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The Blue Wave has hit AP headquarters, devastating our humble operation. In this week’s news: Danny and Derek discuss the prospects for military escalation and peace talks with Iran after the midterm elections (2:06); the Red Cross delivers aid to the Yemeni city of Taiz (9:46); Netanyahu’s position weakens as coalition talks begin after Israel’s election (11:39); the FBI accuses North Korea of a $6.3 billion cryptocurrency theft (16:09); Ethiopia and Sudan close each other's consulates amid accusations of support for the RSF (18:25); the UN shuts down its Western Sahara mission (20:48); the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine schedule new peace talks in Abu Dhabi (23:28); a temporary ceasefire in southern Ukraine allows aid deliveries and civilian evacuations around Oleshky (25:12); the Trump administration pushes Europe to resume Russian gas imports (28:27); youth-led protests spread to Germany as French unions launch a nationwide strike (32:26); the U.S. negotiates a status-of-forces agreement with Venezuela (35:55); and El Salvador deploys thousands of troops to Haiti after four Salvadoran military personnel disappear (37:54). Catch Danny in-person, along with friend of the pod Nando Vila, at Stories Books & Cafe in LA, Friday Nov 6th at 6:30 PM. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠Welcome to the Crusades: The Second Crusade⁠! Watch last night’s livestream. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

No, you're NOT seeing double. It's four F's this week as we release a bonus episode of Fighting Fascism to talk about Tuesday night's historic victories for Democrats. How it confirms some or maybe even all of our priors, why everyone seems to talk like Zohran these days, and who is in good pole position to run in 2028. No guest this episode, but Smucker joins Matt and (a healthy) Aaron for all the punditry. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What we won this week, starting with Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and James Talarico in Texas – John Nichols comments on the candidates and the issues. He’s The Nation’s Executive Editor. Also: Why victories in the South are especially historic and transformational – Harold Meyerson explains. He’s editor at large of The American Prospect. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek welcome intellectual historian A.J.A. Woods to the show to talk about the history of the "cultural Marxism" conspiracy theory. They discuss the Frankfurt School, Lyndon LaRouche's conspiracy theories, William S. Lind and the New Right, antisemitism, the Tea Party, Gamergate and the alt-right, the rise of anti-woke politics, and the use of "cultural Marxism" to justify cuts to public services. Grab your copy of A.J.A.’s book The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy. Catch Danny in-person, along with friend of the pod Nando Vila, at Stories Books & Cafe in LA, Friday Nov 6th at 6:30 PM. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We are officially almost at the end of the 2026 election. To reflect back on the crazy twists and turns and the major progressive successes of this cycle, we spoke with Usamah Andrabi, the communications director for Justice Democrats. Justice Democrats is best known as the org that recruited AOC in 2018, but they’re a lot more than that, and their story is, in a lot of ways, the story of the left’s resurgence over the last few years.  (Note: We recorded this episode a few weeks ago. At first we were concerned about whether a conversation focused largely on how progressives have used primaries to make the Democratic Party better was appropriate for the day before the general election. But then corporate Dem Haley Stevens endorsed MAGA freak Mike Rogers in an attempt to ratfuck Democrats’ U.S. senate nominee in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed. And we remembered that yes, beating the far right absolutely requires us to defeat the corporate Dems who are far more interested in protecting their billionaire donors than defeating fascism. Let’s beat these MAGA freaks on Tuesday and then let’s clear out the rot in our party starting Wednesday.) Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“Those who own the land get to be decision makers over what happens to the land. They get to decide whether they're gonna frack and how much they’re going to pollute.” Corporations have made fortunes by extracting from the land, while Black and Indigenous communities who have long understood land as something to steward have been systematically pushed off of it. But what if reparations could both repair the legacy of land theft and help solve the climate crisis?  In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray speaks with writer and organizer Brea Baker, author of “Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership.”  They discuss how land theft and slavery are connected to our broken industrial food system and the environmental crisis we’re living with today. But Brea argues that reparations are more than just a moral reckoning with the past — especially when they go beyond financial compensation. What does that look like in practice? Returning property. Reversing eminent domain seizures. Repairing polluted places. Investing in communities with generations of knowledge about the ecosystem. And the payoff reaches far beyond those directly receiving reparations: more sustainable land use, less pollution, lower emissions, and a healthier environment for all. Key Topics Reparations as a climate strategy: How repairing historical harms can also create healthier ecosystems.Land theft and the extractive economy: How slavery, Indigenous dispossession, and land theft shaped our extractive economy.Black Land Ownership: How heirs’ property, USDA discrimination, predatory debt, and government policy stripped Black families of land and wealth, including Baker’s own family history.From plantations to Cancer Alley: How former plantation areas in Louisiana became sites of petrochemical development, linking the history of land ownership to pollution and public health.Eminent domain: What it would mean to use the government’s power to seize polluting facilities for the public good, rather than using it to take land from Black communities.Redefining reparations: Reparations can mean more than just financial compensation, including returning property, medical care, education, and more.Maroonage and mutual aid: How Black communities have built networks of collective care, self-determination, and survival outside systems that failed them.Reparations in practice: How cities and states are already implementing reparations, from direct payments to returning property to Black families.ResourcesRooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land OwnershipLearn more about Brea BakerAll Revolution Is Based On Land with Leah Penniman - from A People’s Climate Season 1 CreditsPresented by Counterstream Media and The Nation Powered by Wildseeds Fund Host: Shilpi Chhotray Executive Producer: Mindy Ramaker  Engineer: Dennis Maxwell Project Manager: Asia Simms Brea BakerBrea Baker is a writer and activist whose book, ROOTED: The American Legacy of Land Theft & The Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership, details her family’s experiences across the South and makes another case for reparations as a racial, economic, and environmental justice policy. As a sixth generation Black landowner with deep ties to North Carolina, Brea writes about and organizes with Black Southerners whether with Black Farmers’ Market, Cypress Fund, the BLIS Collective, and many other political homes. Her next book, a biography of Jazz Age artist and nightclub owner Ada “Bricktop” Smith, will be published in 2027. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek considered helping Flavio Bolsonaro mount a political comeback here in the States, but cut ties on the advice of Danny's psychic. In this week’s news: Israel's election leaves Netanyahu without a parliamentary majority (1:41); Lula wins Brazil's presidential runoff and Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil for the United States after his defeat (8:53); Serbia's student-led opposition topples the ruling party (14:33); the United States and Gulf states pursue a new peace initiative with Iran as the United States prepares for another military campaign after the midterms (18:35); a Sudanese military drone strike kills more than 100 people in Nyala (23:55); Turkey hosts talks between Libya's rival governments looking toward reunification (26:01); in the Russia-Ukraine war, Zelenskyy announces peace talks in Abu Dhabi for November (28:50), the two countries observe a local ceasefire near Oleshky to allow humanitarian aid (29:56), and the Trump administration considers major sanctions relief for Russia (32:21); Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returns to the country (34:50); and apparent cyberattacks disrupt refrigeration systems at U.S. military bases (37:41). Listen to our full special on the election in Brazil with Andre Pagliarini. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠Welcome to the Crusades: The Second Crusade⁠! Watch last night’s livestream. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

No one is comfortable with police surveillance in the US, which is why there’s a bipartisan backlash to Flock cameras. Jason Koebler joins Paris Marx to discuss the rise of Flock, how their cameras are being pitched by right-wing politicians and police agencies, and how they’re being used to stalk residents from coast to coast. Jason Koebler is a co-founder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters, co-hosts of the We’re Not So Different podcast and our collaborators on Welcome to the Crusades (Season 2 out now!) are on the show to help tell the story of Halloween. They explore Halloween's Christian (and possibly pagan) origins, medieval beliefs about death and purgatory, ghosts and the Protestant Reformation, the origins of costumes and jack-o'-lanterns, its commercialization and global spread, and the rise of sexy Halloween costumes. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠Welcome to the Crusades: The Second Crusade⁠! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trump's efforts to interfere with voting, and with certification of the results, have not been successful. Rick Hasen of the UCLA Law School says “We're doing well on election protection”: the courts have been strong, the blue states have been a bulwark, and—most important—early voting has been big. Rick is also director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project and editor of the Election Law Blog. Also: If the election goes roughly as the polls say it will, next Tuesday will mark the beginning of the end of the Trump era. Harold Meyerson comments, focusing on getting to 51 in the Senate—or, better yet, 52. Harold is editor-at-large of The American Prospect. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We haven’t had any political candidates on Fighting Fascism yet. But we decided to make an exception for Jane Kim, who is running to be the next insurance commissioner of California. Part of that exception is because Jane is an old friend. But part of it is because the office she’s running for touches on such interesting and important issues. We don’t think often about insurance, particularly property and casualty insurance. But it’s the foundation for so much of our economic world. And right now it’s not working. Well, it’s actually working great for the massive corporations raking in billions in profits while denying and underpaying claims and saddling us with massive climate risks. But Jane believes a better way is possible. And we think you will, too, after listening to our conversation. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“No one has a right to tell you how to organize, to free yourself, and to liberate yourself.” The fight over Cop City was never just about a police training center. In Atlanta, a multiracial, multigenerational movement brought together environmental justice, land conservation, police abolition, and grassroots organizing to challenge the destruction of a forest and expansion of police power. In this episode of A People’s Climate, Shilpi Chhotray talks with organizer Kamau Franklin about the strategies behind the Stop Cop City movement—and the lessons it offers for fights still to come. Although the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center was ultimately built, the movement showed how organizers can build power across ideologies, work through decentralized networks, shape the public narrative, and connect struggles that are often treated as separate. Franklin and Shilpi also discuss the criminalization of protesters, including the killing of forest defender Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán. They examine what it means to organize under state repression and ultimately, what the Stop Cop City movement can teach those fighting for justice. Key Topics Climate & the forest: Why protecting Atlanta’s South River Forest was an environmental justice fightMovement tactics: The organizing strategies behind Stop Cop City, from town halls and petition drives to direct action, civil disobedience, and decentralized organizing.Defining violence: Why organizers challenged the idea that property destruction is equivalent to violence—and who gets to define legitimate protest.Organizing across differences: How a decentralized movement brought together people with different ideologies, tactics, and political traditions.The power of narrative: How organizers turned “Cop City” into a powerful frame and pushed back against efforts to portray protesters as outsiders or extremists.Criminalizing dissent: The killing of forest defender Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán and the sweeping RICO charges brought against protesters.Building power under repression: How movements can organize when the state is working to divide, intimidate, and silence them.Lessons for future fights: What Stop Cop City can teach organizers fighting for climate, racial, and environmental justice beyond Atlanta.ResourcesCommunity Movement BuildersNo Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement Edited by Micah Herskind Mariah Parker, and Kamau Franklin  CreditsPresented by Counterstream Media and The Nation Powered by Wildseeds Fund Host: Shilpi Chhotray Executive Producer: Mindy Ramaker  Engineer: Ameeta Ganatra Project Manager: Asia Simms Kamau Franklin Kamau Franklin (he/him) is the founder of Community Movement Builders. He’s been a dedicated community organizer for over thirty years. For 18 years, Kamau was a leading member of a national grassroots organization dedicated to the ideas of self-determination and the teachings of Malcolm X. He’s spearheaded organizing work in areas, including youth organizing, police misconduct, and developing sustainable urban communities. Kamau has coordinated community cop-watch programs, liberation schools for youth, electoral and policy campaigns, large-scale community gardens, organizing collectives and alternatives to incarceration programs. Kamau was an attorney for ten years in New York with his own practice in criminal, civil rights and transactional law. He now lives in Atlanta with his two children. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Neera Tanden has not yet posted a tirade about AP, and we’re starting to take it personally. In this week’s news: the U.S. and Israel prepare for renewed strikes against Iran after the midterms (1:07); an Ansar Allah/Houthi missile strike kills at least 73 people at a military camp in Yemen, while continued attacks force Saudi Arabia to cancel a major investment conference and Pakistan, Britain, Egypt, and France offer defensive support to the kingdom (7:52); Israeli settlers assault an American journalist and attack European diplomats, while Israeli forces detain dozens of volunteers in the West Bank (15:05); North Korea announces the resumption of anti-South Korean loudspeaker broadcasts amid unverified rumors that Kim Jong Un has died (19:12); drone strikes kill hundreds in Sudan and the disputed Abyei region (22:28); Ethiopia establishes a new interim administration in Tigray (25:02); the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to spread (27:01); Ukraine resumes attacks on Russian oil refineries, angering Trump (29:33); Steve Witkoff meets with Zelenskyy and Putin as the U.S. restores intelligence support for Ukraine (30:41); Russia signals a possible return to peace talks (32:28); massive protests over the high cost of living sweep France (37:30); and Haitian armed groups abduct four Salvadoran soldiers, prompting El Salvador to threaten military action (40:58). Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hyperscale data centers are not an inevitable infrastructure, but a product of capitalist financialization pushing us further from a livable future. Ingrid Burrington interviews Paris Marx about his new book Hyperscale, discussing the history behind the rise of hyperscale data centers and how companies are obscuring their true social and environmental costs to maximize profits before the overinflated bubble bursts. Ingrid Burrington is the author of Networks of New York and host of RIP Corp. She’s been writing about internet infrastructure for over a decade, including an 18-story online series for The Atlantic in 2015. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It’s Tech Day here at AP, so Danny and Derek speak with Quinn Slobodian, professor of international history at Boston University, and writer Ben Tarnoff, co-authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, about Elon Musk's role in contemporary capitalism. They discuss Fordism and Muskism; the influence of apartheid South Africa on Musk's approach to production; his vision of AI and human-machine integration; the political significance of his acquisition of Twitter; DOGE's expansion of government data collection and immigration enforcement; and the potential for regulating or replacing Big Tech. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy