Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for American Prestige
NewsPoliticsHistory

American Prestige

Daniel Bessner & Derek Davison

A podcast from Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison that provides listeners with everything they need to know about what’s going on in the world.


americanprestige.supportingcast.fm

Play
Open in
  • 25 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 39 min
  • English

Episodes 25

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • Friday · 42 min

    News - New US Sanctions on Iran, Syrian Democratic Forces Dissolve, US-Canada Trade Talks Collapse

    Subscribe now⁠ for an ad-free experience and all of our episodes. American Prestige brand MREs use Argentinian beef, but don't worry, it's the good kind. In this week’s news: the US launches a new sanctions campaign against Iran (1:36); Iran and Oman negotiate the management of the Strait of Hormuz (5:50); a Haitian gang killing (9:28); the Israeli government takes bids for its E1 settlement (12:00); the US removes Syria from the terrorism sponsors list (14:38); the Syrian Democratic Forces announces its dissolution (15:51); Trump submits the Saudi nuclear deal to Congress (18:39); progress is made in negotiations between the DRC and M23 (23:46); the Ebola outbreak in the DRC continues to expand (26:33); the CIA director visits Russia (28:14); US-Canada trade talks collapse (31:17); and the United States prepares a deep sea mining auction around overseas territories (35:42). Catch a replay of last night's livestream. Don't forget Derek's Substack, ⁠Foreign Exchanges⁠. Enjoy Danny's new Substack, I⁠mperialist Realism⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Wednesday · 1 hr 6 min

    E263 - North Korea’s Roots in Christianity w/ Jonathan Cheng

    Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and all of our episodes. Danny and Derek speak with Jonathan Cheng, China bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, about the Christian origins of North Korea’s founding ideology and the subsequent personality cult. The discussion explores missionary Samuel Moffat’s work in Pyongyang, the conversion of Kim Il-sung’s family to Christianity, Christian nationalism during Japanese colonial rule, the turn toward socialism, Kim’s postwar personality cult, and how Christianity informs the Kim family’s rule today. Be sure to grab a copy of Jonathan’s book Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Monday · 11 min

    Bonus - The Oligarch-Authoritarian Bargain w/ Christopher Hartwell (Preview)

    Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny and Derek speak with economist Christopher Hartwell about how wealthy elites who strike bargains with authoritarians often come to regret it. They discuss oligarchs in post-Soviet Russia, authoritarian state capitalism, Hungary’s break from Orbán, Trump courting tech billionaires, asset-price inflation and financialization, and the durability of state capitalism in China. Read Christopher’s piece for Foreign Affairs, co-written with Tricia Olsen: “The Disposable Oligarchs.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 21 · 44 min

    News - Israel Strikes Syria, Trump Escalates the Economic War on Iran, Potential US-North Korea Diplomacy

    Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and all of our episodes. Danny and Derek must disclose that they have had Hasan Piker on this program. They are listening and learning from him. In this week’s news: Israel bombs a Syrian airbase, potentially moving closer to a conflict with Turkey (1:22); Jared Kushner and Benjamin Netanyahu agree to scrap the Gaza Board of Peace's Hamas disarmament plan (7:09); the Iran MOU expires as Trump escalates the economic war (9:20); the Islamic Republic might restart the shooting war (13:36); the Pentagon and Arab governments rethink America’s military presence in the Gulf (15:58); Trump curtails military exercises with South Korea, possibly moving toward diplomacy with North Korea/DPRK (18:53); the Sudanese military concludes a new cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia (24:47); the Ebola outbreak in the DRC continues to expand (27:39); in Ukraine, Zelenskyy faces calls for new elections (30:06); Trump suspends new tariffs on Canada (33:01); the U.S. moves Operation Southern Spear onto land (34:50); and a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report details the cost of the new “Trump class” battleships (36:45). Watch a replay of last night's livestream with Séamus Malekafzali. Don't forget Derek's Substack, Foreign Exchanges. Enjoy Danny's new Substack, Imperialist Realism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 19 · 49 min

    E262 - American Austerity in the Philippines w/ Lisandro Claudio

    Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and to get all of our episodes. Danny and Derek welcome historian Lisandro Claudio back to the program to talk about how austerity, first imposed by the U.S. during its colonial rule of the Philippines, continues to influence the Filipino political economy. They discuss the colonial gold standard, dollar diplomacy, Miguel Cuaderno and the Central Bank of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos being forced to depreciate the peso, the Filipino Left’s anti-debt stance, and the country’s dependency on exported labor. Grab your copy of Lisandro’s book The Profligate Colonial: How the US Exported Austerity to the Philippines. Listen to our "History of the Philippines" series with Lisandro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 17 · 10 min

    Bonus - The New History of Capitalism: A Critique w/ Corey Robin (Preview)

    Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny welcomes political science professor Corey Robin to the show to discuss his review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History and the "new history of capitalism" field. They talk about Beckert's take that capitalism originated among 12th-century Muslim merchant traders in Aden, the decentering of Europe and the US in his narrative, enslaved labor in his "capitalist utopias," the near-absence of class conflict in the book's story of capitalism's early years, and why capitalism, not ideology, is the better lens for the US-China rivalry today. Read Corey’s piece for The Nation, “The Long Revolution.” And check out Danny’s recent “Power Without Ideology” piece. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 14 · 44 min

    News — US-Iran Hormuz Standoff, Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey Alliance, Israeli Settlers Besiege West Bank Community

    Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and all of our episodes. Danny and Derek bring you the headlines against their better judgment. In this week’s news: Western Europe and the U.S. set new temperature records (2:05); in Iran, the Islamic Republic demands reparations and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz (4:22), Trump declares that the U.S. will keep control of the Strait (8:20), and Iran makes a wave of hardline appointments (10:25); in Yemen, Houthi forces strike a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait (13:02); Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey form a new defense alliance (15:00); Netanyahu rejects Hamas's disarmament plan as the Board of Peace agreement collapses (18:11), plus Israeli settlers besiege a Palestinian American family's home in a West Bank village (19:48); a Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death (in absentia) for war crimes (22:19); a new UN report finds that violence against civilians rises in Myanmar (23:43); in Darfur, the Sudanese military and allied militias make key territorial gains against the RSF (25:49); Ukraine bombs the Russian port of Novorossiysk as tensions in the Black Sea push global food prices higher (28:23); Abelardo de la Espriella takes office as Colombia's new far-right president and joins the U.S.-backed Shield of the Americas (31:58); Trump secretly flees Turkey on a decoy aircraft amid reports of an Iranian assassination plot (34:06); and the Pentagon claims its Yemen strikes caused the only U.S.-inflicted civilian casualties of 2025 (37:31). Watch yesterday’s livestream here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 12 · 48 min

    E261 - The History of the Jewish Bund w/ Molly Crabapple

    Subscribe now for an ad-free experience. Danny and Derek speak with artist and writer Molly Crabapple about her book on the history of the Jewish Labor Bund, Here Where We Live Is Our Country. They discuss Molly's personal connection to the story, the Pale of Settlement and Jewish emancipation, the founding of the Bund in 1897, the Bund's armed self-defense against pogroms, its fraught relationship with Lenin and the Bolsheviks, the Bund's rivalry with Zionism, the flourishing of Bundist culture in interwar Poland, and the lessons of the Bund’s story for the Jewish left today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 10 · 10 min

    Bonus - The Democratic Foreign Policy Cartel w/ Matt Duss (Preview)

    Subscribe now to get the full episode. Danny and Derek welcome Matt Duss, Executive Vice President at the Center for International Policy, back to the show for a conversation on the fractured foreign policy consensus in the Democratic Party. They talk about Rahm Emanuel's recent Tel Aviv speech, the primacist versus restraint divide in the party, accountability for Blinken and Sullivan's Gaza policy, the Iran war and the collapse of the JCPOA, China and Taiwan, and the contradiction of supporting Ukraine while enabling the Gaza genocide. Read Matt’s piece for The Nation, “Rahm Emanuel’s Speech in Tel Aviv Breaks With a ‘No Daylight’ Approach.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 7 · 48 min

    News — Gaza Disarmament Agreement Collapses, Ceuta Migrant Crisis, Iran Nears Hormuz Deal

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Danny and Derek always use their good side when posing for a Flock cam. In this week’s news: Trump backs off of his latest threat against Iran amid a potential Hormuz deal (2:01); in Gaza, the Board of Peace’s Hamas disarmament deal collapses within a day (13:22); Red Sea shipping falls after new Houthi attacks (18:16); in Sudan, the RSF mobilizes tribal levies to make up for lost troops (20:26); the TPLF and federal forces clash again in Tigray (24:45); Ukraine runs out of Patriot missile interceptors (27:39); a migrant influx kills dozens in the Spanish exclave Ceuta (31:33); the U.S. suspends the Brazilian ambassador’s visa due to a diplomatic dispute (38:25); and America’s Operation Southern Spear kills 221 people but fails to curb the drug trade (41:52). Order your copy of Danny’s new book, Imperialist Realism, now. Watch the replay⁠ of last night's livestream with Becca Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 5 · 53 min

    E260 - Imperialist Realism w/ Danny Bessner

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Derek welcomes back to the show his very own co-host, Danny Bessner, to talk about his new book, ⁠Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century⁠, and how we see imperialist realism in American foreign policy and popular culture. They talk about the concept’s inspiration from the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the end of mass politics, the decline of grand ideology in U.S. foreign policy, the core features of imperialist realism, the Protestant missionary roots of American foreign policy, and a democratic socialist alternative to current U.S. foreign policy. Order your copy of the book now. Read the new piece from Danny’s Imperialist Realism Substack, “Empire of Grunge.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 3 · 10 min

    Bonus - Ukraine's PR War w/ Mark Ames (Preview)

    Subscribe now for the full episode! Derek once again speaks with Mark Ames, co-host of Radio War Nerd, this time to talk about the state of the war in Ukraine and the current upheaval in Zelenskyy’s government. They discuss Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries and infrastructure, the PR campaign behind the "turning the tide" narrative, the situation in the Donbas and the fall of Kostyantynivka, the firing of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, corruption and factional fighting within Ukraine's drone industry, the Ukrainian strike on an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea, and the attempts to isolate and pressure Crimea. Be sure to order your copy of Danny’s new book, Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 31 · 46 min

    News — U.S.-Iran War Resumes, Sudanese Army Secures Kordofan Highway, Fujimori Takes Office in Peru

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. AP headquarters is seriously considering upgrading the video content to IMAX. In this week’s news: the U.S. and Iran resume strikes after a brief pause (3:25); Gaza talks are close to an agreement on Hamas disarmament and an Israeli withdrawal (10:59); Saudi-Ansar Allah/Houthi attacks escalate (13:37); the U.S. and Saudi Arabia strike Iraqi militia sites (17:10); a drone strike hits two gas ships at Egypt’s Damietta port (21:01); Ukraine attacks an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea (22:58); the Sudanese army seizes the Omdurman–El Obeid highway (25:46); China expands its satellite and asteroid-defense programs (29:21); wildfires force mass evacuations across Spain and France (32:45); Keiko Fujimori takes office as president of Peru (35:53); and U.S. pressure drives Venezuela and Chad to quit the International Criminal Court (37:35). Note: After recording, a Hamas disarmament deal was announced. Be sure to order your copy of Danny’s new book, Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century. Be sure to watch a replay of last night’s livestream with journalist Jasper Nathaniel about his latest trip to the West Bank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 29 · 54 min

    E259 - Who’s Allowed Self-Determination? w/ Brad Simpson

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes. Danny and Derek speak with historian Brad Simpson about the history and evolving meaning of self-determination in international politics and law. They talk about the Wilson-Lenin debate, the Atlantic Charter, the Nazi appropriation of ethno-nationalist self-determination, the decolonization movements of the mid-20th century, the failure of the new international economic order, and the idea's continuing relevance to places like Palestine and Greenland. Get Brad’s book The First Right: Self-Determination and the Transformation of International Order, 1941–2000. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 27 · 15 min

    Bonus - The Real Odyssey w/ Joel Christensen (Preview)

    Subscribe now for the full episode. Joel Christensen, professor of classics at the CUNY Graduate Center, joins Danny and Derek for a discussion about Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey. They talk about the scholarly debate over Homer as an idea rather than an individual; the mythic Trojan War; guilt and moral responsibility in Homer's Odysseus vs. Nolan's; the roles of Penelope, Telemachus, and Agamemnon; the film's monsters, casting choices, and depictions of the gods; and how Nolan's ending departs from that of the original. Be sure to check out Joel’s book Why Odysseus? Survivor, Scoundrel, Anti-Hero. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 24 · 47 min

    News — Iran War Kills US Troops, US-Saudi Arabia Strike Nuclear Deal, Zelenskyy Fires Top General

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all episodes. American Prestige HQ continues to roll the dice on iceberg lettuce. In this week’s news: Iranian strikes kill four U.S. service members in Jordan and Iraq, and the Pentagon conceals dozens of additional casualties (2:09); Trump threatens to hit an Iranian nuclear facility and warns of attacks on civilian infrastructure (6:32); the Houthis blockade Saudi Arabia and strike two oil tankers in the Red Sea (14:20); the U.S. and Saudi Arabia announce a civilian nuclear deal (18:23); in Lebanon, the IDF begins a “pilot” withdrawal from three southern villages (23:48); Hamas elects Khalil al-Hayya as its new political leader (25:48); Ebola deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo top 1,000 (27:44); the Trump administration considers military action against jihadists in Mali (30:09); Volodymyr Zelenskyy fires Ukraine's top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi (32:29); Andy Burnham becomes prime minister of the United Kingdom (35:17); Trump imposes new tariffs on Brazil and Canada (36:53); and the State Department releases a report that names Cuba a top security threat (40:46). Don’t forget to watch a replay of last night’s livestream with special guest Alex Aviña. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 22 · 1 hr 10 min

    E258 - How the New Deal Invented the National Security State w/ Andrew Preston

    Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more episodes. Danny and Derek speak with historian Andrew Preston about the origins and development of the American national security state as we know it. They discuss the original meaning of “national security” in the early days of the republic; the idea of free security; the New Deal and the relationship between social security and national security; World War II, the Cold War, and the expansion of the security state; liberalism and American empire; and what national security looks like moving forward. Be sure to grab a copy of Andrew’s book on the subject, Total Defense: The New Deal and the Invention of National Security. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 20 · 10 min

    Bonus - The Right Takes Higher Ed w/ Ann Manov (Preview)

    Subscribe now for the full episode. Danny speaks with writer Ann Manov about the right’s attempts to reshape the humanities and the crisis facing American higher education. They discuss Republican-backed civics programs, the Great Books model, falling academic standards, campus culture wars, the bleak prospects for students, the economics of higher education, and AI’s impact on the future of universities. Read Ann's piece for Harper's, ⁠"Republican Machines."⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 17 · 51 min

    News - U.S. Resumes Iran War, DRC Ebola Outbreak Surges, Burnham Becomes UK PM

    Subscribe now for an ad-free experience. Canada’s wildfires rage on, so Danny and Derek are here to be your breath of fresh air. This week’s news: In Iran, the U.S. reimposes its blockade and intensifies strikes (2:04), Trump announces and then backs off a Hormuz toll (5:44), and the White House issues threats of further escalation (9:17); in Yemen, the Houthis/Ansar Allah and Saudi Arabia trade strikes (13:37) as the former might become involved in the Iran war (16:28); Lebanese-Israeli talks talks wrap up, but progress is uncertain (17:45); in Israel, a date is set for an election (19:18), plus the ethnic cleansing in Gaza is given a new euphemism (21:15); Southeast Asian countries appear to normalize relations with Myanmar (22:23); the U.S. touts a “new” peace plan for Sudan (24:13); the Ebola outbreak in the DRC continues and may be much larger than official figures suggest (26:35); Zelenskyy replaces Ukraine’s prime minister and defense minister (29:43); Andy Burnham is to become the UK’s PM (33:32), plus a UK-EU deal on Gibraltar is reached (35:22); Marco Rubio is reportedly running Venezuela as a U.S. viceroy (36:34); the U.S. is attempting to destroy the ICC (38:35) as it also takes aim at “left-wing terrorism” (41:23); and a Pew poll finds China more popular than the U.S. for the first time (43:01). ⁠Watch last night’s weekly livestream⁠ if you missed it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 15 · 56 min

    E257 - The Need for Responsible AI w/ Robert Wright

    Subscribe now for an ad-free experience. Danny and Derek welcome to the show journalist and author Robert Wright to talk about the potential and pitfalls of the AI revolution. They discuss how neural networks learn, the differences between predictive and generative AI, machine consciousness, job displacement, the environmental costs of data centers, how capitalism is shaping the AI race, and the need for international regulation. Read Robert’s new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Showing 1–20 of 25 episodes