The Toxic Legacy of Martin Peretz’s New Republic (w/ Jeet Heer)
Current Affairs17 Jul 2024

The Toxic Legacy of Martin Peretz’s New Republic (w/ Jeet Heer)

Get new episodes early at patreon.com/CurrentAffairs !

Jeet Heer has written two major essays about the intellectual legacy of the New Republic magazine’s 70s-2000s heyday. The first, from 2015, excavates the magazine’s history of racism and its role in Clinton-era “welfare reform” and in pushing Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein’s The Bell Curve into public consciousness. The second piece, published recently, looks more broadly at the career of New Republic owner Martin Peretz: his racism, his hawkish foreign policy, and his role in creating the conservative “New Democrats” of the 1990s, who abandoned FDR-era liberalism.

Jeet joins us today to tell us more about why this magazine once mattered, and the enormous effect that such a small publication and a single man have had on the politics of our time.

"[Peretz's New Republic] promoted many of the worst decisions in modern American history: the killing fields in 1980 Central America, the invasion of Iraq, the downgrading of diplomacy and preference to military solutions in foreign policy, the neoliberal economics that have fueled inequality and instability, the brutalization of the Palestinians, the revival of scientific racism, and the persistent whittling down of the welfare state." - Jeet Heer

Episoder(600)

MAGA Megadonors Are Recruiting Mayors to Criminalize Pro-Palestine Speech

MAGA Megadonors Are Recruiting Mayors to Criminalize Pro-Palestine Speech

Right-wing megadonors flew mayors to an all-expenses-paid summit in New Orleans, where they pushed a policy framework that codified mainstream criticism of Israel as “antisemitic.”📰 Read the article:...

11 Des 202531min

Why Democrats Keep Failing Working People (w/ Nina Turner)

Why Democrats Keep Failing Working People (w/ Nina Turner)

Nina Turner is a former Ohio State Senator, national co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, and one of the most forceful advocates for working-class politics in the United States. She...

10 Des 202539min

Anthony Fantano on the Exploitative Music Industry and Zohran's Rap Career

Anthony Fantano on the Exploitative Music Industry and Zohran's Rap Career

Anthony Fantano is the biggest music critic on YouTube, and the self-described “internet’s busiest music nerd.” The New York Times calls him “The Only Music Critic Who Matters (if You’re Under 25),” a...

5 Des 202544min

There Have to Be Consequences For Advocating Illegal Wars

There Have to Be Consequences For Advocating Illegal Wars

📰 Email help@currentaffairs.org with proof of your New York Times cancellation, and we will gift you a FREE one-year digital subscription to Current AffairsYet again, the New York Times’ Bret Stephen...

26 Nov 202519min

Dick Cheney's Legacy Is Mass Murder (w/ Adam McKay)

Dick Cheney's Legacy Is Mass Murder (w/ Adam McKay)

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mark the passing of a professional liar, war criminal, and mass murderer. Dick Cheney is dead. As you read this, his co-conspirator George W. Bush may be ...

20 Nov 202545min

Why Everything is Getting Worse (w/ Cory Doctorow)

Why Everything is Getting Worse (w/ Cory Doctorow)

Cory Doctorow is the author of over 20 books, including The Internet Con, How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism, and the science fiction novels Unauthorized Bread and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdo...

18 Nov 20251h 5min

The Silencing of Me

The Silencing of Me

🌹 Sign up for our FREE newsletter, State of Affairs, and we’ll send a digital copy of The Silencing of Me straight to your inbox: https://www.currentaffairs.org/newsletter?hsCtaAttrib=199589517656PAP...

14 Nov 20251h 38min

The Case for Centrism Does Not Hold Up

The Case for Centrism Does Not Hold Up

The New York Times editorial board is wrong. Principled progressive politics on the Bernie Sanders model is still the path forward.🌹 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-case-for...

12 Nov 202528min

Populært innen Humor

papaya
rss-spartsklubben
harm-og-hegseth
enkel-servering
storefri-med-mikkel-og-herman
tore-og-haralds-podkast
tusvik-tnne
topp-3-med-wold-og-fladseth
ma-pa-behandling-med-morten-ramm
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
folk-flest-med-linn-og-nils
misjonen-med-antonsen-og-golden
hanna-de-heldige
wolfgang-wee-uncut
jan-thomas-og-einar-blir-venner
rss-snorre-med-gaute
rss-det-alle-snakker-om-med-siri-og-kim
verdens-verste
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
gutta-backer