The Nation Podcasts

After Senate Democrats block the SAVE act, Trump is likely to declare a national security emergency – claiming China could interfere in the midterms – as a basis for restricting voting. David Cole comments; he’s former legal director of the ACLU.Also: Congress must challenge Trump’s war on Iran and assert its constitutional duty to take up War Powers resolutions and assert its primacy over matters of war and peace. John Nichols explains.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Danny and Derek are back with a two-part episode on the war with Iran. First, they speak with Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute about the Trump administration’s decision to go to war, the belief that assassinating Ayatollah Khamenei would cause the regime to implode, the structure and failure of pre-war negotiations, the influence of Israeli officials and hawks, the potential for sending in ground troops, and the impact on Iranian society. They then speak with Akbar Shahid Ahmed, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent at HuffPost, about the erosion of rules of engagement, the alignment of U.S. and Israeli military strategy, congressional inaction, compliant allies, and whether any realistic off-ramps remain.Read Akbar’s piece “Trump Says He Brought 'Justice' To Iran. His War Boosts Fears The U.S. Has Gone Rogue.”Keep up with Quincy’s work at Responsible Statecraft and Always at War.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Writing in Foreign Policy, Matt Duss argues that Donald Trump’s rush to war is bothstupid and illegal. It is also wildly unpopular with the public. But he also observes thatcongress has been reluctant to challenge Trump’s policy, although some progressiveshave now forced the issue to a vote. Matt is a frequent guest of the show and foreignpolicy expert. I talked to him about the dangers of a new war and also the largersystematic problems of the imperial presidency.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jo takes us on a whirlwind tour of their recent reading, including Mary Helen Washington’s Paule Marshall: A Writer’s Life, and Charlotte explains why Susanna Moore’s In the Cut is one of the most thrilling novels she’s ever encountered. Then, the profoundly thoughtful Jamie Hood joins to explore the many boyfriends and political disappointments of Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook. Jamie Hood is the author, most recently, of Trauma Plot: A Life, the hybrid pandemic diary how to be a good girl, the semi-monthly, Proust-infused newsletter, regards, marcel, and a book of love poems, forthcoming in 2026. She has written extensively on books, feminism, #MeToo, and other political matters for many publications, some of them even prestigious. She lives in Brooklyn.Please consider supporting our work on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest and book coverage requests! Questions and comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com. Outro music by Marty Sulkow and Joe Valle.Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free, and her social media handle is @charoshane.  Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Warner Brothers shamefully won’t consider Danny and Derek’s aggressive offer. In this week’s news: U.S.-Iran nuclear talks resume in Geneva amid reports that the White House is weighing strike options (0:54), plus Trump claims in his State of the Union that Iran is building nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (9:58); on the fourth anniversary of the Ukraine invasion, the EU fails to advance new Russia sanctions and a Ukraine loan package due to Hungarian interference (12:28); fighting again intensifies in the eastern DRC (15:53); Mexican authorities kill alleged cartel leader El Mencho, triggering widespread violence (18:49); the Committee to Protect Journalists reports a record number of media workers killed in 2025, mostly killed by Israel (22:07); the UAE backs construction of Israeli-controlled camps in Rafah (23:25); the U.S. extends consular services to West Bank settlements (25:34); the so-called Islamic State declares a “new phase” of operations in Syria (27:37); Pakistan launches cross-border strikes into Afghanistan amid renewed tensions (29:16); the RSF massacres civilians in North Darfur (31:44); a diplomatic spat erupts between Washington and Paris over rhetoric on left-wing violence (33:22); Cuba faces a firefight off its coast and limited U.S. easing of fuel restrictions for private firms (35:44); Trump proposes sending a hospital ship to Greenland (38:51); and the Supreme Court overturns Trump’s tariffs as the administration moves to reimpose duties via alternative means (41:14).Grab a copy of Danny and Michael Brenes’ edited volume Cold War Liberalism: Power in a Time of Emergency. Use the discount code BESSNER26.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paris Marx is joined by Amanda Hanna-McLeer and Lucy Jackson to discuss the story of The Luddite Club, from its beginnings as a high school organization to its pivot into a non-profit and growth into an international movement.Amanda Hanna-McLeer is a writer, educator, and director of The Luddite Club documentary. Lucy Jackson is an early member of the Luddite Club.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trump’s State of the Union speech was predictable, but nevertheless revealing of his state of mind. John Nichols has our analysis.Also: In 1949 when Jackie Robinson appeared before HUAC, the House Un-American Activities Committee, to discredit Paul Robeson. Howard Bryant talks about why that happened, and what happened afterwards - to each of them. His new book is “Kings and Pawns.”Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Derek and Danny are joined by Dalia Dassa Kaye to talk about the decades-long hostility between the U.S. and Iran and the current escalation between the two countries. They talk about the odds of war and the absence of clear objectives; talk of “regime change”; the legacy of the hostage crisis and the Iran-Contra hangover; the domestic incentives that make diplomacy “too costly”; the post-9/11 opportunity to mend relations and how it collapsed after the “Axis of Evil” speech; how U.S. leaders frame Iran as uniquely fanatical and unchangeable; and how Israel’s interests and domestic U.S. politics constrain policy change.Read Dalia’s book Enduring Hostility: The Making of America's Iran Policy.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Charlotte and Jo revisit Rebecca Novack’s Murder Bimbo before taking a quick tour of the Russian Civil War and comrade crushes through Nikolai Ostrovsky’s How The Steel Was Tempered. They’re then joined by the scintillating Brittany Newell, who meditates on contemporary fiction, cities at night, and Samuel R. Delany's indelible Times Square Red, Times Square Blue. Also discussed in this episode: Emma Cline’s The Guest and Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection.Brittany Newell is a writer and performer living in San Francisco. Her debut novel Oola was published in 2017 at the age of 21 in the US, UK, and Germany. You can find her written work in Granta, n+1, McSweeney's, The New York Times, and others. Her second novel Soft Core was published by FSG in February 2025 in the US, UK, and France. She is at work on a third novel about love addiction, emotional vampires, and cannibalism. Please consider supporting our work on Patreon, where you can access additional materials and send us your guest (and book!) coverage requests. Questions and kind comments can be directed to readingwriterspod at gmail dot com.Charlotte Shane’s most recent book is An Honest Woman. Her essay newsletter, Meant For You, can be subscribed to or read online for free. Her social media handle is @charoshane.  Jo Livingstone is a writer who teaches at Pratt Institute. To support the show, navigate to https://www.patreon.com/ReadingWritersAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Paris Marx is joined by James Vincent to discuss why we’re seeing humanoid robots everywhere, the motivations to pursue an all-purpose robot, how close we are to achieving that goal, and the social implications if we were to achieve it.James Vincent is a UK-based journalist and author of Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy