Historian Hannah Farber on her book "Underwriters of the United States: How Insurance Shaped the American Founding" from the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press.

https://uncpress.org/book/9781469663630/underwriters-of-the-united-states/

Maritime insurers and the US founding / Hannah Farber

Dan replays two interviews Chuck did with the late, great David Graeber, the first about his book on bureaucracy "The Utopia of Rules," the second on the book "Bullshit Jobs."

https://www.mhpbooks.com/books/the-utopia-of-rules/

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bullshit-Jobs/David-Graeber/9781501143335

STAFF PICKS: David Graeber / Bureaucracy and Bullshit Jobs

Zac Chapman and Nairuti Shastry discuss their article at The Forge, "Will the Revolution Be Funded?," which is against big philanthropy and argues for community 'self-funding.'

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access weekly bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Will the Revolution Be Funded? / Zac Chapman & Nairuti Shastry

Leigh Claire La Berge joins us to discuss her new book published today by Haymarket, "Fake Work: How I Began to Suspect Capitalism is a Joke." "Rotten History" by Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.

Check out Leigh's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2534-fake-work

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

Fake Work / Leigh Claire La Berge

Gilbert Achcar joins us to discuss his recent book, "Gaza Catastrophe: The Genocide in World-Historical Perspective" (University of California Press). "This Day in Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.

Check out Gilbert's book here: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-gaza-catastrophe/paper

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Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

The Gaza Genocide in World-Historical Perspective / Gilbert Achcar

Journalist Megan Greenwell joins This Is Hell! to about her new book "Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream" published by Harper Collins. (https://www.megangreenwell.com/book)

Megan Greenwell is a writer, editor, and newsroom leader. Megan worked as the editor of Wired.com and, for four months, the interim editor-in-chief of WIRED, overseeing the publication’s transition to a global newsroom. Megan has written or edited for publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, WIRED, and ESPN. She is also the deputy director of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program, a workshop and college access initiative for students from low-income backgrounds.

A new installment of “This Week In 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: www.patreon.com/thisishell

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon.

The American Dream Taken Over By Private Equity / Megan Greenwell

Alana Lentin joins us to discuss her new book from Pluto Press, The New Racial Regime: Recalibrations of White Supremacy. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

Check out Alana's book here: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745347967/the-new-racial-regime/

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

The New Racial Regime / Alana Lentin

Jennifer C. Pan joins This Is Hell! to talk about her new book “Selling Social Justice: Why The Rich Love Antiracism” published by Verso Books.  (https://www.versobooks.com/products/2919-selling-social-justice)

Jennifer C. Pan is a writer in Los Angeles whose work has appeared in the Nation, the Atlantic, Dissent, Damage, and elsewhere. She was formerly a host of the Jacobin Show and a staff writer at the New Republic.

A new installment of “This Week In 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: www.patreon.com/thisishell

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon.

The Rich are Falling in Love with Antiracism / Jennifer C. Pan

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.

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Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

On "Squirty Cream" and Other Items from the Mailbag / Chuck Mertz & the World's Best Audience

Susan Greenhalgh joins us to discuss her new book, "Soda Science: Making the World Safe for Coca Cola" (University of Chicago Press). "This Day in Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.

Check out Susan's book here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo221451790.html

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners. 

Corporate Science Wants You to Buy the World a Coke / Susan Greenhalgh

Nancy Hiemstra and Deirdre Conlon join us to discuss their new book, "Immigration Detention, Inc.: The Big Business of Locking up Migrants" from Pluto Press. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

Check out Nancy and Deirdre's book here: https://www.plutobooks.com/product/immigration-detention-inc/

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners. 

The Political Economy of Immigration Detention / Nancy Hiemstra and Deirdre Conlon

Omar Zahzah joins us to discuss his new book, "Terms of Servitude: Zionism, Silicon Valley, and Digital/Settler-Colonialism in the Palestinian Liberation Struggle" (Seven Stories Press). "This Day in Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.

Check out Omar's book here: https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4729-terms-of-servitude

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners. 

US Big Tech Supports Israeli Settler Colonialism / Omar Zahzah

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 campuses. As one of the foremost experts on Turning Point USA and its founder and CEO Charlie Kirk, Boedy exposes their role in perpetuating Christian nationalism in the United States and the threat to democracy they pose. He currently teaches rhetoric and composition courses at the University of North Georgia.

A new installment of “This Week In 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: www.patreon.com/thisishell

The Destruction of Democracy to Christianize America / Matthew Boedy

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 episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

The Global Economy Runs on Extraction / Laleh Khalili

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.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

How Western Ignorance Has Been Plundering Africa / Bronwen Everill

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 our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

AI's Environmental Footprint / Ashley Dawson

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 and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

Enshittification / Cory Doctorow

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 world and recently started making headstand paintings with the canvas placed above him and brushes held in his toes. He was born and lives in London.

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.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

The Fascist Attempt To Take Over Yoga / Stewart Home

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

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

The Great White Hoax / Philip Kadish

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-pathogens-of-finance/paper?fbclid=IwY2xjawNtwAhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFGRVpZQzFoa1FZYXR4eUYzAR6-3zKbFGV7SDYV2U-xSBScfcX0UhnL3VQQ61-FYHAYxUqOttxWbvb3rKsV5Q_aem_jVwNXP3bFHvXiL3oGJDLyQ#about-book)

Brent Z. Kaup studies how the transformation of nature affects social inequalities and societal well-being. In addition, he seeks to understand how the materiality of nature shapes markets, policies, and social movements.  Through his research, he has examined an array of topics including genetically modified crops in the Midwest, extractive industries in Bolivia, and the bugs in his own backyard. His areas of specialization include Environment, Energy, Political Economy, Socioeconomic Change and Development, and Globalization. Brent Z. Kaup is Professor of Sociology at William & Mary and author of Market Justice: Political Economic Struggle in Bolivia

Kelly F. Austin grew up outside of Santa Cruz, California. She attended college at Oregon State University, and went to earn her PhD in Sociology at North Carolina State University. Kelly arrived at Lehigh University in 2012, and in addition to being a member of the Sociology and Anthropology department, has also served as Director of the Health, Medicine and Society program, Director of the Global Studies Program, and is currently Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs for the College of Arts and Sciences. Kelly lives in Fountain Hill and spends summers in Bududa, Uganda working with Lehigh undergraduates and local community groups. 


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.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

How Capitalism Breeds Vector-Borne Disease / Brent Z. Kaup & Kelly F. Austin

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

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

Genocide and the Illusion of Western Civilization / Hamid Dabashi

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 protests might have become stagnated in regards to bring forth societal change. (https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517919528/replace-the-state/)

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.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

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 protests might have become stagnated in regards to bring forth societal change. (https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517919528/replace-the-state/)

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

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 by the New York Times, Washington Post, the Atlantic, NPR, The Nation, Mother Jones, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and more. 

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 and Discord.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

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 by the New York Times, Washington Post, the Atlantic, NPR, The Nation, Mother Jones, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and more. 

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

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 episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

How the Tax Code Made an American Aristocracy / Ray Madoff

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 answers to this week's Question from Hell! from Patreon.

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell

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.

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/

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

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." 

Check out Michael's book here: https://uncpress.org/9781469690667/sanctioned-savagery/

Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thisishell

Please rate and review This Is Hell! wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps the show ascend the algorithm to reach new listeners.

Anthropologist David Graeber's three interviews on This Is Hell!, talking about fun, bureaucracy and bullshit jobs. RIP David.

David Graeber on This Is Hell!

Researcher Christian Sorensen on his book "Understanding the War Industry" from Clarity Press.

https://www.claritypress.com/product/understanding-the-war-industry/

This Is Hell!

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