Jacobin Radio

On July 14, 1789, the storming of the Bastille in Paris marked the transition of the French Revolution from an elite negotiation into a truly mass event. But what kicked off this insurgency and what does it have to do with left politics? On the latest episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek discuss the radical origins of Bastille Day, examine the class politics of the...

On Jacobin Radio , the team behind the People’s Game podcast continue their unique coverage of the 2026 World Cup, analyzing the men’s football games on the field as well as the political, social and economic subtexts of the world’s most popular sporting event. Guest hosts Alan Minsky and Meleiza Figueroa are joined by Laurent Dubois, a professor of history at the University of Virginia. Laurent h...

Aaron Benanav, author of a report for the Autonomy Institute, on what a future socialist society might look like. Amy Laura Hall, author of  Erecting the Pulpit ,  on muscular Christianity. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

In September 2025, Elon Musk spoke by video link to a fascist rally in London. Tommy Robinson, the organizer of the rally and a convicted criminal, has been trying to incite a racial war on the streets of Britain. That record of incitement won him the admiration of Musk. Since delivering the speech, Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire, boosting his war chest even further. Today’s episod...

The sixth episode in a series on the history of Indonesia: a hinge in the world system where colonialism and revolution have decisively shaped the trajectory of global history. This installment details Suharto’s right-wing military coup and the horrific political crime that accompanied it: the US-backed mass murder of Indonesian communists. The military’s mass slaughter inaugurated Suharto’s oliga...

Two views from Behind the News regulars on the US-Iran negotiations: Anatol Lieven and Mouin Rabbani. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

On this edition of Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman , guest co-hosts Alan Minsky and Mel Figueroa present another installment of The People's Game , a quadrennial series that looks at the economic and political subtexts of the world’s most popular sport. They are joined by Ryan McKnight, a doctoral researcher at Manchester Met University in the UK who is researching the impact of neoliberalism on...

Donald Trump has made the issue of immigration a key battleground in US politics. But with public opinion swinging against the brutal ICE raids and deportations over the past year, how should the Left respond? On the latest episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek are joined by Catalyst board member Suzy Lee. Suzy has written extensively on the political economy and po...

Stuart Schrader, author of Blue Power , explains how the political heft of cops allows them to get away with murder. Angela Jones, author of Sex in Public , looks at the social and political factors shaping our sexual lives. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire last week after the record-breaking IPO of his company SpaceX. Musk presents the firm’s economic take off as the necessary means to a wider end for humanity, to become a multi-planetary species. “That’s what SpaceX is all about,” Musk recently said at the company’s headquarters. “To take the fiction out of science fiction.” While Musk was looking to...

The show’s co-producers Alan Minsky and Meleiza Figueroa fill in for Suzi with a special installment of their quadrennial podcast series, The People’s Game⁠ , which covers the world's most popular spectacle from a socialist internationalist perspective. Alan and Mel talk with their fellow People’s Game co-host Fernando Romero about, well, “everything” going on in the world. How surreal it feels to...

J.W. Mason and Arjun Jayadev, authors of the new book Against Money , explain that curious stuff and enumerate its problems. Moira Weigel, author of a recent article for the journal October , takes a look at why the right hates theory. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

The fifth episode in a series on the history of Indonesia: a hinge in the world system where colonialism and revolution have decisively shaped the trajectory of global history. This installment traces the armed conflicts—civil wars and then confrontations with the Dutch and British — that propelled Indonesia into Sukarno’s authoritarian Guided Democracy system and cascading economic crisis. Both t...

In the midst of Graham Platner’s high-profile senate race in Maine, several media commentators jumped on whether he would fit within his own definition of the working class. Do we know how to pick out workers from other classes? And what bearing does this have for socialist politics? On the latest episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek offer a full definition of who’...

Featuring Maine candidate for governor Troy Jackson, Wisconsin candidate for governor Francesca Hong, New York State Senate candidate Aber Kawas, and victorious Tempe, Arizona City Council candidate Bobby Nichols. The third episode in a series of short interviews with left-wing and socialist candidates at every level of US politics. Support The Dig at  Patreon.com/TheDig Our huge new Thawra study...

On January 1 this year, Mohammed Harbi died at the age of 92. Harbi was one of the leading historians of modern Algeria and the movement that led it towards independence. Harbi began writing about the Algerian revolution after taking part in it himself. Born under French colonial rule, Harbi became a member of the National Liberation Front in the 1950s. He was an adviser to Algeria’s first preside...

The fourth episode in a series on the history of Indonesia: a hinge in the world system where colonialism and revolution have decisively shaped the trajectory of global history. This installment picks up with the Indonesian Revolution securing sovereignty from the Dutch in 1949. The Communist of Party of Indonesia, or PKI, revived after its repression to once again become a mass force in politics...

Greg Grandin, author of a recent article for the New York Review of Books , looks at how Pope Leo was shaped by his time in Peru. A.J.A. Woods, author of The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy , explains why the right sees the Frankfurt School as the root of modern decay. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local t...

Socialists have long predicted capitalism’s overthrow and replacement by a better system. But do we have any reason to believe capitalism must come to an end? On the latest episode of Confronting Capitalism , Melissa Naschek and Vivek Chibber discuss the role of economic and ecological crises in capitalism’s possible demise. Just as it is a mistake to think that capitalism will last forever, it’s...

Jake Werner of the Quincy Institute analyzes the Trump–Xi summit and US–China relations generally. Gareth Gore, author of Opus , talks about Opus Dei, a secretive, cult-like Catholic organization involved in right-wing politics around the world (and very much in the US). Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the l...

The rise of the far right is the defining political crisis of our time. But are we analyzing it correctly? Suzi speaks with David Ost about his book Red Pill Politics: Demystifying the Far Right from Fascism to Right-Wing Populism . David argues that by focusing on whether Trump, Orban, or Netanyahu is or isn’t a fascist, we’re missing the deeper question: what political species do fascism and rig...

This one is different: an episode cross-posted from the new podcast Fighting Fascism , where Dig host Daniel Denvir gets behind the guest mic to discuss his political work beyond the pod. Speaking at length for the first time about his own organizing project in Rhode Island, he elaborates his theory of class and political power building. Check out Fighting Fascism and subscribe at thenation.com/co...

Britain held local and regional elections earlier this month that proved to be catastrophic for the Labour government of Keir Starmer. Labour fell behind the right-wing party Reform UK, which is led by Nigel Farage. Ten years after the Brexit referendum of 2016, could Farage be on track to become Britain’s next prime minister? Phil Burton-Cartledge, lecturer in sociology at the University of Derby...

Featuring New York U.S. House candidate Claire Valdez, Colorado U.S. House candidate Melat Kiros, Michigan U.S. House candidate William Lawrence, Massachusetts state Senate candidate Erika Uyterhoeven, New York State Assembly candidate Conrad Blackburn, and Washington D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George. The second episode in a series of short interviews with left-wing and socialist candid...

Suzi speaks with Simon Pirani about his book Voices Against Putin’s War: Protesters’ Defiant Speeches in Russian Courts and the film Try Me For Treason . Russian exile activist Aleksandra Zapolskaia also joins the conversation to discuss Azat Miftakhov’s case, one of thousands. Currently, there are more political prisoners in Russia than at any time since the post-Stalin thaw of the 1950s, and the...