GTAA host Ben Burgis and Current Affairs magazine house economist Rob Larson continue the weekly series of Thursday Night Debate Breakdowns by watching Bernie Sanders' 2017 debate with Ted Cruz. On October 22nd at 7 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM) Ben is going to be debating Los Angeles County GOP Vice Chair (and Prager U & Babylon Bee contributor) Siaka Massaquoi: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09005F42FFCD2E9B?fbclid=IwAR3Y3k9EBeA6i41Yt5E7ftL_rgkjx6rHG3KkNvllNrSnkpIPRggk7Hkymbg Follow Rob o...
Oct 17, 2023•2 hr 6 min
[Just realized we didn't put this out on Tuesday like usual. Sorry about that!] Read Matthew's Substack: https://matthewvernonwhalan.substack.... Follow Matthew on Twitter: @VernonWhalan Follow Jake on Twitter: @yakobabbot Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read...
Oct 15, 2023•1 hr 43 min
Tickets for Ben's debate in LA with Siaka Massaquoi on October 22nd: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09005F42FFCD2E9B Hamas and the Israeli state escalated this weekend into all-out war. We start with some thoughts on that from Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew, and then go to Ben's conversation with his fellow Ben, Benjamin Fong, about Fong's book "Quix Fixes Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge." In the postgame for patrons, Ryan Zickgraf talks about the Trump trials, the ...
Oct 13, 2023•2 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 36
Matt McManus's long awaited book "A How To Guide to Cosmopolitan Socialism: A Tribute to Michael Brooks"--with an introduction by GTAA host Ben Burgis--was officially released on October 1st. Matt joins us to talk about the ideas about socialism, internationalism, universal values and cultural peculiarity and more that fill the book, and for Matt and Ben to talk all things Brooks. David Griscom hangs out in the postgame for patrons. Order Matt's book from worker-owned Red Emmas bookshop: https:/...
Oct 08, 2023•1 hr 58 min•Season 5Ep. 35
Ben Burgis and Producer Jordan watch Socialist Alternative leader Kshama Sawant's debate with Eric Blanc (author of "Revolutionary Social Democracy Working-Class Politics Across the Russian Empire (1882-1917)") on the relevance of the Russian Revolution today. The debate was moderated by Jacobin editor Bhaskar Sunkara. Follow Jordan on Twitter: @jayohardeeayen Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patr...
Oct 03, 2023•2 hr 6 min
Journalist, activist, and novelist Cory Doctorow joins Ben Burgis to talk about Cory's new book "The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation." Ben and the GTAA crew play some clips from Ben's debate with Adam Friended & PSA Sitch on anti-CRT laws and "Cultural Marxism." Norman Finkelstein joins us in the postgame for patrons. Buy Cory's book: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3035-the-internet-con Buy Norm's book: https://www.sublationmedia.com/product-page/i-ll-burn-that-bridg...
Sep 30, 2023•2 hr 2 min•Season 5Ep. 34
Ethan from the Confronting Capital channel and Victor Bruzzone once again join Ben Burgis for GTAA's weekly series of debate breakdowns. This week they watch the recent debate between Krystal Ball & Kyle Kulinski on one side and Briahna Joy Gray on the other about Biden and third party voting. And yes, we just ran a clip where Matt Christman argued forcefully that this is a silly topic to argue about but we were still curious what all these people had to say, so we decided to give it a watch...
Sep 26, 2023•2 hr 28 min
Chapo Trap House host Will Menaker joins Ben Burgis for a conversation about the GOP primary field and Thomas Friedman's latest Thoughts About Ukraine in the New York Times. Before that, Jacobin columnist Liza Featherstone talks about her In These Times article "New York Socialists Won Big On Climate. How Did It Happen?" Last but definitely not least, comedian Robert Yasumura joins us in-studio for the postgame. Read Liza's article: https://inthesetimes.com/article/new-york-build-public-renewabl...
Sep 22, 2023•2 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 33
Producer Jordan and Current Affairs magazine's House Economist Rob Larson join Ben Burgis to continue the weekly series of Thursday Night Debate Breakdowns by watching the classic impromptu debate between Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and then-Vice President Richard Nixon at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. It's a short debate--no postgame tonight--but it's a fascinating glimpse into a time when big arguments about capitalism and so...
Sep 19, 2023•1 hr 14 min
{Sorry, we forgot to upload this on Tuesday--that's when the debate breakdowns are going out now!] Matthew Whalan joins Ben Burgis to continue the weekly series of Thursday Night Debate Breakdowns by watching Sohrab Ahmari's recent appearance on "Krystal, Kyle & Friends" to argue about right-populism. Follow Matthew on Twitter: @VernonWhalan Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive po...
Sep 17, 2023•2 hr 9 min
Self-described conservative social democrat Sohrab Ahmari comes on to talk to Ben Burgis about Sohrab's new book "Tyranny, Inc.: How Private Power Crushed American Liberty--and What to Do About It." Ben and Sohrab agree about a lot when it comes to what's wrong with our late capitalist hellhole but disagree on both halves of "conservative social democrat"--the "conservative" half and the half about stopping at social democracy instead of aiming at socialism. Matt Christman stops by in-studio for...
Sep 15, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Season 5Ep. 32
Ben Burgis and Victor Bruzzone continue GTAA's weekly series of Thursday Night Debate Breakdowns by watching a recent debate between podcaster (and former Manhattan Institute fellow) Coleman Hughes and New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie on the topic "Does Color-Blindness Perpetuate Racism?" (Bouie says yes, Hughes says no.) They both say partially true things, but this voice could use several hundred times more Adolph Reed. Follow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzone Follow Ben on Twitter: @Be...
Sep 05, 2023•1 hr 53 min
Ben Burgis, Jason Myles, and Jordan Dubin are all in studio together. (Matt Christman was originally scheduled but he had to reschedule for late September.) After a half-hearted attempt to talk about a couple of Jacobin articles, they unbutton their metaphorical top buttons and talk about exactly the kind movie the three of them would likely spend an evening talking about off-air, or, OK, maybe that Jason and Ben would be talking about while Jordan sat there and rolled her eyes---the 1982 classi...
Sep 01, 2023•1 hr 47 min•Season 5Ep. 31
Tibor Rutar is the author of a book called "Capitalism for Realists: Virtues and Vices of the Modern Economy" in which he argues that the best system is a moderate, social democratic form of capitalism. In making that case, he heavily relies on "economic freedom" rankings. In the book, Rutar criticizes an article Ben Burgis wrote for Jacobin arguing that such rankings are worthless and tell us nothing: https://jacobin.com/2021/10/economic-freedom-rankings-frasier-institute-peter-leeson-socialism...
Aug 25, 2023•2 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 30
Freddie de Boer is back to talk to Ben Burgis about his new book, "How the Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement": https://www.amazon.com/How-Elites-Social-Justice-Movement/dp/166801601X Before that, we play Ben's appearance on Monday morning's Majority Report to talk about Michael Brooks (yesterday would have been Michael's 40th birthday) and Ben and the crew talk a little bit about the Nudieland shooting and J. Andrew World's experiences with the Minneapolis punk community. Debunk Song creato...
Aug 18, 2023•1 hr 54 min•Season 5Ep. 29
Ben Burgis debates New York Post writer Brad Polumbo on student debt forgiveness. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew look back at Norm Finkelstein's feud with Christopher Hitchens and talk about Ben's article on the Trump indictment: https://jacobin.com/2023/08/donald-trump-prosecution-election-crimes-justice-department Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night...
Aug 12, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Season 5Ep. 28
Matt McManus comes back for the fuller discussion of his new book "The Political Right and Equality: Turning Back the Tide of Egalitarian Modernity" we teased a few weeks back, and then Ben and the crew switch to a distinctly more low-brow look at the strangest aspect of Matt Wlash's interests in the postgame. At the beginning of the main show, they talk about two of Ben's recent articles for Jacobin. One takes on the idea that we won't have bananas under socialism: https://jacobin.com/2023/07/b...
Aug 04, 2023•2 hr 38 min•Season 5Ep. 27
This is Revolution podcast host and Sublation magazine columnist Jason Myles returns to talk about his latest for Sublation, "The Grifters: The Capitalist Realism of Left Media": https://www.sublationmag.com/post/the-grifters-the-capitalist-realism-of-left-media We've all heard the term "grifters" thrown around as an all-purpose insult for whatever figures in left-wing media someone dislikes. But Jason wants us to think harder about what it actually means, whether the shoe fits, and whether it r...
Jul 28, 2023•2 hr 10 min•Season 5Ep. 26
Cedric Johnson is a professor of African-American studies and political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of, most recently, After Black Lives Matter: Policing and Anti-Capitalist Struggle from Verso Books: https://www.versobooks.com/products/3057-after-black-lives-matter Ben Burgis chats with Cedric about his book. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew talk about Ben's most recent Jacobin article on G.A. Cohen ("The Tragic Failure of the Soviet Experiment Doesn't Mean We ...
Jul 24, 2023•1 hr 48 min•Season 5Ep. 25
Returning champion Matt McManus, Jacobin contributor lecturer on Political Science at the University of Michigan, discusses his brand new book "The Political Right and Equality: Turning Back the Tide of Egalitarian Modernity." It officially releases on the 21st, but you can pre-order it here: https://www.routledge.com/The-Political-Right-and-Equality-Turning-Back-the-Tide-of-Egalitarian-Modernity/McManus/p/book/9781032310831 Before that, Ben and the crew watch a throwback clip of Ben, Ana Kaspar...
Jul 14, 2023•2 hr 34 min•Season 5Ep. 24
Norman Finkelstein comes back to GTAA to discuss recent Supreme Court rulings and some themes from his book "I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom" with Ben Burgis. This is Revolution host and Sublation magazine columnist Jason Myles rides shotgun. The film criticism of one Noah Berlatsky, scourge of "class-first leftism," is dissected in the postgame for GTAA patrons. Buy Norm's book: https://www.amazon.com/Heretica...
Jul 08, 2023•2 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 23
James Lindsay went on Jordan Peterson's podcast. Matt McManus joins us to break down the resulting typhoon of reactionary pseudo-intellectual nonsense. Before that, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew cover the controversy over the new documentary "Israelism," Charlie Kirk's reaction to Juneteenth, and a highlight of Emma Vigeland's recent conversation with Tim Pool. Last but definitely not least, Producer Jordan joins us in the postgame for GTAA patrons. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Jor...
Jun 30, 2023•2 hr 14 min•Season 5Ep. 22
Special guests RM Brown, Naomi Karavani & Michele Greenstein join Ben Burgis to talk about Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Before that, Ben, RM, and the crew discuss Cornel West's response to Ben's article. In the postgame for patrons, the gang breaks down a "Democrat for DeSantis" article. Listen to Naomi and Michele's new podcast "Cargo Cult": https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cargo-cult/id1687043930 Read Ben's article about Cornel West: https://jacobin.com/2023/06/cornel-west-democratic-pa...
Jun 23, 2023•1 hr 45 min•Season 5Ep. 21
Playwright and "Succession" staff writer Will Arbery joins the show for the first time to talk about his award-winning play "Heroes of the Fourth Turning"--an intense story about young conservatives set a week after the Charlottesville riots--which came out a few months ago in book form. Before that, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew take on the absurdly empty pseudo-populist candidacy ofd RFK, Jr. In the postgame for patrons, Producer Jordan joins Ben and the rest of the crew to continue delving int...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 51 min•Season 5Ep. 20
A few months ago, Give Them An Argument, Left Reckoning and This is Revolution did a joint "Give Them a Revolution" live show in New York ft. special guests Bhaskar Sunkara, Emma Vigeland, and Sam Seder. We're finally making the complete recording public. Jason Myles and Deep State Kuba from TiR, David Griscom and Matt Lech from LR, and Ben Burgis and (off to the side drawing pictures sold after the show) J. Andrew World from GTAA represented and friend-of-all-the-shows Conan Neutron MC-ed. Enjo...
Jun 16, 2023•2 hr 23 min•Season 5Ep. 19
A lot of people who don't love capitalism might still worry about the way revolutions can go very, very wrong. In the crumbling Russian Empire a little over a hundred years ago, the Bolsheviks came to power on a platform "land, peace and bread" and "all power to" democratically elected workers councils...and ended up with an authoritarian and often economically dysfunctional one-party state where working-class people had fewer right in some ways than their counterparts in Western Europe. What we...
Jun 13, 2023•1 hr 46 min•Season 5Ep. 19
In the first half of the main show, Political Science prof and Jacobin contributor Matt McManus joins Ben Burgis to discuss his new article about another, much more unpleasant Matt--Matt Walsh. In the second half, we replay Ben's dialogue at a Boston Review event last week with socialist philosopher Christine Sypnowich about equality of opportunity vs. equal flourishing. Last but not least, Zac and Gavin from The Vanguard join Ben and Andy--it's Jake's birthday, so he was reluctantly given the n...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 58 min•Season 5Ep. 17
Left-wing academic philosopher, Jacobin contributor, and "What's Left of Philosophy?" co-host Lillian Cicerchia comes back on the show to talk to Ben Burgis about Karl Marx's book "The Poverty of Philosophy" and, more broadly, different ways of construing materialism vs. idealism debates and the sometimes vexed relationship between moral critiques of capitalism and Marxist thought. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew get into the recent strike victory at Rutgers, Bernie vs. Chris Wallace on wheth...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 16
Naomi Karavani, RM Brown, and Branko Marcetic join Ben Burgis to say goodbye to Tucker Carlson's show on Fox. You can read Ben's article "Tucker Carlson Is a Repugnant, Pseudo-Populist Fraud" here: https://jacobin.com/2023/04/tucker-carlson-populism-ruling-class-minimum-wage-medicare-for-all-war/ ...and Branko's article "Tucker Carlson Isn’t an Anti-Imperialist — He’s a Rabid China Hawk" here: https://jacobin.com/2023/04/tucker-carlson-imperialist-china-hawk Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew ta...
May 13, 2023•1 hr 51 min•Season 5Ep. 15
Conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza has, as it turns out, made a LOT of videos covering philosophical topics like John Rawls's veil of ignorance and abortion rights, Hume's argument against belief in miracles (D'Souza isn't convinced), and.....something or other about how Nietzsche helps us understand why tech companies censor conservatives? Or something? Anyway, we're on the job. Debate-breakdown regulars Victor Bruzzone and Ethan (from the Confronting Capital channel) join Ben Burgis to su...
Apr 29, 2023•1 hr 58 min•Season 5Ep. 14
