How After the Midterms Democrats Must Extinguish the Many Flavors of Trump and MAGA Fascism
We begin with how after the midterms Democrats can purge and extinguish the many flavors of fascism in the Trump MAGA movement from Hegseth’s Christo-fascism to Vance’s techno-fascism to Trump and his family’s Crypto-fascism as this criminal regime steals from the state. Joining us is Lincoln Mitchell, who teaches in the School of International and Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. He has written numerous books and articles about international affairs, American politics and baseball. His new book is Three Years our Mayor: George Moscone and the Making of Modern San Francisco, and he is the author of the popular Substack Kibitzing with Lincoln where his latest article we discuss is “The Mistake the Democrats Cannot Afford to Make After the Midterms.”
The Left Should Rediscover the Word Evil and Apply it to Trump and MAGA
Then we look into how the left has surrendered the moral vocabulary to the fundamentalist right and should rediscover the word evil and apply it to Trump and MAGA. Joining us is Susan Neimanis the director of the Einstein Forum in Berlin. An American moral philosopher, cultural commentator, and essayist, she has written extensively on the juncture between Enlightenment moral philosophy, metaphysics, and politics. Her books include Slow Fire: Jewish Notes from Berlin, Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil and Left Is Not Woke. We discuss her latest book, just out, Call It Evil: Understanding the Trump Era.
The Author of Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI
Then finally, we investigate the claim that AI will destroy us all. We’re not going to get into the technology, finances, or ecology of the question, but whether we can actually know that the threat is real at all. From polls to social media algorithms to the friendly AI assistant telling us to take our vitamins, we are constantly being tracked by digital companies who try to guess what we’ll want or buy. These predictions can breed terrible harm when we believe them, from failing to vote to falling into conspiracy theory rabbit holes to giving up the core tenants of our freedoms. Background Briefing’s Anna Leah speaks with Oxford philosophy professor Carissa Véliz, who studies digital ethics and privacy out of the university’s Institute for Ethics in AI. She consults decision-makers and serves on the board of Proton, a privacy-focused internet services organization. Her most recent book,Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI,draws a line through history and philosophy to ask us what we gain or lose by trusting people who tell us they can see the future – starting in the ancient world and running through the AI executives cozying up to the White House.
