Sean T. Byrnes is a writer, teacher, and historian. His work explores issues related to US politics, international relations, and global economic inequality. The author of Disunited Nations: US Foreign Policy, Anti-Americanism, and the Rise of the New Right (LSU, 2021), he is currently working on two books. The first, The United States and the Ends of Empire: Decolonization, Hierarchy, and World Order since 1776, explores how decolonization and attendant concepts of race and hierarchy have shaped US interactions with the world since the American Revolution. It is under contract with Bloomsbury Academic. The second, No Guarantee: The Family Assistance Plan and the Transformation of American Politics, 1968-1972, tells the story of the “Family Assistance Plan,” a program for a minimum guaranteed income for all Americans that nearly passed Congress during the Nixon Administration. It is under contract with LSU Press. His work has appeared in Jacobin, International Journal, and US Studies Online. He also hosts conversations with authors on the New Books Network. Sean holds a Ph.D. in history from Emory University and lives in Middle Tennessee.
A note from Lev:
I am a high school teacher of history and economics at a public high school in NYC, and began the podcast to help demystify economics for teachers. The podcast is now within the top 2% of podcasts worldwide in terms of listeners (per Listen Notes) and individual episodes are frequently listed by The Syllabus (the-syllabus.com) as among the 10 best political economy podcasts of a particular week. The podcast is reaching thousands of listeners each month.
The podcast seeks to provide a substantive alternative to mainstream economics media; to communicate information and ideas that contribute to equitable and peaceful solutions to political and economic issues; and to improve the teaching of high school and university political economy.
I am looking to be able to raise money in order to improve the technical quality of the podcast and website and to further expand the audience through professionally designed social media outreach. I am also hoping to hire an editor.
Best,
Lev