Doug speaks with Jamie Webster of BCG about western Europe’s energy situation. Then Kari Lydersen, author of a recent In These Times article , and Ron Kaminkow, locomotive engineer and organizer with Railroad Workers United , talk about the miseries of the industry and why it should be nationalized. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: https://www.leftbusinessobse...
Feb 27, 2023•53 min
Featuring Nadia Abu El-Haj on Combat Trauma: Imaginaries of War and Citizenship in Post-9/11 America . A truly remarkable book about the unseen ideological foundations of American militarism: American civilians are enjoined to venerate troops, deferring to their traumatized positionality. The first in a two-part interview. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out our newsletter and vast archives at thedigradio.com Buy: Fighting in a World on Fire by Andreas Malm versobooks.com/books/4138-...
Feb 26, 2023•1 hr 49 min
Since the late 1990s, Pakistan has experienced several rounds of intense political turbulence. But the crisis unfolding today may be the most dramatic episode to date. The ousted prime minister Imran Khan has refused to go quietly, and his supporters are challenging the powerful military establishment. Khan himself survived an assassination attempt last November. Ayyaz Mallick, lecturer in human geography at the University of Liverpool, joins Long Reads for a conversation about Pakistani politic...
Feb 24, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Some topics are too vast, too vital for us to cover on our own. Today, we address one such topic. We invited Jacobin 's Meagan Day and Branko Marcetic for a roundtable discussion on EMPIRE RECORDS (1995). We proffer some theories about why this attempt to hit the Gen X zeitgeist resonated more strongly with millennials, and how its depiction of alt-culture proved life-changing for at least one of the panelists. Our previous symposium on You've Got Mail (1998) - https://soundcloud.com/michael-and...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Anatol Lieven discusses the slim prospects for peace in Ukraine and growing bellicosity towards China. Jairus Banaji , author of an article for Phenomenal World , talks about the politicized structure of Indian capitalism, and the scandal surrounding Gautam Adani. Hindenburg report on the Adani Group: https://hindenburgresearch.com/adani/ Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the ar...
Feb 21, 2023•53 min
Featuring Donna Murch and Todd Wolfson on Rutgers University workers' industrial unionism strategy. The second in a two-part series on the crisis in American higher education. Check out Dan's interview in The Nation : thenation.com/article/world/qa-daniel-denvir/ Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out The Dig's newsletters and vast archives at thedigradio.com Buy Haunted by Slavery : haymarketbooks.org/books/1557-haunted-by-slavery Buy David Harvey’s Companion to Marx’s Grundrisse : ver...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 19 min
The amateur documentary MY YANG GANG DIARY (2021) gives us opportunity to look back on the presidential candidacy of Andrew Yang. We discuss how the "not left, not right, but forward" candidate offered a vision of radical centrism. "What Happened to Andrew Yang?" by Akela Lacy - https://theintercept.com/2021/08/15/andrew-yang-new-york-mayor/
Feb 16, 2023•42 min
Suzi talks to Robert Brenner and Dylan Riley about their “Seven Theses on American Politics” in New Left Review , an analysis of the 2022 midterm election results. The expected "red wave" was, in their words, more like a ripple. The responses to President Biden’s State of the Union address on February 7 further show the partisan fault lines that are superficially characterized in cultural terms. Our guests insist on rigorous class analysis to explain recent trends. Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissm...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Software engineer Dwayne Monroe exposes the reality behind the hype around ChatGPT (and the sinister implications of AI). Then Doug interviews political economist Alfredo Saad-Filho on Brazil’s political landscape as Lula returns to the presidency. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html...
Feb 13, 2023•53 min
Featuring Dennis Hogan on the crisis in higher education. The first in a two-part series. Next up: Donna Murch and Todd Wolfson on how university workers can fight back through industrial unionism. Read Dan's interview in The Nation thenation.com/article/world/qa-daniel-denvir Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out our newsletters and vast archives at thedigradio.com Buy On Shedding an Obsolete Past: Bidding Farewell to the American Century by Andrew Bacevich haymarketbooks.org/books/19...
Feb 10, 2023•2 hr 7 min
Terrence Malick perfected his now-signature style with his rapturously beautiful second film, DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978). We discuss the film's depiction of hardscrabble American life in the early 20th century, and Malick's holistic view of humanity and nature. PLUS: an alarming update on the state of Canadian media, and the U.S. Congress condemnation of socialism. "On Earth as It Is in Heaven" by Adrian Martin - https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/555-days-of-heaven-on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven M...
Feb 09, 2023•54 min
Critics of Karl Marx claim that he was incapable of recognizing forms of oppression that aren't linked to a narrow understanding of class. Kevin Anderson challenged that view in his book, Marx at the Margins: On Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Non-Western Societies . Based on a careful reading of Marx's full body of work, it shows how Marx was far more attuned to questions of race and ethnicity than his critics would have you believe. Kevin joins Long Reads to discuss this often-overlooked side of M...
Feb 08, 2023•44 min
Ann Neumann , author of a recent Harper's article, discusses the bloody war in Ethiopia. Then Doug gets two views on a proposed South American currency arrangement launched by Brazilian president Lula, one from Andrés Arauz , the other from Brian Mier . Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html...
Feb 06, 2023•53 min
Featuring Shanti Singh, Tracy Rosenthal, René Moya, and Cea Weaver on the politics and practice of organizing tenants. Please donate generously to support Pioneer Tenants United zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/0ae18bb1-5cb9-475a-af13-aedbbd890497 Peruse our vast archives and weekly newsletters at thedigradio.com
Feb 05, 2023•2 hr 23 min
A key moment in the evolution of the modern blockbuster, JURASSIC WORLD (2015) is a cynical reboot about cynical reboots. We discuss what this enormously popular movie says about the world that spawned it, as well as its very peculiar sexist streak you may have noticed. PLUS: Why is Canada's conservative movement so Americanized? Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Feb 02, 2023•1 hr
Doug is joined by Josh White, author of Goodbye United Kingdom , to discuss that country’s trajectory of decline. Then Felicia Kornbluh , author of A Woman’s Life Is a Human Life , talks about the fight for abortion rights in the late 60s and early 70s, and how it must be part of a larger struggle for reproductive justice. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: http...
Feb 01, 2023•53 min
Featuring Robin D.G. Kelley on Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig and get our weekly newsletter by email Peruse our newsletters and vast archives at thedigradio.com Check out America as Overlord haymarketbooks.org/books/1958-america-as-overlord The Men With the Pink Triangle haymarketbooks.org/books/1935-the-men-with-the-pink-triangle...
Jan 27, 2023•2 hr 26 min
During the 1980s, Japan seemed like it might overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy. But since a property bubble burst in the early 90s, Japan has become a by-word for economic stagnation. That hasn’t prevented the ruling Liberal Democratic Party from maintaining its status as the most successful political party in the rich capitalist world. Kristin Surak joins Long Reads to discuss modern Japan. Kristin teaches sociology at the London School of Economics and is the author of Maki...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Doug speaks with Matthieu Aikins , author and investigative reporter , about the situation in Afghanistan with the US gone and the Taliban in control. Later, Christina Dunbar-Hester, author of Oil Beach , discusses the ecology of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html...
Jan 24, 2023•53 min
A misanthropic catalog of shocking images from around the world, the bizarre, unpleasant, baldly racist, and extremely influential MONDO CANE (1962) was a pioneering "shockumentary." We revisit this strange and ugly artifact to discuss why it was taken so seriously in its day. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Jan 23, 2023•40 min
Featuring Michael Denning on Antonio Gramsci. The second of a two-part interview. Read the passages of Selections from the Prison Notebooks that Dan read to prepare: thedigradio.com/gramscinotebooks Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig and get our weekly newsletter by email Check out our newsletter and vast archives at thedigradio.com Check out Socialism...Seriously: A Brief Guide to Surviving the 21st Century by Danny Katch haymarketbooks.org/books/1943-socialism-seriously Check out Black Wome...
Jan 21, 2023•2 hr 27 min
Upon its release, Steven Soderbergh's TRAFFIC (2000) offered something novel: a cinematic tapestry that criticized America's War on Drugs. More than 20 years later, we consider its strengths, as well as the impact that time has diminished. PLUS: Let's read a little from Prince Harry autobiography, shall we? Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Jan 18, 2023•45 min
Emily Jashinsky of The Federalist discusses the GOP: the meaning of the speaker fight, and what is the base of the Freedom Caucus anyway? Sohrab Ahmari, co-founder of Compact Magazine , offers a left-right hybrid. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html...
Jan 17, 2023•53 min
Featuring Michael Denning on Antonio Gramsci. Part one of an expansive two-part interview. Read the passages of Selections from the Prison Notebooks that Dan read to prepare: thedigradio.com/gramscinotebooks Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig and get our weekly newsletter by email Check out our newsletter and vast archives at thedigradio.com...
Jan 14, 2023•1 hr 4 min
The Dutch Revolt of the sixteenth century defeated the Spanish monarchy, the great European superpower of its day. It may not be as well remembered as the English Civil War or the French Revolution. But it was a watershed moment in the development of modern Europe. Pepijn Brandon joins Long Reads to discuss this revolt. He’s an historian at VU University in Amsterdam and the author of War, Capital, and the Dutch State . This is the second part of a two-part interview. Long Reads is a Jacobin pod...
Jan 12, 2023•37 min
Today Meleiza Figueroa hosts the podcast. She talks to three guests about the historic series of winter storms that have been lashing the entire state of California since New Year’s Eve, causing widespread flooding, landslides, wind damage, and levee failures. With rain forecasted to continue all the way until Martin Luther King Day, the worst may be yet to come. While California is far better known for droughts, earthquakes, and wildfires, atmospheric rivers from the Pacific also bring regular ...
Jan 11, 2023•58 min
Filmed in the aftermath of the 1970 "October Crisis" that brought martial law to Canada, Gilles Groulx's radical documentary 24 HOURS OR MORE (1973) takes a disapproving look at life in Quebec under capitalism during a moment when the postwar economic boom was receding. It's the kind of movie that isn't made anymore: a movie that questions the very premises on which society is built. Watch the movie for free: https://www.nfb.ca/film/24_hours_or_more/ Michael and Us is a podcast about political c...
Jan 10, 2023•39 min
Today Suzi brings part two of our tribute to Mike Davis , who died on October 25. Mike was a prolific writer, historian, political activist, urban theorist, and author of dozens of books, many featured here on this podcast. We begin with an interview from July 1986 just after Mike completed his first book, Prisoners of the American Dream , published on the centenary of May Day 1886. Mike discusses the political economy of Reaganism, or Reaganomics, which began with a frontal attack on organized ...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 25 min
As we enter 2023, it's time for our annual look back on the movies that defined our podcast over the past 12 months. In our third Year-in-Review Extravaganza, we're handing out awards for Best Movie, Worst Movie, Best End-of-History Movie, Thing We Liked Growing Up That Holds Up Relatively Well, Best Tubi Movie, and more. Will Alexandra Pelosi win an award? Will Dinesh D'Souza go home empty-handed? What about Trump vs. the Illuminati? Tune in to find out! Michael and Us is a podcast about politi...
Jan 04, 2023•57 min
Featuring historian Tim Barker on monetary politics, inflation, and the general capitalist conjuncture. The second of a two-part interview. Check out my July 2021 interview with Barker if you want a more expansive primer on inflation thedigradio.com/podcast/inflation-politics-with-tim-barker Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out our brilliant newsletter and vast archives at thedigradio.com Get After Life: A Collective History of Loss and Redemption in Pandemic America haymarketbooks.or...
Dec 31, 2022•1 hr 41 min
