Bad Faith

Episode 589 - Gone Left (w/ Daniel Denvir) 02.07.2026 3мин

Host of The Dig podcast, Daniel Denvir, joins Bad Faith to discuss the DSA sweep and whether the new elected socialist candidates might be willing to act as a block to change the Democratic Party before the Democratic Party changes them. Is DSA wrong to refuse to act as a party, or to support candidates running outside of the Democratic Party, like Andre Easton? What is the strategy there? And if the DSA refuses to take party building seriously, will the Tucker Carlson right be first to harness imperialist, working class energy to achieve a third party break from the duopoly? What happens to the left then? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Promo: Episode 588 - Socialism or Technofeudalism (w/ Aaron Good & Tonery Rose) 29.06.2026 6мин

Independent researcher Tonery Rose & political scientist & host of The American Exception Podcast, Aaron Good, return to Bad Faith to breakdown the story behind Peter Thiel's secret society, Dialog, and the various "conspiracies" that help to fill in the gaps in mainstream realpolitik analysis. But before I ask them to run through their favorite conspiracy theories, we run through the establishment meltdown over the Mamdani-slate's victory last week in New York from the ladies of The View, to James Carville. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 587 - We Were Never Woke (w/ Musa Al-Gharbi) 25.06.2026 2ч 58мин

Author of We Were Never Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite, and professor in the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University, joins Bad Faith to discuss his historical review of the history of "wokeness," why it cyclically emerges and declines over the decades, and the dangers the "symbolic capitalism" class present to the pursuit of economic equality. Though there's much agreement on the pernicious effects of woke identity politics, we debate our different theories of who is responsible for "woke," and assess whether Tuesday's big DSA wins in New York herald the end of the establishment's superficial identity driven "woke" politics. https://musaalgharbi.com/paperback-edition-we-have-never-been-woke/ https://musaalgharbi.substack.com/p/book-announcement-those-people "On the Cultural Contradictions of the Antiwoke" "Putting the 'Culture' in the Culture Wars" "On the Cultural Contradictions of the Antiwoke" "Putting the 'Culture' in the Culture Wars" "On Redistribution" "How We Lived in NYC" Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 586 (Promo) - What's The Deal With Zohran & The NYPD? (w/ Alex Vitale) 22.06.2026 7мин

As an abolitionist professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and member of Zohran Mamdani's transition team advising on community safety, Alex Vitale is the perfect guest to help us understand some concerning choices Mamdani has made with respect to policing since becoming Mayor of New York City. In addition to the mystery of why he kept on billionaire zionist police commissioner Jessica Tisch, Mamdani is now being questioned over his choice to violate his campaign promise not to expand the police force. Earlier this month, Tisch announced that the NYPD would be hiring 580 more officers -- a choice met with rare rebuke from the DSA. Vitale offers his perspective on what might be going on here, and engages with the perennial question: Why has the left abandoned defund? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 585 - Left Nationalism vs Left Internationalism (w/ Chris Alfonso) 18.06.2026 2ч

Short-form socialism-explainer Chris Alfonso, aka Jean-Paul Fartre, returns to Bad Faith pod to noodle on the nature of US empire and answer a question recently presented in a conversation between NYT podcaster Ezra Klein & Bernie foreign policy advisor Matt Duss: Is the left's goal a left nationalism or a left internationalism? What does left internationalism mean if raising workers' standards of living is the sine qua non of left advocacy, but doing so sometimes comes at the expense of the global south? But first: The Knicks win, and why JLo's controversial Subway Takes take is right. Also, we weigh in on progressive wins on election day, Graham Platner's origin story, and two recent cop killings that demonstrate why the defund movement should not die. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 584 - America First Is Incompatible w/ Anti-Imperialism: Taking Down the Compatible Right (w/ Gabriel Rockhill) 15.06.2026 9мин

Philosopher and author of Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?, Gabriel Rockhill, returns to Bad Faith to expand on his criticism of the "compatible left" -- a type of reformist leftist who is elevated by the establishment due to their unwillingness to support actually existing socialism. A recent hit piece on Chris Smalls in Jacobin, unqualified support for mercenary Graham Platner -- how does Rockhill interpret what's going on with the establishment left, and what does he make of the right's leadership on criticism of Palestine? Is Tucker's "America First" politics fundamentally incompatible with imperialism? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 583 - Debate: Should Democrats Campaign on Climate Change Anymore? (W/ Matt Huber & Aaron Regunberg) 11.06.2026 1ч 36мин

A few weeks ago, we had an all star panel to discuss AI data centers and the pivot in both liberal and left publications away from embracing climate change as an issue. One of those articles was written in the New York Times by Syracuse professor Matt Huber, who teachers in the geography and environment department. Today, Huber joins the podcast with AI panelist Aaron Reguberg to push back on how his argument was characterized, and to defend his take that Democrats don't have to campaign on climate change anymore because they can win by prioritizing economic issues. Are these ideas in tension? Does opposing AI data centers constitute both a material and environmental issue? Did Green New Deal advocacy hurt Democrats? Was it unpopular, or was it thwarted by the Democratic establishment before it had a chance to be explained? Is the takeaway from Mamdani's success in New York City that Democrats should decenter climate? Why is Briahna defending AOC?

Promo - Episode 582 Debunking the Rape Hoax Redux (w/ Ali Abunimah) 08.06.2026 7мин

Executive director of the Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah, returns to Bad Faith to break down the latest attempt by Zionists to push the "mass rape" narrative that has greased the runway for Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, but stays to debate the role Tucker Carlson should play in advancing the lefts anti war and anti imperialist aims. A fascinating exploration of ethnics, media, and progressive values with one of the left's best journalists. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 581 - Sick Saad World (w/ Matt McManus) 04.06.2026 1ч 41мин

Spelman College professor and author of The Political Right & Equality, & The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, returns to Bad Faith to to discuss his recent article on the Gad Saad, the poor man's Jordan Peterson, his case against "suicidal empathy," and what it shows about the status of the conservative movement. But first, we cover the latest Graham Platner sexting scandal, the NYC Israel Parade, & the California election results. https://jacobin.com/2026/05/saad-empathy-conservatism-book-review Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Promo Episode 580 - A.I. Sore (w/ Dr. Margo Paez & Jae Holzman) 01.06.2026 7мин

Dr. Margo Paez, an expert on climate change modeling & water resources & fellow at the Bitcoin policy institute, joins with Jae Holzman, a journalist reporting on climate change for Heatmap news, for a surprising conversation about AI data centers and how they're being litigated across the political identity spectrum. Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to listen in full. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for an extended video clip of this episode that's longer than this promo. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 579 - On The Potential of Art & The Limits of Tucker Carlson (w/ Saul Williams) 28.05.2026 2ч 4мин

Poet, musician, actor, & writer Saul Williams joins Bad Faith podcast for the first time to talk about how art can help feed this revolutionary moment and expand our understanding of our potential as a global community. But also, Briahna is still hyper-fixated on the prominent role the Israel-critical right is playing in the anti-war space, and what the implications are for building a left, anti war, internationalist movement that can't be "America first" insofar as our way of life is dependent on the immiseration of the global south. We work through all of this in a deeply nuanced, compassionate, and musical 2 hour chat. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 578 Promo - The Finale (w/ Ron Placone) 25.05.2026 8мин

Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube to listen to this episode in full. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). California-based leftist comedian median & film maker Ron Placone joins Bad Faith to help us laugh through what feels like America's curtain call. We cover the DNC autopsy report which was, fittingly, dead on arrival, the California mayoral and gubernatorial elections, and why billionaire Tom Steyer is winning so much support from the left despite opposing Bernie's AI data center moratorium. For Tour Dates : ronplacone.com @RonPlacone on IG/Substack/Twitter Left At Wall on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQgYuiln4N0 (edited) Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 577 - Where Are All The Eco-Terrorists? (w/ Yasha Levine, Edward Ongweso Jr., & Aaron Regunberg) 21.05.2026 1ч 46мин

We've assembled an all-star panel of journalists to break down the controversy around the AI data centers being built across the country. We start with a discussion of the curious & controversial Jacobin piece by Holly Buck in which she opposes Bernie Sanders' data center moratorium. Why would a left publication advance a take that so obviously benefits big AI? Journalists Levine, Ongweso & Regunberg go on cover Tucker Carlson's take down of Billionaire Kevin O'Leary over O'Leary's Utah data center that's anticipated to be twice the size of Manhattan, the surveillance implications of said centers, the media campaign to get Democrats to stop talking about all environmental issues, the ratcheting up of criminal penalties for protestors, and what this means for millions of Americans who find themselves living in the shadow of these AI energy hogs. Further reading: https://jacobin.com/2026/04/data-center-ai-moratorium-bernie https://aaronregunberg.substack.com/p/corporate-dems-are-climate-scapegoating https://jacobin.com/2024/08/climate-crisis-disinformation-fossil-fuels Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 576 - Canceled, Not Silenced (w/ Rami Elghandour) 18.05.2026 8мин

Biotech entrepreneur and producer of The Voice of Hind Rajab, Rami Elghandour, was scheduled to speak at his alma mater, Rutgers University, but two weeks before graduation his appearance was canceled -- apparently due to complaints from a small number of students on campus. Though never given a clear explanation, some have pointed to Israel-critical social media posts relating to Nicholas Kristof's viral op-ed about IDF rape culture as the reason. In other words, he was targeted for anti-Zionist speech. Rami joins Bad Faith to discuss what happened, the fall out from the Kristof piece, and the future of the party politics post-Gaza. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 575 - Israel vs The Truth (w/ Sana Saeed) 14.05.2026 2ч 7мин

Independent journalist, formerly of Al Jazeera, Sana Saeed returns to Bad Faith to break down Benjamin Netanyahu's 60 Minutes interview on Bari Weiss's CBS, the New York Times finally covering Israel's mass rape of Palestinian hostages in an opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof, & the internecine debate on the left about AOC's feud with Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the utility of acknowledging that some conservative figures have gained rhetorical high ground over some on the left when it comes to Israel. Also, Stephen A Smith on wishing Black Americans would vote Republican, Zohran Mamdani balancing NYC's budget, and Saeed's latest article on whether charismatic leftists like Mamdani serve to normalize establishment politicians like Barack Obama. https://sanasaeed.substack.com/p/the-charisma-of-empire-obama-mamdani Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 574 Promo -Green Wave UK: How They Did It (w/ Ash Sarkar) 11.05.2026 8мин

British journalist and Senior Editor at Novara media, Ash Sarkar, joins Bad Faith to unpack the UK Green Party's huge successes last week under the new leadership of Zack Polanski. After winning big, Polanski declared that Britain's two party politics are "dead and buried," and that Green vs Reform has replaced the old Labor vs Conservatives dynamic. What techniques might translate into lessons for the US Green Party which hopes to displace Democrats in our two party system, and what obstacles are unique to the US? Will Polanski be derailed by anti-semitism allegations, or will he continue to succeed where Corbyn failed? How should the left handle bad faith attacks from establishment media? Should we take a cue from Trump and simply never apologize or back down? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 573 - In Defense of Litmus Tests (w/ Natalie Wynn aka ContraPoints) 07.05.2026 2ч 39мин

Prolific YouTube video essayist, & political commentator, Natalie Wynn, returns to Bad Faith after five years to discuss her critiques of the left & backlash to said critiques. Infamous for saying the left doesn't want power, but wants to endlessly critique power, Briahna pushes Natalie on her own theory of change, and whether it is in fact, the left, that misunderstands power. The pair also discuss a growing liberal interest in "violence on the left": Is it good faith concern following the latest Trump assassination attempt, or is it a strategy to derail legitimate anger -- the likes of which lead to healthcare CEO Brian Thompson's assassination? Finally, are women lonely? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 572 Promo - The Gerontocracy is Killing Us (w/ Samuel Moyn) 04.05.2026 8мин

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Yale Law Professor Samuel Moyn joins Bad Faith to discuss the Supreme Court's attack on the Voting Rights Act, and how the Democratic Party's commitment to the gerontocracy has led to the degradation of our courts and our democracy as a whole. Professor Moyn discusses his new book on gerontocracy, why politics seems to have skipped Gen X, and why Biden should be blamed for ignoring an opportunity to do real court reform. Instead of blaming Briahna for voting Green, should Democrats blame their own leadership for declining to pack the court and abolish the Senate? And what's the deal with the party's allergy to accountability? Moyn also weighs in on DNC chair Ken Martin's contentious interview on Pod Save America about his refusal to release the 2024 autopsy report. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 571 - "Democrat on Democrat Violence" (w/ Jose Vega) 30.04.2026 1ч 27мин

We've been interviewing candidates running against Ritchie Torres in NY's 15th district for about a year now, and today we've collected the final infinity stone in the set. Jose Vega is perhaps best known for viral videos in which he confronts politicians and journalists about their commitment to war and lack of ideological courage, but now he's running to unseat the House's most unabashed Zionist Representative from the Bronx. As the left considers the best strategy to unseat Torres, should they consider the young upstart who has no qualms being maximally adversarial to Democrats over the left-establisment pick Michael Blake, who we interviewed last week? Is running on the Democratic ballot line a strategic win given it granted him access to the debates? What did he make of some subtle antipathy from Blake during last week's interview, and what is he hearing from Bronx residents on the ground? Also, what's the deal with Lyndon Larouche? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Episode 570 Promo - 27.04.2026 8мин

Journalist and author of Irregular Army, How the US Military Recruited Neo-Nazis, Gang Members, and Criminals to Fight the War on Terror, joins Bad Faith to explain why the two party system won't be ending the war machine, to debate Bernie Sanders's limitations as an anti-war voice & Tucker Carlson's choice to position himself in that role, how the war on terror contributed to the current political moment & more. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).