Author of We Were Never Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite, and professor in the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University, joins Bad Faith to discuss his historical review of the history of "wokeness," why it cyclically emerges and declines over the decades, and the dangers the "symbolic capitalism" class present to the pursuit of economic equality. Though there's much agreement on the pernicious effects of woke identity politics, we debate our different theories of who is responsible for "woke," and assess whether Tuesday's big DSA wins in New York herald the end of the establishment's superficial identity driven "woke" politics.

https://musaalgharbi.com/paperback-edition-we-have-never-been-woke/

https://musaalgharbi.substack.com/p/book-announcement-those-people

"On the Cultural Contradictions of the Antiwoke"

"Putting the 'Culture' in the Culture Wars"

"On the Cultural Contradictions of the Antiwoke"

"Putting the 'Culture' in the Culture Wars"

"On Redistribution"

"How We Lived in NYC"

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Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

As an abolitionist professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and member of Zohran Mamdani's transition team advising on community safety, Alex Vitale is the perfect guest to help us understand some concerning choices Mamdani has made with respect to policing since becoming Mayor of New York City. In addition to the mystery of why he kept on billionaire zionist police commissioner Jessica Tisch, Mamdani is now being questioned over his choice to violate his campaign promise not to expand the police force. Earlier this month, Tisch announced that the NYPD would be hiring 580 more officers -- a choice met with rare rebuke from the DSA. Vitale offers his perspective on what might be going on here, and engages with the perennial question: Why has the left abandoned defund?

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).

Short-form socialism-explainer Chris Alfonso, aka Jean-Paul Fartre, returns to Bad Faith pod to noodle on the nature of US empire and answer a question recently presented in a conversation between NYT podcaster Ezra Klein & Bernie foreign policy advisor Matt Duss: Is the left's goal a left nationalism or a left internationalism? What does left internationalism mean if raising workers' standards of living is the sine qua non of left advocacy, but doing so sometimes comes at the expense of the global south? But first: The Knicks win, and why JLo's controversial Subway Takes take is right. Also, we weigh in on progressive wins on election day, Graham Platner's origin story, and two recent cop killings that demonstrate why the defund movement should not die.

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).

Philosopher and author of Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?, Gabriel Rockhill, returns to Bad Faith to expand on his criticism of the "compatible left" -- a type of reformist leftist who is elevated by the establishment due to their unwillingness to support actually existing socialism. A recent hit piece on Chris Smalls in Jacobin, unqualified support for mercenary Graham Platner -- how does Rockhill interpret what's going on with the establishment left, and what does he make of the right's leadership on criticism of Palestine? Is Tucker's "America First" politics fundamentally incompatible with imperialism?

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).

A few weeks ago, we had an all star panel to discuss AI data centers and the pivot in both liberal and left publications away from embracing climate change as an issue. One of those articles was written in the New York Times by Syracuse professor Matt Huber, who teachers in the geography and environment department. Today, Huber joins the podcast with AI panelist Aaron Reguberg to push back on how his argument was characterized, and to defend his take that Democrats don't have to campaign on climate change anymore because they can win by prioritizing economic issues. Are these ideas in tension? Does opposing AI data centers constitute both a material and environmental issue? Did Green New Deal advocacy hurt Democrats? Was it unpopular, or was it thwarted by the Democratic establishment before it had a chance to be explained? Is the takeaway from Mamdani's success in New York City that Democrats should decenter climate? Why is Briahna defending AOC?

Executive director of the Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah, returns to Bad Faith to break down the latest attempt by Zionists to push the "mass rape" narrative that has greased the runway for Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, but stays to debate the role Tucker Carlson should play in advancing the lefts anti war and anti imperialist aims. A fascinating exploration of ethnics, media, and progressive values with one of the left's best journalists.

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).

Spelman College professor and author of The Political Right & Equality, & The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, returns to Bad Faith to to discuss his recent article on the Gad Saad, the poor man's Jordan Peterson, his case against "suicidal empathy," and what it shows about the status of the conservative movement. But first, we cover the latest Graham Platner sexting scandal, the NYC Israel Parade, & the California election results. https://jacobin.com/2026/05/saad-empathy-conservatism-book-review

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).

Dr. Margo Paez, an expert on climate change modeling & water resources & fellow at the Bitcoin policy institute, joins with Jae Holzman, a journalist reporting on climate change for Heatmap news, for a surprising conversation about AI data centers and how they're being litigated across the political identity spectrum.

Subscribe to Bad Faith on Patreon to listen in full. Subscribe to Bad Faith on YouTube for an extended video clip of this episode that's longer than this promo. Find Bad Faith on Twitter (@badfaithpod) and Instagram (@badfaithpod).

Produced by Armand Aviram.

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).