SpartTalk

Mansa is joined by Marilyn Vogt-Downey, translator and editor of "Notebooks for the Grandchildren", the memoirs of Mikhail Baitalsky, a left oppositionist who spent decades in Stalin's prisons, and Comrades Jon and Helene, to discuss who Baitalsky was, some of his experiences under Stalin's terror and his recollections and reflections on the bureaucratisation of the Soviet Unio...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Michael from Workers Vanguard (Spartacist League US) to discuss the meaning and implications of the Democrats winning the midterm elections. We discuss what drove the anger at Trump, whether the Democrats really have a plan or any real appeal to voters, the DSA building the Democratic Party, and how to prepare to fight back. Dems win, workers still lose: Prepare to fight...

Mansa is joined by Toralf, a dockworker in Hamburg who organises with Hafenarbeiter für eine kämpferische ver.di (Dockworkers for a fighting ver.di), to discuss the realities of the international day of action by dockworkers which took place on 30 October. The action saw workers from 113 ports in 22 countries take part in rallies, strikes and pickets, but with uneven results. Toralf's experie...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Anna to discuss the huge protests which have rocked Albania. We put the protests in the context of the Balkans, historically divided by imperialist domination, and point to the need to make anti-imperialism a central pillar of the movement as the means to genuinely meet the demands of the movement. We also caution against blindly cheering on adventurist methods in the pr...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Alexis to discuss Brazil where the elections have returned Lula to a historic fourth term in office. While much of the left cheers Lula's victory for keeping the right out of office, we warn that this can only be disarming: the parliament and senate are firmly in control of the right wing, and there is a lot of discontent at Lula's conciliation of the ruling cl...

A sick Mansa sits down with Comrades Vincent and Perrault, co-hosts of the French podcast Communiste en tabarnak!, to discuss the huge protests which erupted in France on 17th October. A huge outpouring of anger amongst students and other layers in French society, the protests culminated in riots of unprecedented scale and a new wave of police terror, with thousands of arrests and injuries. Have t...

Mansa ropes in Comrade Elizabeth to play guest host so that she can discuss the ongoing protests in India demanding the resignation of the Election Commissioner (EC) after the removal of 130 million names from voter lists, a blatant attack on basic democratic rights, especially of the most oppressed layers. We discuss the aims and methods of the movement, why they must expand beyond just the quest...

Mansa sits down with Comrade Perrault to discuss a burning question for the revolutionary left: the popular front. As the right grows and sweeps various elections, the pressures on the left and workers organisations to make alliances with progressive bourgeois forces to keep the right out are only growing. But this is a dead-end; not only does the popular front not work, but it fuels the growth of...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Badr from the International Socialist Alternative (Revolutionary) to discuss, in broad strokes, the dynamics of the Middle East. Divided and ravaged by imperialism and its Zionist outpost, we discuss why anti-imperialism is key to unifying the region, but why this anti-imperialism must be rooted in the working masses, and why it must champion the rights of the national,...

Mansa is joined by Rizwana Karim and Eibhlin to discuss the situation in Pakistan. While the military establishment and government courts Trump, the most popular leader of the country, Imran Khan, is behind bars at U.S. orders and unrest is rising.  From the mass uprising in Azad Kashmir to  skyrocketing inflation and political repression throughout the country, Pakistan is on knife's edge. R...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Philipp from Berlin to discuss the recent AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt, what it means and what drove the huge gains for the AfD. Since our recording (19 Sept), the AfD has done really well in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, all the while Merz and the CDU has tanked. Within this context, Berlin saw Die Linke's left-populist candidate win. What's going on in Germa...

Mansa is joined by Comrades Brianna and Perrault to delve into how and why the Revolutionary Communist International has got it wrong on their attitude towards conducting trade union work, and why every revolutionary organisation, no matter how small, should be seeking to provide a real course of struggle for working people. A somewhat-windy but in-depth look at their article " Communists and...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Monica to discuss Puerto Rico . From student strikes to the water crisis and insane luxury resorts, every facet of life on the island is defined by colonial oppression. Monica explains why communists must champion the independence of Puerto Rico and merge the struggle with that of the working class against their common enemies! Fuera yanquis! Water Crisis - Workers shoul...

Mansa brings you a powerful speech by Comrade Cairo to mark the end of Black August and to contribute to stirring up a much-needed discussion and debate in the left on how to break through the impasse of the struggle for black freedom and reignite it.  An article by comrades on what OPA is about, titled " Police brutality - How to get justice " Follow the work of Open the Police Archives...

Mansa brings you a very special episode with comrades Don A and Gene Herson, veteran Trotskyists and long-time leaders of the Spartacist League, who were instrumental in organizing and building a very successful labour-black mobilization to stop the Klan when it announced its march to Washington, DC for 27 November, 1982. We dive into the dynamics of this important event and discuss the political...

Mansa brings you another and final presentation from the Sparts' 9th International Conference where Comrade Perrault presents an answer to the reason for the crisis of the left and a strategy for rebuilding it. This will soon appear online and in our theoretical journal, Spartacist. Get in touch! sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and fo...

Mansa brings you the second main presentation from the Spart's 9th International Conference. Delivered by Comrade Vincent, this presentation presents our understanding of why the Fourth International failed, and what lessons to draw from the history of our movement to go forward in the pursuit of building a world party of socialist revolution. Successful Ninth International Conference of the...

Mansa brings you the first main presentation from the Ninth International Conference of the Sparts . It is on the international conference document adopted by majority ICL delegates titled "Workers of the World, Unite Against the U.S. Empire!" which will be coming to you soon in print and online in Spartacist. We will be bringing you other content in coming episodes, so stay tuned. (Apol...

Mansa sits down with Comrade Tom to discuss the dangerous implications of the proposed social media ban in Britain. We talk about how this will have repercussions for dissidents across the board, further pave the way for digital ID, and ultimately, do absolutely nothing to protect kids. We discuss the need for the trade union movement, working class parents and the left to oppose this ban and merg...

Mansa brings to you a report by Comrade Jesse from Johannesburg, South Africa, on the political dynamics in the country. The punchline: things are not looking good for the ANC, and the failure of the post-1994 settlement has frustrated many, giving way to the right. This is most graphically illustrated by the large anti-immigrant protests throughout the country on 30 June. Follow our comrades on X...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Anacleto who spent some time in Bolivia during the height of the movement of workers and peasants against the Paz government. We discuss the current setback, how it was prepared by the leadership of the COB, and how to effectuate a strategic retreat in order to prepare for the next battle which is sure to erupt.  Comrades reports from Bolivia: Repudiate the traitors! For...

Mansa is joined by Vincent to make sense of everything unfolding in Britain today. From the PM's resignation, to a record-breaking heatwave, racist riots, and the steady growth of reform, Britain's ungovernability is on full display. We discuss how each of these episodes and processes reveals the underlying crisis of British imperialism, and the problems of the left in dealing with the o...

Mansa is joined by Comrade John Masters to discuss the series of economic reforms announced by the Communist Party of Cuba which, if implemented, would spell the death of the Cuban Revolution. We discuss why these measures must be vehemently opposed, why they are not akin to China's and Vietnam's reforms in previous decades, and the outlines of a concrete road to fight internationally an...

Mansa is joined by Ray to lay out our assessment of the Iran ceasefire. Much of the left has declared Iran the victor of the war with the U.S. and Israel, but we think that this is impressionist and disarming. The main reason? Nothing fundamental has changed in terms of the balance of overall forces in the region, and nothing has been resolved for either side. We also discuss how China continues t...

Mansa is joined by Comrade Perrault and a special guest, Michael Pröbsting of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) to facilitate (or try to!) a comradely exchange between the two on the world situation. A crucial question for all revolutionaries but on which there is little agreement. Comrades debate whether China is imperialist, its class character, and the war in Ukraine. We...