The Nation Podcasts

Producer’s note: This was recorded on Thursday, April 18, before Israel’s strike on Iran, hence us releasing this earlier than usual. Overnight, Israel did launch a strike on Iran.

On this week's news episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek bring you another world news roundup. This week: Israel's retaliation for Iran’s strike last week, Iran floats the possibility of developing nuclear weapons in response (0:31), and plans for an IDF Rafah operation in Gaza are underway (8:09); the US is still pursuing Saudi normalization with Israel (10:40) and vetoes a Palestinian statehood resolution at the UN (13:38); the US is trying to create an “independent” sanctions monitor for the DPRK/North Korea (15:11); in climate news, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is suffering the “worst” bleaching event ever (17:19); in Sudan, the fighting expands into North Darfur (19:46); the UN’s Libya envoy quits in frustration (21:18); a whistleblower says that the US is ignoring the order to withdraw from Niger (23:44); the US pushes back over oil refinery attacks in Ukraine (26:41) while the House of Representatives will take up military aid bills (30:01); and the US will reinstate sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector (32:12).

Hope is different from optimism – it’s an embrace of uncertainty, and a basis for action. The polls look bad for Joe Biden, but Democrats’ chances are much brighter in the House, and perhaps the Senate. John Nichols talks about reasons for hope in 2024, starting in the tipping point state of 2020, Wisconsin.

Also: Bill Gates is now the 6^th richest man in the world, with 104 billion dollars. He’s spent the last 20 years giving away some of his money--the Gates Foundation gave away $7 billion in 2022. But with the money comes a host of problems. Tim Schwab will explain; his new book has a great title: “The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire.”

Hope does not mean saying ‘this is not bad,’ Rebecca Solnit argues; it just means we will not give up—because we know that what we do matters, and we also know we’ve been surprised by good things we never expected.

Also: The bromance between Elon Musk and Donald Trump cannot last – historian David Nasaw will explain why.

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek bring you news from around the world. This week: in Gaza, the U.S. makes airdrops while Biden announces a temporary port (0:30), some countries restore UNRWA funding (4:02), and more; a cargo ship is sunk and data cables cut in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen (12:26); the parliament of Pakistan elects a new prime minister (16:15); a renewed attempt at a ceasefire in Myanmar (18:02); an update on the crisis in Sudan (20:17); a new date is set for Senegal’s presidential election (23:16); an attack in Odesa during a visit by Zelensky and the Greek prime minister (25:32); Sweden officially joins NATO (27:08); in Haiti, a new gang offensive threatens to oust Ariel Henry (28:33); and we continue to break new climate records (33:54).

John Nichols reports on Monday’s Republican caucuses in Iowa, and explains why Iowa is the state with the biggest shift from blue to red between Obama in 2008 and Trump in 2020.

Also: The new film "American Fiction," starring Jeffrey Wright, takes up the question, do Black writers have to "write Black"? The film is based on the novel "Erasure" by Percival Everett, which is considerably wilder and more uncompromising than the film. John Powers comments—he’s critic at Large on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.