystery in James Comey’s Crime Novel" by Jacob Bacharach - https://newrepublic.com/article/172553/true-mystery-james-comeys-crime-novel-central-park-west-review


Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • Behind the News: Israel and the World Court w/ Heidi Matthews

    53:01
    Heidi Matthews surveys cases against Israel pending at the the World Court. Elijah Wald, author of Jelly Roll Blues, talks about Jelly Roll Morton and the hidden history of early blues music.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
  • Dig: Thawra Ep. 7 - United Arab Republic Against Eisenhower

    01:25:16
    Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the SEVENTH episode of Thawra (Revolution), our rolling mini-series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. Today’s installment lays out the the US’s Eisenhower Doctrine, which in 1957 inaugurated a new era of imperialism in the Middle East; the Ba’ath Party driving Syria and Egypt into the United Arab Republic, a superstate under Nasser’s rule, in 1958; and, later that year, Eisenhower landing US Marines in Lebanon, the first American combat operation in the region.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out our newsletter and vast archives at thedigradio.comBuy Burnout: The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat at versobooks.comSubscribe to Jacobin bit.ly/digjacobin
  • Michael and Us: Sit Down, Sit Down

    50:15
    For seven weeks in 1936 and 1937, workers at the General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan held a risky sit-down strike. A true David vs. Goliath story, their strike won recognition for the United Auto Workers and changed labor in the United States forever. With a newer UAW strike fresh in the memory, we discuss the BBC documentary THE GREAT SIT-DOWN (1976).Watch The Great Sit-Down - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Py_vNt4fcSee Will introduce Gamera: Super Monster at the Fox Theatre in Toronto on April 16 - https://www.foxtheatre.ca/movies/important-cinema-club-gamera-super-monster/"Joe Lieberman? Really?" by Branko Marcetic - https://jacobin.com/2018/07/joe-lieberman-democratic-party-conservative-left"Sam Bankman-Fried will grow old in jail. But don’t forget those who basked in his orbit" by Aditya Chakrabortty - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/28/sam-bankman-fried-jail-ftx-moneyMichael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
  • Behind the News: Weaponizing 'Safe Space' Discourse w/ Natasha Lennard

    53:00
    Trita Parsi explains why Israel is trying to expand its war to Iran and Hezbollah. Natasha Lennard analyzes the Zionist appropriation of leftish “safe space” discourse. And Stefan Yong explores the structure of the global shipping industry in light of the Baltimore bridge disaster.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
  • Long Reads: J. B. S. Haldane's Science and Socialism w/ Samanth Subramanian

    01:04:28
    J. B. S. Haldane was one of the great scientific minds of the twentieth century. He played an important role in the development of genetics and the theory of evolution. Haldane was also a tireless political campaigner who gravitated towards the communist movement in the 1930s and 40s. His public career makes for a fascinating case study on the relationship between politics and science.Samanth Subramanian joins Long Reads to discuss the life of Haldane. Samanth, a journalist from India who’s now based in London, is the author of several books, including the 2019 biography A Dominant Character: The Radical Science and Restless Politics of J. B. S. Haldane.Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.
  • Behind the News: How Israel Exploits the Shoah w/ Pankaj Mishra

    53:01
    Pankaj Mishra, author of a recent article for the London Review of Books, "The Shoah after Gaza," talks about the propaganda-induced debasement of the Holocaust. Nancy Folbre, co-author of a recent report on household economic well-being, discusses assigning a monetary value to care work.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
  • Dig: Thawra Ep. 6 - Cold War Heats Up

    02:08:02
    Featuring Abdel Razzaq Takriti, this is the SIXTH episode of Thawra (Revolution), our rolling mini-series on Arab radicalism in the 20th century. Today’s installment lays out the intensification of the Cold War across the Middle East. Western imperialist powers attempted to recruit Arab countries to the Baghdad Pact, a Middle Eastern NATO. Nasser rallied the Arab masses in opposition, becoming an anti-imperialist icon. In 1956, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. In response, the British, French, and Israelis attacked Egypt. But Nasser and Arab anti-imperialism won the day.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDigCheck out our newsletter and vast archives at thedigradio.comBuy What Was Neoliberalism at haymarketbooks.org Buy Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol. 1 at haymarketbooks.org
  • Jacobin Radio: Russia's Election w/ Ilya Matveev

    01:02:00
    Suzi talks to Ilya Matveev about the recent election in Russia giving Putin a fifth term in power—an election he argues was stage-managed from above. Matveev discusses how the Putin government, with increasing nationalist propaganda, has stepped up repression and persecution of critical voices against the war in Ukraine. He talks about Kremlin policy of silencing independent media, stopping public displays of opposition, and detaining critics with large prison sentences. While the economy hasn’t tanked—the war has provided a source for military Keynesianism—Matveev insists that Putin's ability to order an exact electoral result is a sign of weakness, not stability. The horrific terror attack of March 22 underscores that Putin is not managing everything well, even though he has cynically used the attack to blame Ukraine.Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.
  • Michael and Us: Kung Fu Bicycles

    53:49
    For decades, a cottage industry flourished in the subterranean depths of the American music industry: send a company your poem, and, for a fee, they'll turn it into a song. Maybe the song will even be your entryway into the industry and the Billboard charts! But most assuredly it will not be. Was this industry exploitative? Did it produce art? What even is "art" anyway? We tackle all these questions and more as we discuss the documentary OFF THE CHARTS: THE SONG-POEM STORY (2003).Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.