A good example of why we don’t like journalists

I really appreciate these interviews! This show fills in a lot of gaps in information you might not get from anywhere else. That being said, I really wish they would invest in better quality audio equipment. Nathan often sounds like he’s yelling in comparison to his guests. It’s honestly unpleasant to listen to, but I do it anyway because the content is great.

It’s really hard for me to listen to episodes encouraging people to start a union when the editor-in-chief fired five staff members for organizing. Intellectually the content is rich, but “do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t make for the type of podcast I’d ever support financially.

Nathan always asks the question I was thinking of next, and is one of the best interviewers out there. This podcast is essential to understanding the world today.

Nonsensical reasoning and muddled - not outrageous enough to be funny - if you’re entertained by the same old talking points, you’ve heard repeatedly, being warmed over again then you’ll enjoy this show

I like this show a lot and listen frequently. But the main thing I wanna say is how much I love the ‘Democratizing SCOTUS’ episode with Sam Moyn. It’s such a great discussion and I listen to it every couple months

Wonderful podcast—great collection of thinkers, Nathan is wonderful

Nathan is the worst interviewer of all time. Listening to him talk alone is excruciating, let alone having him interview another human being. Someone else desperately needs to take over this podcast from him.

Great interviewer. I’m glad that he decided to add some interviews to the lineup of the podcast. I have to admit that I hardly listened to it before. I watched him on YouTube sometimes, but I hardly listened to the podcast until now. Hopefully he’ll have some of the other people at Current Affairs do interviews too. At least when he can’t do them himself.

Why is NJR treating Elizabeth Holmes, Fyre, etc like big revelations? They’ve both been covered by major documentaries. Holmes has two docs and a podcast and now bio pic. These are not in fact Current Affairs they’ve been covered to death.

If I had a dollar every time the host didn’t finish a sentence I’d be a very rich man.

i did enjoy this lovely venture however the anti-cooperative sentiment from the current affairs editor in chief sullied my impressions. sad, since ive grown accustomed to the magazine for three years now. i wonder if current affairs will ever be current affairs again. my thoughts are with the colleagues whose jobs are lost because of this half-measure of leftist ideals

This was a fun podcast that I listened to religiously. The content was great and the hosts were engaging. But none of it means anything if NJR effectively disbands the magazine when they try to democratize it. It would have been even better as a co-op. Instead, everything it used to be is tainted forever.

Capitalist hierarchy masquerading as egalitarian socialism. NJR should be ashamed! Firing ALL staff for organizing into a worker’s co-op is anathema to any notion of solidarity.

Their most recent episode mentioned Cardcaptor Sakura. That’s all I need or want.

On their recent episode on Immigration, there was a great deal of criticism of President Bident's policies without many suggestions on how to improve the situation. Further, the speakers failed to address the obvious question - Do they support Open Borders? If they do not, then what do they want to do? If they do, then they should be upfront about their position and address the obvious criticisms of that position. Finally, there is too much unnecessary profanity on the show. The choice of language diminishes from the seriousness of the discussion.

I really Enjoyed your review of the Tuttle Twins book series and pointed out how African Americans are not to be portrayed as having Libertarian ideas because they all think the same and are “far more socialist” as you put it. I will be sure to let Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, and Candace Owens know that their “white boy opinions” are rather distasteful. Thank you.

These podcasts are fresh and a powerful representation of the possibility of engaged and thoughtful debate on everything (art, bureaucracy, activism, politics, grievances!!, etc) from a left perspective. Spontaneity and creativity is not lost! (Plus the original music by Danny Bradley is amazing and often…Funny)This is the perfect complement to detailed political analysis in the Current Affairs magazine.

Seriously though what’s with the pay walls, some of us are poor

If you want the best new ideas in politics along with some world-class nerd comedy and a beautiful vision for humanity’s future look no further than the CA podcast. Also, Star Trek socialists are the best.

I recently found you and have been listening to podcasts I missed. The David Graeber memorial was outstanding.

Pete Davis: legend. Nathan J Robinson: legend. The rest have their moments. My only critique is that discussion sometimes devolves to just being smart people complaining or dreaming up hair-brained half-baked idealist solutions to giant problems, or laughing at their own cringy jokes. But I still listen to every episode so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ++++alsoooo bring back Briahna Joy Gray!!!

They don’t really know history, seem sorta pretentious. There’s a good episode now and again. Used to be more important but now there are more good leftist podcasts which are actually funny and stick to their values

Why are you talking so fast? I found it stressful and turned it off.

Such a great podcast full of intelligent and articulate folks, all around. In Bislama, we have a saying. “Yu, yes.” Pete Davis, yu, yes. Such a wonderful host in a medium that can so often devolve into complaining, Pete really brings it up. There is just so much added joy whenever he hosts the episodes.

Nathan Robinson is a national treasure.

Listening to these kind, thoughtful reds is making me a kinder, more thoughtful red. @Pete Davis, your starry-eyed localist, I also live in the DMV metro area. Please be my friend.

Best things in the podcast: - Lefty Shark Tank. I love hearing about quirky new left wing ideas. My favorites are the segments about earnest & practical ideas. The one about the social wealth fund was my favorite, though the proposal to shoot all men into the sun was funny too. It would be great if we could also get some online materials with more information about the topics discussed. - Let's get more issue-focused interviews with guests who Actually Know What They're Talking About. The MMT segment was excellent. - The more open-ended interviews with Barbara Erenreich, Ralph Nader, and Megan Day have been fascinating as well. - "Waxing Poetic." I love hearing you guys talk about the things you know a lot about and love--whether it's Wikipedia or Bruce Springsteen. The main theme is: it's engaging to hear people talk about things they love and have taken the time to learn a lot about. Things that are not so good: - Voicemail bag. You guys need to do more research in order to actually insightfully answer these listener questions. If a caller asks a question about art funding, don't just wonder out loud how arts funding works in the US. Look it up. Preferably before recording the segment. Or else pause to look it up and edit the pause out. (Also-please please stop writing/podcasting about aesthetics and art criticism until you do some more research on it.) - "Break" segments. The fake radio static in Red Rose is so loud that it's hard to understand the voices. Also, the story is boring and the dialogue is not funny. The fake commercial segments hit and miss. Some are funny. Most are not. The comedy in the live show was lackluster as well. I don't mean this as an insult. Y'all are funny people. Your dialogues with eachother make me laugh. Comedy writing though is a specialized skill set that none of you have. Hire a spacialized comedy writer. (You wouldn't have the magazine editors draw the cover illustrations, so why should they do the comedy segments?) Things I wish I could love: I know the segments about the border are some of the most important journalism you guys do. I find them dry and difficult to follow though. (I like a bad person for that.) Is there any way they could be more narrative?

I remember how excited I was at the launch of this podcast. I’d long been a fan of Nathan Robinson’s writing and of the Current Affairs project in general, and I was excited for another leftist podcast. However, over time both the magazine and the podcast have abandoned leftism for the dull and uninspired identity politics that have taken over the internet. My concerns had been building for some time, but they became concrete during an episode where a listener wrote in to ask about the power + prejudice definition of racism. The panel had a laugh at this listener and why he didn’t understand this academic definition of racism that is frankly of little use to working people. Needless to say if this listener is ever treated in a racist manner, it will be little consolation to him that in some aggregate fashion his perceived racial group holds more power than that of the person treating him poorly. Of course, this Ivy League children have for the most part never had real jobs, where a bosses power is absolute. They own a portion of their business and their “boss” insofar as they have one is an old friend. Capitalism and its excesses are not as urgent a problem to them as whatever internet slap fight they can participate in. Nathan J Robinson interviewed one of the greatest Marxist thinkers of the past 40 years and spent the first 20 minutes of the interview badgering him about reparations, of all things. This isn’t a leftist podcast. It’s a club for privileged children to complain together. If I wanted to listen to Ivy League grads be charismaticly wrong, I would watch old Barack Obama speeches.

I can definitely appreciate the value of the journalism I encountered in the magazines that arrived in my mailbox. But in the Podcast, and in various places in the magazine itself, the editorial staff falls into the culture war dynamics of defining themselves relative to other journalistic hubs, and thereby reinforce the polarity of America’s political spectrum. It was not the open exchange and discourse I had hoped for, sadly.

The ONLY political podcast with empathy, intelligence and humor! Edited to add: except for the fact that Pete Davis is from Virginia. Screw Virginia. #marylandpride

No matter where you are on the political spectrum, it’s challenging to find intelligent discussion and debate around meaningful issues. Too often we get bogged down in minutia, reacting to the latest news rather than having a deep conversation about the issues. The Current Affairs Podcast is unique in that while unabashedly left-wing, the discussions do not revolve around the participants all agreeing on everything, and the topics are much deeper than you’ll read about in the news. On each episode I’m introduced to interesting ideas new to me about things like prison reform or abolition, randomizing college admissions, and other policy proposals for a truly progressive future. I don’t get the sense that the debate stops after the episode is over either, but feel like a participant in the process, and also a better citizen. Nothing like it on the internet that I’ve come across thus far. And somehow it also is well-produced and entertaining too.

Thank you!

Absolutely worth listening to so that we can all see how crazy crazy crazy these people are. Just like the fools on the far right. Their favorite two sayings on this podcast and the equally misguided filth on the far right. “There is a study.....” “THEY are so wrong” Not lacking in knowledge. Educated for sure.

I don’t have time to keep up with more than about a half dozen podcasts but Current Affairs is one of them. Great blend of politics and humor. Check it out!

So smart, love the multifaceted opinions of the staff from their various disciplines. Pete Davis has the ever-smiling voice that sounds like Jonah Hill laughingly dissecting the neoliberal roots of today’s news. I respect the heart of this publication and the way it’s contributors continue to use their privilege to refocus the frame around the needs of most vulnerable. Also: very funny. Telling all my friends.

The Current Affairs allows listeners to really hear the full breadth of voices behind the website and print magazine Current Affairs. The episodes alternate from focusing on a single topic, such as their recent Meet the Presidential Candidate series, to others in which the hosts examine a combination of purely contemporary and historical issues. The round table format allows the hosts to joke with each other, as well as try to keep each other honest. The one problem with the podcast is the preponderance of lawyers among the hosts often skews their analyses to be overly legalistic. The hosts themselves are diverse in terms of gender and race, which often leads to productive pushback on each other’s universal pronouncements. Rigorous but not boring, funny but not frivolous, the Current Affairs podcast is a great tool to sharpen your own analysis of the past and present.

Great thoughtful content from informed, strategic thinkers who want to win.

Just found this podcast and it's quickly on my favorites list. Really good content and the humor is appreciated! Just sponsored on Patreon.

more of a 3.5 star, better than ok but not great, it's still a relief to hear political commentary that's intelligent, biting, but lightly funny, so it doesn't get bogged down in it's own importance, nathan truly is one of the best writers and his appearances make everything worthwhile, in the end you should obviously just read the website which is much more illuminating but this is a good time filler while you're waiting for new articles.

Funny, smart, and insightful

i love nathan’s humor. he’s wonderfully sarcastic.

I love Current Affairs, and now I can enjoy them while listening in the comfort of rush hour gridlock. As always the takes are hot, fresh, and not the standard mundane centrist punditry of the mainstream media. I would highly recommend

Love the magazine and now I love the podcast! Engaging from the start and I love the snappy segments. So wonderful to have a source of commentary that expands my knowledge/ views and doesn’t just spout the latest conventional wisdom.

the title is my review

Simply amazing....Current Affairs never fails to deliver. :’)

Great show, and Current Affairs The magazine is even better

I love current affairs magazine, and somehow I love the podcast more!

The cleverest, left-wingiest, and most dashing podcast crew this side of The French Quarter

If you read Current Affairs, you will enjoy the podcast. If you listen to Intercepted, Deconstructed, or Chapo Trap House this is the podcast for you.