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For Peter Thiel, JD Vance, and other figures on today’s far right, the works of J.R.R. Tolkien have become a cultural touchstone. Pity they don’t understand the first thing about them.

🧙‍♂️ Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/how-the-right-abuses-tolkien

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EPA to stop animal testing, Palestinians go on general strike, Ye apologizes for his Nazism again, TikTok claims apparent censorship was caused by a power outage, and the government repeals workplace protections because they protect trans people.

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Ro Khanna is the U.S. representative for California’s 17th Congressional district, more commonly known as “Silicon Valley.” He was a co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign in 2020, and there’s been speculation he may run for president himself in 2028. He joined Current Affairs associate editor Alex Skopic to discuss his bipartisan efforts to release the Epstein files, a “new FDR moment” for the Democratic Party, and the dangerous state of U.S. foreign policy under Donald Trump.

🦩 Read Alex Skopic's Article on Ro Khanna: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/every-argument-against-the-california-billionaire-tax-is-wrong

🦩 Interview Transcript: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/ro-khanna

0:00–4:22 Why the Epstein Files Still Aren’t Public

4:22–5:18 Impeaching Attorney General Pam Bondi

5:18–7:05 What’s Inside the Epstein Files

7:05–8:38 Will the Epstein Files Ever Be Fully Released?

8:38–15:39 The Billionaire Tax & an FDR-Style Economic Vision

15:39–21:20 Should Billionaires Exist at All?

21:20–24:25 Gavin Newsom, Ben Shapiro, and Gaza

24:25–29:36 Ro Khanna Explains His Israel Aid Vote

29:36–31:58 Offensive vs. Defensive Weapons to Israel

31:58–35:36 China, Competition, and Rejecting a New Cold War

35:36–37:38 Can Congress Stop Trump’s Wars?

37:38–40:42 Should Trump Face War Crimes Charges?

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The "Keep America Beautiful" campaign urged Americans to pick up their trash—so that companies could keep producing it.

🗑️ Read the full article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-sinister-origins-of-americas-anti-litter-movement

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Climate change is sinking posh London homes, pro-Palestine protesters face felony charges, Ugandan president cuts internet during election, Trump’s new Board of Peace, and Nike’s tone-deaf MLK Day basketball shoe.

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Will Sloan is a film critic and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Jacobin, and the Toronto Star. He is the co-host, with Luke Savage, of the podcast Michael and Us, which examines politics and ideology through popular film and television.

He is the author of Ed Wood: Made in Hollywood USA, a critical reappraisal of the famously maligned filmmaker that challenges conventional ideas of “bad” art and cultural taste. Sloan joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss Ed Wood’s films, queer cinema, and what the politics of taste reveal about Hollywood, capitalism, and outsider art.

🎬 Get the book: https://orbooks.com/catalog/ed-wood/

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Donald Trump's overthrow of Nicolás Maduro sets a terrible precedent that severely erodes international sovereignty. Can other countries depose any leader they accuse of a crime?

🇻🇪 Read the article: https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-coup-in-venezuela-is-an-assault-on-the-whole-world

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In the fall of 2024, Zohran Mamdani was a long-shot challenger taking on New York City’s political establishment. Today, he’s the mayor. In this early interview with Current Affairs, recorded shortly after he announced his campaign, Mamdani lays out his vision for transforming the city.

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