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Nearly 50 years after the First Crusade made major gains in the Levant, the Crusader states found that they might have bitten off more than they could chew. Danny and Derek, along with Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters of the We're Not So Different pod, return to bring you the story of the Second Crusade.

Season premiere Tuesday, October 27!

Pre-order now with promo code CRUSADES15 to get season 2 for 15% off!

Welcometothecrusades.com

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Danny and Derek speak with historian Stuart Schrader about the history and political power of police unions in the U.S. They discuss the rise of police unions in the 1960s, their relationship with organized labor, resistance to the civil rights movement and affirmative action, the role of race in policing, bipartisan support for policing and the 1990s crime bills, the growing political influence of the Border Patrol union, and the future of police reform and abolition.

Get your copy of Stuart’s book Blue Power: How Police Organize to Protect and Serve Themselves.

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Danny and Derek speak with Norman Finkelstein about his intellectual and political journey, in part one of a conversation about his new book, Gaza's Gravediggers. They discuss his years as a Maoist, graduate school at Princeton, how Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon led him to study Zionism, exposing Joan Peters's From Time Immemorial, being blacklisted and his years as an adjunct at Brooklyn College, Mao and the Chinese revolution, the Marxist tradition and Noam Chomsky's influence, his parents' experience in the Warsaw Ghetto and his rejection of nationalism, and why he argues that what's happening in Gaza is a genocide, not a war. Read Norman Finkelstein's book, Gaza's Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High Places.

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Derek has returned, but he keeps trying to get Danny to go to some seminar led by a charismatic “mentor” he encountered in his travels. In this week’s news: war breaks out in Ethiopia’s Tigray region (0:43); Flavio Bolsonaro wins the first round of Brazil’s presidential election as the right makes major gains (6:46); in Yemen, the government’s counteroffensive against Ansar Allah stalls (9:51), the group attacks airports in Saudi Arabia and Yemen (12:40), and Saudi Arabia seeks outside military support (13:42); the U.S. prepares to resume its war against Iran as the Islamic Republic intensifies attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz (17:44); in Japan, a U.S. Marine’s arrest for alleged murder sparks protests against the American military presence on Okinawa (22:18); Sudan’s military advances in North Kordofan (25:20) and Sudanese military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan rejects peace talks (28:06); in Mali, Tuareg rebels withdraw from Kidal as government forces retake the town (29:54); the U.S. and the WHO seek information about suspected plague cases at a Russian lab (29:54); Russian attacks across Ukraine kill at least 25 (32:57); Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calls a snap election (35:00); the U.S. bombs another alleged drug boat in the Caribbean (37:12); and Trump creates a new AI task force called the Super Intelligence Force (38:12).

Note: Since recording, Trump has said that the U.S. will not attack Iran before the November midterm elections.

Watch a replay of last night’s livestream with journalist Michael Fox about Brazil’s elections.

Subscribe and check out our History of Modern Palestine series with Rashid Khalidi.

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Danny and Derek welcome back to the show Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University and author of Palestine: A Primer, to talk about changes in the regional and political landscape of Palestine since October 7. They discuss adapting The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine for a younger audience, the devastation of Gaza, Hamas’s October 7 strategy and its miscalculations, the Biden administration’s support for Israel, changes in the Middle East after the war with Iran, shifting American attitudes toward Israel and Palestine, the prospects for Palestinian resistance, and the destruction of Gaza’s cultural and historical heritage.

Be sure to grab a copy of Palestine: A Primer, an adaptation of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine aimed toward a younger audience.

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Danny speaks with Eli Clifton, senior advisor at the Quincy Institute, and Ian Lustick, professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, about how the Israel lobby helps shape American politics and foreign policy. They discuss the changing nature of the Israel lobby, billionaire donors and campaign finance, Christian Zionism and declining evangelical support for Israel, U.S. support for Israel after October 7, suppression of criticism of Israel, shifting generational attitudes toward Israel, antisemitism and right-wing opposition to Israel, and Donald Trump’s relationship with pro-Israel megadonors.

Grab your copy of Eli and Ian’s book Israel’s Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power.

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As Derek completes the final phase of his vision quest, Alex Jordan of the Always at War podcast fills in once more. In this week’s news: U.S.-Iran talks stall over the order of concessions (1:28); Gulf oil exports return to prewar levels (4:34); Netanyahu uses an attempted seizure of a FlyDubai flight to reinforce his agenda as an election approaches (11:15); in Iraq, the U.S. ends its counter-ISIS mission (16:06); Pete Hegseth launches Project Meridian to study the “future of warfare” (21:35); Trump hosts tech leaders who pledge “tremendous” self-regulation (24:49); British police arrest five men near RAF Fairford amid claims of Iranian involvement (27:23); U.S. intelligence says Saudi Arabia is keeping a nuclear weapons option open (30:06); Russia warns NATO of a nuclear response if Kaliningrad faces a blockade (33:09); Germany’s foreign minister meets Russia’s foreign minister as Russian attacks hit Ukraine’s energy grid (37:27); and Brazil prepares for a presidential election between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro (41:13).

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Danny and Derek welcome Simon Ball, professor of international history and politics at the University of Leeds, to the show for a discussion about the history of political assassination in the modern era. They talk about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, political killing as a tool of statecraft, assassination and British imperial rule, its use by Western powers during World War II, the CIA and Cold War assassination programs, the JFK assassination and its surrounding conspiracies, the investigations of the 1970s and Gerald Ford’s ban on the practice, the rise of counter-assassination security, and the strategic limits of assassination.

Be sure to grab a copy of Simon’s book Death to Order: A Modern History of Assassination.

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Derek speaks with Wolfram Lacher, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and author of Libya’s Fragmentation, about Libya’s political and military breakdown since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. They discuss Khalifa Haftar and the power dynamics in eastern Libya, militia power and political fragmentation in Tripoli and western Libya, control of Libya’s oil, Turkish and Russian involvement, the spillover of Libya’s conflicts into Mali, Chad, Sudan, and the Sahel, migrant smuggling and detention, Massad Boulos’s power-sharing plan, and the prospects for elections and a political settlement.

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Don’t forget that AP puts out a YouTube exclusive episode and a video version of our Wednesday episode every week!

Studio 54 and Palladium are long gone, so the UN General Assembly is the biggest party New York currently has to offer. Meanwhile, Danny and guest host Alex Jordan bring you the news: Trump welcomes Xi as the U.S. and China extend the Busan trade truce (01:22); at the UNGA, Trump threatens Iran and gloats about U.S. control of Venezuelan oil (5:18); Iran offers to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with conditions (7:58); Trump and Zelenskyy discuss an energy ceasefire (12:53); the U.S. denies Mahmoud Abbas a visa as Benjamin Netanyahu gives his UN address (15:20); the U.S., Denmark, and Greenland sign an Arctic security deal (18:41); Venezuela pledges elections as Trump secures oil access (20:41); the U.S. seeks a Sudan ceasefire (25:19); the Houthis/Ansar Allah consolidate coastal gains and strike Saudi Arabia (28:03); drones are spotted near NATO military sites in Germany and Poland (31:11); Germany sees the AfD gain ground (34:32); and United Russia wins Russia’s first parliamentary election since the Ukraine invasion (38:21).

Watch Alex and Courtney Rawlings on Quincy’s Always at War.

And check out the new mockumentary Lords of War. 

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Danny and Derek talk with Noam Scheiber, New York Times reporter and author, about the radicalization of American college graduates. They discuss a Starbucks union campaign, underemployment among recent grads, the Taylorization of white-collar jobs, AI, corporate fixation on labor costs, the “con” of college for millennials, and the collapse of meritocracy.

Buy your copy of Noam’s book on the subject, Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class.

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