Jacobin Radio

It’s often said that the working class drifted away from the Democratic Party in response to cultural backlash and globalization. But what if the truth is more damning? In this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber speaks with Neal Meyer, author of “The Democrats Embrace Dealignment,” from the latest issue of Catalyst . They explore how Democratic leaders — from Clinton to Obama to Bid...

Vijay Prashad, executive director of Tricontinental , discusses the state of the US empire and the state of the global working class. Becca Rothfeld, author of All Things Are Too Small , speaks up for bigness. 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 online: https://www.leftb...

Featuring Aziz Rana on the making of the American project and its legitimation through popular worship of the US Constitution. This episode, the final in a four-part series, traces the great unraveling of the American empire from the 1970s to our present MAGA 2.0 moment. Would you like to know more? Aziz made a bibliography for you: thedigradio.com/newsletter102 Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheD...

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Emile Habibi, Leila Khaled, and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were still the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah, although the Left has lost much of its influence in the period since then. Red Star...

To celebrate International Workers’ Day, we’re offering solidarity digital subscriptions for $1 and print subscriptions for $10. Subscribers get four new issues a year and access to our entire back catalog. At Jacobin, we’re trying our best to reach millions with the argument that creating a better world requires challenging those who profit from the misery and exploitation of others. Over the pas...

Aziz Rana , author of The Constitutional Bind , describes how the system crafted by the US Constitution led to Donald Trump and has constricted our ability fight him. 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 online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html

Featuring Aziz Rana on the making of the American project and its legitimation through popular worship of the US Constitution. This episode, the third in what is now a four-part series, looks at how black movements responded as the Vietnam War and the limits of formal civil rights victories combined to explode the Cold War's contradictions. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Buy Reconsidering R...

April 30th marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. But although the conflict still looms large in American memory, the reasons why the US went to war have been distorted in the mainstream account. In this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek explain the real imperialist history and remember the courageous struggles of both the Vietnamese resistanc...

Suzi talks to Alan Wald, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan and a member of the academic council of Jewish Voice for Peace, to unpack the Trump offensive against higher education — a campaign that escalated after last spring’s clampdown on student encampments protesting the Israel–US war on Gaza. Since October 7, universities have cracked down on protests under the guise of protectin...

Quinn Slobodian , author of Hayek’s Bastards , talks about the IQ- and race-obsessed goldbugs of second generation neoliberalism. 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 online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html

Featuring Aziz Rana on the making of the American project and its legitimation through popular worship of the US Constitution. This episode, the second in a three-part series, takes the story from World War I’s hyper-nationalist, xenophobic First Red Scare, through the convulsions of the middle decades of the 20th century: the Communist Party USA, the New Deal, World War II, the civil rights movem...

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Emile Habibi, Leila Khaled, and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were still the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah, although the Left has lost much of its influence in the period since then. Red Star...

Charlie Eaton and Alina Gibadullina, coauthors of a recent paper , discuss the increasing prominence of hedge fund and private equity titans on elite university boards. Malcolm Harris, author of What’s Left , lays out a trio of political approaches to the climate crisis. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the lo...

Featuring Aziz Rana on the making of the American capitalist, imperialist project and its legitimation through popular worship of the US Constitution. This episode, the first in a three-part series, traces the foundation of the American settler empire from the revolutionary generation up to the eve of World War I. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Buy White City, Black City at Plutobooks.com S...

President Trump has threatened to upend the US’s role in NATO unless the Europeans increase their military spending. But far from just a budget reshuffling, European remilitarization massively increases the prospects for war and austerity. On this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek explain the Cold War origins of NATO, how the US organizes European geopolitics, a...

Jason Wade of the UAW explains the union’s endorsement of Trump’s auto tariffs. Sam Gindin, former long-time adviser to what used to be known as the Canadian Autoworkers Union and the author of a recent article for nonsite.org , takes a look at the issues obscured by the tariff controversy. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex inte...

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Emile Habibi, Leila Khaled, and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were still the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah, although the Left has lost much of its influence in the period since then. Red Star...

Jeff Schuhrke on his book Blue Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor’s Global Anticommunist Crusade . During the Cold War, organized labor’s top leadership acted as an agent of the US national security state abroad: undermining left-wing unions, fomenting right-wing coups, and promoting the US-led capitalist order. At home, those same forces destroyed left-wing unions and organizers. That hi...

Journalist and historian Joy Neumeyer joins Suzi from Warsaw to discuss her March 13 piece in the New York Review of Books , “Russia: Letters from the Opposition.” Last summer, Neumeyer wrote to 14 of Vladimir Putin’s political prisoners — dissidents locked away in penal colonies for opposing Russia’s war on Ukraine. While human rights organizations estimate that some 20,000 anti-war critics have...

Samuel Moyn talks about Trump and the courts. Chris Maisano, author of a recent Jacobin article about class “dealignment,” discusses class and politics. Finally, Evgenia Kovda reflects on hipster nihilism, which she wrote about for the Nefarious Russians newsletter. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local...

The Republican Party has become a hegemonic force in US politics today. But how much of their dominance is predicated on Donald Trump’s personal rule? On this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber discusses the historic evolution of the Republicans with Paul Heideman, author of “Trump’s Takeover of the Republican Party,” an essay in the upcoming issue of Catalyst . Vivek and Paul focus...

Featuring more analysis from Ilias Alami and Tim Sahay on the shape of global geopolitics and geoeconomics. We discuss: the fault lines of the green energy transition; the US and China battle for dominance while the rest of the world seeks advantage and opportunities for leverage; the US and Russia’s full-throttle commitment to fossil capitalism; the IMF’s ongoing imposition of neoliberal austerit...

Brent Cebul and Lily Geismer, editors of the new collection Mastery and Drift , discuss professional-class liberalism. Plus: a brief reprise of a 2019 interview with Gabriel Winant about the PMC. 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 online: https://www.leftbusinessobserve...

Last year, Narendra Modi celebrated a decade in office as India’s prime minister. Modi was aiming for a third consecutive election victory and a parliamentary landslide that would give him a free hand to advance his right-wing, Hindu nationalist agenda. But the election proved to be a disappointment for Modi and his allies, who lost their majority in parliament. Modi had to form a coalition to mai...

Featuring Ilias Alami and Tim Sahay on a global conjuncture defined by Washington’s shredding of the liberal international order’s legitimacy amid a panic over decline: the escalating Cold War with China; Gaza genocide; Trump’s tariff wars and militarism, and his pivot toward Putin on Ukraine; European defense buildup and fiscal revolution; what this all means for the poor majority of the Global S...