editorschat
The Editors' Chat #4
We discuss Tesla, the courts as an impediment to Trump, Epstein, and more.
Trent R. Nelson
Trent R. Nelson is a poet, historian, and philosopher, as well as a political and socioeconomic analyst. He is the managing editor for MWF Springfield and a contributing editor with Liberal Currents.
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Half the Answer #22: Being Weird About Zohran
Caitlin and Trent speak with Eiynah about how people simply cannot be normal about NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, the way the New York Times keeps getting puppetted by far-right propagandists, and the manufactured nature of “newsworthiness.” Half the Answer can be heard on Spotify, on Apple, on YouTube, on
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Half the Answer #21: Racist Pseudoscience in Academia and Beyond
Caitlin and Trent talk to anthropologist Rebecca Sear about the troubling trend in academia of allowing scientific racism, or the pseudoscientific belief that humans can be divided into genetically distinct racial groups with discrete measurements for things like IQ, personality traits, and behavior, to persist and present itself as a
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Half the Answer #20: Rage Against the ICE Machine
Trent and Caitlin check in with journalist Steven Monacelli, a special investigative correspondent for the Texas Observer, about the evolution and current-day doings of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, the dangers they pose to citizens and noncitizens alike, and the experience of being a journalist observing resistance to
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Half the Answer #19: Authoritarian Overreach in Texas Libraries
Caitlin and Trent reconnect with librarian and intellectual freedom advocate Katie Talhelm for an update about the legislative attacks on public and school libraries since they last spoke. She provides a window into the procedure libraries follow to decide which books to acquire. Half the Answer can be heard on
editorschat
The Editors' Chat #3
We discuss Mamdani, trade-offs, empathy, internationalism, and the post-Nazi transition.
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Half the Answer #18: Execution in America
Trent and Caitlin talk to their old friend Clay Jackson, a former litigator and current licensed attorney in Texas. They discuss his plans to embrace a life in his new home on the range, recent developments in immigration rights, and the death penalty in the US. They discuss the history
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Half the Answer #17: Everything Is Cuck
Caitlin and Trent talk with Maureen Kosse, a linguist from Colorado who researches the semiotics of alt-right and far-right discourse. We talk about how everything is cuck—the right-wing cannot get over their insecurities about masculinity, sexual control of women, and people of color, and their visceral horror of people
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Half the Answer #16: Palestine in Context
Trent and Caitlin talk to Layla al-Sheikh, who provides the history and context of the establishment of the Israeli state on Palestinian land, the many displacements and violent ethnic cleansings of the last century in that region, and the evolving relationships of the surrounding nations with the United States. Half
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Half the Answer #15: Showing Their Buts
Trent and Caitlin talk to…each other??? Caitlin presents the reasoning behind her recent Liberal Currents essay on the rhetorical strategies used by pundits and politicians when they don’t want to appear unsympathetic to trans people but won’t commit to supporting the full range of human and civil
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Half the Answer #14: Anti-DEI or Just Segregationist?
Caitlin and Trent join Associate Professor Victor Ray to talk about DEI. What is meant by DEI depends on who is using it and what they’re trying to get done. Victor explains the history of DEI as a set of legal standards that insulated companies from accusations of discrimination,
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Half the Answer #13: Science vs. Propaganda: Trans Women in Sports
Trent and Caitlin talk to Liberal Currents author Vikas Valiveti about the current state of scientific consensus on how trans girls and women compete in sports. What are the correct ways to measure athleticism? When does it actually matter? How should we think about fairness and the right to participate?