The Socialist Program

[This episode was recorded Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022 at 3 PM Eastern Standard Time] A historic crisis is playing out in Eastern Europe over Ukraine, one that has profound ramifications for the entire world. The United States and its allies are imposing harsh sanctions on Russia over its recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as independent states, and the possibility of dir...

On today's In the News roundtable, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss the latest on the dramatic situation unfolding in Ukraine. They also discuss two important historical anniversaries: Richard Nixon visiting Mao Zedong in Beijing 50  years ago, and the assassination of Malcolm X 57 years ago. The panel also covers the far right convoy in Canada, a shooting at a prote...

In this February 2022 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew discuss and answer questions about the ongoing conflict  surrounding Ukraine, Germany’s regional role, the history of World War I and World War II and how it relates today, and more. Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to hear the rest!

Tensions remain sky high in Ukraine and across Europe but do they have to remain so? There is a path to peace — and solution to the crisis — but it requires recognizing the neutrality of Ukraine, which has long been internally divided. Brian is joined by Eugene Puryear, author and activist, host of the BreakThrough News podcast The Punch Out, and co-host of the BT live video show The Freedom Side....

On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the wave of organizing exploding across Starbucks locations nationwide, and how the company is desperately trying to thwart the union by illegally firing employees who are involved. As the class struggle continues to heat up nationwide, corporations are attempting to trample on the right to organize at the  workplace. Pro...

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how war mongering propaganda against Russia has reached a fever pitch as the United States pushes the crisis in Ukraine to the brink. They also discuss Johnson & Johnson’s decision to halt vaccine production, the attempted lynching of a Black FedEx driver, more racist disenfran...

After the triumph of the Soviet Union over fascism in World War Two, world politics was completely transformed. No longer allies in the war against the Axis states, the “democratic” capitalist countries turned on the USSR and formed a global bloc of all the imperialist powers to confront the rising tide of socialist revolution. In Part 4 of The Socialist Program’s multi-part series on the history...

On today's episode Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff  discuss the newly released New York Times internal communications about  the unionization efforts going on at the newspaper. U.S. politicians and  officials loudly  and frequently   declare the United States to have "free press" -- but how does  capitalism and for-profit, union-busting, private press operat...

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how the U.S. corporate media subjected viewers to wall-to-wall war mongering propaganda targeting the  government and people of China as the Olympics opened in Beijing. They also discuss how pro-Trump forces consolidate their control of the  Republican Party, a new report on I...

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is moving ever closer to Russia’s border. Russia views this as an existential threat – and a historic betrayal of key guarantees it was given by the west as the Soviet Union disintegrated. As Biden sends thousands of additional troops to Eastern Europe, the threat of war is growing by the day. Brian is joined by Eugene Puryear, author and activist, hos...

On today's episode Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff  discuss the increasingly unstable political environment, as Dr. Wolff  writes about in his newest article. He argues that some politicians are  denying there are any problems while some find a scapegoat where they  can direct people's anger--and both of which are symptoms of the  political elite desperately trying to...

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem and Nicole Roussell discuss the political period twenty years ago when George W Bush laid out “the axis of evil” – Iraq, Iran, and North Korea – and escalated the “war on terror,” which was really just a campaign of imperialist war and intervention. They also analyze the escalating war against Russia, the Washington Post’s Sunday lead...

In this January 2022 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew discuss the Ukraine conflict at length, including a deep dive into the historical and geopolitical context of the region, the legacy of World Wars and the Cold War, the class character of the Russian state today, and more. We also discuss a Marxist analysis of class stratification in the U.S. today. Check out the preview now and subscri...

Is war with Russia just around the corner? If you listen to corporate U.S. media and politicians it is. Brian Becker and Eugene Puryear break down what’s really going on in Ukraine and Russia, what the context of the tension is, and what the chances are of war. Brian is joined by Eugene Puryear, author and activist, host of the BreakThrough News podcast The Punch Out, and co-host of the BT live vi...

On today's episode Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the recently turbulent stock market. What does this mean for the economy and for us? Is this volatility a sign of something to come? Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can check out his work at rdwolff.com . Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Progr...

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem and Nicole Roussell discuss the U.S. evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Kiev while stating that war with Russia may be soon, the win for Julian Assange giving him his right to appeal to the U.K. Supreme Court to stop his extradition to the United States, the Senate's  maneuvers against protecting voting rights, and the newly expose...

Brian Becker and Dr. Ken Hammond discuss U.S. aggression against China, which often uses Taiwan as a pretext. But next month is the 50th anniversary of the Shanghai Communiqué – a document the U.S. and China jointly signed, after Nixon visited the country, which recognized that Taiwan is in fact part of China. Brian is joined by Dr. Ken Hammond, professor of East Asian and Global History at New Me...

On today's episode Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss cascading crises that rocked Wall Street and the stock market, which crashed yesterday, as inflation spikes and the economy slows. Things are about to get much worse as the Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can check out his wo...

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem and Nicole Roussell discuss how the right-wing U.S. Supreme Court has decided to help spread Covid, how Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are joining with the Supreme Court and the Republican Party to destroy voting rights, especially for Black Americans, how people nationwide remembered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the streets...

Brian Becker, Claudia De La Cruz and Gabriel Rockhill continue The Socialist Program’s analysis of the deeper meaning of the January 6 assault that temporarily dispersed Congress. One year after the attack attempted to overturn the election, the architects of that plan have yet to face prosecution and a movement of the far-right consolidates. There is a liberal response to fascism that prioritizes...

On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the devastating residential fire over the weekend in New York City that  claimed 17 lives, including 8 children. Coming on the heels of a similar deadly blaze in Philadelphia public housing that killed 4 adults and 8 children, this tragedy highlights the complete inability of the capitalist system to provide safe, dignifi...

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how the Biden administration is sending stronger and stronger signals that it is effectively surrendering to the COVID pandemic – urging the public to “learn to live with” the deadly disease that has killed well over 800,000 people in the United States alone. They also discuss high profile t...

Brian Becker and Dr. Gerald Horne discuss the one-year anniversary of the January 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol, encouraged and organized by Donald Trump. It was the first time since 1812 that the U.S. government was under attack on its home soil, yet the leaders of the attack have still not been prosecuted – just the soldiers. What’s happened in the year since the assault? What does it tell us...

On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss how wage theft is rampant across the United States -- Workers are sent to jail for theft, but under capitalism corporate executives have impunity to steal on a massive scale. They also discuss why socialists believe that in fact all wages are a form of theft. Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization...

On today's In the News roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss Donald Trump's plan to speak at a  nationally televised press conference on the anniversary of the January 6 assault on Congress, Israel's massive bombing of a Syrian port city, the havoc caused by the Omicron variant, how the United States is moving aggressively toward war with Russia...