Current Affairs

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Chris Smalls is the co-founder and former president of the Amazon Labor Union and author of the new book When the Revolution Comes. He joins Current Affairs associate editor Alex Skopic in Havana, Cuba, during the Nuestra América aid mission to discuss the U.S. blockade, labor organizing, his fight against Amazon, and why struggles from Cuba to Gaza to Staten Island are connected.

Recorded March, 2026 

✊ Buy When the Revolution Comes: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724036/when-the-revolution-comes-by-chris-smalls/

0:00-5:21 Why Chris Smalls Came to Cuba

5:21-8:18 Hip-Hop, “Union Drip,” and Labor Organizing

8:18-11:09 Joe Biden’s Empty Pro-Union Promises

11:09-17:32 What Workers Should Know About Unionizing

17:32-24:02 The State of the Amazon Labor Union

24:02-26:36 Lessons From the Amazon Fight

26:36-28:15 Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla, and Israeli Apartheid

28:15-28:50 Medea Benjamin Cameo

28:50-31:56 What Comes Next for Chris Smalls

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Norman Finkelstein is one of the leading scholars of the Israel-Palestine conflict and author of the new book Gaza’s Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High Places.

He joins Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss Israel’s plan to make Gaza unlivable, the racism of Israeli society, Tony Blair and Trump’s colonial “Board of Peace,” why he refuses to condemn Hamas, and why he argues that governments, human rights organizations, and international legal authorities have helped enable the Gaza genocide.

🇵🇸 Gaza's Gravediggers: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gazas-gravediggers/

0:00-9:20 Netanyahu’s plan for Gaza

9:20-20:12 Israel’s objectives in Gaza

20:12-41:41 The racism of Israeli society

41:41-45:55 Why oppressors see themselves as victims

45:55-50:18 The Cherokee removal and Palestine

50:18-1:04:21 Why this has always been Israel’s plan

1:04:21-1:25:08 Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and the right

1:25:08-1:32:34 Trump and Tony Blair’s “Board of Peace”

1:32:34-1:47:18 Who are Gaza’s gravediggers?

1:47:18-1:55:18 Refusing to judge anti-imperial atrocities in isolation

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Waqas Ahmed is a Pakistani journalist whose work has appeared in The Intercept and Drop Site News. He joins Current Affairs to discuss his recent reporting with Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim on the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, the ouster and imprisonment of Imran Khan, and how Washington went from suspicion of Pakistan to embracing its military-backed government.

🇵🇰 Read Waqas Ahmed's article in Drop Site News: https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/pakistan-mediator-united-states-iran-trump-imran-khan

0:00-10:32 How Biden Soured on Pakistan

10:32-13:27 Ukraine and Imran Khan’s Break With Washington

13:27-19:35 How the U.S. Helped Push Imran Khan Out

19:35-23:37 Imran Khan’s Imprisonment Today

23:37-26:17 Pakistan’s Crackdown After Khan’s Ouster

26:17-31:32 How Washington Learned to Love Pakistan’s Military Regime

31:32-33:09 America Supports Dictatorship When It Serves U.S. Interests

33:09-38:22 Pakistan’s Role in the Iran Negotiations

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Nicholas Enrich worked at USAID for more than 12 years, including in its Bureau for Global Health and Bureau for Management. He joins Current Affairs to discuss his new book, Into the Wood Chipper, a whistleblower account of how the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE allies shredded one of the most important humanitarian agencies in the U.S. government.

🏥 Buy Nicholas's Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Into-the-Wood-Chipper/Nicholas-Enrich/9781668226957

0:00-3:02 Inside USAID’s “Wood Chipper”

3:02-7:02 What USAID Actually Did

7:02-12:23 How the Right Turned USAID Into a Conspiracy Theory

12:23-14:37 The Trump Administration’s Lies About “Life-Saving” Aid

14:37-20:33 The Human Cost of Destroying USAID

20:33-34:20 How This Catastrophe Could Have Been Avoided

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It’s not 2016 anymore. We can throw out the party’s sclerotic leadership.

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🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/