Desolation Radio

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The people's podcast returns to bring hope to the starving masses (starved of podcasts). We linked up with our old friend Huw to discuss the Gething affair. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. Here is a man who stood up! Here is...Huw Williams.

Dan sat down with Chris, Gerald and Jordan from the ALU to discuss their amazing campaign to establish and organize a trade union in their Amazon warehouse in Staten Island. Despite a huge union busting campaign from Amazon, the ALU's campaign culminated in a successful recognition agreement, the first of its kind worldwide and a huge symbolic victory for the working class across the world. We dis...

Ladies and gentlemen...we got him. For our 100th episode we were joined by the one and only Michael Sheen. We talked about films, politics, the homeless world cup, and lots more besides. An honour and a privilege to talk to Michael, and thanks so much to all of you who've supported us over the last 6 years. We love you. Peace out X

What's up everyone. For our 99th episode (!) we were joined by our friend Hussein Said to talk about his experiences in the Black Lives Matter movement and the environmental movement. We talked about class, policing, ecology and the problems the left faces in uniting these issues, as well as the intractable problem of identity politics seeping into leftist activism and much much more besides. This...

Well, that hiatus was longer than expected! Sorry everyone. But we are back, fear not. For episode 98 we were lucky enough to be able to speak to the incomparable Ned Thomas. Ned is the author of the modern classic 'The Welsh Extremist', as well as being the founder of Planet magazine, which has become a modern Welsh institution. He is truly a giant of Welsh political and cultural life and he shar...

Dan was joined by our good mate and all round legend Paul O'Connell to discuss the Labour Party and Labourism as a political culture, following Paul's recent article on Conter https://www.conter.scot/2022/1/25/labouring-under-illusions/. They discussed the history and defining features of Labourism, the new left debate on Labour as a vehicle for socialism, its analysis of the state, its relationsh...

In this episode we were joined by none other than Professor Walter Benn Michaels, the author of 'The Trouble with Diversity: How we learned to love identity and ignore inequality'. We talked about the rise of left neoliberalism and why it is wrong; the history of the civil rights movement and why it moved away from socialism; the material roots and role of racism in society; the role of Universiti...

We were rejoined by our friend Frank Ledwidge to discuss war crimes conducted in the war on terror. Frank talked us through the enquiry into crimes committed by the Australian SAS, the parallel British investigations into allegations against British special forces, the Overseas Operation Bill, Marine A, Soldier F and what the domestic response to war crimes says about our society.

In part 2 of our mini-series on the fall of Afghanistan we were lucky enough to be joined by the one and only Professor Michael Hardt, author of the seminal work Empire. Michael talked to us about what the US withdrawal from Afghanistan means for US imperialism, whether there is a future for humanitarian intervention after Afghanistan, the differences between imperialism and his concept of 'empire...

The Graveyard of Empires mini-series. Part 1. After Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last month, the boys bring you a mini-series of reflective episodes on the war in Afghanistan and what the withdrawal of foreign troops means. The first episode in the series is with Dr Frank Ledwidge, a former military intelligence officer who served in Helmand province as a civilian adviser and who authored the d...

Kieron talks to Dr Rhian Barfoot and Dr Rhys Trimble about the little-known Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas. They discuss Thomas's life and work, his "Welshness", the Dylan Thomas industry, and the ambivalence surrounding his legacy in Wales. Enjoy! Rhian is a critic and author of Liberating Dylan Thomas: Rescuing a Poet from Psycho-sexual Servitude (UWP, 2014) https://www.uwp.co.uk/author/1438/ Rhys is...

Following the evictions of Palestinian families in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah at the beginning of May, the conflict in Israel-Palestine has begun once again to spiral into conflict, with Israel beginning new lethal attacks on Gaza that have killed over 200 people including many women and children. We were privileged to be joined by one of our heroes, the great dissident Prof...

We discuss the Senedd election results. We go through what this means for Labour, Conservatives and Plaid. Also we discuss the future of the indy movement.

Dan caught up with our good friend @cdbeaton from the Radical Independence Campaign to discuss Scottish politics and the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections. Connor talked us through the formation of Alec Salmond’s new Alba party, the state of the SNP, the Labour Party, his overall predictions for the elections & the next steps for the indy movement and the left in Scotland

As tensions continue to rise in the north of Ireland, Dan caught up with our friend Padraig from AIA Ireland to gain some historical context and a socialist, materialist analysis of the current situation. Padraig brilliantly explains the history of socialist republicanism, the nature of the Good Friday Agreement, Ireland's continued subordinate relationship with British imperialism, fighting fasci...

Stef and Nath are joined by special guests double Dr Kieron and Dr Dan Evans to reflect on this month's news. We talk about Welsh Labour's fantastic campaign, joined Neil Mcevoy's Propel party, flags and try to solve the mystery of who has been killing dogs. Enjoy!

Dan chatted to Catrin about her article in Planet 231 'All Mothers are Working Mothers', the writings of Silvia Federici and the global 'wages for housework' campaign that inspired the article. They talked about the role of reproductive labour within capitalism and the international roots of the wages for housework campaign. Catrin examines the Welsh care system (including childcare and elder care...

We were joined by our good friend and comrade Paul to reflect on the global crisis of capitalism and think about what lies ahead in the coming years. Paul expertly talked us through the recent events in the USA and the rise of fascism across the world; the COVID- crisis, Brexit and class struggle in the UK, and the future of socialism in the UK. A must listen!

The episode we should've done 4 years ago! After much soul searching, the boys get together to go over the basics of Marxism. We talk about Marx's life and the historical context, have a go at explaining dialectics, historical materialism, classes, freedom, alienation, the state, and of course proletarian revolution. Enjoy, comrades!

Stef and Nath talk about Neil 'Scrappy Doo' Mcevoy's suspension. Subscribe on our patreon for the full ep!

Kieron discusses all things Ron Berry with Dr Georgia Burdett and Dr Sarah Morse. Georgia and Sarah's collection, Fight and Flight: Essays on Ron Berry, available now. Books by Berry: Hunters and Hunted (1960) Travelling Loaded (1963) The Full-time Amateur (1966) Flame and Slag (1968) So Long Hector Bebb (1970) Peregrine Watching (1986) This Bygone (1996) History is What you Live (1998) Collected...

First 10 mins of this week's news round! For the full ep subscribe to our patreon!

Newsround 1st November - taster by Desolation Radio

Dan was joined by our mate Owain to discuss the legacy of our dearly departed comrade David Graeber, who passed away in September 2020. The boys discussed David's huge contribution to not just anarchist theory but to modern social and political thought as a whole, particularly his work on bullshit jobs and the ideology of work; the rise of bureaucracy under neoliberalism and its relationship with...

Stef and Nath rate hot nazis.