Jacobin Radio

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...

Two views of the US–Israeli war on Iran: Laleh Khalili 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.

Featuring Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, Tennessee US House candidate Justin Pearson, New York US House candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, Oregon state House candidate Tammy Carpenter, Providence mayoral candidate David Morales, and DC City Council candidate Aparna Raj. The first episode in a series featuring short interviews with left-wing and socialist candidates at every level...

Over time, the Soviet Union developed a system of centralized planning that became synonymous with socialism. How did the system work? What did it get right? And why did it ultimately become so associated with shortages and stagnation? On the latest episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek discuss the ambitions and challenges of economic planners, and why the defects m...

Excerpts from an event sponsored by the NYC DSA’s Academy for Socialist Education on the domestic and foreign aspects of Trumpism, featuring historians Nikhil Pal Singh and Greg Grandin, moderated by DSA’s Gaya Sriskanthan. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Featuring Alina Shen and Fahd Ahmed on organizing working-class Asian New Yorkers into Zohran Mamdani’s campaign and then building power under a democratic socialist mayor. A discussion with two of New York’s most talented community leaders on building mass bases and struggling through the contradictions of wielding state power — including with regard to the NYPD. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/Th...