Adam McKay's VICE (2018) sought to give Dick Cheney the full reckoning for his crimes through art that he will never receive in life. Is the film necessary cinematic intervention in the ongoing Cheney reclamation project, or a condescending failure? Your hosts disagree sharply on this cinematic polemic. PLUS: fiery hot takes on Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. "'Damn right,' I said" by Eliot Weinberger - https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n01/eliot-weinberger/damn-right-i-said Michael and Us is a ...
Nov 04, 2022•53 min
Featuring Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Golnar Nikpour on the history of modern Iran. This is the second episode in our four-part series. We begin in 1941 with the British-Soviet occupation of Iran, the ouster of Reza Shah and his replacement by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah. We continue with the rise of the Tudeh communist party, the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, Mohammad Mosaddegh's National Party coming to power, and the 1953 US-British coup that overthrew Mosaddegh and re...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 51 min
Jamieson Webster , author of a recent opinion piece in the Times , examines what severe psychological distress among adolescents is telling us about American society. Then Raina Lipsitz , author of The Rise of a New Left , looks at the history, personnel, and status of today’s radicalism. 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/Ra...
Nov 01, 2022•53 min
Suzi talks to Michael Cox, Cold War and International Relations expert, about his forthcoming article in Critique , “In the shadow of the Russian revolution: Putin, Xi, and the long war in Ukraine.” Mick looks at the state of the war and the shock to the world system it has provoked, wreaking havoc with energy prices and the financial system. He examines the relationship between Russia and China within a reconfigured world order. Russia’s war on Ukraine has created strange bedfellows, left and r...
Oct 28, 2022•55 min
In a distant future, a privileged ruling class lives in a city fueled by an invisible army of workers who toil in barbaric conditions. Yes, this is the far-fetched scenario of one of the most iconic science-fiction films of all time, Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS (1927). We finally discuss the most famous of all Weimar-era movies, and debate whether or not the mediator between the head and the hand really is the heart. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted b...
Oct 28, 2022•47 min
This episode is the first in a four-part series on the history of modern Iran, from 1906 through the present. This episode covers the period from 1906 until 1941, from the Constitutional Revolution that imposed constitutional limits on the Qajar dynasty through the 1921 coup that brought to power Reza Khan—who then in 1925 deposed the Qajars and became Reza Shah, the first shah of the Pahlavi dynasty. We end just before the 1941 occupation of Iran by longtime imperial powers, Britain and the Sov...
Oct 27, 2022•1 hr 32 min
Annelle Sheline of the Quincy Institute explains why Saudi Arabia cut its oil production dramatically. James Meadway , former adviser to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party and now director of the Progressive Economy Forum, analyzes why Britain is in economic and political crisis. 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...
Oct 24, 2022•53 min
This is sadly our final episode of the Jacobin Show . We're joined by labor organizer and author Jane McAlevey to discuss the state of the labor movement and where it needs to go to address our mounting crises. Ariella Thornhill and Paul Prescod also join Jen Pan to discuss what a healthy left needs to consist of and why the claims to a "new working class" are dead wrong. The Jacobin Show is a weekly YouTube show offering socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century...
Oct 21, 2022•1 hr 30 min
Suzi talks to Iranian scholar and activist Yassamine Mather about the growing protest movement in Iran, sparked by the brutal murder of Mahsa Amini in police custody for wearing a loose hijab. The demonstrations have spread across the country and world with women chopping off their hair in solidarity and protest. The Islamic regime has violently cracked down on protestors but has failed to quell the movement. This is the biggest challenge the government has faced in more than four decades of the...
Oct 19, 2022•1 hr 4 min
We discuss death, bureaucracy, and postwar Japan in Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece IKIRU (1952). PLUS: Everything you always wanted to know about Toronto's political culture (and upcoming municipal election) but were afraid to ask! Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Oct 19, 2022•55 min
The question of how to define antisemitism has become a major political controversy. Many leading political figures, including Benjamin Netanyahu, now insist that antisemitism and anti-Zionism are two sides of the same coin. How did we reach a point where this kind of discourse has become entirely routine? Antony Lerman joins Long Reads to discuss the history of this debate, covered in a new book, Whatever Happened To Antisemitism? Redefinition and the Myth of the 'Collective Jew' . The work dra...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 8 min
Featuring Laura Mason on her book The Last Revolutionaries: The Conspiracy Trial of Gracchus Babeuf and the Equals . Mason discusses Babeuf's call to abolish property, his radically egalitarian conspiracy against the Directory government, and the end of the French Revolution. How a centrist government turned its back on popular democracy, presided over growing inequality and working-class poverty, and abetted the rise of the reactionary right that would ultimately overthrow it. Check out the new...
Oct 18, 2022•2 hr 17 min
Doug speaks with Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass, authors of Half-Earth Socialism , about their scheme to save the world. 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...
Oct 17, 2022•53 min
On the occasion of Jacobin 's "Inflation" issue release party, Samir Sonti interviewed historian Adam Tooze at the Mayday Space in Brooklyn. This is audio from that recent live conversation. Samir and Adam discuss the causes, threats, and nuances of inflation, as well as ways to combat the cost-of-living crisis in such a way that puts the needs of people before capital. Get the new "Inflation" issue, and a year-long subscription, for just $20: https://bit.ly/JACOBINRADIO...
Oct 14, 2022•50 min
Grace speaks to historian David Broder about Italian fascism following the recent elections in which the Italian far-right party led by Giorgia Meloni, the Brothers of Italy, came to power.They discuss the longer-term background of the rise of fascism, which David will be covering in his forthcoming book, Mussolini’s Grandchildren . 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. Thank...
Oct 13, 2022•39 min
Sabrina Fernades, Alex Hochuli, and Ben Fogel join us for a major overview and analysis of the state of the Brazilian election. Will Lula pull off his comeback? What would that mean for working class politics in Brazil? We're also joined by longtime Democratic strategist and commentariat Ruy Teixeira to discuss why the Democrats are married to losing cultural politics. Finally, Jen Pan and Cale Brooks discusses some more recent studies on the deprivation of the white working class and why the le...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 45 min
In 2015, three American armed forces vets foiled an attack on a train to Paris. Three years later, Clint Eastwood enlisted the boys to re-enact their experience in a major motion picture. The result, THE 15:17 TO PARIS (2018), is a genuinely strange docu-fiction experiment that, yes, has a lot to say about America. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.
Oct 11, 2022•49 min
Featuring Anton Jäger and Dominik Leusder on Europe and the European Union from the crises of social democratic welfare states in the 1970s and 80s, the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, through the eurozone crisis, to the present moment of war in Ukraine, renewed NATO expansion, and a resurgent far right. Listen to Anton and Dominik's Eurotrash podcast patreon.com/eurotrash Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig to get our weekly newsletter by email Check out those newsletters and our vast archive...
Oct 10, 2022•2 hr 23 min
We're joined by Donald Cohen, executive director of the policy organization In The Public Interest, to discuss his new book The Privatization of Everything , which looks at how the privatization of public goods has undermined democracy. We're also joined by Jacobin staff writer Luke Savage to discuss his new book The Dead Center— and whether the left can (or should) save liberalism from liberals. Jen Pan covers the latest dumb workplace trend, the so-called "flexetariat," and explains why there'...
Oct 07, 2022•1 hr 17 min
Suzi talks to Ilya Matveev about Russia's destructive war on Ukraine, now at a critical juncture. Putin has annexed four regions of Ukraine after holding farcical referenda, a clear and dangerous escalation in areas that are not completely under Russian control. Putin has also warned that any attacks on these areas are attacks on Russia—and that he would "protect" these territories by all means necessary, including tactical nuclear weapons. This follows the draft announced on September 21 of som...
Oct 05, 2022•52 min
Doug interviews Anatol Lieven on the horror in Ukraine and diminishing chances for peace. Anne Rumberger, author of a recent article for Salvage about the evangelical anti-abortion movement, discusses the history of the Christian right’s attitudes toward abortion (they weren’t always against it). 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.leftbusinessobserve...
Oct 04, 2022•53 min
The new documentary series UNPRECEDENTED (2022) seeks to offer an unfiltered look at the Trump family in the weeks before the 2020 election and the January 6 riot. We discuss how its thickets of editorial commentary obscure a potentially compelling look into America's former first family, and then we have a laugh reading from Trump Jr.'s debut book, Triggered . Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage....
Oct 03, 2022•51 min
Featuring Daisy Pitkin on her book On the Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women's Epic Fight to Build a Union, a memoir that powerfully captures the drama of an organizing drive—and so much more. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out The Dig newsletter at thedigradio.com Subscribe to n+1 at nplusonemag.com/thedig . Enter THEDIG at checkout for a discount....
Oct 02, 2022•1 hr 50 min
Alex Gourevitch joins us to discuss his recent Catalyst essay that assesses the possibilities and limits of a post-work socialist society. We're also joined by Jonas Pontusson to unpack the strong electoral showing of the Swedish far right. And finally our own European editor David Broder explains what Giorgia Meloni and the Brothers of Italy's victory means for Italy. The Jacobin Show is a weekly YouTube show offering socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, t...
Sep 30, 2022•1 hr 46 min
This week, Grace speaks to Ben Tarnoff, author of Internet for the People . They talk about the origins of the web, how it was enclosed and privatized, and ways we might work together to build a different model for the internet. 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 for making this episode possible....
Sep 29, 2022•43 min
A memorial to Barbara Ehrenreich, who died at 81 on September 1, featuring three Behind the News interviews with her from 2004, 2005, and 2009. 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
Sep 27, 2022•53 min
Libertarian magicians Penn & Teller turn their gaze to the art world in TIM'S VERMEER (2013), a documentary that attempts to prove that, with just the right set of tools and a lot of money, one wealthy entrepreneur can paint a Vermeer. We discuss the bleak, empty void that is Penn & Teller's view of art. See Luke at the Toronto International Festival of Authors on September 27 - https://festivalofauthors.ca/event/critical-conversation-new-working-class/ Check out Luke's book The Dead Cen...
Sep 26, 2022•51 min
Featuring Laura Weinrib on The Taming of Free Speech: America’s Civil Liberties Compromise. Did you know that the ACLU was founded as a radical labor organization allied with the IWW? Weinrib traces the rise of the modern civil liberties movement, and modern constitutional liberalism more broadly, from World War I through the New Deal. She explains how the ACLU went from defending free speech as a means to revolutionary ends to a liberal position exalting free speech as an end unto itself—includ...
Sep 25, 2022•2 hr 16 min
Elizabeth Schmidt joins Long Reads for a discussion about Somalia's modern history of politics, crisis, and foreign intervention. Elizabeth is professor emeritus of history at Loyola University Maryland and the author of six books about Africa, including Foreign Intervention in Africa After the Cold War: Sovereignty, Responsibility, and the War on Terror . Read her piece, "US Interference in Somalia Has Been a Disaster for Somalis," here: https://jacobin.com/2022/08/somalia-siad-barre-islamists-...
Sep 24, 2022•47 min
Samir Sonti joins us to talk about why the Federal Reserve has so much power over the economy and why its typical response to inflation is bad for workers. But does it need to be? We're also joined by Matt Bruenig to explain the real state of childhood poverty and what we should do to erase it. Our own Paul Prescod breaks down the state of the rail worker contract negations and whether a strike is still on the horizon. Finally, Jen Pan and Cale Brooks decipher some new polling numbers that say p...
Sep 22, 2022•1 hr 24 min
