This episode of the Dig is brought to you by our listeners who support us at patreon.com

and by verso books, which has loads of great left-wing titles, perfect for dig listeners like you.

One that you might like is coronavirus criminals and pandemic profiteers by John Nichols.

Two years ago, President Donald Trump told a nation worried about COVID-19.

We're prepared and we're doing a great job with it. It will go away.

It has since been estimated that had Trump taken the same steps as other G7 countries,

40% fewer Americans would have died. It was not just the president who's callous and

opportunistic decisions caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. Nichols reveals,

senators, governors, and judges promulgated public policies that led to suffering,

while billionaires added pandemic profits to their grotesquely bloated fortunes.

Nichols closes with a call for a version of the Pecora Commission,

which took aim at what FDR called the speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism,

and profiteering that had stoked the depression. There must be accountability.

Coronavirus criminals and pandemic profiteers by John Nichols, out now from Verso Books.

Welcome to the Dig, a podcast from Jacobin magazine. My name is Daniel Denver,

and I'm broadcasting from Providence, Rhode Island. This week's Dig is coming sooner than

most digs because Russia just invaded Ukraine. Today's interview is with Tony Wood,

and we discuss Russia's invasion, what it reflects about Russian politics and geopolitics today,

and historically, and how the left should be thinking about it all. I'll post a link to my past

interview with Tony Wood on Russia and Putin in the show notes, and a link to my recent interview

with Ukrainian sociologist Volotomir Ischenko. If you are a regular dig listener,

please know that what makes this podcast possible is listeners just like you,

...