The boys get together and talk about the triumphs and failures, the uses and misuses, and the love and hate for the concept of the Popular Front. Haslam, Jonathan. “The Comintern and the Origins of the Popular Front 1934-1935.” The Historical Journal 22, no. 3 (1979): 673–91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2638659. Communists, Coalitions, and the Class Struggle https://www.cpusa.org/article/communists-coalitions-and-the-class-struggle/ The Popular Front Didn’t Work https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/1...
Sep 02, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 6Ep. 19
The boys dive in to chapter 6 of Dugin's Fourth Political theory. Don't worry, there are literally no digressions and the guys stay on point the whole time. Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Check out Antifada here: https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Aug 31, 2024•31 min
We just can't stop talking about Czechoslovak Socialism. We decided to deal with the Slovak portion of the Czechoslovak lands, which we feel has been a little neglected in our previous discussions. Slovakia is important as an integral part of the movement of Czechoslovak socialism and as a case study of the problem of the national question. If you have been following along with our discussions of Otto Bauer's work on the national question, you might appreciate the context. Hear the full episode:...
Aug 28, 2024•12 min
We accidentally released the wrong episode, this one should have come before the last! This week we sat down with C. Derick Varn to talk about "decadence theory," "crisis theory" and "breakdown theory." This is a special episode, mostly because it wasn't supposed to come out until August, but Varn accidentally released it early so y'all get a bonus episode. We discussed the following materials: Morley, Neville. "Decadence as a Theory of History." New Literary History, Vol. 35, No. 4, Forms and/o...
Aug 19, 2024•1 hr 56 min•Season 6Ep. 18
Back at it again with the national question and continuing the long march through chapter one. A link to the PDF: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Aug 15, 2024•19 min
This is an impromptu episode recorded by Jason and Varn where they discuss their dissatisfaction with the general situation of American and world politics. It roughly fits in with the subject matter of our Dawn to Decadence series, so here ya go! Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 37 min•Season 6Ep. 17
This week we all sat down to talk about the uselessness of identifying with a political tendency in our current moment. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Aug 05, 2024•57 min•Season 6Ep. 16
This week we discussed an excellent study of migrant workers in the Soviet Union which focused on Uzbeks, Tajiks, Georgians, Azerbaijanis who came to Leningrad and Moscow in toward the end of Union's existence. Sahadeo, Jeff. 2019. Voices From the Soviet Edge: Southern Migrants in Leningrad and Moscow . Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Jul 30, 2024•17 min
First off, please forgive the first few minutes of Chris' audio, we adjusted the levels during the podcast and fixed it. You won't have to bear with it all the way through. We sat down to talk about SAVING DEMOCRACY FROM TRUMPIST FASCISM, or rather, how the left has fallen into the trap of letting the Democratic Party off the hook for its crimes against humanity and its constant kowtowing to the GOP. Stanley Payne on anti-fascism without fascism https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/01...
Jul 24, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 6Ep. 15
This is an impromptu episode recorded by Jason and Varn where they discuss their dissatisfaction with the general situation of world politics. Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Jul 21, 2024•30 min
This week we are joined by our official France correspondent, Matthew. We discuss the unique threat of the post-fascist menace and what the results and prospects are for the shaky leftist coalition. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Jul 17, 2024•1 hr 48 min•Season 6Ep. 14
Wake up babe, new Dugin Time just dropped. The boys are back and discussing Dugin's understanding of processes and, now that they're about halfway done with the book, begin to ask the question "What is the Fourth Political Theory?" Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Check out Antifada here: https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Jul 11, 2024•30 min
This week we sat down with C. Derick Varn to talk about "decadence theory," "crisis theory," and "breakdown theory." This is a special episode, mostly because it wasn't supposed to come out until August, but Varn accidentally released it early so y'all get a bonus episode. We discussed the following materials: Morley, Neville. "Decadence as a Theory of History." New Literary History, Vol. 35, No. 4, Forms and/of Decadence (Autumn, 2004), pp.573-585 Decadence: The Theory of Decline or the Decline...
Jun 26, 2024•29 min
This week we sat down with members of the New Zealand Federation of Socialist Societies to discuss their efforts to revitalize the socialist project and to build a basis for future socialist struggles. NZFSS Website https://www.socialistsocieties.org.nz/ Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 47 min•Season 6Ep. 13
Back at it again with the national question and soldiering on through chapter 1... A link to the PDF: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Jun 20, 2024•7 min
We invited podcast alumnus, Jess, back to talk about how terrible everything is. We touch on Tiktok houses, literature, and the death of the future. The End of The Future https://jacobin.com/2024/03/left-politics-future-history-capitalism-progress Why Is Our Culture So Obsessed With Individual Experience https://jacobin.com/2024/03/anna-kornbluh-immediacy-individualism-capitalism/ Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle: Are We Defined by How We Appear https://www.thecollector.com/guy-debord-socie...
Jun 10, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 6Ep. 12
Jason, Varn, and Sean KB continue the forced march through the Aleksander Dugin's Fourth Political Theory. Check out Varn Vlog here: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Check out Antifada here: https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Jun 06, 2024•31 min
This week we are tying up some loose ends we left unexplored in our last regular episode on Fascism and Anarcho-Individualism. Enjoy this bonus content! Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Jun 02, 2024•7 min
This week we discussed one of the many currents of thought that led to the creation of Italian Fascism, Anarcho-Individualism. It seems counterintuitive that anarchism would have made any contribution to the creation of fascism, until you think about it. Whitaker, Stephen B. The Anarchist-individualist Origins of Italian Fascism . Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers, 2002. From Stirner to Mussolini: The Anarchist-Individualist Origins of Italian Fascism https://theanarchis...
May 22, 2024•1 hr 26 min•Season 6Ep. 11
This week Jason and Kevin discuss the Liberal Socialism; what it is, where it comes from, its impact on the development of the left, its prospects, and its limitations. What Is Liberal Socialism? https://www.liberalcurrents.com/what-is-liberal-socialism/ The Idea of a Liberal Socialism https://www.socialeurope.eu/the-idea-of-a-liberal-socialism Liberal Socialism Now https://aeon.co/essays/the-case-for-liberal-socialism-in-the-21st-century Toward A Liberal Socialism? https://www.dissentmagazine.o...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 6Ep. 10
We are back at it again covering Otto Bauer's unique Marxist take on the national question. This week we began to cover Chapter I. A link to the PDF: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
May 09, 2024•8 min
Jason, Varn, and Sean are back and talking Fourth Political Theory once again. Check out Varn Vlog: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Check out the ANTIFADA: https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
May 01, 2024•31 min
The Marxist/Christian dialogue continues! This week Jason and Ben sat down with Daniel Saunders to discuss an article he wrote called Ideology, Fetishism, Apophaticism: Marxist Criticism and Christianity: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nbfr.12642 Daniel's paper "explores Christianity’s ambiguous relationship to capitalism by engaging Marx’s notion of the fetishism of commodities as a way of rethinking Marxism’s critique of religion from the standpoint of political economy. " Oth...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 40 min•Season 6Ep. 9
This week we tried something new, we put out a call on our Patreon and Discord for questions and y'all responded with 10 pretty good questions. Questions about democracy, ethics, children, etc... We answered them. Enjoy! Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show
Apr 18, 2024•9 min
They said it wasn't possible for a Marxist to break down the national question in a sophisticated and nuanced way, but Otto Bauer has done it. This book from 1907, which no one on the Anglophone Left has ever read, is quite possibly the best book on the subject. We are here to read it and let you know. This week we covered the introductory materials. A link to the PDF: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on h...
Apr 11, 2024•5 min
This week we are joined by Jon (thelitcritguy of HorrorVanguard fame) to discuss his new book A Primer on Utopian Philosophy: An Introduction to the Work of Ernst Bloch which was just released on Zero Books. We discuss nihilism, optimism, hope, and dialectical pessimism and the ever pertinent work of Ernst Bloch. Check out Horror Vanguard Here Check out Jon's Blog Here Buy Jon's Book Here Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Apr 08, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 6Ep. 8
This week we sat down with our old comrade and actual Psychiatrist, Dr Byron, to talk about mental health, the left, and how TikTok is ruining everyones brains. Psychiatric Hegemony: A Marxist Theory of Mental Illness (review for relevant book) https://www.madinamerica.com/2017/03/psychiatric-hegemony-marxist-theory-mental-illness/ What the Anti-Psychiatry Movement Got Wrong About Mental Illness https://jacobin.com/2022/03/anti-psychiatry-movement-mental-illness-psychological-suffering Psychiatr...
Mar 26, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Jason and Varn are joined again by Sean KB of Antifida and continue with their close reading of The Fourth Political Theory by Alexander Dugin. Check out Varn Vlog: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/posts Check out the ANTIFADA: https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show...
Mar 21, 2024•33 min
This month we return to Richard Seymour's essay about the new forms of nationalism. At this point the essay is a few years old, so we were able to discuss how things have developed since it was written. We also did not know that a book by the same name by Seymour was coming out soon... Prepared for the Worst: Disaster Nationalism https://salvage.zone/prepared-for-the-worst-disaster-nationalism/ Disaster Nationalism: THE DOWNFALL OF LIBERAL CIVILIZATION https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/76...
Mar 13, 2024•6 min
This week the boys got together to talk about political apostasy. From the old left, to the new left, to whatever the hell it is that we have now. We discuss the motivations and consequences of jumping ship. The Ex-Communist’s Conscience https://www.marxists.org/archive/deutscher/1950/ex-communist.htm Turned Around: Why Leftists Go Right https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/22/why-leftists-go-right From Memoirs of a Trotskyist by Irving Kristol https://www.pbs.org/arguing/nyintellectuals_k...
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr 43 min•Season 6Ep. 6
