This Is Hell!

Today's episode takes us into the archives 20 years ago to the day. Less than a week after the United States military invaded Iraq, Middle East Report editor Chris Toensing spoke with Chuck about the narrative being spun at the time to frame the invasion as a preemptive defensive measure to remove an imminent threat to the United States. Little did Chris and Chuck know at the time just how much water the media would carry for the Bush administration and the imperialists at the Project for the New American Century. Then Jeff regales us with his vision of illuminated dog paws. Finally, a Question from Hell winner is announced.

Historian Robin D. G. Kelley returns to This is Hell! to talk about his essay titled, “Buried History: The Death and Life of Donald S. Kelley” Part of a collection of essays called “After Life: A Collective History of Loss and Redemption in Pandemic America." (Haymarket Books). Robin is a writer and professor of history at UCLA. His most recent book is "Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination" https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/206173/freedom-dreams-by-robin-dg-kelley/ Produced by Lindsey Gorry

After a multipurpose hangover cure, Center for Economic Policy and Research Senior Economist and longtime friend of the show Dean Baker edifies us with his analysis of the mainstream media's irresponsible reporting on the failure of Silicon Valley Bank along with some remarks on how the financial system might be restructured. On The Past Inside the Present, Seb continues his series on Soviet history and the origins of US-Soviet relations with a discussion of the Great Patriotic War and its significance. You can follow Dean's musings on his Center for Economic Policy and Research blog, Beat the Press: https://cepr.net/blog/dean-bakers-beat-the-press/

Writer, ethnographer, and human-rights activist Michael Gould-Wartofsky is onto talk about his TomDispatch article, "Welcome to the Predator State: Where the Scorpions on the Corner Just Might Kill You," which about the killing of Tyre Nichols by a Memphis police unit called SCORPION. And an all-new Moment of Truth with Jeff Dorchen: This week Jeff wants to conquer the world with a philosophy of radical underachievement.

Tuesday, March 14th 2023, historian Keri Leigh Merritt returns to This is Hell! is co-editor of the collection, "After Life: A Collective History of Loss and Redemption in Pandemic America." This episode also features this week in Rotten History and new responses to the Question from Hell! Keri Leigh was a guest on the show back in 2017 to discuss a book that was selected as one of our listeners favorites of the year, "Masterless Men: Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South." Keri Leigh Merritt is a historian, editor and an independent scholar. She earned her B.A. from Emory University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. Her first book, Masterless Men: Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South (Cambridge University Press, 2017), won both the Bennett Wall Award from the Southern Historical Association, honoring the best book in Southern economic or business history published in the previous two years, as well as the President’s Book Award from the Social Science History Ass

After this week's hangover cure leaves us in suspense, British Academy Global Professor Siddharth Kara shares his horrifying research on the exploitation and inhumanity at the heart of the cobalt mining industry in the Congo upon which current rechargeable battery technology relies. Sebastian then brightens the mood with the first of several segments on a subject which the Western public remains ignorant: the history of the Soviet Union. Spoiler: it's not all gulags and show trials, but there were still plenty of those.

We have on Ann Neumann to discuss her new Baffler article: "Hydropower: A dam on the Nile roils democratic relations in the Horn of Africa" Jeff delivers a new Moment of Truth and the Question From Hell Contest freewheels into its cathartic culmination.

Professor Ariane Chebel d'Appollonia joins us in Hell to discuss her book "Violent America: The Dynamics of Identity Politics in a Multiracial Society" This episode also features new responses to the Question from Hell and this week in Rotten History. Dr. Ariane Chebel d'Appollonia is a professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University–Newark. She is also a Senior Researcher affiliated with the Center for European Studies and Comparative Politics (Sciences Po Paris). Her research focuses on the politics of immigration and racism, management of diversity, urban/minority policies, anti-discrimination, security issues, xenophobia, extreme-right wing movements, immigrant integration, and European policies. She has taught at universities both in France and in the United States.

Journalist Jasper Craven discusses his Baffler article, "The Sunshine Imperium: The Militarism of Ron DeSantis." Chuck and Will review the latest hangover cure, Siberian (red) ginseng, and fresh responses from this week's Question from Hell. Seb's "The Past Inside the Present" segment edifies and terrifies with a deep dive into the differences between American and Soviet nuclear doctrines.

Today we have on Caroline Chen to discuss her ProPublica series, "Roots of an Outbreak" And the Question From Hell flies right towards its effulgent fulfillment.

Chuck interviews Dan Kolbert, co-author along with Christopher Briley, Michael Maines and Emily Mottram, of, “Pretty Good House: A Guide to Creating Better Homes.” Dan has been a carpenter and contractor in Portland, Maine, for three decades. He has written for various trade publications, including Fine Homebuilding magazine, and for the past 10 years has been moderator of the original Building Science Discussion Group in Portland, Maine, where the Pretty Good House idea originated. You can see Dan’s work at kolbertbuilding.com Follow Dan’s work on Instagram @kolbertbuilding This episode also features this week in Rotten History, written by Renaldo Migaldi.

Theologian, ordained minister, and anti-poverty activist Liz Theoharis is on to discuss her TomDispatch articles "Poverty Amid Plenty' and "Making it in a Poor World". Liz is Co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She is the author of, "Always With Us? What Jesus Really Said About the Poor," and, "We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign." https://tomdispatch.com/poverty-amid-plenty/ This episode also features this week's Hangover Cure and a Past Inside the Present from Sebastian Wuepper, PhD.

Journalist Kari Lydersen returns to talk about her In These Times article, "The Case for Nationalizing the Railroads." Plus, and all-new Moment of Truth and the Question from Hell reaches it's electrifying terminus.

Journalist Prem Thakker speaks with host Chuck Mertz about his articles in the New Republic about the the hellish Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where residents have been told it is safe to return to the site of an intentional burn of 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride, a class 1 carcinogen, despite lack of comprehensive testing and many test results remaining inconclusive. This episode was produced by Lindsey Gorry and features this week in Rotten History written by Renaldo Migaldi Prem Thakker is an associate writer for breaking news at The New Republic. His work has appeared in The American Prospect, Washington Monthly, CNN podcasts, and his newsletter Better World. Find Prem's writing on the East Palestine here: https://newrepublic.com/authors/prem-thakker

Journalist Asawin Suebsaeng discusses his Rolling Stones articles "Twitter Kept Entire 'Database’ of Republican Requests to Censor Posts " and "Trump Plans to Bring Back Firing Squads, Group Executions if He Retakes White House". This episode also features this week's Hangover Cure, new Question from Hell!, and a Past Inside the Present about Jim Crow Laws from historian Sebastion Wuepper. https://www.rollingstone.com/author/asawin-suebsaeng/

We have on Elizabeth Samet, author of, "Looking for the Good War: American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness." Elizabeth is a professor of English at West Point.

Boyce Upholt returns to This is Hell! to discuss his piece recently published by the New Republic, "The Frightening Cost of Cheap Eggs: Why paying more for eggs could save us from another pandemic". This episode also features this week in Rotten History and new responses to the Question from Hell. Boyce Upholt is an award-winning freelance writer focused on the way we use and imagine the non-human world. He covers, among other subjects, public lands, exploration, biodiversity, foodways, infrastructure, and the cultural history of ”wilderness.” His work has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, the Oxford American, and many other publications, and has been noted in the Best American Science and Nature series. Boyce won the 2019 award for investigative journalism from the James Beard Foundation. He is currently working on a book about the Mississippi River—a history of what’s been done to it and travelogue showing the results.

Dr. Clarence Lusane joins This is Hell! to discuss his series of Tom Dispatch articles, explaining how MAGA fascists found inspiration in suppressing the black vote to storm the US Capitol on Jan. 6th 2021. This episode also features this week's Hangover Cure and a Past Inside the Present from Dr. Sebastian Wuepper. This Week's Question from Hell! If you could spy on anyone or anything in the United States, who or what would it be? https://truthout.org/articles/january-6-report-obscured-the-role-of-racism-in-the-stop-the-steal-movement/ https://tomdispatch.com/authors/clarencelusane/ Dr. Clarence Lusane is a full Professor, former Chairman of Howard University’s Department of Political Science, and current Director of the International Affairs program. He is an author, activist, scholar, lecturer, and journalist. For more than 40 years, he has written about and been active in national and international human rights, anti-racism politics, Diaspora engagements, U.S. foreign policy, democracy building, an

We welcome human rights attorney Noura Erakat who wrote the Boston Review article, "Designing the Future in Palestine: Palestinian women and feminist organizations are reimagining what liberation can look like beyond national independence." Noura is Associate Professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick in the Department of Africana Studies and the Program in Criminal Justice, and author of, "Justice for Some: Law and in the Question of Palestine."

Writer, professor and musician Sheila Liming joins us in Hell! to talk about her recently published book, "Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time". This episode also features a Past inside the Present from Dr. Sebastian Wuepper and new responses to this week's Question from Hell! Which is "When we take over the means of production, what can we produce once in a while as a treat?" https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717263/hanging-out-by-sheila-liming/ Sheila Liming is an associate professor at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, where she teaches classes on literature, media, and writing. She is the author of two books, What a Library Means to a Woman and Office. Sheila also plays the accordion and bagpipes. http://sheilaliming.com/ Twitter: @seeshespeak