PODCAST · news
This Is Hell!
by This Is Hell!
This is Hell is four hours of completely uninterrupted unedited blah blah blah which airs every Saturday morning in Chicago. Troublemakers, muckrakers, whistleblowers, host Chuck Mertz does in-depth interviews with rabble of all sorts. Noam Chomsky has called This is Hell "a voice of sanity on talk radio." After you listen, you'll know why we think Noam's gone insane.
Episodes
-
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! Chuck responds to his long-neglected inbox of listener emails. Jeff offers a new "Moment of Truth." Help keep This Is Hell! completely...
-
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 Industry": https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2858-against-tech-oligarchy "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Help...
-
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 story. Help keep This Is Hell! completely listener supported and access bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon:...
-
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: https://socialistforum.dsausa.org/issues/spring-2025/there-is-no-socialism-without-the-end-of-u-s-empire/ Check out Sudip's other writing at his Substack:...
-
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": https://bmier.substack.com/ and his new Latin American news portal, "Panamerican Dispatch": https://www.panamericandispatch.org/ "Rotten...
-
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 Press: https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4889-breaking-ice "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Help keep This Is...
-
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 Revolution": https://www.deposebook.com/ "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview. Help keep This Is Hell! completely…
more -
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: https://thenewpress.org/books/the-bail-trap/ "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Help keep This Is Hell! completely...
-
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 Equality in America" from Norton: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324074441 "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi follows the interview.…
more -
"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 of Joyful Cruelty and 'Dark Fun' during Israel's Genocide on Gaza.": https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17499755261468856 Help keep...
-
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 Influence Campaign": https://quincyinst.org/research/the-eighth-front-inside-israels-1-billion-influence-campaign/ Rotten History with…
more -
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 Century" from Simon and Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Imperialist-Realism/Daniel-Bessner/9781803414805 "Rotten History"...
-
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 executions in the U.S. boat strikes campaign"…
more -
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 will be speaking with us live from Dublin. m(https://www.irishacademicpress.ie/product/genocide-sponsoring-the-destruction-of-palestine/)...
-
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. (https://www.versobooks.com/products/3173-the-next-fix) Kojo Karma is a Professor in Law and Political Economy at the School of Law at Loughborough...
-
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. (https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2199-the-case-for-open-borders) John Washington is a journalist covering the border, climate change, democracy, and more. He has...
-
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 World Looks at America in the Age of Trump" (The New Press). "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. The back half…
more -
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 Before It’s Too Late”, published by Macmillan Publishers.…
more -
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.: https://www.routledge.com/Nativism-and-Capitalism-From-Colonial-Hauntings-to-Radical-Indigenous-Futures/Bloom/p/book/9781041033950 "The Moment of…
more -
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. (https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-anti-defamation-league-and-the-racial-state/hardcover) Emmaia Gelman is the founding Director of the...
-
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 Wealth—and What to Do About It": https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374607647/gerontocracyinamerica/ "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi and...
-
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: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691177069/the-hidden-history-of-conspiracy-theory "Rotten History" from Renaldo Migaldi" and "The Moment of Truth"...
-
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 in Chicago" from Haymarket Books. Get your copy here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2733-the-conviction-machine Help keep This Is...
-
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 the author of two books, her 2015 memoir, "Drawing Blood," and "Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of the Syrian War," which is written and...
-
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": https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-invention-of-antifa-fadiman
-
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. https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-complicit-lens/ Robin Andersen is professor emerita of media studies at Fordham University and an...
-
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: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2525-the-extended-universe "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Help keep This Is…
more -
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 Second Term”. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/immigration-detention/ Nayna Gupta is an immigration attorney, policy…
more -
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": https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691245980/the-minneapolis-reckoning
-
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 called “Against Money”, which talks about how money has gotten to dominate the lives of humans world wide as it become the most…
more -
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 Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. No producers were harmed in the making of this episode. Help keep This Is Hell!…
more -
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 right respectable”, published by Pan Macmillan. This is Daniel’s fourth appearance on the show. Daniel was shortlisted for the 2022 and 2023...
-
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 for authoritarianism." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Tanvi's essay here:...
-
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 Are Reshaping War”. Shana Marshall is Associate Director of the Institute for Middle East Studies and Assistant Research Faculty member at…
more -
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" (Haymarket Books). "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out the new book from The People's Want:...
-
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 Coalition’s Strategy of Power Consolidation”. https://www.common-wealth.org/publications/the-power-grab Rakeen is an expert on how…
more -
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 Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Quinn and Ben's book here:...
-
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 faculty are taking for a fair contract after the passage of a strike authorization vote. This follows 14 months of bargaining with a...
-
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 Books) discusses their book on the day it is published. A.J.A.’s writings on conspiracy theories and reactionary politics have been...
-
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 University Chicago update us on their 14-month-old fight for a fair contract. NTT faculty Matt Williams, Paige Warren, Sarita Heer, and Deb…
more -
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 Left Behind Soaring Cancer Rates," which she co-wrote with Georgia Gee. Nelly is an award-winning journalist from Kenya whose reporting…
more -
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, "Centrists: Better Things Aren’t Possible" at The American Prospect. "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out...
-
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 Russia-Ukraine war and many of the misconceptions we may have regarding the ongoing conflict. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Al Jazeera,...
-
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 of Genocide in Gaza." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff Dorchen follows the interview. Check out Andy's writing at his website:...
-
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 hunger strike to protest Dow’s environmental damage to San Antonio Bay and the surrounding community. We will have new installments of...
-
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 15th conversation with Séamus Malekafzali. He joined us to discuss his recent piece at The Nation, "The Assassination That Paved the Way…
more -
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 your most-suggested interview, Chuck's January 27th conversation with Clara Mattei. Clara is professor of economics at The University of…
more -
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 regime change president," and "Trump’s war in Iran marks the culmination of his imperial presidency." "The Moment of Truth" with Jeff...
-
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 Migaldi follows the interview. Check out Brian's report here: https://bmier.substack.com/p/30-days-in-venezuela Help keep This Is Hell!…
more -
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 interview. Check out Laleh's article here: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n03/laleh-khalili/guns-money-and-opium Help keep This Is Hell!...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
This is Hell is four hours of completely uninterrupted unedited blah blah blah which airs every Saturday morning in Chicago. Troublemakers, muckrakers, whistleblowers, host Chuck Mertz does in-depth interviews with rabble of all sorts. Noam Chomsky has called This is Hell "a voice of sanity on talk radio." After you listen, you'll know why we think Noam's gone insane.
HOSTED BY
This Is Hell!
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does This Is Hell! have?
This Is Hell! currently has 500 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is This Is Hell! about?
This is Hell is four hours of completely uninterrupted unedited blah blah blah which airs every Saturday morning in Chicago. Troublemakers, muckrakers, whistleblowers, host Chuck Mertz does in-depth interviews with rabble of all sorts. Noam Chomsky has called This is Hell "a voice of sanity on talk...
How often does This Is Hell! release new episodes?
This Is Hell! publishes regularly with 500 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to This Is Hell!?
You can listen to This Is Hell! on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts This Is Hell!?
This Is Hell! is created and hosted by This Is Hell!.
URL copied to clipboard!