Neon Liberalism

Samantha Hancox-Li interviews Logan Wright, author of Broken China, about why the conventional wisdom on China is wrong, why we should stop thinking about strategic minerals and start thinking about macroeconomics, and why time is not on China's side.

Bret Devereaux, historian and author of the blog A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, explains why we're all still obsessed with World War 2, why Hearts of Iron IV is a gateway to (mis)understanding the war, and most importantly: what fascism was and why it failed.

The Department of Homeland Security's decision to raid U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar's residence is continuous with President Donald Trump's birther politics and immigration obsessions, but it also touches on elemental constitutional issues—similar to the issues that once sparked the English Civil War. And what does it mean for the imminent U.S. elections? Samantha Hancox-Li is joined by Adam Gurri, publisher of Liberal Currents.

Samantha Hancox-Li and Ben Wittes, editor in chief of Lawfare, discuss how we went from the triumph of the fall of the Berlin Wall to our current world: more war, more conflict, and no end in sight. How did structural factors combined with strategic choices lead to a world where peace has broken down and major power war has returned? Spoiler: it starts in Iraq.

Samantha Hancox-Li talks with Mike Sacks of Court Accountability about the state of the American Constitution, the role of John Roberts and the Supreme Court in putting a pleasant mask on MAGA, and how we need to think about court reform in the future.

In this episode of Neon Liberalism, Samantha Hancox-Li argues that Donald Trump's "raids" on Iran and Venezuela reflect structural factors that are driving us towards a more chaotic and lawless world in which "neither peace nor war" becomes increasingly common.

Samantha and guest Keira Havens talk Thomas Massie's recent attempt to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. They discuss the mechanics and politics of impeachment, the role of accountability, and what it means to regain a sense of ourselves as constitutional actors.

In this podcast, host Samantha Hancox-Li and guest Greg Sargent, staff writer for The New Republic and host of the Daily Blast podcast, discuss Trump's cratering poll numbers—worse than Bush's after Katrina—and what that means for the country, including how elites got hoodwinked by the vibe shift, why MAGA isn't working, and whether a major realignment is coming.

Samantha Hancox-Li interviews labor economist Kathryn Edwards on the fundamentals of a healthy economy. They talk housing, childcare, and the politics of being a "smart-stupid" economist who knows how to be cynical about what matters.

Samantha and the pseudonymous commentator Secretary of Defense Rock talk "Lioness," "Sicario," and the broader Taylor Sheridan-verse as a Rosetta stone for untangling right-wing policy from the border to Venezuela to drones.

Samantha Hancox-Li and guest Josh Chafetz, professor at Georgetown Law, discuss how Supreme Court rulings around the "legislative veto" laid the groundwork for expanded executive power.

Samantha is joined by Sonja Trauss, president and founder of YIMBY Law, to discuss the state of the housing movement. They discuss the tension between articulating a radical liberal idealism, one which embraces change and dynamism, and meeting people where they are, which so often involves compromise and kludges. The most effective YIMBY reforms, Trauss argues, still fall somewhere in the middle.

Samantha Hancox-Li talks about the return of international competition in our increasingly unsettled age. In historical perspective, far from being an alien imposition on "normal politics," international competition has been a feature of human societies from the start.

Reflecting on how the pressure of competition has driven both mindless militarism and genuine modernization—from the mass grave at Gomolava to the Meiji Restoration to the Kitchen Debate—she argues that liberals must remember that liberalism works.

So-called "constitutional sheriffs" are spreading across the country, declaring that they have the right to nullify federal law based on their interpretation of the Constitution.

Join Samantha Hancox-Li and guest Jessica Pishko, author of The Highest Law in the Land, as they talk about how fringe ideas once confined to militia movements and strange cranks have infected public office, the historical development of sheriffs, and the endurance of the cowboy idea in American politics.

So much of our politics today is driven by gender, from Graham Platner's rise and fall to Pete Hegseth's testosterone testing to various anti-trans crusades. Samantha and guest Katherine Cross, contributing editor at Liberal Currents, discuss the historical antecedents of modern gender anxieties, how history moves in a corkscrew, and why the right wing is forever driven by a longing for a past that never was.

The American government is an insurance company with an army--so how do our insurance company's finances look? Samantha and guest Stephen Nuñez, Director of Stratification Economics at the Roosevelt Institute, talk about the state of Social Security. No, it's not because the boomers are retiring--but the problems are real and getting closer. What can we do about it?

Samantha and guest Allyson Shortle, professor at the University of Oklahoma, talk about the current state and long history of the movement which forms the hard core of Donald Trump's support: Christian Nationalism. Where did this movement begin? How deep are its roots in American myth? What do they believe, and why have they stuck with Trump even as other groups begin to desert him?

"Neoliberalism" has become a epithet applied to almost everything. And yet it represented a real political movement, one captured governance in America for decades.

Join Samantha Hancox-Li and Nick Hanauer, billionaire entrepreneur, civic activist, and co-author of Markets Built for Humans, as they discuss the origins of neoliberalism, how it broke apart under its own contradictions, and why economic growth depends not on trickle-down billionaires but strong wages for the middle class.

Check out Nick's book here: https://www.marketsbuiltforhumans.org/

The Supreme Court has never occupied a more central place in American governance. Republican dominance on that court has enabled them to push through much of their agenda without going through Congress: overturning Roe, repealing the Voting Rights Act, and more.

Join Samantha Hancox-Li and Madiba Dennie, Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at Balls and Strikes, and author of The Originalism Trap, as they discuss the rise of the conservative legal movement and what we can do about it.

Samantha Hancox-Li and guest Rey Fuentes, Director at the Roosevelt Institute, discuss the Democratic "ideas primary." Roosevelt's new "Good Life Agenda," a package of governing tools and policy proposals, aims to get beyond the "submerged state" and return to an ideal of active government delivering for the people. Their talk ranges over industrial policy, taxing the rich, and why mass membership organizations are essential for good governance.Liberal Currents' own entrant into the ideas primary, the Reconstruction Papers, is available for pre-order now: https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-reconstruction-papers/Also check out our new merch store at https://liberalcurrentsmerch.printful.me/