Give Them An Argument

Sorry for the delay in posting this one--but it's worth the wait! Majority Report host Sam Seder joins Ben to talk about some of the highlights and recurrent themes of his many, many debates with libertarians. In the second half (and going into the postgame), Touré Reed and Jason Myles come on to talk about capitalism, racial injustice, and some of the themes from Touré's excellent book...

"Canceling Comedians While the World Burns: A Critique of the Contemporary Left" is officially out now! In these clips from the online book launch, Ana Kasparian, Nando Vila, Ryan Lake, Daniel Bessner, and David Griscom stop by to chat--and to talk about the book. Ben reads a short extract from it at the end. If you (ahem) want to pick up a copy yourself, it's available at all the u...

Left Reckoning's David Griscom talks about Jean-Paul Sartre. Ben and Producer Forrest debunk a video made by a YouTube tax-shelter guru who seems very upset about Ben's "Abolish Inherited Wealth" article. Joe Biden is up to various shenanigans (although we might not get to those until the postgame). Nando Vila plugs Ben's new book. Independent creators rely on your support...

About a week ago, Ben debated Gene Epstein at the Soho Forum in Florida on capitalism vs. socialism.. Now that the video's out, Ben watched it with Producer Forrest and economics prof & Current Affairs House Economist Rob Larson and did a little postgame analysis at the end. Enjoy! Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on P...

Season 2 doesn't officially start for another week and a half, but we thought this was a worth popping back on to cover. Jason Myles and Pascal Robert from the This is Revolution podcast join Ben to talk about the Chauvin verdict, prospects for the continuing struggle to demilitarize policing and hold murderous cops to account, and more. Independent creators rely on your support to create the...

Ben talked to Glenn Greenwald over the weekend about Glenn's new book, "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro's Brazil." We were originally planning to play this as part of the first episode of Season 2, but it ended up going so long and being so interesting that we decided to release it as a standalone. Enjoy! Support Give Them An Argument by...

Ben interviews Aaron Rabinowitz, a philosophy professor and the host of the Embrace the Void podcast, about moral realism, free will, and several other subjects. This is a free public preview of a patron-exclusive episode. To listen to the full episode and every other Thursday patron episode become a Give Them An Argument patron at patreon.com/benburgis.

Sam Harris, it turns out, is wrong about just about everything. Kurdish Studies professor Djene Bajalan is here to talk about everything Harris gets wrong about Islam and the Middle East. Philosophy professors Mark Warren and Ryan Lake are here to talk about everything Harris gets wrong about subjects like moral realism and free will. We'll also get into some of Harris' extra bonus wrong...

Musician and "This is Revolution" host Jason Myles joins Ben to talk about subjects ranging from Metallica and Black Sabbath to whether grunge is really a distinct genre to what police abolitionism really means in a society with massive economic inequality. To get the full episode and every other Thursday patron-exclusive episode, support give them on argument on Patreon: patreon.com/ben...

Nando Vila comes on to talk about Brazil, Bolivia, and class politics here at home. But first, Zero Hour host R.J. Eskow chats with Ben about one of their favorite philosophers, G.A. Cohen, and Cohen's little book Why Not Socialism: https://redemmas.org/titles/9752-why-... ​ Cole James Cash fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ekpkyb-hel... ​ Independent creators rely on your support to cre...

Djene Bajalan and Pascal Robert join Ben to break down this atrocious National Review article: https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/03/an-american-defense-of-britains-constitutional-monarchy/ To get the full episode and every other Thursday patron-exclusive episode, become a GTAA patron at patreon.com/benburgis. As well as extra episodes every week, patrons get access to the GTAA Discord server, mo...

Physician, activist, and Michigan-based Berniecrat politician Abdul El-Sayed and his co-author Micah Johnson discuss their new book "Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide." You can buy it here: https://redemmas.org/titles/35220-med... ​ Writer Natalie Shure talks about her recent piece in the Nation and the broader fight for Medicare for All: https://www.thenation.com/article/soc... ​...

Russell Sbriglia, Matt McManus, and Ryan Lake join Ben to continue their deep dive into the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. To get the full episode and every other Thursday patron-exclusive episode, become a GTAA patron at patreon.com/benburgis. As well as extra episodes every week, patrons get access to the GTAA Discord server, monthly "Discord Office hours" group voice chats, monthly Disc...

Nomiki Konst, host of The Nomiki Show and contributor for The Majority Report, comes on GTAA to break down some of the complexities of Puerto Rico's statehood and independence movements, talk about the terrible anti-Italian discrimination currently being experienced by New York's completely powerless second-generation Governor, and talk up the PRO Act. There's a preview for the Begi...

Liza Featherstone chats with Ben about her in-depth profile of Natalie Wynn ("ContraPoints") in The Nation, "Natalie Wynn Wants to Redistribute the Goddamn Champagne": https://www.thenation.com/article/society/natalie-wynn-contrapoints/ To get the full episode and every other Thursday episode, become a patron of Give Them An Argument: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons...

Ben and Forrest watch Kyrsten Sinema do the thumbs-down on a living wage like Emperor Commodus doing the thumbs-down to sentence a gladiator to death in the arena and then discuss the recent firestorm over Glenn Greenwald's comments on "socialism" and left/right convergence. Thaddeus Russell comes back on the show to talk about postmodernism, politics, and other things. There's...

Philosophy professor Ryan Lake, poli sci professor Matt McManus and literature professor Russell Sbriglia join Ben for Part I of a multi-week deep dive into the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Part II should be coming in a couple of weeks! To get the full episode and every other Thursday episode, subscribe to Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis​​​​​​​. Besides the Thur...

The authors of "Myth & Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson" (https://redemmas.org/titles/34806-myth-and-mayhem--a-leftist-critique-of-jordan-peterson) reunite to do a deep dive on Dr. Peterson's lunacy on the occasion of the publication of his new book. Vic Vaiana substitutes for the absent David Griscom and does a segment on Pink Floyd. Ben and Forrest debut a new wee...

Heterodox economist Nia Cola and Zero Books' C Derick Varn have a friendly "debate" (agreeing on more they than they disagree on as it turns out) about MMT vs. orthodox Marxist economics. We don't exactly settle the issue for all time but it is a good medium-deep dive into some important aspects of the controversy. To get the full episode and every other Thursday patron-exclusi...

Emma Vigeland denies being a "Cuomosexual" and discusses the life and work of the late Rush Limbaugh. Pascal Robert does a deep dive on American and Haitian revolutionary history. Ben and Forrest discuss Ben's recent debate with right-wing megapastor Douglas Wilson. There's a lot going on in this one. Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Sup...

Jacobin Deputy Editor Micah Uetricht wrote an excellent essay for The Nation about socialist scholar and frequent anticipator-of-disasters Mike Davis. You should read it--and join the Patreon so you can listen to the whole interview! Mike Davis' Forecast for the Left: https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/mike-davis-old-gods-set-night/ Independent creators rely on your support to create t...

Shaun Richman talks about his excellent book "Tell The Bosses We're Coming" ( https://redemmas.org/titles/34879-tel... ​). Nathan J. Robinson talks about being fired from The Guardian for making a mild joke about U.S. military support for Israel. David Griscom talks country. Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Pa...

Writer and cohost of Dissent Magazine’s Know Your Enemy podcast Sam Adler Bell joins Ben Burgis for this week’s Patron-only episode. Sam and Ben discuss a piece that Sam wrote for The Drift, “Doctor Do-Little​ | The Case Against Anthony Fauci“ ( https://www.thedriftmag.com/the-case-... ​). Sam explains the arguments for and against severe criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s role in the government’s C...

Ben and Forrest watch a clip of Michael Brooks and talk about future plans for the show. There's a preview of Thursday's patron bonus episode featuring Sam Adler-Bell talking about his piece on Dr. Fauci in The Drift (https://www.thedriftmag.com/the-case-against-fauci/). Ben debates libertarian Adam Kokesh (https://adamvstheman.com/) on the Civil War, decentralization, segregation, and c...

Zero Books editor Doug Lain joins Ben to talk about tech censorship, free speech, the media's stance during the Trump years, and more. For the full episode and every other Thursday episode for patrons, support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis ​. Patrons also get access to the Discord and regularly scheduled "Discord Office Hours" group voice chats....