This Is Hell!
This Is Hell! is a long-running weekly interview and talk show that has been airing since 1996. It features in-depth conversations with journalists, activists, authors, and scholars on politics, culture, and dissent. The program is known for its independent, left-leaning perspective and critical analysis of current events. Its tagline, "Manufacturing Dissent since 1996," reflects its focus on challenging mainstream narratives.
Episodes
Chuck Opens a Bloated Mailbag / The Greatest Audience in Hell & Chuck Mertz
Thanks to scheduling mishaps and our limited competence, you will not hear longform interview Hell with a guest today. Instead, you will hear from yourselves! Chuck responds to his long-neglected inbox of listener emails. Jeff offers a new "Moment of Truth."
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/this
Worker Resistance in Big Tech / JS Tan & Clarissa Redwine
JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine join us to discuss their new book from Haymarket Books, "Against Tech Oligarchy Worker Resistance in the World’s Most Powerful Industry": https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2858-against-tech-oligarchy
"Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.
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An Indicted Minneapolis 15 Defendant Speaks Out / Cal Robinet
Union electrician and activist Cal Robinet, one of the Minneapolis 15 defendants facing charges after ICE's Operation Metro Surge in that city, shares his story.
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
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Building Socialism Requires Dismantling Empire / Sudip Bhattacharya
Sudip Bhattacharya returns to discuss his recent writing, including "There is No Socialism Without the End of U.S. Empire" at Socialist Forum: https://socialistforum.dsausa.org/issues/spring-2025/there-is-no-socialism-without-the-end-of-u-s-empire/
Check out Sudip's other writing at his Substack: https://sudipbhattacharya.substack.com/
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Another Brazilian Coup Attempt Underway / Brian Mier
Brian Mier returns to discuss the upcoming Brazilian election and the prospects for another right-wing coup. Check out Brian's Substack, "De-Linking Brazil": https://bmier.substack.com/
and his new Latin American news portal, "Panamerican Dispatch": https://www.panamericandispatch.org/
"Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.
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Breaking ICE / Sonali Kolhatkar
Sonali Kolhatkar returns to discuss her new book, "Breaking ICE: Community Defense against State Terror and MAGA Fascism," just published by Seven Stories Press: https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4889-breaking-ice
"The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://w
15 Million Excess Deaths from US For-Profit Health Insurance / Nick Smolek
Ill Will Editions editor Nick Smolek joins us to discuss the forthcoming book, "Depose: Luigi Mangione, the Right to Health, and the Unfinished American Revolution": https://www.deposebook.com/
"Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishe
The Bail Trap / Robin Steinberg & Robin Camilo
Robin Steinberg and Camilo Ramirez return to discuss their new book, "The Bail Trap: A Scandal at the Heart of American Justice" from The New Press: https://thenewpress.org/books/the-bail-trap/
"The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisis
The Long Fight Against Equality in the United States / Kim Phillips-Fein
Historian Kim Phillips-Fein returns to discuss her new book, "Country of Lords: Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech Utopians, and the Long Fight against Equality in America" from Norton: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324074441
"Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.
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"Genocidal Enjoymment" on Display in IDF Social Media from Gaza / Raúl Pérez
Paúl Pérez returns to discuss his recent British Sociological Association article, co-authored with Charles Thorpe, "Genocidal Enjoyment: On the Weaponization of Joyful Cruelty and 'Dark Fun' during Israel's Genocide on Gaza.": https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17499755261468856
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Israel's $1 Billion Hasbara Influence Machine since October 7th / Nick Cleveland-Stout
Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Research fellow Nick Cleveland-Stout discusses his recent report, "The Eighth Front: Inside Israel’s $1 Billion Influence Campaign": https://quincyinst.org/research/the-eighth-front-inside-israels-1-billion-influence-campaign/
Rotten History with Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.
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Imperialist Realism / Daniel Bessner
Historian and foreign policy analysis Daniel Bessner joins us to discuss his new book, "Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American Century" from Simon and Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Imperialist-Realism/Daniel-Bessner/9781803414805
"Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi and "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follow the interview.
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Trump's War on Boats / Adam Isacson & John Walsh
Washington Office on Latin America directors Adam Isacson and John Walsh join us to discuss their new report from WOLA, "Killing Spree: Extrajudicial executions in the U.S. boat strikes campaign": https://www.wola.org/analysis/killing-spree-extrajudicial-executions-in-the-u-s-boat-strikes-campaign/
"Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.
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Sponsoring The Genocide In Palestine / Fintan Drury
Fintan Drury joins This Is Hell! to talk about his new book “Genocide: Sponsoring the Destruction of Palestine”, published by the Irish Academic Press. Fintan will be speaking with us live from Dublin. m(https://www.irishacademicpress.ie/product/genocide-sponsoring-the-destruction-of-palestine/)
Fintan was a journalist with RTÉ in the 1980s. Before co-anchoring Morning Ireland for its first thre
The Winners And Losers In The Future Of Drugs / Kojo Karam
Kojo Koram joins This Is Hell! to talk about his new book "The Next Fix: The Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs”, published by Verso Books. (https://www.versobooks.com/products/3173-the-next-fix)
Kojo Karma is a Professor in Law and Political Economy at the School of Law at Loughborough University. He is the author of, "Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire”, published by
White Supremacy At The US Border / John Washington
John Washington returns to This Is Hell! to talk about his new book “The Case For Open Borders” published by Haymarket Books. (https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2199-the-case-for-open-borders)
John Washington is a journalist covering the border, climate change, democracy, and more. He has written for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Intercept, and other outlets. He is the au
Canada and its Asshole Neighbor + Chuck Gets Interviewed / Dónal Gill
Dónal Gill discusses the view of the United States from Canada in the age of MAGA. His essay appears in the new edited volume by The Dial, "How We See It: The World Looks at America in the Age of Trump" (The New Press).
"The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
The back half of the show features an interview with host Chuck Mertz with questions from radio and streaming part
How To Think About AI Before It’s Too Late / Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow returns to This Is Hell! to talk about his new book “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide To Life After AI - How To Think About Artificial Intelligence Before It’s Too Late”, published by Macmillan Publishers. (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/)
For over twenty years, Cory has worked with the Electronic Fr
Nativism Shapes Scarcity, Hierarchy, and Belonging Under Capitalism / Peter Bloom
Peter Bloom joins us to discuss his recent book, "Nativism and Capitalism: From Colonial Hauntings to Radical Indigenous Futures" from Routledge.: https://www.routledge.com/Nativism-and-Capitalism-From-Colonial-Hauntings-to-Radical-Indigenous-Futures/Bloom/p/book/9781041033950
"The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
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The Anti-Defamation League & The Racial State / Emmaia Gelman
Emmaia Gelman joins This Is Hell! to talk about her new book “The Anti-Defamation League And The Racial State”, published by University of California Press. (https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-anti-defamation-league-and-the-racial-state/hardcover)
Emmaia Gelman is the founding Director of the Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism. She has taught social and cultural analysis at NYU and socia
Gerontocracy / Samuel Moyn
Historian and legal scholar Samuel Moyn joins us to discuss his latest book from Macmillan, "Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth—and What to Do About It": https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374607647/gerontocracyinamerica/
"Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi and "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen both follow the interview.
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A History of Conspiracy Theory / Andrew McKenzie-McHarg
Andrew McKenzie-McHarg joins us to discuss his recent book, "The Hidden History of Conspiracy Theory" from Princeton University Press: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691177069/the-hidden-history-of-conspiracy-theory
"Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi" and "The Moment of Truth" follow the interview.
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Chicago's Conviction Machine / Flint Taylor
Flint Taylor, co-founder of the People's Law Office, joins us to discuss his new book, "The Conviction Machine: Prosecutors, Politicians, and Police Violence in Chicago" from Haymarket Books. Get your copy here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2733-the-conviction-machine
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon
The Story Of The Jewish Bund / Molly Crabapple
Artist and writer Molly Crabapple joins This Is Hell! to talk about her new book, “Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund."
Molly is the author of two books, her 2015 memoir, "Drawing Blood," and "Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of the Syrian War," which is written and Illustrated by Molly and Marwan Hisham. "Brothers of the Gun" was long-listed for a National Book Award. S
Inventing Antifa / Lauren Fadiman
Lauren Fadiman joins us to discuss her new piece in The Baffler, "The Invention of Antifa: The courts decree a new domestic terrorist": https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-invention-of-antifa-fadiman
US Media’s Complicity In The Gaza Genocide / Robin Andersen
Robin Anderson joins This Is Hell! to talk about her her new book “The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage Of Israel’s Genocide In Gaza” published by OR Books. https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-complicit-lens/
Robin Andersen is professor emerita of media studies at Fordham University and an award-winning author of a dozen single- and co-authored books. Her work examines film, television, and media co
We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil
Vicky Osterweil joins us to discuss her new book, "The Extended Universe
How Disney Killed the Movies and Took Over the World" from Haymarket Books: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2525-the-extended-universe
"The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon
Immigration Detention Expansion During Trump’s Second Term / Nayna Gupta & Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
American Immigration Council's Nayna Gupta and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick join This Is Hell! to discuss their report, "Immigration Detention Expansion in Trump’s Second Term”. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/immigration-detention/
Nayna Gupta is an immigration attorney, policy expert, and the current Policy Director at the American Immigration Council. Based in Washington, D.C., she
The Politics of Police Reform in Minneapolis / Michelle Phelps
Sociologist Michelle Phelps joins us to discuss her book, "The Minneapolis Reckoning: Race, Violence, and the Politics of Policing in America": https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691245980/the-minneapolis-reckoning
How Money Dominates Human Lives Everywhere / Arjun Jayadev
Educator and author Arjun Jayadev joins This Is Hell! to talk about the new book published by The University Of Chicago Press that he co-wrote with J.W. Mason called “Against Money”, which talks about how money has gotten to dominate the lives of humans world wide as it become the most influential human creation. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo265118979.html
Arjun Jayadev i
Another Bag of Mail / Chuck Mertz & the World's Best Audience
Due to an unexpected rescheduling of a guest, we present a rare mailbag episode that delves into our esteemed listeners' questions and insights. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. No producers were harmed in the making of this episode.
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/
How The British Made The Far Right Acceptable / Daniel Trilling
Journalist and author Daniel Trilling returns to This Is Hell! to talk about his new book “If We Tolerate This: How the British establishment made the far right respectable”, published by Pan Macmillan. This is Daniel’s fourth appearance on the show. Daniel was shortlisted for the 2022 and 2023 Orwell Prizes, for his writing focused on homelessness, human rights and politics. His work has also bee
The Death of Asylum / Tanvi Misra
Tanvi Misra returns to discuss her new piece at Jewish Currents, " The Death of Asylum: How centuries of efforts to deny refuge to persecuted people paved way for authoritarianism." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Tanvi's essay here: https://jewishcurrents.org/the-death-of-asylum
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episo
Reshaping War For The 21st Century / Shana Marshall
Shana Marshall joins This Is Hell! to talk about her new piece for Security In Context titled “A Violent Convergence: How Silicon Valley and Private Finance Are Reshaping War”. Shana Marshall is Associate Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies and Assistant Research Faculty member at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Her work has been published
Internationalism from Below / Leila Al-Shami & Benjamin
Leila Al-Shami returns with co-author Benjamin to discuss their new book by The People's Want, "Revolutions of Our Times: An Internationalist Manifesto" (Haymarket Books). "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out the new book from The People's Want: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2732-revolutions-of-our-times
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener suppo
The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy Of Power Consolidation / Rakeen Mabud
Rakeem Mabud speaks with This Is Hell! about her new essay for Common Wealth that she co-wrote with Melanie Brusseler titled “The Power Grab: The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy of Power Consolidation”. https://www.common-wealth.org/publications/the-power-grab
Rakeen is an expert on how economic trends impact people’s everyday lives. She was most recently the Chief Economist at Groundwork Coll
Elon Musk Is a Symptom / Quinn Slobodian & Ben Tarnoff
Quinn Slobodian returns with his co-author, Ben Tarnoff, to discuss their just-published book from Harper Collins, "Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Quinn and Ben's book here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/muskism-quinn-slobodianben-tarnoff?variant=43838135402530
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Loyola University Union Thugs pt. 2 / Paige Warren
Paige Warren, Co-Chair of the SEIU 73 Faculty Forward Union at Loyola, joins us to update us on the next steps Loyola University Chicago non-tenure-track faculty are taking for a fair contract after the passage of a strike authorization vote. This follows 14 months of bargaining with a stonewalling, corporatized administration. Paige is an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of English at Loyola
The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy + Loyola Union Thugs pt. 2 / A.J.A. Woods
Intellectual historian A.J.A. Woods, author of, “The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West" (Verso Books) discusses their book on the day it is published. A.J.A.’s writings on conspiracy theories and reactionary politics have been translated into four languages and appeared in Open Democracy, Patterns of Prejudice, and Marx & Philosophy
Labor Struggle in Higher Ed: An Update from Loyola University Chicago SEIU 73 Faculty Forward Union
Members of the leadership team of the SEIU 73 Faculty Forward Union representing non-tenure-track faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University Chicago update us on their 14-month-old fight for a fair contract. NTT faculty Matt Williams, Paige Warren, Sarita Heer, and Deb Goodman discuss the precarity and exploitation facing faculty at Loyola and on campuses across the United St
Colonialism Continues From Oil To Cancer In Kenya / Nelly Madegwa
Nelly Madegwa is co-author of The Intercept story supported by the Pulitzer Center, "Where There Is Salt: An American Company Drilled for Oil in Kenya — and Left Behind Soaring Cancer Rates," which she co-wrote with Georgia Gee.
Nelly is an award-winning journalist from Kenya whose reporting covers climate change, sustainable development, health, and human rights across Africa. She writes frequen
AI Grifters in Power & Reactionary Third Way Centrist Dems / Henry Burke
Henry Burke of the Revolving Door Project joins us to discuss his recent writing, "How OpenAI Hacked The Military-Industrial Complex" at The Lever and, "Centrists: Better Things Aren’t Possible" at The American Prospect. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Henry's articles here: https://www.levernews.com/how-openai-hacked-the-military-industrial-complex/ and h
Ukraine Going From Maidan To War / Volodymyr Ishchenko
Research associate at the Institute of East European Studies, Freie Universität Berlin and sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko returns to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war and many of the misconceptions we may have regarding the ongoing conflict. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Jacobin and New Left Review. He is the author of “Towards the Abyss: Ukraine from Maidan to War”, publishe
Death by AI / Andy Worthington
Andy Worthington returns to the show to discuss his recent writing, including "The Horrors of AI-Driven Military Targeting, From Gaza to Iran," and "900 Days of Genocide in Gaza." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Andy's writing at his website: https://www.andyworthington.co.uk/
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Fighting Against The Corporate Monsters Of Plastic / Diane Wilson
Author, Executive Director of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeepers, and Goldman Prize winner Diane Wilson returns to This Is Hell! to talk about her ongoing hunger strike to protest Dow’s environmental damage to San Antonio Bay and the surrounding community.
We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answers to this week's Question from Hell!
2026 Listener Favorites (so far): Imperial Boomerangs / Séamus Malekafzali
While Chuck is away this week undergoing physical therapy, we are featuring some of your favorite interviews of 2026 so far. This time, we revisit our January 15th conversation with Séamus Malekafzali. He joined us to discuss his recent piece at The Nation, "The Assassination That Paved the Way for Trump’s Venezuela Attack: How Trump’s illegal 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani—and the West’s indiff
2026 Listener Favorites (so far): Escape from Capitalism / Claire Mattei
While Chuck is away for the week to endure the torture of physical therapy, we revisit your favorite interviews of 2026 so far. In this episode, we revisit your most-suggested interview, Chuck's January 27th conversation with Clara Mattei. Clara is professor of economics at The University of Tulsa and the Founding President of FREE—the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation. She joined us to discuss
Trump's Imperial Presidency / Mohamad Bazzi
Twenty-two years after last joining us, we welcome back Mohamad Bazzi. He discusses his latest at the Guardian, "Trump promised no wars. Now he’s a Bush-style regime change president," and "Trump’s war in Iran marks the culmination of his imperial presidency."
"The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview in which he, "fights to wake up from a DARVOnian nightmare."
Check out Moh
On the Ground in Venezuela / Brian Mier
Brian Mier returns to This Is Hell! to discuss his new writing at his Substack, De-Linking Brazil, "30 Days in Venezuela." "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.
Check out Brian's report here: https://bmier.substack.com/p/30-days-in-venezuela
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.co
Only US Enemies Can Be Drug Lords or Terrorists / Laleh Khalili
Laleh Khalili returns to discuss her new piece at the London Review of Books, "Guns, Money and Opium." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Laleh's article here: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n03/laleh-khalili/guns-money-and-opium
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.pa
Breaking The Earth To Steal The Future / Timothy Mitchell
Academic and writer Timothy Mitchell joins This Is Hell! to talk about his new book his new book "The Alibi of Capital: How We Broke the Earth to Steal the Future on the Promise of a Better Tomorrow”, published by Verso Books (https://www.versobooks.com/products/3452-the-alibi-of-capital). Mitchell is the William B. Ransford Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University. His is based
White America's Attachment to Lethal Self-Defense / Caroline Light
Caroline Light joins us to discuss her book, "Stand Your Ground: A History of America’s Love Affair with Lethal Self-Defense." A 10th anniversary edition with a new introduction and a preface by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is now available from Beacon Press. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Caroline's book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/815354/stan
World War X / Alex De Waal
Alex de Waal returns to discuss his recent writing in the series, "World War X" from the World Peace Foundation. "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.
Check out Alex's series here: https://worldpeacefoundation.org/topic/world-war-x/
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisish
Uncovering The Epstein Files & A Life Full Of Exploitation / Julie K. Brown
Journalist and author Julie K. Brown from the Miami Herald’s Investigative Team, joins This Is Hell! to talk about her work uncovering and investigating the Epstein Files, which can be found on her Substack, jkbjournalist.substack.com, where she is still breaking new stories on the case.
We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answers to thi
Overcoming America's Long History of Criminalizing Dissent and Protest / Whitney Bauck
Award-winning climate and environment journalist Whitney Bauck discusses her latest at the Guardian, "The criminalizing of protest and dissent has a long history in America." Our conversation will also cover her previous posts describing "How activism is tackling the US loneliness epidemic," and "How US cities are helping each other resist ICE."
Checkout Whitney's recent Guardian pieces here: htt
Dept of Labor Betrays Its History Thru Anti-Immigration / Kim Kelly
Kim Kelly, author of, "Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor," (Atria Books) host of "Unite and Win: A Guide to Workplace Organizing" podcast at workerorganizing.org, speaks with This Is Hell! to discuss her writing at The Baffler, "A Piece of Work: The Department of Labor’s anti-immigrant turn betrays its history."
Kim Kelly is a labor reporter for In These Times magazine and has
Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign One Year In / Nicole Foy
Nicole Foy joins us to discuss her recent reporting at ProPublica, including "We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Nicole's articles at ProPublica here: https://www.propublica.org/people/nicole-foy
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener s
A Silent Killer Named Plastic / Judith Enck
Judith Enck joins This Is Hell! to talk about the book that she recently co-authored of, "The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late”, published by The New Press. https://thenewpress.org/books/the-problem-with-plastic/?v=eb65bcceaa5f
Judith is the founder and president of Beyond Plastics, whose goal is eliminating plastic pollution everywhere. In 2009
Cold War on Five Continents / Aflred McCoy
Historian Alfred McCoy joins us to discuss his new book, "Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage" from Haymarket Books. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Alfred's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2631-cold-war-on-five-continents
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by
How Humanity Needs To Be Rescued From Capitalism / Clara E. Mattei
Clara E. Mattei, a professor of economics at The University of Tulsa. She is the Founding President of FREE—the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation (https://www.freefreeforum.org/)—and the author of "The Capital Order”, which was praised by The Financial Times as one of the ten best economics books of 2022 and has been translated into over a dozen languages. Clara joins This Is Hell! to talk abou
The Assassination That Paved the Way for Trump’s Venezuela Attack / Séamus Malekafzali
Séamus Malekafzali returns to discuss his recent piece at The Nation, "The Assassination That Paved the Way for Trump’s Venezuela Attack: How Trump’s illegal 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani—and the West’s indifferent response—laid the groundwork for the brazen abduction of Nicolás Maduro." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Séamus' article here: https://www.
The Adventures Of The Narco-Elite / Maureen Tkacik
Maureen Tkacik makes her debut on This Is Hell! to talk about her new investigative piece for American Prospect, “The Narco Terrorist Elite”, which goes into how narco terrorists have historically operated with right wing Latin American dictatorships and US imperialism and how Marco Rubio’s recent actions within the Trump administration might become a new version of Iran-Contra. https://prospect.
Coroners Complicit in Obscuring Violent Deaths in State Custody / Terence Keel
Terence Keel returns to discuss his new book from Beacon Press, "The Coroner's Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Terence's book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/790545/the-coroners-silence-by-terence-keel/
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus e
The Trail Of Sickness Thru Navajo Nation / Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare returns to This Is Hell! to talk about her new In These Times piece “They Worked Underground in the Uranium Mines. They've Been Surrounded by Death Ever Since”. Sarah investigates how the uranium industry left a trail of sickness and loss through Navajo territory while President Trump is pushing for another mining boom.
We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cur
The BBC's Gaza Fiasco / Daniel Trilling
Daniel Trilling returns to discuss his new Equator piece, "Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco: How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart."
Check out Daniel's article here: https://www.equator.org/articles/inside-the-bbc-s-gaza-fiasco
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell
Pleas
A Trillion Dollar War Machine Keeps Americans Poor and at War / William Hartung & Ben Freeman
Quincy Institute scholars William Hartung and Ben Freeman join us to discuss their new book from Bold Type Books, "The Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out William and Ben's book here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/william-d-hartung
American Football's Long, Violent History / Michael Oriard
Professor Emeritus and pro footballer Michael Oriard joins us to discuss his new book from University of North Carolina Press, "Sanctioned Savagery: A History of Violence in American Football." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Michael's book here: https://uncpress.org/9781469690667/sanctioned-savagery/
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The Downfall Of Liberal Civilization / Richard Seymour
Richard Seymour returns to This Is Hell! to talk about his new book "Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization”, published by Verso Books. Seymour discusses the ideologies amplifying the contemporary right that is distorting modern politics into a nihilistic disaster nationalism.
We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answe
How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy / Ray Madoff
Legal scholar Ray Madoff joins us to discuss her new book from the University of Chicago Press, "The Second Estate: How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Ray's book here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo256019296.html
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus epis
How The Prison Industry Dehumanizes And Profits / Bianca Tylek
Bianca Tylek speaks to This Is Hell! about “The Prison Industry: How It Works and Who Profits" that is published by the New Press.
Bianca Tylek is one of the nation’s leading experts on the prison industry and is the Founder and Executive Director of Worth Rises, a national non-profit dismantling the prison industry and ending the exploitation of those it touches. Bianca’s work has been covered b
Can One Change The World When Elections And Protests Fail? / Sasha Davis
Writer and researcher Sasha Davis speaks to This Is Hell! to talk about his new book “Replace The State: How To Change The World When Elections And Protests Fail”, published by University of Minnesota Press. The book talks about bringing new hope for social justice movements by looking to progressive campaigns that have found success by unconventional, and more direct, means since elections and pr
Genocide and the Illusion of Western Civilization / Hamid Dabashi
Hamid Dabashi returns to This Is Hell! to discuss his new book from Haymarket Books, "After Savagery: Gaza, Genocide, and the Illusion of Western Civilization." Jeff Dorchen edifies us with a new "Moment of Truth" after the interview.
Check out Hamid's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2607-after-savagery
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How Capitalism Breeds Vector-Borne Disease / Brent Z. Kaup & Kelly F. Austin
Brent Z. Kaup and Kelly F. Austin join This Is Hell! to talk about their new book "The Pathogens of Finance: How Capitalism Breeds Vector-Borne Disease" published by University of California Press. The Pathogens of Finance explores how the power and profits of Wall Street underpin the contemporary increases in and inadequate responses to vector-borne disease. (https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-pat
The Great White Hoax / Philip Kadish
Philip Kadish joins us to discuss his new book, "The Great White Hoax: Two Centuries of Selling Racism in America" from The New Press. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Philips book here: https://thenewpress.org/books/the-great-white-hoax/?v=eb65bcceaa5f
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The Fascist Attempt To Take Over Yoga / Stewart Home
Stewart Home speaks to This Is Hell! about his new book "Fascist Yoga: Grifters, Occultists, White Supremacists, and the New Order In Wellness”, published by Pluto Press.
Stewart Home is an artist, filmmaker, pamphleteer, art historian and activist, and the author of countless pulp fictions, including most recently Art School Orgy and She’s My Witch. He regularly performs to audiences across the
Enshittification / Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow returns to This Is Hell! to discuss his new book from Verso, "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It." "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi and "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follow the interview.
Check out Cory's book here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3341-enshittification
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported
AI's Environmental Footprint / Ashley Dawson
Ashley Dawson returns to discuss his new piece at the New York Review of Books, "The Costs of the Cloud: How much power does AI consume?" "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Ashley's article here: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2025/09/27/the-costs-of-the-cloud/
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to
How Western Ignorance Has Been Plundering Africa / Bronwen Everill
Bronwen Everill joins This Is Hell! to talk about her new book "Africonomics: A History of Western Ignorance”, published by The New Press. https://thenewpress.org/authors/bronwen-everill/?v=eb65bcceaa5f
We will have new installments of Rotten History and Hangover Cure. We will also be sharing your answers to this week's Question from Hell! from Patreon.
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The Global Economy Runs on Extraction / Laleh Khalili
Political Scientist Laleh Khalili joins us to discuss her new book, "Extractive Capitalism: How Commodities and Cronyism Drive the Global Economy" out now from Verso. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.
Check out Laleh's book here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3405-extractive-capitalism
Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episo
The Destruction of Democracy to Christianize America / Matthew Boedy
Matthew Boedy, author of “Speaking of Evil”, comes to This Is Hell!! to talk about his new book "The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy" published by Westminster John Knox Press. Matthew was targeted by Turning Point USA in 2016 and listed on its “professor watchlist” after speaking up against allowing concealed guns on college campus
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