This is the first episode of Chapo all-stars Derek Davison & Daniel Bessner’s new foreign policy podcast “American Prestige”. To get more, go here: http://patreon.com/americanprestige

In the premiere episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek get into the US's withdrawal from Afghanistan. Did the military intentionally botch the withdrawal? Has the imperial frontier contracted in any meaningful way? Will the Taliban gain legitimacy with the Afghan people?

Plus, an in-depth interview with Stephen Wertheim, discussing his new book “Tomorrow, the World”, which explores how and why during World War II U.S. elites decided that their nation should, indeed must, dominate the world.

American Prestige: E1 - Ghosting Afghanistan w/ Stephen Wertheim

Almost every so-called terror attack “foiled by the FBI” in the USA is fake—and the plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer was, too. We also talk snitches and bullshit.

Episode 170: Gretchen

We welcome Anne and Jonny from NOlympics LA to talk about how much they hate the Olympics 

First NOlympics episode here: patreon.com/posts/episode-6-29250584

Episode 172: NOlympics 2

"Concerns rising inside White House over surge in violent crime," CNN tells us. "America's Crime Surge: Why Violence Is Rising, And Solutions To Fix It," proclaims NPR. "Officials worry the rise in violent crime portends a bloody summer," reports The Washington Post.

Over and over this summer we have heard – and will no doubt continue to hear – the scourge of rising crime is the most urgent issue on voters' minds. Setting aside the way media coverage itself shape public opinion, the rising murder rates in urban areas is indeed very real and its victims disproportionately Black and Latino.

In response, like clockwork, Democrats and Democratic Party-aligned media have allied with conservatives and right-wing media are rehashing the same tired responses: more police, longer sentences, and tougher laws. But this time, they assure us it will be different: it won’t be racist and overly punitive. Instead, in addition to the return of 1990s Tough On Crime formula. we will get enough nebulous reforms and anti-bias training that it will somehow be enlightened and consistent with the demands of Black Lives Matter.

But everything we know about the past 50 years tells us this will not be true. Indeed, if more policing and prisons solved crime, the United States would be the safest country on Earth, but, of course, it is not. According to The American Journal of Medicine, compared to 22 other high-income nations, the United States' gun-related murder rate is 25 times higher despite imprisoning people at rates 5-10 times what other rich nations do.

So why do lawmakers and the media always reach for the same so-called "solutions" when it comes to crime? What are the assumptions that inform how we respond to an increase in homicides and other violent crime? How can the wealthiest nation in the world throw billions of dollars, more police, longer sentences, and tougher prosecutors at our high murder rates only to continue to wildly outpacing the rest of the so-called developed world on this, the most urgent of metrics?

On this episode, we explore the origins of "crime," what crimes we consider noteworthy and which are ignored, how property rights and white supremacy informed the crime we center in our media, how the crimes of poverty, environmental destruction, wage theft, and discrimination are relegated to the arena of tort, with its gentle fines and drawn out lawsuits – while petty theft and drug use results in long prison sentences. We’ll study how these bifurcations inform both media accounts of crime and how we respond with more police, and longer sentences the second we are faced with so-called crime waves.

Our guests are Civil Rights Corps' Alec Karakatsanis and sociologist Tamara K. Nopper.

Ep142: The Summer of Anti-BLM Backlash & How Concepts of "Crime" Were Shaped By the Propertied Class

We're back with news from Ghislaine, Jeffrey and the rest of the creep show, plus: We discuss the dark underbelly of the “real” internet and look toward the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

Episode 174: Jestermaxx

We look at the brutal, stupid, and embarrassing end of our brutal, stupid, and embarrassing twenty year occupation of Afghanistan.

Chapo Trap House

550 - Sweet L of Liberty (8/16/21)

This week we start off with an op-ed from our Senator-In-Exile Amy McGrath concerning Afghanistan. Then we check back in with AppHarvest, for whom news has only gotten worse since we checked in on them on Sunday's Patreon. And finally we finish with an exploration into the QAnon mindset with a reading from Politico.

Check us out on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 212: Panjshir Valley Hillbillies

In 2019, human rights activist and land defender Brandon Lee was shot four times outside his home in Lagawe, Lfuagao by the Armed Forces of the Philippines after being targeted for assassination by the Duterte administration. We speak to Brandon along with Rhonda Ramiro, chairperson of Bayan USA, about the assassination attempt, the ongoing abuses of the Duterte administration, and the United States' continued support. 

Bayan USA: www.bayanusa.org
Philippine Human Rights Act: www.humanrightsph.org
Fundraiser for Brandon: gofundme.com/f/justice-4-brandon-lee-campaign
Human Rights Defenders Fund: ichrpus.square.site/hr-defenders-fund
Investigate PH: www.investigate.ph

Episode 178: Anti-terror in the Philippines

This we take a look at Planet Earth: is it really the "hidden gem" of the universe? According to one Kentucky CEO, it certainly is. After that we take a brief look at the army of contractors making money off of the pandemic. 

Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty

Episode 213: Aint Free Yet But Close

Once more into the breach of Afghanistan takes: the media now turns to our precious abandoned military ordnance to hand-wring over, and Britain continues to feel the cold shoulder of the Biden administration. We also cover China’s new gaming ban, and an effort to gin up a BDS movement against the Taliban.

554 - Junkyard of Empires (8/31/21)

TrueAnon is back with updates on Ghislaine Maxwell’s impending trial and the quest to serve Prince Andrew court papers by Virgina Giuffre

Episode 185: Randy Andy Runaway Dandy

TrueAnon is a podcast about your enemies made by your friends. Join unlicensed private investigators Liz Franczak, Brace Belden, and Yung Chomsky for a show that will drive you insane. Every other episode is a Patreon exclusive: patreon.com/TrueAnonPod