ABC With Danny and Jim

In this episode we’re delighted to be joined by Maurice J.Casey, a research fellow at Queens University Belfast and author of Hotel Lux: An Intimate History of Communism's Forgotten Radicals , which was published by Footnote in 2025. Hotel Lux is a fascinating, moving account of the lives of women and men who travelled to Moscow in the 1920s to work for the Comintern. We really enjoyed both readin...

In this episode we’re discussing Tomas Rothaus’s Another War is Possible (PM Press, 2025) an account of the movement against capitalism over the turn of the 21st century, written by an anarchist participant in the events. You can listen to an interview with Rothaus on Last Straw Radio here: Militant Anarchist Experiences in the Antiglobalization Era | The Final Straw Radio Podcast ----------------...

In this episode we’re discussing Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant, published in 2023 by Little, Brown and Company. Blood in the Machine is an account of the Luddite rebellion in early 19th century England. Merchant's engaging study draws parallels between this account and contemporary questions about the effects of automation, big tech and AI, as well as efforts to resist and challenge t...

In this episode, we’re delighted to be joined by Andy Durgan, a historian who has lived in Barcelona since 1982, and author of several books about the revolutionary left and International volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, including Voluntarios por la revoución , which will be published in English later this year. We spoke to Andy about his role as historical advisor to Ken Loach’s film Land and...

In this episode we are joined by Carolyn Eichner, Professor of History and Women's and Gender Studies at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, to discuss her brilliant book The Paris Commune: A Brief History (Rutgers University Press, 2022). We hope you enjoy this conversation, which ranges from the origins of the Commune to its legacy in France and the contemporary world, and includes discussion...

In this episode we are discussing Cybernetic Revolutionaries by Eden Medina (MIT Press, 2011), which examines the effort to create a cybernetic system of communication and industrial management during the socialist government of Salvador Allende in Chile, from 1970 to 1973. Medina uses this fascinating case study to explore the relationship of two utopian visions: one socialist, and one technologi...

In this episode we discuss Christopher Hill’s The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution , originally published in 1972. This book is widely regarded as a seminal work of history from below, which popularised the concept of the English Revolution and helped to establish the ideas of the Levellers, Diggers, Seekers and Ranters as a key part of the radical tradition in...

THIS IS THE CORRECT AUDIO, PLEASE IGNORE EARLIER VERSION OF EPISODE 39 In this episode we discuss The Fall and Rise of the British Left (Verso, 2019) by Andrew Murray. We originally intended this episode to coincide with the UK General Election in July 2024, seeing this as a good moment to reflect on the electoral turn of the left in Britain in the 2010s. While this scheduling didn't quite wor...

In this episode we discuss M. E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi’s speculative fiction Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072 (Common Notions Press, 2022). We both really enjoyed this slight departure from our usual reading choices for the podcast, which provoked and stimulated how we think about history, and the experience and nature of post-revolutionary society....

In this episode we are delighted to be joined by Dr Alexandra Paulin-Booth, to discuss her book Time and Radical Politics in France , published by Manchester University Press in 2023. Alex’s work treats the conception of time as both a window and a key into the left and right in France, during the turbulent period between the Dreyfuss Affair and the First World War. You can see Alex’s profile and...

In this episode we speak to our longtime friend and comrade Jessica Thorne about her work on anarchist prisoners under the Franco regime in Spain. Jess has recently completed a PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London on this subject, which is also discussed in an article recently published in European History Quarterly , available here . See also Jess's brilliant article on football and ra...

In this episode we were delighted to be joined by Ronald Grigor Suny, one of the most distinguished scholars of the Russian Revolution in the world. Suny has written extensively on a huge range of topics, including nationalism within the Russian and Soviet empires, the Armenian genocide and, in 2020, a monumental biography of the young Joseph Stalin, which was the starting point of our conversatio...

In this episode we discuss Sho Konishi's brilliant Anarchist Modernity: Cooperatism and Japanese-Russian Intellectual Relations in Modern Japan (Harvard University Press, 2013). This book has been on our radar for a long time, and it was a pleasure to spend some time discussing Konishi's framing of anarchism as an alternative vision of modernity, as exemplified in the exchanges between rad...

In this episode we discuss our first ever ABC Edition pamphlet: a translation of Víctor García's ‘José Xena Torrent: A Contribution to a Necessary Biography’. Danny has taken the lead on this project, and introduces us to García (the pen-name of Germinal Gracia), his relationship with Xena, and the experiences of both through the Spanish Civil War and exile in Venezuela. The pamphlet is availa...

After a few months off, ABC returns with a brilliant guest, Zoe Baker ( ⁠@anarchopac⁠ ) author of Means and Ends published with AK Press in 2023: ⁠https://www.akpress.org/means-and-ends.html⁠ . Zoe's book provides an engaging and accessible overview of the revolutionary strategy of anarchism in Europe and the United States between 1868 and 1939. Zoe is host of one of the most popular and respe...

In this episode we discuss 'Print Culture and the Formation of the Anarchist Movement in Spain,' a reprint of Jim's book published by AK Press in September 2022. This conversation is a natural follow up from Jim's appearance on the excellent podcast 'Coffee with Comrades,' which you can listen to here: https://coffeewithcomrades.com/episode-178-tierra-y-libertad-ft-jim-yeoman/ Listeners in the US...

In this episode we are joined by Michael Richmond and Alex Charnley to discuss their new work 'Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics,' published with Pluto Press. You can order the book online here: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745346588/fractured/ A lively and fun conversation, covering the possibilities of universalist approaches, the value of using 'revolutionary...

*** We begin this episode with a statement read by Danny from Ryan Roberts, one of the Bristol Kill the Bill protesters, who has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. If you would like to learn more about this situation and how you can help, see the following accounts on Twitter:  Bristol Anarchist Red and Black Cross: @Bristol_ABC Bristol Defendant Solidarity: @BristolDefenda1 *** In this ep...

In this episode we are joined by Arturo Zoffmann Rodriguez of Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal. Arturo's work focuses on the transnational and comparative history of revolutions and radical ideas, with special focus on Russia and the Hispanic world. Our discussion focuses on Arturo's studies on the impact of the Russian revolution of 1917 on anarchist movements around the world, with a part...

This episode provides an overview of the biographical essay on the Spanish anarchist activist Juan Santana Calero (1914-1939) contained in Miquel Amorós, Los incontrolados de 1937. Memorias militantes de los amigos de Durruti (Aldarull, 2014).

In this episode we discuss Eric Hobsbawm's classic - and much-criticised - study of social banditry, millenarian insurrection and mob politics, 'Primitive Rebels' (1959).  This key text remains a touchstone for discussions of anarchism, and is often the first port of call for English speakers interested in the Spanish movement. We reflect on Hobsbawm's approach, its strengths and shortcomings...

This episode is something a little different, a recording of a live event we held with in Liverpool in December 2021 with Joe Glenton (@joejglenton), discussing his recent book Veteranhood: Rage and Hope in British Ex-Military Life, published by Repeater. You can buy the book directly from Repeater here: https://repeaterbooks.com/product/veteranhood-rage-and-hope-in-british-ex-military-life/ Veter...

*Note, this episode contains some strong language* In this episode we were joined by Max Farrar to discuss his forthcoming biography, 'Arthur France MBE: The Life and Times of an African-Caribbean-British Man' (Hansib 2021). Arthur France was born in the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis, where he began his activism in trade unionism and black power. After moving to Leeds in 1964 he became a key figu...

This episode is something of a special, a recording of our first ever ‘live’ event, which was held on Friday 8 October on Zoom. We were delighted to be joined by Mike Finn and Dana Mills, to mark the recent publication of Mike’s book ‘Debating Anarchism’ (Bloomsbury 2021).  Mike’s book is a brilliant, provocative introduction to the debates which surround anarchist history and theory, so we f...

In this episode we discuss A.M. Gittlitz's 'I Want to Believe' (Pluto Press, 2020), a study of the remarkable development of a branch of Cold War Trotskyism under the direction of the Argentine J. Posadas.  Gittlitz combines an astute reading of the Posadist movement with humour and pathos, bringing together stories of nuclear apocalypse, 'coffee shop wankers' and armed guerrilla struggles in...