Left Anchor

Today we've got Professor Jon Shelton on to talk about his book The Education Myth: How Human Capital Trumped Social Democracy . We discuss how the justification for public schooling was wildly different in the 19th century, why education doesn't solve poverty, why "human capital" is a nonsense idea, how education reform became a fake substitute for class politics, and more. Enjoy!

In this excerpt of our latest bonus episode , we discuss the implication of Michael Knowles' eliminationist rhetoric about trans people. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing where we discuss the reaction to our previous episode, Jesse Singal twitter drama, President Biden's undermining of DC home rule, and more.

Today we've got historian Dan Berger to talk about his new book Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power through One Family’s Journey -- and then we've got the two main characters of the book as well, Zoharah Simmons and Michael Simmons. Zoharah and Michael have lived astounding lives, and they tell us stories about working with SNCC during the fight against Jim Crow, campaigning for Jul...

Today we've got Evan Urquhart and Michael Hobbes on to talk about the ongoing frenzy of bigotry directed at trans people, and why centrist and liberal reporters are feeding it. Evan covers trans issues at Assigned Media , while Michael is a journalist currently working on the Maintenance Phase and If Books Could Kill podcasts. Also check out Evan's coverage of detransitioners , Tom Scocca's critiq...

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Today we've got Felicia Kornbluh , professor of history at the University of Vermont, on to talk about her new book A Woman's Life Is a Human Life: My Mother, Our Neighbor, and the Journey From Reproductive Rights to Reproductive Justice . We discuss the fascinating history of pre-Roe abortion rights activists, the movement against coerced sterilization, what full reproductive justice means, and m...

In this excerpt Marianne talks about the bad and good sides of the Biden administration. Subscribe here to listen to the whole thing !

This time we're doing a movie review episode talking about two classics: Casablanca and Inside Llewyn Davis, discussing both their politics and their merits as films. Enjoy! (And pardon Ryan for repeatedly pronouncing it "Llewelyn".) 

This time we've got Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò on to discuss his book Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else) . We talk about how this cooption process has happened, how to counter it without falling victim to irritable knee-jerk anti-"wokeness," what identity politics originally meant, and more. Enjoy!

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We're off this week for vacation, so we're reposting one of our favorite episodes about one of our favorite movies. Happy holidays everyone! The essay by Clare Coffey about Mary Bailey that we mention can be found here . 

In this preview of our latest bonus episode, David Dayen talks about the Sam-Bankman Fried prosecution . Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

Today we've got Marshall Steinbaum , professor of economics at the University of Utah, and The Nation's Jeet Heer on to talk about crypto shills--who they are, how they got like that, why there are so many of them among cultural and political elites, and more. Enjoy!

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Today we've got historian Chad Pearson on to talk about his book Capital's Terrorists: Klansmen, Lawmen, and Employers in the Long Nineteenth Century . We discuss how racism is heavily rooted in the need to control Black labor in the South before and after the Civil War, how the KKK was a kind of employer's association, how the civil liberties of workers were systematically violated by corporation...

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This time we've got New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie on to talk about reclaiming American traditions and institutions from conservative Republicans who want to destroy them. Items mentioned in the discussion: Jamelle's columns on the Supreme Court , the Senate , and Andrew Yang's dumb third party ; his newsletter and podcast ; and Ryan's article " Will no one defend the American Republic? "

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Today we've got Professor Harvey Kaye back on to talk about a new edition of his book The British Marxist Historians , which tells the story of Maurice Dobb, Rodney Hilton, Christopher Hill, E.P. Thompson, and Eric Hobsbawm. We discuss how these guys used Marxism in their work, what light it sheds on politics today, why they still matter, and more. Enjoy!

This time Ryan calls in to tell Alexi about the Faroe Islands. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!  

This time we are talking utopian futures. Somewhat by accident we ended up reading two different Catalyst articles by Alex Gourevitch: Alexi read " Post-Work Socialism? " while Ryan read " The Basic Income Illusion " (co-authored with Lucas Stanczyk). We discuss the practicalities of UBI, the case for collective ownership of all national wealth, and how to get the crummy jobs done without relying...

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Today we've got Volodymyr Artiukh , a postdoc at the University of Oxford and native of Ukraine, on to talk about what's going on in his country. We discuss the balance of forces on the ground, why the war happened, why the left has struggled to analyze the situation, what effect Western support has had on the conflict, and what Ukraine needs in the future.

In this preview of our latest bonus episode , Harold Meyerson talks about the state of the union movement in 2022. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing ! 

Happy Labor Day! Today we've got Maximillian Alvarez and Rebecca Garelli on to talk about Max's new book The Work of Living: Working People Talk About Their Lives and the Year the World Broke . It's a collection of interviews of various working-class folks, from a gravedigger, to a sheet metal worker, to a nurse, and many more. Rebecca is one of those interviewees; she speaks about her work as a t...