Red Menace

In this powerful and wide-ranging conversation, Margaret Kimberley —senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and a leader in Black Alliance for Peace —joins Breht to dissect the spectacle of American decline and, as usual, Kimberley offers a razor-sharp analysis of late-stage capitalism's collapse into cruelty, chaos, and confusion. Together, they explore the Democratic Party's complicity in usheri...

In this episode, Alyson and Breht welcome Brendan to the show, a close comrade with a bit more sympathy toward Trotsky in order to be as fair as possible and get a fresh perspective. Together, we dive deep into Leon Trotsky's  Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It , a sharp and urgent intervention written in the shadow of the Nazi rise to power. We unpack Trotsky's class analysis of fascism, the...

Alyson - a lifelong and current resident of Los Angeles - and Breht discuss the wildfires ravaging L.A. Together they discuss the acute and structural causes of the fires, the role played by Climate Change, the reactionary propaganda surrounding the fires, the class dynamics at play, the self-serving careerist motivations of bourgeois politicans, the organized grassroots community response on the...

It's time for our annual Revolutionary Guerrilla Menace episode, where we crossover with Rev Left and the Red Menace in order to review the past year in world events and look forward to what we think will be coming in the next year. Breht, Alyson, Adnan, and Henry discuss Palestine, BRICS, the Alliance of Sahel States, global capitalism, and much more, so be sure to tune in and share widely! This...

Alyson and Breht were invited to join  Robbie on the Upstream podcast  to talk about Lenin's "Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism".  Capitalism, imperialism, monopoly—far from being separate concepts that just happen to take shape parallel to one another or to overlap from time to time, these terms all really refer to the exact same overall process. We call it capitalism because it's not...

Alyson and Breht finally dive into the German Revolution of 1918! Together they discuss this rather ambigious revolution, give a detailed overview of events, and reflect on what lessons we can learn from it. From the toppling of the Kaiser, to the brutal fight between social democrats and communists (including the horrible murders of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht), to the rise of the Freikorp...

Alyson and Breht analyze the results of the recent presidential election and explore its various meanings. Together they discuss the grotesque hollowness of the Democratic Party, the identity crisis of the post-Trump Republican party, dealignment and realignment, the end of neoliberalism, the rise of the illiberal Right around the world, strategies for developing the socialist left as a serious pl...

Alyson and Breht reflect on the life and death of the Palestinian resistance leader Yahya Sinwar. Outro Song "Gaza Strip 2 Detroit" by Sammy Shiblaq

Alyson and Breht discuss the unfolding regional war between Israel and literally all of its neighbors, the restrained Iranian response to Israeli aggression, US complicity and contributions to the fascist mass murder campaign, Hezbollah and Lebanon, Russia and Syria, the decrepit war criminals littering the US ruling class, who is actually running the Biden adminstration, Kamala and Trump tripping...

Alyson and Breht return to do a follow up conversation to their well-received previous episode regarding this topic, "On Mysticism: Ego, Suffering, & Love" . In this episode, they dive even deeper, discussing what enlightenment really is, the universal accessibility of Non-Dual awareness, the arguments for and against Perennialism, the mystical branches of Abrahamic religions, Buddhism and Taoism,...

Trump gets shot. Biden drops out. Kamala is coronated. Alyson and Breht discuss and analyze it all.    Omaha Tenants United: https://omahatenantsunited.wordpress.com   Outro Song: Music for Shoplifting by P.O.S.

Alyson and Breht reflect on the pathetic Presidential Debate, analyze the fallout from the debate, and then reflect on some major internal divisions within both American and Israeli societies. 

Students and organizers Cheli and Phia join Alyson and Breht to discuss their different experiences on the front lines of student encampments at Cal State LA and the University of Oregon. Together, they discuss the reasons for their protests, share the differing reactions from university administrations and faculty, and give listeners an inside look at the negotiations, stratagies, and current dev...

Alyson and Breht discuss the student-led protests for Palestine sweeping across American universities, the reaction to them by the ruling class elite and their attack dogs (the cops), lessons learned from previous movements over the past decade or so, parallels to 1968 and the anti-Vietnam War protests, the current negotiations between the Palestinian resistance and Israel, and what it all means f...

In this episode, Alyson and Breht wrestle with the possible rise of artificial general intelligence and its implications. Together they discuss the Silicon Valley Techno-Cult and their dark religious search for immortality, their hubristic attempts to "build god" and escape death, their neoliberal subjectivities and how that manifests in their work, how AI might manifest under the capitalist mode...

Alyson and Breht explain and explore this famous text from Karl Marx, in the process they discuss French history, class conflict, the peasantry and lumpenproletariat, Bonapartism and Fascism, history, the role of the State under capitalism, and how all of this helps us to make sense of our contemporary moment of crisis in the US and around the world.  ----------------------------------------------...

Rest in Peace, Aaron. Free Palestine! "To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance. There is nothing more painful than burning oneself. To say something while experiencing this kind of pain is to say it with utmost courage, frankness, determination, and sincerity." - Thich Nhat Hanh in a letter to MLK Jr. regarding the self-immolation of Vietnamese Buddh...

On this episode of Red Menace, Alyson and Breht had some things come up such that they couldn't record their planned episode on Marx's 18th Brumaire (coming soon!), so instead they have a deep, organic and wide-ranging conversation on mysticism; together they explore humanities religious and spiritual traditions and the mystical strain within them, discuss atheism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity,...

In this Rev Left Family Annual Collab ( Rev Left +Red Menace+ Guerrilla History ), Alyson, Henry, Adnan, and Breht sit down for a deep dive on South African Apartheid. Together they discuss its euro-colonialist origins, explain the significance of the Boer Wars, define and explicate the origins of apartheid, explore the political economy of apartheid and how brutal racism shaped it, examine the mu...

Alyson and Breht discuss the ongoing national liberation struggle in Palestine (recorded Oct. 30th 2023). Together, they discuss the incredible shift in public opinion on Israel and Palestine, the internal and external contradictions culminating in unison for Israel, the discussion about whether or not what Israel is doing is technically a genocide (it absolutely is), international law, Frantz Fan...

What Is To Be Done?  This is the question so profoundly posed by the Russian Revolutionary and Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, in his landmark text of the same name. Although it was written well over a century ago, this text, the questions it asked, and the paths forward that it provided, are just as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. And just as urgent. What roles do spontaneity a...

Breht  discusses the current situation in Palestine, helps listeners navigate and dismantle common Zionist talking points, and (hopefully) brings some much needed moral clarity and intellectual honesty to a topic that, especially in the West, often lacks both...

Originally Aired on Oct 31, 2021 On this episode of Red Menace Alyson and Breht teach, discuss, and apply the lessons of 'Decolonization is Not a Metaphor ' by Tuck and Yang Support Red Menace and get access to bonus monthly content on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace  

Alyson and Breht finish their 3-part series on Friedrich Engels' text "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State", and reflect on the text as a whole. Together, they wrestle with questions, like: What is family abolition? How do rich people buy extended, communal family? What happens to the family and romantic relationships under communism? Should people ever be treated like commod...

Alyson and Breht discuss the recent rulings by the Supreme Court, a wildly anti-democratic, thoroughly corrupt, and staunchly reactionary institution that the American right has spent years and billions of dollars capturing in order to impose its minoritarian rule on an American majority that firmly rejects what they stand for. And they do it all without having to worry for even a second about pes...