Kevin recently gave a talk about William Morris' transition from romantic anti-capitalism to Marxism and is thus well suited to school us on the subject. We decided to record it and share it with all of you. How I Became a Socialist (William Morris) https://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1894/hibs/hibs.htm Under an Elm-Tree, Or, Thoughts in the Country-Side (William Morris) https://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1889/commonweal/07-elm-tree.htm Facing the Worst of It (William Morris...
Jul 25, 2023•58 min•Season 5Ep. 16
This week we return to an old favorite topic of ours, the warm stream, romantic, or gothic in Marxism. This time we are joined by an accredited expert in all things gothic, Jon from the Horror Vanguard. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/horror-vanguard/id1445594437 https://twitter.com/TheLitCritGuy Bloch, Ernst, Neville Plaice, and Stephen Plaice. The Principle of Hope. Vol. 1. MIT Press, 1995. Music: Sisters of Mercy- She's a Monster Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Suppo...
Jul 16, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 15
Ukrainian Nationalism and Third Worldism in the Cold War This week we read and discussed Congo on the Dnipro: Third Worldism and the Nationalization of Soviet Internationalism in Ukraine by Thom Lloyd. The author discusses attempts by Ukrainian nationalists to appropriate the language of third world liberation struggles, but with a twist (spoiler alert, its a racist one). Loyd, Thom. "Congo on the Dnipro: Third Worldism and the Nationalization of Soviet Internationalism in Ukraine." Kritika: Exp...
Jul 13, 2023•4 min
The Patsocs are coming, the Patsocs are coming! There has been much fruitless discourse and claims of rising fascism among the keyboard proletarian vanguard about the problem of Social Patriotism. We got the original gang back together to talk about what the appropriate level for freaking out about it on the internet is. There is no contradiction between patriotism and socialism https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/there-no-contradiction-between-patriotism-and-socialism Is There a Place for...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr•Season 5Ep. 14
Welcome to our second reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss BODIES. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History . London ; New York: Verso. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Support the show Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Jun 28, 2023•5 min
No Royal Road is back with part four of our discussion of Evegny Morozov's "Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason." Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 5Ep. 13
Just like the Prague Spring, it seems clear that the intentions of its participants were the opposite. The vast majority of Czechoslovaks who participated in the movements that brought down the republic were attempting to reform the socialist system, not destroy it. Krapfl, James. Revolution with a Human Face Politics, Culture, and Community in Czechoslovakia, 1989–1992 . Cornell University Press, 2017. Scott Brown. “Prelude to a Divorce? The Prague Spring as Dress Rehearsal for Czechoslovakia’s...
Jun 15, 2023•4 min
This week we discuss a couple of articles by Roland Boer about Lunacharsky, Lenin, and the project of godbuilding. This is our final episode with Mir before he goes off to Austria and Germany to learn all the sneakiest Jesuit tricks. Boer, Roland . “God in the World: Lenin, Hegel, and the God-Builders.” Heythrop Journal , 2015. Boer, Roland. “Religion and Socialism: A. V. Lunacharsky and the God-Builders.” Political Theology 15, no. 2 (March 2014): 188–209. Music: Current 93- Thunder Perfect Min...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 12
Back again with another one, this time we are throwing one out to the middle aged men in the audience by talking about World War Two. Edele, Mark. Stalinism at War : The Soviet Union in World War II . London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Support the show Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
May 31, 2023•6 min
We are joined by Matthew and Julia for a continuation of our discussion about the French pension reforms. Matthew is our old comrade and friend from the days of Trot hyperactivism and Julia is an actually existing French person. Together they provide us their impressions of the struggle against Macron's pension reforms. Music: Komintern Sect- Rêves de liberté Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
May 29, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 5Ep. 11
Welcome to the first of our reading group episodes on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss TRAINS. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History . London; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Support the show Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
May 22, 2023•5 min
No Royal Road is back with part three of our discussion of Evegny Morozov's "Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason." Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 47 min•Season 5Ep. 10
We are back with more books Chris read in grad school. This one is written by Rachel Applebaum (no relation to Anne) and discusses the Soviet Friendship programs, their successes, and failures. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Support the show Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Apr 30, 2023•4 min
This week we discuss why the left allows the liberals to set the tone for its politics. Liberalism’s Hegemony Over The Left https://www.counterfire.org/article/liberalisms-hegemony-over-the-left/ Death Sentence For The American Left? https://damagemag.com/2023/01/25/a-death-sentence-for-the-american-left/ Debord and the Postmodern Turn: New Stages of the Spectacle https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/Illumina%20Folder/kell17.htm Nothing is Any Longer the Opposite of Anything: Guy Debord’...
Apr 17, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 9
We are back with another book that Chris read in grad school. This one is an interesting read about the impact of material culture on the lives of late Soviet citizens called "The Things of Life: Materiality in Late Soviet Russia" by Alexy Golulbev. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Support the show Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Apr 05, 2023•4 min
We are once again joined by our old friend and comrade Matthew, who is currently residing in Paris. Matthew gives us the rundown of the French pension reforms and we talk about the prospects for the labor and socialist movements. Music- Edith Piaf- Ça Ira (Sans-culotte version) Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine aristocrats to the lamp post! Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine the aristocrats, we'll hang them! If we don't hang them We'll break them If we don't break them...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 8
We are finally back with part four of our discussion of Rodrigo Nunes' new book on Verso. This week we actually finish the book. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Mar 27, 2023•7 min
No Royal Road is back! Varn joins Chris and Jason to discuss the second part of Evegny Morozov's "Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason." Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Mar 19, 2023•2 hr 21 min•Season 5Ep. 7
The boys are back and we are finally finishing this masterwork of left sociology by heavyweight Polish intellectual and dissident Marxist, Zygmunt Bauman. From the publisher's note: "Modernity was supposed to be the period in human history when the fears that pervaded social life in the past could be left behind and human beings could at last take control of their lives and tame the uncontrolled forces of the social and natural worlds. And yet, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, we live ag...
Mar 12, 2023•57 min•Season 5Ep. 6
We return to the concept of the republic, this time with our comrade Brad who is a member of the CPUSA, a union activist, and first class republic respecter. Brad is here to make a pitch for the continuation of a revolutionary tradition that is steeped in revolutionary republicanism. Pettit, Philip. 2012. On the People’s Terms : A Republican Theory and Model of Democracy . Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. Bill of Rights Socialism and the Future of the Republic Send us a message ...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 30 min•Season 5Ep. 5
This week we're discussing A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev which is a not very good book that advances a thesis that doesn't need to exist. Enjoy! Zubok, V M. 2009. A Failed Empire : The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev . Chapel Hill: University Of North Carolina Press. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Send us a message (sorry we can't re...
Feb 13, 2023•3 min
No Royal Road is back! Varn joins Chris and Jason to discuss Evegny Morozov's "Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason." This is the first of what will probably be a multi part series. Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 49 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Steven from Supreme Leap Forward is back and this time he's bringing his thoughts on natural law. For this weeks episode we read from Olúfémi Táíwò's Legal Naturalism and an article by Anna Lukina to prepare for this discussion. Olúfémi Táíwò. 2015. Legal Naturalism : A Marxist Theory of Law . Ithaca: Cornell University Press. https://legalform.blog/2020/07/30/kelsen-on-marx-engels-and-natural-law-anna-lukina/?fbclid=IwAR3qomVFwcvNttJqNJJKDhJcyrRPLbF4kGnBpplao3C-BsS3EfjZp01Ajcw Music: Tupac- Fuc...
Jan 29, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Happy New Year and welcome to a new series where Chris talks about books he read in grad school. This week we are reading and discussing Laboratory of Socialist Development: Cold War Politics and Decolonization in Soviet Tajikistan by Artemy Kalinovsky. Kalinovsky, Artemy M. 2018. Laboratory of Socialist Development : Cold War Politics and Decolonization in Soviet Tajikistan . Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join th...
Jan 24, 2023•3 min
We got together with our old friend and comrade from the Trot sect days to talk about why it is that the nominally socialist left is so obsessed with liberal culture war discourse. Music: Embrace- Money Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Happy December, I just finished my semester and finally got around to mastering this episode that we recorded a couple months ago. We are revisiting this masterwork of left sociology by heavyweight Polish intellectual and dissident Marxist, Zygmunt Bauman who is a harsh critic of late capitalist modernity. From the publisher's note: "Modernity was supposed to be the period in human history when the fears that pervaded social life in the past could be left behind and human beings could at last ta...
Dec 19, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Season 5Ep. 1
We are back with part three of our discussion of Rodrigo Nunes' new book on Verso. This week we talk about chapters three and four. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Nov 30, 2022•6 min
We just turned four! Looks like we have successfully fooled you into listening to us for another year. In honor of exiting the anal stage and entering our phallic stage of childhood psychosexual development as a podcast, we decided to do an episode about it. Please enjoy the very last episode of year four. Year five will be worse for humanity and likely better for our podcast. See you in season five! Music: The Dead Kennedys- Kill The Poor Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Supp...
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 4Ep. 22
This week we continued our discussion of The Tragedy of the Worker by the Salvage Collective and discussed the implications of looming climate collapse. Once again we ask: what kind of world do you want to build in the post-apocalyptic wasteland? https://www.versobooks.com/books/3727-the-tragedy-of-the-worker Music: Bad Religion - Modern Man Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Nov 06, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 4Ep. 21
This week we read The Tragedy of the Worker by the Salvage Collective and discussed the implications of looming climate collapse. Once again we ask: what kind of world do you want to build in the post-apocalyptic wasteland? https://www.versobooks.com/books/3727-the-tragedy-of-the-worker Music: The Broadways- We'll Have a Party Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 20
