The Socialist Program

Today's episode is the fifth in a multi-part series that  takes an in-depth look at the history of China's foreign policy. In the  aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, China found itself  internationally isolated and subjected to harsh new economic sanctions.  Then in 1992, Deng Xiaoping launches the "Southern Tour", culminating in  the dramatic deepening of ma...

Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff continue a  discussion on the Marxist understanding of the housing market, today  focusing on the system of rent and the current crisis resulting from  soaring rents. Today's episode is also part of a series of discussions  about the basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing  the world used by many of the great revolut...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker,  Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how the U.S.  government and corporate media are hoping for regime change in Cuba, but  the Cuban people and government are mobilizing to defend their  revolution in spite of the severe hardships caused by the U.S. blockade.  They also discuss the political crisis...

Today's episode is the fourth in a multi-part series that takes an in-depth look at the history of China's foreign policy. At a time when U.S. imperialism seemed to be in complete and utter decline  following its defeat in Southeast Asia, and with revolution spreading from Africa to Iran to Nicaragua, the United States enters into a de-facto alliance with China and facilit...

Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the Marxist understanding of the real estate market and how the speculative nature of this capitalist market leads to tragedies like the deadly Miami condo collapse. They also discuss the concept and experience of social housing as an alternative to private capitalist housing.  Richard Wolff is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work a...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how activists trying to defend the environment are being sent to prison for many years and Indigenous communities and frontline water protectors are being targeted with vicious repression. They also discuss voting rights, the indictment of the Trump Organization, the death of war criminal...

On today's episode, we discuss the hidden history of the revolutionary class struggle that brought down the system of slavery in America, an accomplishment celebrated by the Juneteenth holiday. The military defeat of the confederacy -- accomplished thanks to the heroic intervention of hundreds of thousands of Black soldiers in the war -- ushered in a new era that sent shockwaves around the world....

In this June 2021 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew discuss the  Communist Party of China and other communist parties in power, the union  movement today and how to organize with unions, a behind the scenes  look at the struggle to end the Vietnam War, nationalism and national  liberation, and more. Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogr...

Today we continue a series of discussions about the  basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing the world used by many of the great revolutionaries of modern history. We discus the Marxist understanding of the so-called gig economy. More and more workers are forced to make ends meet driving for Lyft or Uber, delivering food or an ever expanding number of irregular jobs. But f...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss the election of a socialist in the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, New York, a series of dramatic reversals by the Biden administration over infrastructure, injustices in the prison system, the sentencing of convicted murderer Derek Chauvin, U.S. airstrikes attacking Iraq and Syri...

Over the past month, the U.S. media and the Biden administration have sought to give credence to the conspiracy theory first advanced by Trump that the COVID-19 virus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Last month, Biden breathed new life into this notion when he ordered intelligence agencies to redouble their efforts to determine whether the virus came from a lab and to report...

Today we continue a series of discussions about the basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing the world used by many of the great revolutionaries of modern history. We discuss the Marxist understanding of the role played by stock markets in capitalism. How has the function of stock markets evolved over the years, and how do they contribute to today’s exploding wealth inequality?...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss growing inequality, the Juneteenth holiday, the New York City mayoral race, Joe Manchin's war on the working class, far right calls for a coup in Peru, the Biden-Putin summit, and more. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at...

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the publication by The New York Times of excerpts of the Pentagon Papers — 7,000 pages of top-secret documents. These documents proved that the government of the United States had been lying to the people of this country for decades about a war that eventually ended with a U.S. withdrawal -- but only after millions of Vietnamese had been killed, 58,000 U.S....

Brian and Prof. Wolff continue a series of discussions  about the basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing  the world used by many of the great revolutionaries of modern history.  Today, they discuss the Marxist theory of the state. Mainstream  politicians talk about small government and big government, but never  tell the truth about who the government...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss the G7 summit and its leaders' hypocritical rhetoric about human rights and democracy, the fight against police brutality and the suppression of the movement against racism, the latest attacks on Ilhan Omar, and more.

In this May 2021 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew discuss the new era in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine and what it means for the region, U.S. imperialist plots to dismember China, the alarming danger of nuclear war, and more. Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to hear the rest!

Today's episode is the third in a multi-part series that takes an in-depth look at the history of China's foreign policy. We discuss how Chinese foreign policy shifted after the Cultural  Revolution. This culminated with China and the U.S. under the Nixon administration forging a new alliance that reshaped global politics. Brian is joined by Kenneth Hammond, a Professor of East Asian and Glob...

Brian and Prof. Wolff continue a series of discussions about the basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing  the world used by many of the great revolutionaries of modern history. Today, they discuss Karl Marx's theory of classes. Politicians of all stripes love to talk endlessly about their devotion to the middle class, but what does that even mean? What are the unique insig...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem and Walter Smolarek discuss an exciting new victory for the Palestine solidarity movement, a crackdown on journalists that has gained momentum with successive administrations, how Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has vowed to help Republicans defeat a key piece of voting rights legislation introduced in Congress, and more. Please make...

Will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be replaced by an even more fanatical racist? A last-minute coalition deal appears to have ended the 12-year-long reign of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just days after he presided over an 11-day massacre of Palestinians. But the man set to replace him is even more right wing. Meanwhile, the resistance of the Palestinian people is intensif...

Brian and Prof. Wolff continue a series of discussions about the basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing the world used by many of the great revolutionaries of modern history. Today, they discuss what Marxism has to say about the environment. Why and how is capitalism destroying the planet? Richard Wolff is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work and the author of...

Today we discuss the 100-year anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre, the one-year anniversary of key events in the uprising following the murder of George Floyd, and the historic breakthroughs made by the people's movements of Chile.

In this April 2021 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew analyzed the Biden administration's plans to withdraw from Afghanistan while  increasing aggression toward China, the Chauvin verdict won by the historic uprising against racism, and more. Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to hear the rest!

In this February 2021 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew analyzed  the January 6th fascist insurrection and the state of U.S. policy toward  China. Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to hear the rest!