Diet Soap - a podcast

Chris Cutrone and Douglas Lain discuss the question "What is Socialism?" following up after Lain's participation in a Platypus panel discussion of the question in Portland, Oregon.  Platypus Panel 10/18/26 https://youtu.be/2PCH5LURgyw?si=7F0nfahYGvcEPqyi Support Sublation Media: https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Benjamin Zachariah discusses his book "The Postcolonial Volk" with Douglas Lain in the latest Diet Soap podcast. How did the struggle against Eurocentrism become racist in its own right? The Postcolonial Volk is available through Polity https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=the-postcolonial-volk--9781509562633 Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Spencer Leonard discusses how the idea of equality has regressed during the Industrial revolution. Why is the left dysfunctional and conservative?

Chris Cutrone discusses Thomas Jefferson and his disappointment with the left. Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Ashley Frawley returns to discuss her major piece for Compact Magazine entitled: "We Must Become Gods."  Here's an excerpt from her essay: "It was through Marxism that I encountered Prometheanism, and with it the exhilarating realization that both man and the world are unfinished projects. We could master nature and democratize abundance and freedom through technological innovation. And anyway, I...

In this episode of the Cutrone Zone, Chris discusses the four activities he's taken up as a left public intellectual over the past 20 years, and how they contribute to the project of socialism. Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Matt McManus discusses his essay in Jabobin magazine entitled "Utopia Is a Promise Worth Fighting For." This was a review of the short book "Utopia for Our Century: A Manifesto of Hope" by David Albertson and Jason Blakely.  Utopia is a Promise?  https://jacobin.com/2026/08/books-utopia-more-meritocracy-communism Utopia Manifesto  https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300278088/utopia-for-our-centur...

Chris Cutrone re-evaluates his time as a Marxist pedagogue and wonders what went wrong. He's still reeling from the death of the Millennial left.  Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Jörg Pohl is an actor in Germany and a director of politically progressive plays. In this interview for Avant Art, Pohl discusses Lukacs and his criticisms of expressionism.  Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Chris Cutrone joins Douglas Lain to reexamine the meaning of "socialism" and how the term is misunderstood today. They explore the difference between anti-capitalism and socialism.  Support Sublation Media: https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Ralph Leonard joins Douglas Lain to discuss Ralph's recent essay for Compact entitled: "When Britain Ended Birthright Citizenship" Link to Compact: "When Britain Ended Birthright Citizenship" by Ralph Leonard https://www.compactmag.com/article/when-britain-ended-birthright-citizenship/ Support Sublation Media: https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Jörg Pohl is an actor and director living in Germany. He has been a member of the Thalia Theatre ensemble since 2009, and in this episode of Avant Art, he leads a discussion on the work of the Russian director Vsevolod Meyerhold.  Support Sublation Media: https://patreon.com/dietsoap

In this episode of the Cutrone Zone, Chris takes on the pedagogical task of reassessing what class politics are, what they were, and what they might be. He recapitulates two essays by Theodor Adorno: Imaginative Excesses: https://platypus1917.org/wp-content/uploads/readings/adorno_imaginativeexcesses.pdf Late Capitalism or Industrial Society? https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/adorno/1968/...

Chris Cutrone and Douglas Lain discuss Cutrone's essay: "Was Lenin PMC?" In this podcast, they discuss how James Burnham's work on the managerial revolution and his conservatism infected and directed left discourse. Was Lenin PMC? by Chris Cutrone https://www.sublationmag.com/post/was-lenin-pmc-how-elite-theory-doesn-t-fit-the-movement-for-socialism Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/diet...

In this episode of the Spencer Leonard Hour, the professor of Marxism discusses why commies prefer the French Revolution to the American Revolution. Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Jim Igor, aka The Perfect Wagnerite, discusses the contradictions and revolutionary potential of Wagner's operas. He argues that Wagner represents both the ambition towards freedom and the self-defeat of the bourgeois revolution.  Support Sublation Media: https://patreon.com/dietsoap

In this CutroneZone, the Last Marxist evaluates the political significance of the rise of the DSA candidates in the Democratic Party. What does this mean for the left at it's future?  Support Sublation Media: https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Christopher Norris discusses his contribution to the 2007 collection "Adventures in Realism" entitled "Realism and Anti-Realism in Contemporary Philosophy: What's Truth Got to Do With It?"  Rather than rehearse the philosophical arguments in the paper, Doug discusses the political import of analytic philosophy and realism.  Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

In this episode of the CutroneZone, everyone's favorite contrarian discusses the meaning of the MOU, Israel's future decline, and the contemporary moment of post-neoliberalism.  Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Werner Rügemer discusses his book "Fatal Friendship: First Phase: From World War I to II."  From the book jacket:  Rising US capitalism presented itself to the world with freedom, democracy, and prosperity. However, the practices of America First-genocide, labor exploitation, and warlike plunder of foreign property-were merely modernized. The First World War became the first major global business...

As we approach the Semiquincentennial of the American Revolution, Spencer Leonard reflects on why we seem to be forgetting what it means. Spencer is a collaborator on the Sublation Media film in production now:  Forgetting The American Revolution.  Support Sublation Media: https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Why must art be either avant-garde or Kitsch today? What could count as avant-garde art today? Should today's critics examine the formal techniques involved in the production of Kitsch? Is that all there is?   Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

The Last Marxist Chris Cutrone responds to his critics and to the defenders of Gabriel Rockhill. He also argues for the necessity of individual thought and a willingness to critique and oppose the majority.  Support Sublation Media https:patreon.com/dietsoap

Chris Knight is a political activist and the author of the book "Decoding Chomsky: Science and Revolutionary Politics." In this episode of Diet Soap, Knight discusses Chomsky's legacy, his role within the military industrial complex, and the meaning of the Epstein scandal. Support Sublation Media https://patreon.com/dietsoap

Chris Cutrone and Douglas Lain discuss their new film entitled "The Last Election."  Film description:  In 1992, the dissident writer Douglas Lain ran a rubber goldfish for president and declared himself a surrealist. In 2024, he took a group of young Marxists to both the RNC and the DNC. This film is the result. Purchase the Film: The Last Election: https://www.patreon.com/posts/last-election-158...