Ballotproof
We will see violence: What Turkey lost in Erdoğan's referendum victory.
Live from Ankara, Max Zirngast reports on Turkey's uncertain political landscape after a referendum passed granting dictatorial powers to Recep Erdoğan, and explains why the president's offer of stability for support can't mask the origins of Turkey's political emergency - a deeper crisis of capitalism and democracy.
[Audio a bit muffled at times, wear headphones - it's a great conversation]
Max is co-author of the recent articles Voting on Dictatorship and Ten Thoughts on the Turkish Referendum for Jacobin.
An immigrant's path beyond fear, a feminist's road towards peace.
Live from somewhere in the Chihuahuan Desert, Laura Carlsen reports on the work of the Caravan Against Fear - a rolling migrant rights / resistance movement, and explores the rise of women-led feminist movements challenging violence and militarism in Latin America, and potentially (hopefully) across the globe.
Laura wrote the Counterpunch article Latin America’s Women-Led Movements and New Feminisms. Follow the Caravan Against Fear on their Facebook page.
The whole system is imploding: A report from the French election.
Live from Paris, political scientist Philippe Marlière examines the shifting, chaotic French elections - from the waning of traditional centrist party power in the face of popular anger towards the establishment, to the domestic and Europe-wide stakes of the contest - and warns that even a Le Pen loss signals a far-right gain in political power.
Philippe wrote the article French tragedy or farce: the 2017 presidential election for openDemocracy.
Beyond the internal mirror: Beauty and sickness in American culture.
Psychologist Renee Engeln examines beauty sickness in our culture - the psychological stress placed on women and girls to measure up to cultural ideas around their bodies, and explains why moving to a healthier society requires both a shift in individual actions, and a transformation of our culture itself.
Renee is author of Beauty Sick: How the Cultural Obsession with Appearance Hurts Girls and Women from Harper Collins.
Renee will be speaking about her book at the Evanston Lit Fest this weekend. Find out more here.
A conversation with Edward Snowden's (unknowing) data smugglers.
Journalists Jessica Bruder and Dale Maharidge discuss their (at the time unknowing) role in smuggling leaked NSA data from Edward Snowden to Citizenfour filmmaker Laura Poitras, and the work of uncovering and reporting on state secrets in an age of mass surveillance and all the paranoia that comes with it.
Jessica and Dale wrote the Harper's cover story Snowden’s Box: The human network behind the biggest leak of all.
Finally, a white man's opinion on the Rachel Dolezal racial identity thing.
In a Moment of Truth, Jeff Dorchen reads Ijeoma Oluo's feature "The Heart of Whiteness" on Rachel Dolezal, and has some good things to say. Oh, about the piece itself, not Rachel Dolezal, that's mostly very critical about Dolezal's uniquely privileged understanding / performance of Blackness.
