Jacobin Radio

At last, we have decided to stop worrying and love the bomb. We discuss Stanley Kubrick's immortal DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) and how its depiction of small, pitiable men against a vast backdrop brought the Kubrick project into sharp focus. PLUS: why the billionaire space race encapsulates what's wrong with this damnable world of ours.

Long Reads is joined by Helen Lackner, author of Yemen in Crisis: The Road to War and a leading expert on modern Yemen who spent years living in the country. Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by Features Editor Daniel Finn. Read Helen's piece "How Yemen's Old Order Snuffe...

We speak to Alec MacGillis, author of Fulfillment , a new book about Amazon and the country left in its wake. You can listen to Primer by searching for Jacobin Radio on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to support the show, subscribe at patreon.com/primerpodcast . When you subscribe, you'll receive show notes and video content, as well as access to the Discord. To kee...

This week, Grace speaks to Linsey McGoey, professor of sociology at the University of Essex and author of The Unknowers: How Strategic Ignorance Rules the World and No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy . They discuss how politicians make use of ignorance and uncertainty, the difference between ignorance and deliberate misinformation, and why, if "knowled...

Philosopher Slavoj Žižek joins The Jacobin Show on Bastille Day to discuss why the French Revolution still matters and how the Left today can embrace the the radical spirit of the Enlightenment. Every Wednesday at 6 PM ET, The Jacobin Show offers socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, the failures of liberalism, and the prospects of rebuilding a left labor move...

How China rejected neoliberal orthodoxy and became the new workshop of the world. Dan interviews economist Isabella Weber on her book How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate. Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig

Well over a century of US intervention has shaped Latin America in disastrous ways. Historian Greg Grandin discusses that history, and the region's ongoing fight against imperialism and neoliberalism. Every Saturday at 1 PM ET, Ana Kasparian and Nando Vila broadcast live from the Jacobin YouTube channel. Weekends features free-flowing and humorous commentary on current events and political strateg...

Suzi talks to Frantz Voltaire , Haitian historian, filmmaker, and publisher, about the chaotic situation in Haiti. President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated at his home in the middle of the night on July 7 by men wearing DEA uniforms, some speaking Spanish and English. A hit squad of Colombian attackers have been arrested along with two Haitian Americans, but everything is murky about the assassina...

Doug speaks with Isabella Weber , author of How China Escaped Shock Therapy , on Chinese economic reform debates and how the country dodged post-Soviet-style collapse. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html

This week, Grace speaks to Peter Mitchell, author of Imperial Nostalgia: How the British Conquered Themselves , which considers how the memory of empire continues to inflect British culture and politics. They discuss how imperial nostalgia manifests itself in our politics today, the role of the Labour Party in supporting these trends, and how the Left should respond to emotive calls for a return t...

Jacobin contributor and science writer Leigh Phillips joins us to discuss why socialists should embrace technological innovation and what science might look like if it were freed from the profit motive. Every Wednesday at 6 PM ET, The Jacobin Show offers socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, the failures of liberalism, and the prospects of rebuilding a left la...

The classic documentary BURDEN OF DREAMS (1982) captures director Werner Herzog as he's mounting the most ambitious feat of his career: attempting to haul a literal steamship over a literal mountain for his film Fitzcarraldo. We discuss how this legendary saga of directorial megalomania in a world where directorial megalomania has gone out of fashion. PLUS: the complicated reasons why there are no...

Part II of our look at Amazon in Europe. We speak to Magda Malinovska and Agnieszka Mroz, both of whom work in an Amazon warehouse in Poznan, Poland. You can listen to Primer by searching for Jacobin Radio on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to support the show, subscribe at patreon.com/primerpodcast . When you subscribe, you'll receive show notes and video content,...

Professor Harvey J. Kaye joined us for Independence Day weekend to discuss how to disentangle America's radical past from its failings to provide for the needs of most laboring people. We also discussed the completely avoidable tragedy of a condominium collapse in Miami and the pervasiveness of "hustle culture" on social media. Every Saturday at 1 PM ET, Ana Kasparian and Nando Vila broadcast live...

The HBO documentary THE SWAMP (2020) follows three "maverick" Republican congressmen who seek to fulfill Donald Trump's promise to "drain the swamp," even if that means alienating their party leaders. But what you really need to know about this documentary is that the main one is Matt Gaetz, and he is a huge doofus. PLUS: thoughts on Canada Day, Alex Gibney's Agents of Chaos, and a look back at th...

Doug speaks with Joseph Darda , author of How White Men Won the Culture Wars , on the role of the Vietnam vet in establishing white identity. Plus: Joshua Adams , author of this article , on the critical race theory controversy. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: h...

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by Features Editor Daniel Finn. The guest for this episode is Ramaa Vasudevan, who teaches economics at Colorado State University. She is the author of Things Fall Apart: From the Crash of 2008 to the Great Slum. Read Ramaa's piece "How B...

Nivedita Majumdar, associate professor of English at John Jay College at CUNY, joins us to discuss the resurgence of cultural essentialism, the limitations of postcolonial theory, and what it would mean to forge a politics of radical universalism. Every Wednesday at 6 PM ET, The Jacobin Show offers socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, the failures of liberali...

We’re going abroad. Part I of a two-episode look at Amazon in Europe. We speak to Gianpaolo Meloni, an Amazon warehouse worker and president of his local union in Piacenza, Italy, and Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI Global Union. You can listen to Primer by searching for Jacobin Radio on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to support the show, subscribe at pat...

Who governs? Upon closer inspection, the composition of the ruling class has undergone huge changes that are driving this political moment. Dan interviews Doug Henwood, the author of "Take Me to Your Leader," an extensive analysis of the changing composition of the ruling class published in Jacobin : jacobinmag.com/2021/04/take-me-to-your-leader-the-rot-of-the-american-ruling-class Support this po...

Branko Marcetic joins us to explain why Biden's bipartisan infrastructure deal is a massive disappointment for working people desperately in need of relief. We also discuss the speculation that the Teamsters are planning to unionize Amazon and cover the contentious Teamsters election. Every Saturday at 1 PM ET, Ana Kasparian and Nando Vila broadcast live from the Jacobin YouTube channel. Weekends...

We're still not entirely sure what the mega-bestselling 2005 book "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" was about, but it seems to have had something to do with arguing that economics is all about incentives. The 2010 anthology film adaptation FREAKONOMICS explores this thin thesis across segments directed by such documentary legends as Eugene Jarecki, Alex Gibne...

Every Wednesday at 6 PM ET, The Jacobin Show offers socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, the failures of liberalism, and the prospects of rebuilding a left labor movement in the US. This is the podcast version of the show from June 23, 2021 with Jen Pan and Paul Prescod hosting. Cedric Johnson, associate professor of political science and African American stu...

Part I: a worker narrates his shift over audio recorded inside a warehouse. That segment was a collaboration between this anonymous worker and Freddie Stuart , a journalist and podcast producer based in London. You can read the duo’s feature article in the next issue of Jacobin. Freddie helped produce this episode. Part II: my conversation with ex-Amazon worker Chris Smalls. That starts around 41...

This week, Grace speaks to Alexander Zevin, assistant professor of history at City University of New York, an editor at New Left Review , and author of Liberalism at Large: The World According to the Economist . Their conversation covers a host of interesting questions, including about the liberal ideology, whether it’s in crisis – and where the liberal rules-based world order goes next. You can s...