Shows / This Is Hell!
Episodes
This Is Hell!Cultural Resistance to Data World and Managed Despair / Curtis White
Curtis White returns to discuss his new book, "On Resistance: A Manifesto," available now from Random House…
This Is Hell!Right-Wing American Misunderstandings About South Africa / Eve Fairbanks
Eve Fairbanks joins us to discuss her essay, “The Myth of the Police State: No one, not even the supposed beneficiaries, is protected.” The piece appears in…
This Is Hell!Chuck Opens a Bloated Mailbag / The Greatest Audience in Hell & Chuck Mertz
Thanks to scheduling mishaps and our limited competence, you will not hear longform interview Hell with a guest today. Instead, you will hear from yourselves!…
This Is Hell!Worker Resistance in Big Tech / JS Tan & Clarissa Redwine
JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine join us to discuss their new book from Haymarket Books, "Against Tech Oligarchy Worker Resistance in the World’s Most Powerful…
This Is Hell!An Indicted Minneapolis 15 Defendant Speaks Out / Cal Robinet
Union electrician and activist Cal Robinet, one of the Minneapolis 15 defendants facing charges after ICE's Operation Metro Surge in that city, shares his…
This Is Hell!Building Socialism Requires Dismantling Empire / Sudip Bhattacharya
Sudip Bhattacharya returns to discuss his recent writing, including "There is No Socialism Without the End of U.S. Empire" at Socialist Forum…
This Is Hell!Another Brazilian Coup Attempt Underway / Brian Mier
Brian Mier returns to discuss the upcoming Brazilian election and the prospects for another right-wing coup. Check out Brian's Substack, "De-Linking Brazil"…
This Is Hell!Breaking ICE / Sonali Kolhatkar
Sonali Kolhatkar returns to discuss her new book, "Breaking ICE: Community Defense against State Terror and MAGA Fascism," just published by Seven Stories…
This Is Hell!15 Million Excess Deaths from US For-Profit Health Insurance / Nick Smolek
Ill Will Editions editor Nick Smolek joins us to discuss the forthcoming book, "Depose: Luigi Mangione, the Right to Health, and the Unfinished American…
This Is Hell!The Bail Trap / Robin Steinberg & Robin Camilo
Robin Steinberg and Camilo Ramirez return to discuss their new book, "The Bail Trap: A Scandal at the Heart of American Justice" from The New Press…
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The Long Fight Against Equality in the United States / Kim Phillips-Fein
Historian Kim Phillips-Fein returns to discuss her new book, "Country of Lords: Neo-Aristocrats, Social Darwinists, Tech Utopians, and the Long Fight against…
This Is Hell!"Genocidal Enjoymment" on Display in IDF Social Media from Gaza / Raúl Pérez
Paúl Pérez returns to discuss his recent British Sociological Association article, co-authored with Charles Thorpe, "Genocidal Enjoyment: On the Weaponization…
This Is Hell!Israel's $1 Billion Hasbara Influence Machine since October 7th / Nick Cleveland-Stout
Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Research fellow Nick Cleveland-Stout discusses his recent report, "The Eighth Front: Inside Israel’s $1 Billion…
This Is Hell!Imperialist Realism / Daniel Bessner
Historian and foreign policy analysis Daniel Bessner joins us to discuss his new book, "Imperialist Realism: Politics and Culture at the End of the American…
This Is Hell!Trump's War on Boats / Adam Isacson & John Walsh
Washington Office on Latin America directors Adam Isacson and John Walsh join us to discuss their new report from WOLA, "Killing Spree: Extrajudicial…
This Is Hell!Sponsoring The Genocide In Palestine / Fintan Drury
Fintan Drury joins This Is Hell! to talk about his new book “Genocide: Sponsoring the Destruction of Palestine”, published by the Irish Academic Press. Fintan…
This Is Hell!The Winners And Losers In The Future Of Drugs / Kojo Karam
Kojo Koram joins This Is Hell! to talk about his new book "The Next Fix: The Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs”, published by Verso Books…
This Is Hell!White Supremacy At The US Border / John Washington
John Washington returns to This Is Hell! to talk about his new book “The Case For Open Borders” published by Haymarket Books…
This Is Hell!Canada and its Asshole Neighbor + Chuck Gets Interviewed / Dónal Gill
Dónal Gill discusses the view of the United States from Canada in the age of MAGA. His essay appears in the new edited volume by The Dial, "How We See It: The…
This Is Hell!How To Think About AI Before It’s Too Late / Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow returns to This Is Hell! to talk about his new book “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide To Life After AI - How To Think About Artificial Intelligence…
This Is Hell!Nativism Shapes Scarcity, Hierarchy, and Belonging Under Capitalism / Peter Bloom
Peter Bloom joins us to discuss his recent book, "Nativism and Capitalism: From Colonial Hauntings to Radical Indigenous Futures" from Routledge…
This Is Hell!The Anti-Defamation League & The Racial State / Emmaia Gelman
Emmaia Gelman joins This Is Hell! to talk about her new book “The Anti-Defamation League And The Racial State”, published by University of California Press…
This Is Hell!Gerontocracy / Samuel Moyn
Historian and legal scholar Samuel Moyn joins us to discuss his latest book from Macmillan, "Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and…
This Is Hell!A History of Conspiracy Theory / Andrew McKenzie-McHarg
Andrew McKenzie-McHarg joins us to discuss his recent book, "The Hidden History of Conspiracy Theory" from Princeton University Press…
This Is Hell!Chicago's Conviction Machine / Flint Taylor
Flint Taylor, co-founder of the People's Law Office, joins us to discuss his new book, "The Conviction Machine: Prosecutors, Politicians, and Police Violence…
This Is Hell!The Story Of The Jewish Bund / Molly Crabapple
Artist and writer Molly Crabapple joins This Is Hell! to talk about her new book, “Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund." Molly is…
This Is Hell!Inventing Antifa / Lauren Fadiman
Lauren Fadiman joins us to discuss her new piece in The Baffler, "The Invention of Antifa: The courts decree a new domestic terrorist"…
This Is Hell!US Media’s Complicity In The Gaza Genocide / Robin Andersen
Robin Anderson joins This Is Hell! to talk about her her new book “The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage Of Israel’s Genocide In Gaza” published by OR Books…
This Is Hell!We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil
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…
This Is Hell!Immigration Detention Expansion During Trump’s Second Term / Nayna Gupta & Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
American Immigration Council's Nayna Gupta and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick join This Is Hell! to discuss their report, "Immigration Detention Expansion in Trump’s…
This Is Hell!The Politics of Police Reform in Minneapolis / Michelle Phelps
Sociologist Michelle Phelps joins us to discuss her book, "The Minneapolis Reckoning: Race, Violence, and the Politics of Policing in America"…
This Is Hell!How Money Dominates Human Lives Everywhere / Arjun Jayadev
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…
This Is Hell!Another Bag of Mail / Chuck Mertz & the World's Best Audience
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…
This Is Hell!How The British Made The Far Right Acceptable / Daniel Trilling
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…
This Is Hell!The Death of Asylum / Tanvi Misra
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…
This Is Hell!Reshaping War For The 21st Century / Shana Marshall
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…
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Internationalism from Below / Leila Al-Shami & Benjamin
Leila Al-Shami returns with co-author Benjamin to discuss their new book by The People's Want, "Revolutions of Our Times: An Internationalist Manifesto"…
This Is Hell!The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy Of Power Consolidation / Rakeen Mabud
Rakeem Mabud speaks with This Is Hell! about her new essay for Common Wealth that she co-wrote with Melanie Brusseler titled “The Power Grab: The Authoritarian…
This Is Hell!Elon Musk Is a Symptom / Quinn Slobodian & Ben Tarnoff
Quinn Slobodian returns with his co-author, Ben Tarnoff, to discuss their just-published book from Harper Collins, "Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed." "The…
This Is Hell!Loyola University Union Thugs pt. 2 / Paige Warren
Paige Warren, Co-Chair of the SEIU 73 Faculty Forward Union at Loyola, joins us to update us on the next steps Loyola University Chicago non-tenure-track…
This Is Hell!The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy + Loyola Union Thugs pt. 2 / A.J.A. Woods
Intellectual historian A.J.A. Woods, author of, “The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West" (Verso…
This Is Hell!Labor Struggle in Higher Ed: An Update from Loyola University Chicago SEIU 73 Faculty Forward Union
Members of the leadership team of the SEIU 73 Faculty Forward Union representing non-tenure-track faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola…
This Is Hell!Colonialism Continues From Oil To Cancer In Kenya / Nelly Madegwa
Nelly Madegwa is co-author of The Intercept story supported by the Pulitzer Center, "Where There Is Salt: An American Company Drilled for Oil in Kenya — and…
This Is Hell!AI Grifters in Power & Reactionary Third Way Centrist Dems / Henry Burke
Henry Burke of the Revolving Door Project joins us to discuss his recent writing, "How OpenAI Hacked The Military-Industrial Complex" at The Lever and…
This Is Hell!Ukraine Going From Maidan To War / Volodymyr Ishchenko
Research associate at the Institute of East European Studies, Freie Universität Berlin and sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko returns to discuss the…
This Is Hell!Death by AI / Andy Worthington
Andy Worthington returns to the show to discuss his recent writing, including "The Horrors of AI-Driven Military Targeting, From Gaza to Iran," and "900 Days…
This Is Hell!Fighting Against The Corporate Monsters Of Plastic / Diane Wilson
Author, Executive Director of San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeepers, and Goldman Prize winner Diane Wilson returns to This Is Hell! to talk about her ongoing…
This Is Hell!2026 Listener Favorites (so far): Imperial Boomerangs / Séamus Malekafzali
While Chuck is away this week undergoing physical therapy, we are featuring some of your favorite interviews of 2026 so far. This time, we revisit our January…
This Is Hell!2026 Listener Favorites (so far): Escape from Capitalism / Claire Mattei
While Chuck is away for the week to endure the torture of physical therapy, we revisit your favorite interviews of 2026 so far. In this episode, we revisit…
This Is Hell!Trump's Imperial Presidency / Mohamad Bazzi
Twenty-two years after last joining us, we welcome back Mohamad Bazzi. He discusses his latest at the Guardian, "Trump promised no wars. Now he’s a Bush-style…
This Is Hell!On the Ground in Venezuela / Brian Mier
Brian Mier returns to This Is Hell! to discuss his new writing at his Substack, De-Linking Brazil, "30 Days in Venezuela." "Rotten History" from Renaldo…
This Is Hell!Only US Enemies Can Be Drug Lords or Terrorists / Laleh Khalili
Laleh Khalili returns to discuss her new piece at the London Review of Books, "Guns, Money and Opium." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the…
This Is Hell!Breaking The Earth To Steal The Future / Timothy Mitchell
Academic and writer Timothy Mitchell joins This Is Hell! to talk about his new book his new book "The Alibi of Capital: How We Broke the Earth to Steal the…
This Is Hell!White America's Attachment to Lethal Self-Defense / Caroline Light
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…
This Is Hell!World War X / Alex De Waal
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…
This Is Hell!Uncovering The Epstein Files & A Life Full Of Exploitation / Julie K. Brown
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…
This Is Hell!Overcoming America's Long History of Criminalizing Dissent and Protest / Whitney Bauck
Award-winning climate and environment journalist Whitney Bauck discusses her latest at the Guardian, "The criminalizing of protest and dissent has a long…
This Is Hell!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…
This Is Hell!Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign One Year In / Nicole Foy
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…
This Is Hell!A Silent Killer Named Plastic / Judith Enck
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…