In this episode I speak with Melani McAlister, professor of American Studies and International Affairs at George Washington University and author of the remarkable new book Promises Then the Storm — a journal she began on October 5th, 2023.This conversation moves through her life story: • growing up an evangelical Christian in North Carolina • discovering Amnesty International, human rights work, and the Middle East in 1982 • learning Arabic in Cairo • joining Mobilization for Survival in the late 1980s • working with queer and feminist organizers • being listed by the ADL as a “hate group” simply for recognizing the PLO • teaching the U.S. as an empire to a changing generation of students• Palestinian Poetry as ResistanceWe discuss Christian Zionism, the shifting landscape on American campuses, the rise of the alt-right, the weaponization of antisemitism, and why Palestine now resonates with Black, South Asian, Latino, and other marginalized communities.Melani argues that the human rights era has collapsed, that Gaza revealed the hypocrisy at the center of the old world order, and that what comes next must be a planetary consciousness rooted in ecology, sustainability, and the dignity of all people.At the end, Melani reads from one of the most powerful entries in her book — a passage I’ve set to original music from a close friend. Please stay for that.Melani’s book: Promises Then the Storm https://www.amazon.com/Promises-Then-...Music: https://michigan25yearsago.bandcamp.com/00:00 Coming Up…01:08 Palestine Exhaustion and McAlister’s Book06:55 Growing Up Evangelical to 1982 Israel Invasion of Lebanon10:45 The Christian Zionism Puzzle Piece13:40 McAlister Drops Messianic Christianity14:53 On Being a “Good Girl” and Religiosity17:57 Obiedence of Suicide Bombers19:02 Media Sources as American Zionist “Doctrine”21:52 The Next Wave of Protests23:53 McAlister’s Activist Path through Amnesty, MOBE, Academia31:59 Addressing Antisemitism, Living in Berlin, the Collapse of the Right36:04 The Legacy of the Jewish Left39:05 Judaism from Zionism and Israel40:35 A Journal Passage on Antisemitism44:04 Forgetting about Antisemitism and Weaponizing Antisemitism47:22 Palestinian Poetry, Darwish, and Anger50:03 “Identity Card”50:38 How Students Have Changed After Gaza57:00 Self Determination Beyond the Nation-State1:02:17 Oppressor-Oppressed Narratives1:06:05 Palestine is the Symbolic Center of the Decolonizing Struggle1:16:38 The End of the United Nations?1:20:25 We Should All Write Diaries1:22:30 October 14th. Free Palestine.
Imagine it’s Thanksgiving ten years ago. Your slightly unhinged Uncle Bob starts talking about a mysterious financier with a private island, underage trafficking, a bizarre “temple,” secret deals in Africa, ties to intelligence services, oligarch donors, and elite universities. You’d probably roll your eyes and wonder if he needed a psychiatric evaluation.Fast-forward a decade: victim testimony, court filings, FOIA dumps, leaked emails, and relentless reporting have confirmed that most of that “crazy” rant was… real. Not the Reddit fan-fic version — the documented, boring-legal-paperwork version. So what does that say about the world we actually live in?In this conversation, I sit down with Dropsite News investigative journalist Murtaza Hussain to talk about the system around Jeffrey Epstein: the money pipelines, the intelligence overlaps, the arms deals in places like Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Mongolia and beyond, and what the upcoming release of new Epstein documents might reveal.We talk about how to cover a story like this without feeding antisemitic conspiracies or Nick-Fuentes-style fantasies — while still being honest about the role of Israel’s covert networks, Western power, and the moral rot of a global oligarchy that likes to pretend it’s defending “democracy.”This is not a video about one “lone monster.” It’s about the empire that produced him.00:00 Coming Up…01:09 Crazy Uncle Bob Tells You About Epstein07:10 What Do We Do When The Crazy Uncle Is Right?14:35 Murtaza Hussain’s From Occupy To Epstein17:01 The Ethical Considerations of Explosive Reporting20:59 What is The Epstein Story… Really?25:36 The Smoking Gun Has Been Fired, Selling out Africa, and More to Come35:07 What About Blackmail?41:14 What is Coming Next From the Epstein Releases48:28 Oligarchy Destroys Democracy55:40 Simple Sex and Money At The End of the EmpireBECOME A MEMBER - MONTHLY MEMBERS ONLY LIVESTREAM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NIku35U9thGG9WBJjE0sw/joinFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
Zohran Mamdani’s victory didn’t just shake New York politics — it cracked open a deeper fear that’s defined Western liberal discourse for decades. Figures like Sam Harris and Bill Maher built careers on the fantasy of the “Good Muslim” — the secular, assimilated, apolitical figure who makes the West feel safe. But Zohran’s unapologetic politics, rooted in solidarity with Palestine and working-class liberation, expose the hollowness of that narrative. In this episode, we revisit Mahmood Mamdani’s landmark thesis in Good Muslim, Bad Muslim to understand why Zohran’s success provokes such hysteria — and what it reveals about how the West still divides the Muslim world into those it can use and those it must fear. From Sadiq Khan’s media approval to the wild panic surrounding Zohran’s rise, this essay is about power, empire, and the myths that keep them intact.0:00 Intro - A Perfect Science Experiment1:05 "We Want Those People Here In Our Society" - Sam Harris5:05 "They have to Say Aloud Our Western Values" - Bill Maher7:12 Bill Maher Brings Up Zohran's Ugandan Citizenship10:05 Sam Harris responding to "Stealth Islamists"17:27 Sadiq Khan vs Zohran Mamdani - What is the Dangerous Idea?18:20 Mamood Mamdani's Good Muslim, Bad Muslim29:04 The Colonial Fear of Zohran and Palestine Support32:04 What's Changed in the Last 10 Years?Good Muslim, Bad Muslim Sept 2002 by Mamood Mamdani https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/sj6/mamdanigo... BECOME A MEMBER - MONTHLY MEMBERS ONLY LIVESTREAM / @jayshapirodilemmapodcast For more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
The Rashomon Effect - Multiple people witnessing the same event remember it in contradictory ways, often colored by their own self-interest, trauma, or worldview.Applied to the killing of Rafaat Alareer and a Tweet by Bari Weiss00:00 The Rashomon Effect02:58 The Killing of Rafaat Alareer04:24 Perspective One - Bari Weiss, The Zionist Journalist12:42 Perspective Two - Rafaat, The Poet18:03 Perspective Three - IDF, The Killer20:20 Perspective Four - Me, The Onlooker25:01 The Exhausting Rashomon Problem, The Philosophical Problems, and "If I Must Die"Sources: https://electronicintifada.net/content/my-final-moments-refaat-alareer/50193https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2024-01/remembering-dr-refaat-alareer/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/8/palestinian-people-mourn-the-death-of-refaat-alareerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refaat_AlareerBECOME A MEMBER - MONTHLY MEMBERS ONLY LIVESTREAM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NIku35U9thGG9WBJjE0sw/joinFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
Malcolm X was more than an activist or organizer. In this conversation, Michael Sawyer, author of Black Minded and the forthcoming The Door of No Return, takes Malcolm seriously as a philosopher who linked Black freedom in the United States to anti-colonial struggle in Palestine. We talk Malcolm’s trip to Gaza, his push to move the fight to the global commons and the United Nations, and why he believed moral clarity must come before politics.This episode wrestles with the hardest question, the tension between violence and liberation. King’s nonviolence, the Panthers’ self-defense, Malcolm in the middle, what actually changes unjust systems, what counts as violence when power calls even peaceful disruption violent, and how that logic plays out in Gaza today. We connect Malcolm’s internationalism to Gen Z protests, the language of decolonization, and the growing refusal to blur anti-Zionism with antisemitism.If you care about Palestine and Gaza, if you want to understand Malcolm X beyond the poster and the pull quote, if you are trying to think honestly about means and ends, this one matters.BUY MICHAEL SAWYER'S BOOK HEREhttps://www.plutobooks.com/product/black-minded/READ ZIONIST LOGIC BY MALCOLM X HERE https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/socialist-viewpoint-us/mayjun_05/mayjun_05_21.htm00:00:00 Coming Up…00:01:08 Member Thanks…00:01:47 Before Thoughts - Michael Sawyer Intro00:02:50 Before Thoughts - A Spectrum of Violence. MLK, X, Black Panther00:16:21 Sawyer’s Path to Malcolm X00:26:42 Malcolm X as a Philosopher00:31:03 The Internationalism of Malcolm & Malcolm Goes to Gaza 00:35:48 Does the International Scope Hurt the Cause?00:41:49 On Malcolm’s view on Violence and Liberation00:53:50 Understanding the Systemic Enemy00:58:12 The Gen Z Protests from Kenya to Nepal01:04:31 The Questions Around Malcolm’s Assassinations01:09:25 The Black American and Judaism, Zionism and Marcus Garvey01:20:08 After Thought - My Next Guest and Wrestling as PoliticsBECOME A MEMBER - MONTHLY MEMBERS ONLY LIVESTREAM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NIku35U9thGG9WBJjE0sw/joinFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
Iranian scholar Hamid Dabashi goes deep on empire, Iran’s revolutionary currents, and Palestine. We cover his “two nemeses” frame—global imperialism vs domestic tyranny—and why opposing one never excuses the other. He unpacks Islamism as a (once) liberation theology and its limits, the polyfocal currents inside Islam, the 1979 revolution’s three forces (nationalism, Marxism, Islamism), sanctions and the erasure of Iran’s middle class, and why airstrikes only unify Iranians behind a garrison state. We discuss Gaza (denouncing Oct 7 while naming the ongoing genocide), BDS as civil disobedience, Israel as an American outpost, and a future beyond Zionism/Islamism. Plus: Iranian cinema’s philosophy (Kiarostami, Majidi), national trauma (1953, Iran–Iraq War), and how agonistic pluralism could reframe the region.00:00 Coming Up…01:31 Before Thought - Membership Thanks02:10 Before Thought - Dabashi Intro and Three Forces of Moral Politics09:55 Origins & Polyfocal Islam: Mecca/Medina as Blueprint13:34 Three Currents of Resistance: Socialism, Nationalism, Islamism22:07 Who is a Good Muslim? A Good Jew? Religion’s Double Edge26:48 Why is Israel so Obsessed with Iran?30:57 Iran, “The One That Got Away” and the Hostage Crisis39:57 Two Nemeses: Domestic Tyranny vs Global Imperialism43:31 The Enemy of My Enemy49:25 October 7, BDS, and Moral Consistency56:49 Violence and Liberation, and The Only Viable Political Horizon59:04 Optimism About The Future01:05:42 A Celebration of Iranian Cinema and Trauma01:12:14 After Thought - More on Violence and Liberation01:14:23 After Thought - Malcolm X in Gaza and my Next GuestIranian Films mentioned:Close UpThe RunnerThe Little StrangerThe Color of ParadiseHarold Lasswell on the Garrison State: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_LasswellMalcolm X in Gaza and Zionist Logic Article:https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/socialist-viewpoint-us/mayjun_05/mayjun_05_21.htmBECOME A MEMBER - MONTHLY MEMBERS ONLY ZOOM/LIVESTREAM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NIku35U9thGG9WBJjE0sw/joinFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
In this conversation with sociologist Nandita Sharma, we dig into the deep contradictions of nationalism, sovereignty, and the postcolonial state. Sharma argues that the nation is not a pathway to liberation but a mechanism of ruling that reproduces inequality, exclusion, and capitalist domination. We explore her personal story of migration, the legacy of anti-colonial struggles, Palestine and Hawaii today, the meaning of indigeneity, and her call for a planetary commons beyond rulers, borders, and citizenship. This is a provocative, challenging, and visionary dialogue about what true freedom might mean in our time and what the counterfeit version of it might be.BECOME A MEMBER - MONTHLY MEMBERS ONLY LIVESTREAM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NIku35U9thGG9WBJjE0sw/join00:00 Coming Up…01:13 Become a Member02:30 Nandita Sharma - Before Thoughts07:46 The Elephant in the Room: Nationalism and a Personal Story12:23 Core Thesis of Home Rule16:17 Colonialism vs. National Sovereignty22:55 Nationalism Defined30:50 Are you Erasing Indigenousness?40:45 Palestine and the Trap of Nationhood52:12 History Didn’t Have to Be This Way58:14 The Vision of a Planetary Commons01:06:35 The Gen Z Protests and What Can We Do Now?01:15:03 No Borders and Migrant Struggles01:18:26 Palestinians Deserve Better Than a Nation State01:20:49 After Thought on “Decolonizing Our Conceptions of Freedom”01:23:56 Members Get the Spillover01:24:25 Next Guest PrepFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
A former Israel Consulate staffer for the U.S. Southeast—Brandt Burleson—breaks silence. For eight years he built church networks, wrote Bible-laced talking points, and helped run a PR machine that, in his words, “wrapped a starvation campaign in a Judeo-Christian bow.” He explains how Christian Zionist theology was leveraged to pressure politicians, how pastors were courted and choreographed, what he saw after October 7th (including raw screening sessions), why the line between “ally” and “apocalypse” talk got so blurry, and what finally broke his conscience. This is part confession, part anatomy of influence.BECOME A MEMBER - MONTHLY MEMBERS ONLY LIVESTREAM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5NIku35U9thGG9WBJjE0sw/join00:00 Coming Up…01:24 Become a Member / A Random Email from Brandt04:04 From Pastor's Son to Israel’s “Useful Idiot”07:43 An Ad on LinkedIn Changes Brandt’s Life12:29 Courting the Christian Zionists for Israel20:01 What Brandt's Colleagues Really Thought of Apocalyptic Christian Zionists26:32 The Israeli Cynics and Messianic Fanatics29:17 October 7th and the Religious Danger of Atrocity Propaganda37:23 Thoughts on the Selective Outrage about Violence and Religion40:49 Brandt Loses His Religion In a Swamp of Religious Contradictions43:24 The Palestinian Narrative, The Jewish Messiah, and The Red Heifers 46:55 What Was and Wasn’t Included in the October 7th Screenings50:49 The Rigged Global Political Structures That Enable Narrative Framing55:20 “I Really Hated Myself”59:24 On Coleman Hughes, Curated Israel Trips, and False Information01:02:32 Where Christianity and Christian Zionism Goes From Here01:07:26 How Brandt Left / “There are Things That Are Worse Than Being Unemployed”01:12:44 After Thought / Humanizing Extreme Violence and Revisiting a Boy Named NemrFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
In this conversation with political economist Adam Hanieh, we trace the deep connections between fossil fuels, finance, Palestine, and the climate crisis. From his formative years in Ramallah during the Second Intifada to his current research, Hanieh explains how oil became the invisible substrate of modern life, how Gulf petrodollars built today’s US-dominated financial order, and why Israel and the Gulf monarchies emerged as twin pillars of American power after 1967. We explore the global shift of oil toward China, the enduring grip of the dollar system, and why the liberation of Palestine must be understood as inseparable from struggles for climate justice and decolonization.Become a member to support my work and join the members only livestream where we can share ideas, critiques, responses, or other observations about our strange world. Final Sunday of each month. See you there!My interview on BettBeat Media on Israel, Zionism, Gaza, philosophy and more: • Jay Shapiro EXPOSES the Truth About Israel... Crude Capitalism by Adam Hanieh here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2...Petrodollar Explained by Explains 101: • America's Most Powerful Weapon Is Not Nuke... 00:00 Monthly Members Only Live Stream Announcement02:00 Coming up...02:34 Before Thoughts / “Our Analog World” and the Power of Oil12:30 From The Second Intifada to the Petrochemical Question15:38 The Ubiquitous and Invisible Age of Oil, The Substrate of Everything21:53 Western Capitalism, Colonialism, and the World Wars27:58 The Gulf States Become the “Oil Deposit That Matters”32:58 Post WW2 Anticolonialism and What Went Wrong in The Gulf States38:49 OPEC and an Attempt to Take Control of the Upstream41:08 Israel Works Itself Into the Region And Proves its “Value” in 196746:20 How Petro Monarchs Maintain Control52:09 Why Wasn’t Israel a Problem?56:58 The ‘73 OPEC Crisis, the Petrodollar System, and the Financial Structure Today1:08:06 Currency Wars, Climate Change, and China’s Rise1:16:00 The Sovereign Wealth Funds of the Gulf and The Arms Trade1:19:01 Israel and America’s Entangled Dollar Dominated Interests1:24:40 Disincentiving Fighting Climate Change1:28:35 Climate Justice and the Moral Horror of Palestine1:32:49 After Thoughts / Petrodollar Explained recommendation / HowTheLightGetsInFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
In this conversation, I sit down with Mubarak Awad, often called the Gandhi of Palestine. Born in Jerusalem during the Nakba, Mubarak’s life has been defined by both tragedy and resilience — from burying his father as a boy, to dedicating his life to nonviolent resistance under occupation. We trace his extraordinary journey: his efforts to teach nonviolence in Palestine, his eventual deportation by Israel, and his continued commitment to peace and justice in exile. Mubarak reflects on his life’s work, the heartbreak of displacement, and his current feelings about the ongoing struggle. This is the story of a man who refused to give up on nonviolence, even when enemies were everywhere on both sides.Find more about Mubarak Awad at nonviolenceinternational.net00:00 Coming Up - Before Thoughts01:32 A Childhood Before The State of Israel06:29 Violence On The Horizon and "We all Hate The British"12:25 1947 and 1948 And Losing His Father24:10 1967 and Israel Bulldozes Awad's House and Hopes in Nasser29:06 Yale or Lee College? And Seeing American Segregation36:40 Learning about Gandhi41:21 Palestinian Resistance in the 80's55:25 The Anger in the Palestinian Movement1:02:11 Why Is Israel Threatened by Non Violence "The Prefer I Throw Bombs"1:04.40 The Unforgettable Nakba and "Who Lived In This House?"1:10:05 The First Intifada and Awad's is Targeted and Deported1:23:06 Leaving Palestine1:29:53 The Violence Today and Hamas's Form of "Resistance"1:36:15 What Happens Next? "The Cloud is now on Gaza"1:41:25 After ThoughtsFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
A final word on my efforts to help (no matter what you think) people like Coleman Hughes and Sam Harris avoid falling into the Zionist trap. Thoughts on Israel’s “disengagement” from Gaza in 2005, and why we have so much trouble believing Israel’s stated intentions.00:00 Learned Skepticism of Israel and Coleman Repeating Lies09:02 Is Epstein a Mossad Agent? The Jonathan Pollard Pattern13:37 Disengaging from Gaza and the Intentions of the Blockade17:42 Advice: Leave The Free PressFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
In Part 2 of this 2 part conversation, we dive deeper into Gaza after Israel’s 2005 “withdrawal”, examine the blockade, restrictions, and the motives of a “starvation policy.” We also explore Israel’s close relationship with apartheid South Africa, and disagree on what these alliances reveal about the motives behind Zionism and occupation. The conversation turns toward justice vs peace in practice, and the moral weight of denying dignity. Stay tuned after the debate for my “Afterthoughts,” where I break down Coleman’s argumentation and share further reflections on justice, intention, and the future of Palestine.00:00 Intro Before Thoughts00:43 When Israel "Left" Gaza in 200507:14 Why is Egypt Different than Gaza and Western Interests19:09 What is Preventing Democracy?22:09 Israel and Apartheid South Africa doesn't Matter?26:00 Unplugging Cultural Touchpoints in Palestine by Zionists33:08 Deciphering Motivations of Zionism37:58 Understanding the Villain and Palestinian Resistance51:29 The Essentialism Charge and Nefarious Zionist Motivations1:01:06 Starvation and Motivations of Ethnic Cleansing1:10:38 Stated Israeli War Aims and the Zionist Territorial Aims1:17:42 After Thought 1 - Justice vs Peace and Material Gains1:19:11 After Thought 2 - "What they Didn't Do" as an Argument1:21:57 After Thought 3 - This Could All Make Sense, And Hamas Accepts a Ceasefire1:23:10 After Thought 4 - South Africa Apartheid and Israel Ties1:26:18 After Thought 5 - Who Will Live in Gaza?1:31:41 After Thought 6 - On Starvation Media Coverage and Losing Humanity1:36:14 After Thought 7 - Read More1:38:35 After Thought 8 - If You are Mad at Jews... Voices Against the OccupationWatch "Courage in the Divide" from 1986 https://youtu.be/-2UucKQuVK8?si=5-3xNqaQEVAoXxqz Breakdown of the methodology of the Penn State Poll we discussed https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/poll-show-most-jewish-israelis-support-expelling-gazans For more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
In part 1 of a 2 part conversation I attempt to engage with former co-host Coleman Hughes in a deep, difficult, and (hopefully) helpful debate about Israel, Palestine, Zionism, and the meaning of justice.We dig into:The “good guys vs bad guys” framing of Hamas and IsraelVillain origin stories and why history mattersZionism, the Nakba, and displacement in 1948Justice vs peace — what Palestinians are really seekingWhy moderate Palestinian voices are often silenced or eliminatedU.S. empire, oil, and how global power structures fuel the conflictThis is not a “gotcha” debate — it’s an attempt to really surface the philosophical differences behind how we analyze Palestine and Israel today with far reaching implications.Ghassan Kanafani’s “Letter from Gaza” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ThCEzFWLOQPART 2 HERE https://youtu.be/I7eofSg9wGo00:00 Coming Up - Before Thoughts04:35 The Hopes for the Conversation - Not Changing Minds but Display Difference08:09 Good Guys Bad Guys Israel v Hamas - What makes a Villain?17:04 Making Contact to the Nakba and talking about Neighbors23:59 The Zionist Motivations Pre 194826:16 Deciphering Intentions from History, Statements, Restraint33:30 What is the Palestinian Cause and How Would You Like to Achieve it?37:08 Essentialism and Skipping Over Nefarious Motivations42:59 The Motivations of the West and “Liberation” 48:09 Where is Palestinian Non Violent Resistance?53:03 After Thoughts - The "Jubilation" of Zionists and “Anger” of Palestinians in 194757:33 Ghassan Kanafani - And Picked Cherries in my HeadFor more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
In this wide-ranging conversation, political economist Patrick Bond joins me from Johannesburg to trace the lessons of South Africa’s struggles — from the fight against apartheid and Big Pharma to today’s battles over BRICS, Palestine, climate, and global capital. We dig into the meaning of “sub-imperialism,” the hypocrisies of governments that talk left but walk right, and the urgent question of how to end genocide and ecological collapse in real time. What does internationalism look like after the failure of unipolar power? And can “power to the people” still break the system’s grip?0:00 – Coming Soon / Intro5:23 – From Wharton to Mandela’s Office14:36 – Where are we within capitalism and BRICS?22:33 – BRICS: Anti-Empire or Just Sub-Empire?31:06 – Slaying the Neoliberal Dragon35:14 My Enemy’s Enemy?39:23 Botha and the Rubicon43:25 Imperialism and Zionism and the Revolutionary Violence Moment52:50 The Hypocrisy of BRICS and Israel57:53 – “Hague-Schmague”: When International Law Collapses1:05:31 – Gaza and why won’t anyone do anything?1:15:17 – Western Liberals and “Zionism”?1:24:32 – After Thoughts and Next GuestLessons of Black Panther: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s02e07-the-lessons-of-black-panther-chloe-valdary/id1470490447?i=1000489634117For more from Jay visit whatjaythinks.com
Political economist Radhika Desai offers a Marxist reading of today’s global crises — from Gaza to the dollar’s fragility. We unpack why she believes capitalism has reached its monopoly stage, why it cannot function without imperialism, and how those contradictions shape everything from U.S. foreign policy to BRICS. Gaza becomes a stark example of how imperial systems maintain power, revealing the collapse of Western moral authority and the violent logic built into capitalism itself.FREE DOWNLOAD (thanks to Knowledge Unlatched) Capitalism Coronavirus and War https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/59799 More from jay at whatjaythinks.com0:00:00 Coming Up…0:00:55 Before Thoughts — Questions Answered Through a Marxist Lens0:06:41 The Dinner Table Spark — Teenage Curiosity to a Career in Geopolitics0:13:30 Where Are We Now? — Or When are we according to Marx0:28:40 Capitalism as a Particular System — Cyclical Thinking, Historical Thinking & Western Decline0:37:03 The Hidden Rule — Why Capitalism Always Demands Exploitation & Imperialism0:43:04 Was the U.S. Ever in Charge? — Multipolarity in Past and Present0:59:00 BRICS at 51% — Can the Bloc Really Challenge Western Hegemony?1:08:01 From Gold to Bubbles — The Dollar’s Rise, Fall, and Fragile Future1:13:01 The Gaza Turning Point — Western Hypocrisy and the Loss of Moral Authority1:19:04 A Capitalist War — Gaza, Resources, and Built-In System Contradictions1:29:18 After Thoughts — Next Guests Patrick Bond Coleman Hughes and a Vinyl Record
Some thoughts on authoritarianism and humanism with a passage from Erich Fromm's Psychoanalysis and Religion from 195000:00 Authoritarianism as forms of "worship"08:36 Fromm on Authoritarian and Humanistic Trends within Religion14:00 What Humanism asks of us16:39 The upcoming lineup
In this video, anti-war libertarian Scott Horton joins me for a wide-ranging conversation on the true mechanics of American empire. We talk about the strange new alliances forming as both left and right confront the costs of endless war, the covert operations that fueled U.S. intervention in the Middle East, and how Israel fits into the broader imperial strategy. We also dive into the terror wars, the intelligence games behind Epstein, and why this moment might mark the beginning of a major political realignment.00:00:00 Coming up…00:00:54 Intro00:01:44 Scott’s Background00:03:56 The Moment Made by the Israel First/America First Clash00:10:12 “Why Do They Hate Us?” and Does Israel Fight “Our” wars?00:16:15 Left is not Liberal and Who Drives the Empire00:24:13 The Chip on Scott’s Shoulder00:25:19 How Is A Liberated Middle East “a danger”00:35:58 The American Mythology of Promoting Democracy00:42:45 The Moral Disgust of Gaza, Christians, and Exiting the Myths00:56:14 Cognitive Dissonance and Sadaam’s “connection” to 9/1101:12:59 State Worship, Liberals, and Israel as an “asset of economic Empire”?01:20:40 Occupy and MAGA, when Disillusionment meets in the streets01:27:17 Iran and Ghana and the Islam Variable01:31:37 Why They Hate Us… They told us!01:36:44 Practice Imagining Your Mom, Brother, Wife, Child… Dead01:42:20 “They Sound just like Texans”01:44:03 Onramps to a Better Conversation01:49:41 “Israel Does The Dirty Work”01:56:05 What’s Next?02:07:19 Outro Four Loose Ends
In this video, I explore the growing clash between “America First” and “Israel First”—a fracture exposing deeper contradictions in U.S. politics and global power. As figures like Tucker Carlson, Dave Smith, Candace Owens start asking tough questions, many find themselves at the edge of a worldview built on a myth of liberal ideals of a professed intention of moral clarity. But that worldview—detached from history, blind to empire, and allergic to material analysis—can’t explain what’s happening and is perpetually open to exploitation.00:00:00 Intro00:01:01 The Israel First Clash and Sensing An Opening00:04:07 The Mechanisms of Empire and Conspiracy00:07:04 Three Paths After The First Step00:11:21 My Next Five Guests and My Focus00:14:32 The Entry Point of Moral Horror00:16:41 The Fear of Ambiguity00:20:02 The Threat of a Liberated Middle East00:22:51 “Liberal” vs “Left”00:26:58 The “Rational Compassion” of The War of Ideas00:28:42 The Secular Liberal Lens on the World00:30:25 Problem 1: The Downplaying of History00:34:51 Problem 2: Power Imbalances00:39:33 Problem 3: Overreliance on Stated Intentions00:44:46 A Feminist Revolution in Oman00:49:03 Wanting Something Under Someone Else’s House00:53:06 Self Defense as a Moral Shield00:56:12 Honorable Intentions?01:00:01 The Empire Lens of Analysis01:06:37 A Coup in Iran and Revealed Intentions of the West01:14:05 The Islam Variable: Ghana vs Iran01:19:57 Is This Liberation?01:23:50 Solving the “Collateral Damage” Problem with Surgical Surveillance01:29:40 Outro
I'm still waiting for a debate partner—so I've decided to start without one. In this video, I deliver my opening statement.Plus, I'm announcing a short break to focus on finishing my upcoming book about moral progress and technology.My essay "Be Careful In The Dark" is available here https://whatjaythinks.com/essays/2021... 00:00 Intro - My History with the IDW06:37 Intro - Then October 7th Happened10:56 ANNOUNCING A SHORT BREAK14:08 The Statement - "Sometimes War Is Necessary" and "Derangement"25:14 The Statement - When to "Resist" Arrest29:18 The Statement - Analogizing to the Palestinian Cause35:04 The Statement - Conditions to Resist41:03 The Statement - Sanitizing Colonialization and "Barbarism"45:40 The Statement - Worlds Ought We Not Resist?49:08 Outro - I Await the Response
Capitalist Libertarianism sells itself as the champion of freedom and personal choice—but what happens when the very systems we’ve unleashed are shaping our desires, not responding to them? In this video, I dig into the fundamental blind spots that libertarians (especially the free-market capitalist kind) tend to ignore. From psychological manipulation in advertising to global coordination breakdowns like the tragedy of the commons and the free-rider problem, I argue that the neat equations of “freedom = good outcomes” just don’t hold up. Especially not in a world where your attention, your data, and your impulses are being auctioned off in real time.To ground it all, we finish with a short watch-along of Milton Friedman’s 1980 documentary Free to Choose—a kind of holy text for the neoliberal era. I’m not here to dunk for the sake of dunking. I’m here to challenge some assumptions, explore alternatives, and ask whether "just letting the market decide" is really the kind of future we want—or just the one we can’t escape. Let’s watch together and think out loud.For the full Dilemma Archive including the mentioned Episode "Do I Smell Donuts?" whatjaythinks.com00:00 Intro: What I mean by Libertarian01:47 The Worlds We Want and the Worlds We Can't Resist04:43 Can Advertising Ever be Too Effective?11:22 The Base Capitalist Libertarian Assumption12:54 Mass Coordination Problems14:04 MCP One / The Stag Hunt15:39 MCP Two / First Mover Problems18:19 MCP Three / Free Rider Problem19:13 MCP Four / Tragedy Of The Commons22:13 Darwinian Evolution Misconception and the Range of Survival29:58 Watch Along Intro to Milton Friedman32:50 Free To Chose 10 Minute Watch-Along51:39 The Totalitarian Big Market Liberal and the Deluded Free Market Capitalists