Jacobin Radio

The 1969 documentary WHAT'S LEFT? captures the Canadian left (and more specifically, Canada's New Democratic Party) being pulled in two directions: by an emerging, student-led generation of radical activists, and an older political class that has either grown pragmatic or complacent depending on who you ask. We discuss the history of the Canadian left, and what has both changed and remained the sa...

Doug speaks with Wanda Bertram of the  Prison Policy Initiative  about the demographics of the million people in state prisons and the fight around cash bail in New York. Plus, Doug talks to historian James Chappel about his recent article " Inside the Postliberal Mind " which reviews a new book by reactionary Catholic law professor Adrian Vermeule . Behind the News, hosted by Doug...

Mariame Kaba and Geo Maher discuss police, the politics of policing, abolition, reform—and more. Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig

Jen Pan takes a look at the politics of the pentagon budget and Daniel Zamora discusses how American-style identity politics somehow found a way of suffusing the ideological debates around the French election. Then, Jen sits down with Cedric Johnson to discuss why the defund movement failed, and why the Left should prioritize a politics of increased social spending to eliminate the very basis of w...

Grace talks to Kojo Koram, who teaches in the School of Law at Birkbeck College and is the author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire , about why the government is trying to change the curriculum to include a more 'balanced' perspective on Britain's empire. We ask who actually benefited from the days of formal empire, how imperialism continues to this day, and why the right are...

Jacobin Radio features the recent UCLA colloquium, “The Political Economy of Russia’s War in Ukraine,” organized and moderated by the Center for Social Theory and Comparative History’s  Robert Brenner .  The panelists are  Boris Kagarlitsky ,  Ilya Budraitskis ,  Ilya Matveev , and   Suzi Weissman,  followed by a lively Q and A.  The Russ...

Luke and Will delve into the world of right-wing legend Tom Clancy and his signature character Jack Ryan with the blockbuster film adaptation of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990). PLUS: Winston Churchill predicts the future! Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Jan Toporowski joins Long Reads for a discussion about Polish economist Michal Kalecki. Kalecki is best known for his celebrated essay on full employment, which has lost none of its topical value. Jan is a professor of economics at SOAS in London and the author of a two-volume intellectual biography of Kalecki. Read Jan's article "Michal Kalecki and the Politics of Full Employment" here: https://j...

Suzi talks to  John Logan , labor historian and expert on the anti-union industry, about the historic victory for Amazon workers on Staten Island, who voted on April 1st to form the first US Amazon union. The new Amazon Labor Union won against the retailing giant whose profits have skyrocketed during the pandemic. This changes everything, and we get John Logan's analysis of the scope...

Rupert Russell and Isabella Weber discuss Russell's book Price Wars: How the Commodities Markets Made Our Chaotic World and also the current politics of inflation.  Listen to Weber discuss her book How China Escaped Shock Therapy: thedigradio.com/podcast/how-china-escaped-shock-therapy-w-isabella-weber/ Look at Rupert's precious puppy: twitter.com/rupert_russell/status/1511428696409837573?s=2...

Jen Pan sits down with Jacobin columnist Ross Barkan to discuss his latest article, “Working-Class Politics Without the Working Class,” which takes a critical look at the Working Families Party. Next, Jen turns to speak with Chris Maisano about the future of the labor movement and his latest piece in Jacobin , “The Liminal Left’s Bid for Power,” in which he analyzes the conflicts and potential bri...

Luke and Will discuss AKIRA (1988), the groundbreaking anime classic. We hash over the film's vision of a future-dystopia, finding elements both unique to 1988 and applicable to all times. PLUS: the new Amazon union in Staten Island, and checking the pulse of right-wing politics on Canada. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Sava...

Doug interviews Annelle Sheline , author of a new Quincy Institute policy brief about the Yemen war , on the reasons behind Saudi Arabia's brutal war. Doug also interviews Natalia Petrzela , author of the column "How Moisturizing Became Macho," on how we went from Muscle Beach to gender neutral cosmetics products. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and po...

Grace chats to David Wearing, post-doctoral researcher at SOAS and author of  AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters to Britain .  They discuss Boris Johnson’s recent trip to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and how the global energy crisis is likely to transform world politics. A World to Win is a podcast from Grace Blakeley and Tribune bringing you a weekly dose of socialist news, theory and ac...

Astra interviews Achal Prabhala on the lethal persistence of global vaccine apartheid. Moderna is selfishly refusing to share or even sell (license) its mRNA technology, leaving much of the world unprotected from the pandemic and incubating new variants. Moderna's annual shareholder meeting is April 28th. Join Justice is Global, Boston DSA, and others to challenge vaccine profiteering at their Cam...

Eric Levitz and Branko Marcetic debate how the left in the US should understand and respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Slavoj Žižek and Vivek Chibber debate the role of ideology in promoting capitalist stability. Subscribe to Jacobin for just $10: https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=JACOBINYT Music provided by Zonkey: https://linktr.ee/zonkey The Jacobin Show offers socialist perspecti...

Anton Jäger joins Long Reads for a discussion about modern Belgium and its recent history. The country's image as a harmonious center of European integration, as host of the European Union and NATO, has given way to talk of outright separation between Flanders in the north, and Wallonia in the south. Anton is a Belgian historian of political thought who’s written for a number of publications, incl...

This week, Grace and Alfie Stirling, Chief Economist of the New Economics Foundation, dissect the UK Chancellor’s spring statement. It looks set to contain very few of the measures that would be necessary to tackle the cost of living crisis, which we discussed last week with Gary Stevenson. Rishi Sunak will say there’s no money left to support people forced to choose between eating and heating—but...

The great Homer Simpson once said, "What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind." In that spirit, we watched Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece SOLARIS (1972), which imagines outer space as a manifestation of our inner life. PLUS: checking in on that most important issue of our time, the Oscars. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and...

Anthony Flaccavento, Virginia-based farmer, author, and co-founder of the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative , joins the Jacobin Show to discuss rural America—and why the Democrats lose so consistently in rural elections. Plus: Jacobin editor Seth Ackerman on inflation, the fed raising interest rates, and what this all means for the economy. Subscribe to Jacobin for just $10: https://jacobinmag.com/sub...

The second of our two-part interview with sociologist Ho-fung Hung on Chinese political and economic history. This episode covers the 2008 financial crisis, how China’s response deepened global and domestic economic imbalances and (alongside the US) heightened geopolitical conflict, the current situation—including Russia’s invasion—and a lot more. Listen to part one first if you haven't already. S...

Suzi talks to Russian Marxist sociologist, activist, and author Boris Kagarlitsky to get his perspective of Putin’s war from inside Russia. How does he understand Putin's surprising decision—and miscalculation—to invade Ukraine? Kagarlitsky dismisses Putin's declarations about NATO expansion and restoring the Russian Imperium, and says domestic political, economic, and social pressures were the mo...

Part one of a two-part interview with sociologist Ho-fung Hung on Chinese political economic history from the 18th century to 2008: why capitalism took off in England and then elsewhere but not in China; and then, how Maoist policy laid the groundwork for China’s ultimate capitalist takeoff and boom. Episode two will focus on the 2008 financial crisis, the deepening imbalances and heightened geopo...

To start off this week’s Jacobin Show , Jen Pan looks at the discourse around "economic anxiety" as an explanation for voters' turn to Donald Trump and other right wing politicians. Why do mainstream commentators still refuse to see that these voters are, in fact, driven by material interests and not simply "racial resentment"? Next, Jen Pan and Cale Brooks think about how the Left should understa...

New show alert! This week, A World to Win is expanding and launching a new format for the podcast. In addition to our regular long-form interviews, every other week Grace will host shorter, more topical discussions with one of a regular group of guests. On this episode, it's Gary Stevenson of Gary's Economics talking about the cost of living crisis—where's it coming from, who is paying for it, and...