Luke and Will delve into the world of right-wing legend Tom Clancy and his signature character Jack Ryan with the blockbuster film adaptation of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990). PLUS: Winston Churchill predicts the future! Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Jan Toporowski joins Long Reads for a discussion about Polish economist Michal Kalecki. Kalecki is best known for his celebrated essay on full employment, which has lost none of its topical value. Jan is a professor of economics at SOAS in London and the author of a two-volume intellectual biography of Kalecki. Read Jan's article "Michal Kalecki and the Politics of Full Employment" here: https://jacobinmag.com/2022/01/michal-kalecki-keynes-full-employment-political-economy You can also find Mich...
Suzi talks to John Logan , labor historian and expert on the anti-union industry, about the historic victory for Amazon workers on Staten Island, who voted on April 1st to form the first US Amazon union. The new Amazon Labor Union won against the retailing giant whose profits have skyrocketed during the pandemic. This changes everything, and we get John Logan's analysis of the scope of the victory and the challenges to come. Ilya Budraitskis, who just published Dissidents among Dissiden...
Rupert Russell and Isabella Weber discuss Russell's book Price Wars: How the Commodities Markets Made Our Chaotic World and also the current politics of inflation. Listen to Weber discuss her book How China Escaped Shock Therapy: thedigradio.com/podcast/how-china-escaped-shock-therapy-w-isabella-weber/ Look at Rupert's precious puppy: twitter.com/rupert_russell/status/1511428696409837573?s=20&t=OPVNgfXuokFY6ZQYRkxe4g Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig...
Jen Pan sits down with Jacobin columnist Ross Barkan to discuss his latest article, “Working-Class Politics Without the Working Class,” which takes a critical look at the Working Families Party. Next, Jen turns to speak with Chris Maisano about the future of the labor movement and his latest piece in Jacobin , “The Liminal Left’s Bid for Power,” in which he analyzes the conflicts and potential bright spots that arise within a new left that is young and highly educated. What does that mean for ou...
Luke and Will discuss AKIRA (1988), the groundbreaking anime classic. We hash over the film's vision of a future-dystopia, finding elements both unique to 1988 and applicable to all times. PLUS: the new Amazon union in Staten Island, and checking the pulse of right-wing politics on Canada. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Doug interviews Annelle Sheline , author of a new Quincy Institute policy brief about the Yemen war , on the reasons behind Saudi Arabia's brutal war. Doug also interviews Natalia Petrzela , author of the column "How Moisturizing Became Macho," on how we went from Muscle Beach to gender neutral cosmetics products. 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.l...
Grace chats to David Wearing, post-doctoral researcher at SOAS and author of AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters to Britain . They discuss Boris Johnson’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and how the global energy crisis is likely to transform world politics. A World to Win is a podcast from Grace Blakeley and Tribune bringing you a weekly dose of socialist news, theory and action with guests from around the world. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust fo...
Astra interviews Achal Prabhala on the lethal persistence of global vaccine apartheid. Moderna is selfishly refusing to share or even sell (license) its mRNA technology, leaving much of the world unprotected from the pandemic and incubating new variants. Moderna's annual shareholder meeting is April 28th. Join Justice is Global, Boston DSA, and others to challenge vaccine profiteering at their Cambridge headquarters. Sign up at bitly.com/modernaaction Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig...
Eric Levitz and Branko Marcetic debate how the left in the US should understand and respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Slavoj Žižek and Vivek Chibber debate the role of ideology in promoting capitalist stability. Subscribe to Jacobin for just $10: https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=JACOBINYT Music provided by Zonkey: https://linktr.ee/zonkey The Jacobin Show offers socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, the failures of liberalism, and the prospec...
Anton Jäger joins Long Reads for a discussion about modern Belgium and its recent history. The country's image as a harmonious center of European integration, as host of the European Union and NATO, has given way to talk of outright separation between Flanders in the north, and Wallonia in the south. Anton is a Belgian historian of political thought who’s written for a number of publications, including Jacobin and New Left Review . Read his recent article "From Post-Politics to Hyper-Politics" h...
This week, Grace and Alfie Stirling, Chief Economist of the New Economics Foundation, dissect the UK Chancellor’s spring statement. It looks set to contain very few of the measures that would be necessary to tackle the cost of living crisis, which we discussed last week with Gary Stevenson. Rishi Sunak will say there’s no money left to support people forced to choose between eating and heating—but have the Tories grossly underestimated the extent of this crisis, and will it come back to bite the...
The great Homer Simpson once said, "What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind." In that spirit, we watched Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece SOLARIS (1972), which imagines outer space as a manifestation of our inner life. PLUS: checking in on that most important issue of our time, the Oscars. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Anthony Flaccavento, Virginia-based farmer, author, and co-founder of the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative , joins the Jacobin Show to discuss rural America—and why the Democrats lose so consistently in rural elections. Plus: Jacobin editor Seth Ackerman on inflation, the fed raising interest rates, and what this all means for the economy. Subscribe to Jacobin for just $10: https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=JACOBINYT Music provided by Zonkey: https://linktr.ee/zonkey The Jacobin Show , hosted ...
The second of our two-part interview with sociologist Ho-fung Hung on Chinese political and economic history. This episode covers the 2008 financial crisis, how China’s response deepened global and domestic economic imbalances and (alongside the US) heightened geopolitical conflict, the current situation—including Russia’s invasion—and a lot more. Listen to part one first if you haven't already. Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig
Suzi talks to Russian Marxist sociologist, activist, and author Boris Kagarlitsky to get his perspective of Putin’s war from inside Russia. How does he understand Putin's surprising decision—and miscalculation—to invade Ukraine? Kagarlitsky dismisses Putin's declarations about NATO expansion and restoring the Russian Imperium, and says domestic political, economic, and social pressures were the motivating factors. Putin’s prestige and popularity have plummeted along with the prolonged decline in...
Part one of a two-part interview with sociologist Ho-fung Hung on Chinese political economic history from the 18th century to 2008: why capitalism took off in England and then elsewhere but not in China; and then, how Maoist policy laid the groundwork for China’s ultimate capitalist takeoff and boom. Episode two will focus on the 2008 financial crisis, the deepening imbalances and heightened geopolitical conflict that resulted, and the current situation—including the impact of the crises surroun...
To start off this week’s Jacobin Show , Jen Pan looks at the discourse around "economic anxiety" as an explanation for voters' turn to Donald Trump and other right wing politicians. Why do mainstream commentators still refuse to see that these voters are, in fact, driven by material interests and not simply "racial resentment"? Next, Jen Pan and Cale Brooks think about how the Left should understand the middle class. What are the best social theories to understand the economic position of the mi...
New show alert! This week, A World to Win is expanding and launching a new format for the podcast. In addition to our regular long-form interviews, every other week Grace will host shorter, more topical discussions with one of a regular group of guests. On this episode, it's Gary Stevenson of Gary's Economics talking about the cost of living crisis—where's it coming from, who is paying for it, and what can we do about it? Check out Gary's articles in openDemocracy, "Who should pay for the COVID ...
She's a Democrat. He's a Republican. They're speechwriters on warring campaigns... But can they fall in love??? That's the premise of the Michael Keaton/Geena Davis romcom SPEECHLESS (1994), which drew inspiration from the real-life romance between Clinton strategist James Carville and Bush advisor Mary Matalin. We discuss a movie that could only have been made in the '90s. "John Cleese Had Thoughts on Slavery at SXSW and It Was Super Cringey" by James Hibberd - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com...
Suzi talks to historian-activist Simon Pirani about the political and economic motives for the Kremlin's war, as well as the ominous signs of Russia's conduct seen in previous conflicts in Chechnya, Syria, and the Donbas in 2014. The campaign of devastation aimed at cities and towns across Ukraine, and the brutality of Russian forces has only prompted more protest in Ukraine—and in Russia too, despite draconian repressive measures. As the reality of the carnage and destruction sinks in, millions...
Doug speaks with Alexander Zaitchik , author of Owning the Sun , on how the pharmaceutical industry became such a high-priced racket. Plus: Zongyuan Zoe Liu , co-author of a recent article in Foreign Affairs, "The Anti-Dollar Axis," discusses sanctions and the global preeminence of the US dollar. 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...
Lea Ypi joins Long Reads for a discussion about Albanian history. Lea is a professor of political theory at the London School of Economics and the author of several books. Her most recent work is Free: Coming of Age at the End of History . It's account of her experience growing up in the last years of Albanian Communism and the first phase of the country's new capitalist order. Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, wi...
Krystal Ball joins The Jacobin Show for a discussion about the alienation and de-politicization affecting the working class, and how to break out of it. They also cover the role of independent media, the Democratic Party's turn away from workers, and the importance of labor going forward. Krystal is the co-host of Breaking Points and Krystal Kyle & Friends and co-author of The Populist's Guide to 2020 . Plus: David Broder weighs in on the news from Ukraine. The Jacobin Show offers socialist ...
Sophie Pinkham and Nick Mulder on the war, its origins, how it’s being experienced by Ukrainians, Russians, Europeans, and Americans—and also its geopolitical and global economic ramifications, particularly sanctions. Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig Buy Angela Davis: An Autobiography haymarketbooks.org/books/1741-angela-davis...
This week Grace talks to Susanne Soederberg , Professor of Political Economy in Global Development Studies at Queen’s University, Canada, about her book Urban Displacements: Governing Surplus and Survival in Global Capitalism . They discuss the class roots of the global housing crisis and the emergence of resistance to the cycle of debt, eviction, and homelessness in some of Europe’s major cities. A World to Win is a podcast from Grace Blakeley and Tribune bringing you a weekly dose of socialist...
Some Batman movies have been called fascist, but THE BATMAN (2022) breaks new ground for the franchise by being lib. We wouldn't be a left-wing culture podcast if we didn't occasionally pick a new Batman movie from the lowest branch on the tree, so come join us as we chart the latest developments in the Caped Crusader's political evolution. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Suzi talks to Dutch Marxist anthropologist Don Kalb , editor of Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology , about the state of Putin’s war against Ukraine and the crucial historical, political, economic and social background of all the actors—not just Russia and Ukraine, but NATO, US–UK, Germany, France, and even China. Don gives us a comprehensive analysis of the moment we are in, the relationships between and within the worlds now in motion, and the directions he sees as this war u...
Doug interviews Anatol Lieven on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Then, a conversation with Alyssa Giachino and Derek Seidman , among the authors of this report, "Private Equity's Dirty Dozen," about private equity and fossil fuels. 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...
Ariella Thornhill sits down with Adolph Reed, Jr. for a special interview on his new book, The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives . Branko Marcetic discusses how the US and other countries can counter Russian aggression without war or nuclear escalation. Jen Pan explores why so many Americans still say they trust Republicans on the economy despite decades of failed trickle-down policies. The Jacobin Show, hosted by Jen Pan, offers socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-firs...
