Episodes

  • 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
  • How Money Dominates Human Lives Everywhere / Arjun Jayadev

    How Money Dominates Human Lives Everywhere / Arjun Jayadev
    May 19 2026
    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 is professor of economics and director of the Centre for the Study of the Indian Economy at Azim Premji University in India. He has previously taught at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. He is also a Senior Economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. His research combines quantitative and theoretical analysis of Finance, Development, Political Economy and Intellectual Property. He is also a fellow at the Groundwork Collective. https://groundworkcollaborative.org/ 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 27 mins
  • Another Bag of Mail / Chuck Mertz & the World's Best Audience

    Another Bag of Mail / Chuck Mertz & the World's Best Audience
    May 13 2026
    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/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
    1 hr and 21 mins
  • How The British Made The Far Right Acceptable / Daniel Trilling

    How The British Made The Far Right Acceptable / Daniel Trilling
    May 12 2026
    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 been shortlisted for the Political Book Awards and the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing. Daniel is also an associate lecturer in journalism at London College of Communication, where he helps with the Refugee Journalism Project, a training and mentoring scheme for exiled media workers in the UK, which you can learn more about at refugeejournalismproject.org. Link to purchase Daniel Trilling's new book https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/daniel-trilling/if-we-tolerate-this/9781037411571 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 21 mins
  • The Death of Asylum / Tanvi Misra

    The Death of Asylum / Tanvi Misra
    May 7 2026
    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 episodes by subscribing to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thisishell
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 47 mins
  • Reshaping War For The 21st Century / Shana Marshall

    Reshaping War For The 21st Century / Shana Marshall
    May 5 2026
    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 by The Middle East Report, The International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle East Policy, Jadaliyya, the Carnegie Middle East Center, and various edited volumes. 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 https://www.securityincontext.org/team/shana-marshall
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 35 mins