Bad Faith

We've been interviewing candidates running against Ritchie Torres in NY's 15th district for about a year now, and today we've collected the final infinity stone in the set. Jose Vega is perhaps best known for viral videos in which he confronts politicians and journalists about their commitment to war and lack of ideological courage, but now he's running to unseat the House's most unabashed Zionist Representative from the Bronx. As the left considers the best strategy to unseat Torres, should they consider the young upstart who has no qualms being maximally adversarial to Democrats over the left-establisment pick Michael Blake, who we interviewed last week? Is running on the Democratic ballot line a strategic win given it granted him access to the debates? What did he make of some subtle antipathy from Blake during last week's interview, and what is he hearing from Bronx residents on the ground? Also, what's the deal with Lyndon Larouche? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Candidate for NY's 15th congressional district, Michael Blake, hopes to unseat zionist incumbent Ritchie Torres and bring progressive, pro-Medicare for All, anti-genocide representation to the Bronx. But can Blake persuade the left that he's a genuinely left candidate worth throwing their support behind? Blake provides context for a past AIPAC speech and Israel visit, and answers tough questions about his theory of change: Is it possible to be a positive force fighting inside of a party committed to corporatism and the state of Israel? Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Political scientist, author, and one the foremost authorities on Gaza, Norman Finkelstein, returns to Bad Faith to debate how the left should mange the political right's dominance within the anti-Zionist, pro-Palestine movement. With huge platforms and enormous influence, figures like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Marjorie Taylor Greene have become the dominant Israel-critical voices in the United States. But what are the implications of that given that they embrace politics and conspiracy theories not shared by the left? What obligation do leftists like Norm have to distance themselves from these figures -- even though they have become some of the few hosts that still invite leftists on to their platforms? Also, Finkelstein addresses the long-standing contraversy over his critique of BDS. Norman's forthcoming book is Gaza's Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High Places (OR Books, 2026) https://orbooks.com/catalog/gazas-gravediggers/ Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Last week, a 20 minute debate about the merits of capitalism went mega viral, with Professor Marc Lamont Hill singularly defending socialism against a panel of co-hosts on the popular Joe Budden podcast. The former rapper and other panelists raised common objections to, and misunderstandings of, socialism, and exposed a particular commitment to Black capitalism that leftists must reckon with in order to change public consciousness. To that end, Morgan State professor of Africana & Media Studies & host of the I Mix What I Like! podcast, Dr. Jared Ball, Labor Notes staffer & Jacobin contributing editor Paul Prescod, & independent journalist Q. Anthony Ali join Bad Faith to break it all down. [9:00 AM] Note that YouTube won't allow us to post the clips from Joe Budden podcast. In addition to listening to it here, you can watch it in full here: https://x.com/TheFilesWithDUB/status/2038580072622260521?s=20 We're also uploading a video version with embedded clips to Bad Faith Patreon for free. Be sure to Bad Faith on Patreon so you don't miss the upload. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Lebanese-American journalist Rania Khalek, from BreakThrough News, reports from Beirut on Israel's territorial expansion into Lebanon, the mass displacement of 20% of the population, & how Israelis running the Gaza playbook yet again. Hot off her viral takedown of Piers Morgan, she breaks down the "will you condemn" double standard, unpacks the diverse opinions Lebanese have about Hezbollah & normalization with Israel, and debunks all the hasbara the Ellisons see fit to print. (Note that this was recorded before AOC statement re no longer supporting Iron Dome funding, and her subsequent reframing that Israel can fund it's own Iron Dome, which she described as "critical to keep innocent civilians safe.") Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

As leftists, the algorithm isn't our friend. With billionaires buying platforms to quash pro-Palestine content and suppress left views, it's wonderful to see the community expanding with figures like the TikTok Communist & pedological superstar known as Jean Paul Fartre, who has been going viral with Marxist breakdowns and explainers of current events. On this episode, we cover the right's reaction to the Cuba flotilla, harm reduction discourse, Chomsky's (alleged?) role as a member of the "compatible left," love on the left, whether one should identify as a Communist, how the left can beat the "will you condemn x?" trap, the limits of Zohran & electoralism, & more. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Last week, Palestinian-American author, scientist, and activist Susan Abulhawa made national headlines after the Zionist press attempted to tie her online posts criticizing Israel's apartheid and genocide with Zohran Mamdani's wife Rama Duwaji as part of an attempted smear campaign: Rama had illustrated a short story that was part of a collection Abulhawa helped to compile and edit. In response to the hit-job on Rama, Zohran distanced himself from Abulhawa, calling her posts "reprehensible" and "patently unacceptable." But were they? And were leftists like Zohran and others strategically or morally justified in throwing her under the bus? Susan took to Twitter with a 20 minute response to the contraversy, but for the first time, on Bad Faith podcast, she's opening up in an interview about what happened. In conversation with Briahna, she puts her comments into context -- describing the humiliation of Zionist oppression growing up in an orphanage in Jerusalem -- and she challenges the notion that there's any language 'too strong' to describe the gravity of Israel's oppression. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Dr. Annelle Sheline resigned from the State Department under Joe Biden because she refused to be complicit in his administration's genocide. Now a research fellow at the Quincy Institute, she returns to Bad Faith to discuss her latest New Republic piece on Iran, former U.N. Ambassador Samatha Powers being questioned on her genocide denialism, and the likelihood of World War III. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Political scientist, author of American Exception: Empire & The Deep State, & host of the American Exception podcast returns to Bad Faith with independent researcher focused on diplomatic history, Tonery Rose, to discuss Epstein, Iran Contra, Les Wexner, & th Zionist takeover of the deep state that helped lead to the current war against Iran. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock our full premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Washington Congressional candidate & former Socialist Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant returns to Bad Faith to give her no-holds-barred assessment of left elected officials as they navigate the Democratic Establishment, to weigh in on the Epstein files -- including Chomsky's involvement --, and to provide a clear blueprint for how the left should resist. She also weighs in on the limits of labor given business unionism capture and strategies to overcome it, while updating us on the progress of her Congressional campaign against Zionist corporatist Adam Smith. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to instantly unlock this episode and our entire premium episode library: http://patreon.com/badfaithpodcast Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author, & theologian Chris Hedges returns to Bad Faith to engage in a spirited debate about how to act now that liberal incrementalism has led to incremental fascism. Why does it feel like so much left discourse is explaining why we aren't ready to act: "Insufficient union density, insufficient political consciousness, insufficient organization"? If it only takes 3% of the population to spark revolutionary change, what can we do with the tens of millions who mobilized for George Floyd or Palestine? How do we sustain civil disobedience as the state increasingly criminalizes free speech and ratchets up penalties as they did for Jessica Reznicek? Also, Hedges discusses his viral commentary on Epstein's relationship with Noam Chomsky, why he's not a Marxist, and more. Can't skip this one. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

Founding director of the Critical Theory Workshop and professor at Villanova University Gabriel Rockhill is out with a new book that calls out many of the intellectual fathers of the academic left as insufficiently imperialist and often funded by the CIA. How have we been mislead by the "compatible left" -- a cohort of leftists that support marxism only in theory while inveighing against actually existing socialism? Where do Slavoj Zizek & Noam Chomsky fall in this analysis? How do we identify the contemporary "compatible left" in our media and political environment, and if the deep state is so effective at coopting left movements, what can we possibly do to evade them and achieve revolutionary change? This is a sprawling, three-hour episode you wont want to miss. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for video of this episode. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod). Produced by Armand Aviram. Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).