Episodes

  • A History of Conspiracy Theory / Andrew McKenzie-McHarg

    A History of Conspiracy Theory / Andrew McKenzie-McHarg
    Jun 24 2026
    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. 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.
    Show More Show Less
    2 hrs and 5 mins
  • Chicago's Conviction Machine / Flint Taylor

    Chicago's Conviction Machine / Flint Taylor
    Jun 18 2026
    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.com/thisishell
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 39 mins
  • The Story Of The Jewish Bund / Molly Crabapple

    The Story Of The Jewish Bund / Molly Crabapple
    Jun 16 2026
    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. She was a 2020 New America Fellow and her reportage was the winner of the Bernhard Labor Journalism Award, and has been published in The New York Times, New York Review of Books, The Paris Review, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker and elsewhere. Her animations have won two Emmys and an Edward R. Murrow Award. Her art is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art. 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
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 29 mins
  • Inventing Antifa / Lauren Fadiman

    Inventing Antifa / Lauren Fadiman
    Jun 11 2026
    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
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 44 mins
  • US Media’s Complicity In The Gaza Genocide / Robin Andersen

    US Media’s Complicity In The Gaza Genocide / Robin Andersen
    Jun 9 2026
    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 coverage of war, the environment, politics, and elections. She edits the Routledge Focus Book Series on Media and Humanitarian Action, serves as a Project Censored Judge, and contributes to the annual State of the Free Press. Andersen is on the Board of Directors of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), where she also writes regularly, and is an Izzy Award Judge for the Park Center for Independent Media. Her writing has appeared in CounterPunch, LA Progressive, The Progressive, Salon, Common Dreams, and ScheerPost, among others. 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
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 33 mins
  • We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil

    We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil
    May 27 2026
    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.com/thisishell
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 44 mins
  • Immigration Detention Expansion During Trump’s Second Term / Nayna Gupta & Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

    Immigration Detention Expansion During Trump’s Second Term / Nayna Gupta & Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
    May 26 2026
    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 leads the Council's legislative, administrative, and policy advocacy portfolio. Her work primarily focuses on immigration enforcement, the U.S. immigration detention system, and the intersection of criminal law and immigration civil policy. She is a frequent commentator on major networks like Al Jazeera, analyzing mass deportation strategies and federal immigration expenditures. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick is a Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council. He previously worked as a Staff Attorney at the Council, working on impact litigation, Freedom of Information Act litigations, and practice advisories. Prior to joining the Council, he was an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow placed as a Staff Attorney at the Immigration Law Unit of The Legal Aid Society in New York City, representing immigrants placed in removal proceedings because of a prior criminal conviction. Aaron holds a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in Politics and East Asian Studies from Brandeis University. 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
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 26 mins
  • The Politics of Police Reform in Minneapolis / Michelle Phelps

    The Politics of Police Reform in Minneapolis / Michelle Phelps
    May 20 2026
    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
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 29 mins