Kimberlé Crenshaw joins This is Hell! to discuss her new book, “#SayHerName: Black Women’s Stories of Police Violence and Public Silence” (Haymarket Books).

Then, another dose of Rotten History from Renaldo Migaldi.

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#SayHerName: Black Women's Stories of Police Violence and Public Silence / Kimberlé Crenshaw

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.'

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

Historian Timothy W. Ryback joins us to discuss his Atlantic essays, "How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days: He used the constitution to shatter the constitution," "The Oligarchs Who Came to Regret Supporting Hitler They helped him in pursuit of profit. Many ended up in concentration camps," and, "‘Herr Hitler, Do You Really Believe Me Capable of Such a Dirty Trick?’ The chancellor rewarded loyalty with loyalty. Until he didn’t."

Timothy is director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in The Hague. He is the author of several books on Hitler’s Germany, most recently, "Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power."

"The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview.

Check out Timothy's writing at The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/timothy-w-ryback/ 
Check out his new book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/727483/takeover-by-timothy-w-ryback/

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Hitler's Takeover Was Completely Constitutional / Timothy Ryback

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

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

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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.

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

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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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

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

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

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

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/the-trillion-dollar-war-machine/9781645030638/

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.

A Trillion Dollar War Machine Keeps Americans Poor and at War / William Hartung & Ben Freeman

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

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 BBC's Gaza Fiasco / Daniel Trilling

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 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 Trail Of Sickness Thru Navajo Nation / Sarah Lazare

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 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.

Coroners Complicit in Obscuring Violent Deaths in State Custody / Terence Keel

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.org/2025/12/23/narco-terrorist-elite-rubio-south-america-iran-contra/

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 Adventures Of The Narco-Elite / Maureen Tkacik

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.thenation.com/article/world/trump-soleimani-venezuela-maduro/

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 Assassination That Paved the Way for Trump’s Venezuela Attack / Séamus Malekafzali

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 about her new book, "Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention”, by Simon & Shuster. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Escape-from-Capitalism/Clara-E-Mattei/9781668085141

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 Humanity Needs To Be Rescued From Capitalism / Clara E. Mattei

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 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.
 

Cold War on Five Continents / Aflred McCoy

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, she was appointed by President Obama to serve as regional administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and served as deputy secretary for the environment in the New York Governor’s Office. She is currently a professor at Bennington College, where she teaches classes on plastic pollution. https://www.beyondplastics.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

A Silent Killer Named Plastic / Judith Enck

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 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.

Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign One Year In / Nicole Foy

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 been a regular labor columnist for Teen Vogue since 2018. Her writing on labor, class, politics, disability, and culture has appeared in The Nation, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Baffler, The New Republic, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and many others. Kelly has also worked as a video correspondent for More Perfect Union, The Real News Network, and Means TV. Previously, she was the heavy metal editor at Noisey, Vice’s music vertical, and helped organize the Vice union. A third-generation union member, she served three terms as an elected councilperson for the Writers Guild of America, East Council. Her first book, Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor, was published in 2022, and the young readers edition, Fight to Win! Heroes of American Labor, was published by Simon & Schuster Kids in 2025. 

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

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 been a regular labor columnist for Teen Vogue since 2018. Her writing on labor, class, politics, disability, and culture has appeared in The Nation, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Baffler, The New Republic, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and many others. Kelly has also worked as a video correspondent for More Perfect Union, The Real News Network, and Means TV. Previously, she was the heavy metal editor at Noisey, Vice’s music vertical, and helped organize the Vice union. A third-generation union member, she served three terms as an elected councilperson for the Writers Guild of America, East Council. Her first book, Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor, was published in 2022, and the young readers edition, Fight to Win! Heroes of American Labor, was published by Simon & Schuster Kids in 2025. 

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

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: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/whitney-bauck

Whitney currently serves as a contributing writer for the Guardian, and previously served as print editor at the climate and culture magazine Atmos. 

Overcoming America's Long History of Criminalizing Dissent and Protest / Whiteney Bauck

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 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


Uncovering The Epstein Files & A Life Full Of Exploitation / Julie K. Brown

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/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.

World War X / Alex De Waal

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/stand-your-ground-by-caroline-light/

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.

White America's Attachment to Lethal Self-Defense / Caroline Light

Anthropologist Scott Atran explains the revolutionary context of the Islamic State - as a dynamic startup nation, an attractor of the aggrieved, and an existential challenge to Enlightenment ideals of human rights and the secular state - and warns that Western governments are giving ISIS exactly the chaos it needs to grow.

Scott is co-author of the New York Review of Books essay "Paris: The War ISIS Wants."

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/nov/16/paris-attacks-isis-strategy-chaos/

Jihadi Archipelago: Blood and joy in the Islamic State.

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

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

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