About the Pod

What, exactly, makes American Prestige different from any other foreign policy podcast?

Put simply, Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison, American Prestige’s hosts, analyze U.S. foreign policy from a critical framework that sheds light on myriad topics related to international affairs. They provide new voices and ideas to thousands of audience members who are skeptical of the narrow range of views most media outlets offer on these topics.

The majority of media organizations agree with U.S. policymakers that the United States should dominate the world through military and economic might. American Prestige adopts a different set of assumptions, asking what U.S. foreign policy would look like if the interests of all people in the world, and not only those of a tiny subset of Americans, were taken into account.

Why Subscribe?

It’s true: you can listen to publicly available episodes of American Prestige, wherein you’ll get a 30-minute news roundup and hour-long interview with an area specialist, for free. But besides helping keep the podcast afloat, subscribers get a number of benefits.

Bonus Episodes and Series

Each week, American Prestige puts out additional bonus episodes covering a wide range of topics. Sometimes they’re one-off affairs, like the episode on the Adam Sandler film “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” with Nando Vila and Noah Kulwin or the episode that explores the fabled “Christmas Truce of World War I” with Terri Blom Crocker. But oftentimes—and this is where American Prestige really shines—the show features multi-episode series on topics like “A History of Modern Palestine” with Rashid Khalidi, “The History of Vietnam” with Sean Fear, “Cuba’s American History” with Ada Ferrer, and “The History of Afghanistan” with Tim Nunan.

Mailbags

Danny and Derek have plenty to say about history and international affairs, but as a subscriber you get the opportunity to send in questions for the hosts to answer. Get inside the hosts’ heads, ask that hyper-specific question you’ve been mulling over, or just shower them with praises!

Discussion Threads

American Prestige also facilitates discussion threads between listeners and hosts, and as a subscriber, you can access these threads. The members of the American Prestige team are lifelong students, and they want to provide a space for themselves and subscribers to connect with and learn from one another.

Hear for Yourself

Check out three of our favorite episodes to get an idea of what you’ll get at American Prestige:

E24 - Liberalism and Development w/ Sheyda Jahanbani

Bonus - The History of Vietnam, Ep. 1 w/ Sean Fear

E36 - The History of NATO Expansion, Pt. 1 w/ Joshua Shifrinson

Subscribe to American Prestige

A podcast from Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison that provides listeners with everything they need to know about what’s going on in the world.

People

“American Prestige” takes a comprehensive look at U.S. foreign policy and int'l affairs, providing listeners with everything they need to know about what’s going on in the world and which nations the U.S. Empire is destroying this week.
Writer of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, co-host of the American Prestige podcast
Daniel Bessner is the co-host of the American Prestige podcast.