The Anti-Imperialist Opportunity w/ Morgan Spector
You might know Morgan Spector as the critically acclaimed leading man in The Gilded Age and The Plot Against America. Or for his appearances in Boardwalk Empire, Suits, Homeland, How to Make It In America (one of my favorites),1 or even as a producer on The Big Scary “S” Word. What you might not know is that Morgan is both an impressive critic of policy and an advocate for democratic socialism.
On my other show, The Bang-Bang Podcast, we invited Morgan on to talk about Independence Day (1996), a delicious conversation that’s forthcoming. But we also recorded an in-depth installment of “Politics Behind the Scenes,” an occasional side-convo with guests of Bang-Bang, about the urgent real-world issues of the day.
In this special episode, which is also being released as a crossover drop on The Un-Diplomatic Podcast, my co-host Lyle Rubin and I chop it up with Morgan about:
Meaningful anti-imperialist positions on Russia’s war withUkraine;
Framing the Iran war;
Nationalizing the defense industry and taking the profits out of war;
How we might envision a peace economy;
Why we all love Graham Platner;
The Israel problem in US foreign policy;
Why we’re bullish on electoral leftism; and
How the Democratic Party has shit the bed so bad that left populists have a real opportunity to takeover the party from within.
A lot going on here. You don’t want to miss this episode with one of Hollywood’s best political minds:
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For my money, no show captures what it was like to be a Millennial during the Great Recession than How to Make It in America. In some ways cringe, in some ways idyllic. But the show captured life as it was—highs, lows, capitalist blind spot, the whole vibe. Also the music on the show was chef’s kiss. That Morgan was actually in the show before I even knew who he was means that he’s been living rent-free in my head for 15 years.