Millennials Are Killing Capitalism

In this episode we interview 20 year old organizer Calla Walsh to talk about her experiences as a co-founder of Palestine Action US, as well as the political repression she and others have faced in the case of the Merrimack 4. She talks about why we should view their case as a win, and underlines the need for continued escalation for Palestine thirteen months into the genocidal response to Al-Aqsa...

This is part two of our conversation with Jason W. Moore, a historical geographer at Binghamton University. In this discussion we delve into the concept of "substance fetishism" within Marxian social theory, the dangers it poses, and its implications for understanding the web of life.  Part 1: Against Climate Doomism and the Bourgeois Character of American Environmentalism   Moore raises concerns...

In this interview, we are joined by friend and special co-host Casey where we are in conversation with Jason Moore discussing the historical and ideological roots of contemporary environmentalism, tracing its origins to the post-Civil War era in the United States. He argues that environmentalism has historically been an elite-driven movement, often serving the interests of capitalism by promoting...

In this episode we interview Austin McCoy to discuss his piece " ' Disorganize the State': The Black Workers Congress's Visions of Abolition-Democracy in the 1970's ", which Austin wrote for the Labor and Employment Relations Association's publication  A Racial Reckoning in Industrial Relations: Storytelling as Revolution from Within .  Austin McCoy is a historian of the 20th Century United States...

In July of 2023, we published a conversation on the Iskra Books translation of Domenico Losurdo's Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend with Henry Hakamäki and Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro ( book / listen to part 1 here ). We found the book really fascinating and had lots of questions, so we were only able to cover about half of our questions in our first conversation. This conversation is es...

In this interview, we are joined by Mary Turfah  who discusses a couple of her recent articles including the broader context of medical neutrality and the targeting of healthcare workers in Gaza. She addresses the historical context of medical neutrality, which emerged in the mid-1800s as a means to ensure medical immunity on the battlefield. Turfah explains how this concept has racialized limitat...

In this episode Fathi Nimer and Abdaljawad Omar rejoin the podcast to talk about recent events including the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the Iranian retailatory strikes, which took place on October 1st. We conclude by talking a bit about the meaning of October 7th, 2023 one year later. Here is a video version of the episode if you prefer to watch t...

In this episode we discuss the role of Black liberalism in the US political landscape, particularly its relationship with the Democratic Party. And how Black liberalism often neglects the interests of the black working poor in service of the ruling class. We contemplate the influence of social media on political discourse and the Black elite's capturing and commodification of Black cultural expres...

In this episode we speak with Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, about her book Prison Capital: Mass Incarceration and Struggles for Abolition Democracy in Louisiana . Lydia Pelot-Hobbs is an assistant professor of Geography and African American & Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky. In addition to  Prison Capital , she is the co-editor of The Jail Is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Inca...

In this episode, we speak with Roderick Ferguson about two of Josh's all-time favorite books, One-Dimensional Queer and Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique .  The former which problematizes single-issue politics that came to dominate, disrupt, capture, and destroy the gay liberation movement—and has continued to plague queer (anti-) politics today.  And the latter which discusse...

In this episode we welcome Dani Manibat to the podcast. Dani Manibat is an organizer in the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines and this article was written for the journal  Material . Recently we hosted another conversation with J. Moufawad-Paul on Settler Ideology on our YouTube channel.   A little bit about Material from their website: "Material's editorial framework is guided by a...

This is part two of a two-part discussion on two of Joy James' recent books. This part of the discussion is focused on Contextualizing Angela Davis: The Agency and Identity of an Icon   Part one of the conversation was on New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the (After)Life of Erica Garner (Common Notions).   MAKC Host Josh Briond is joined by special guest hosts Akua N and Noah Tesfay...

This is part one of a two-part discussion on two of Joy James' recent books. This part of the discussion is focused on  New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the (After)Life of Erica Garner (Common Notions) as well as a recent essay How to Live (after we die): On Protest, Social Media, and queer Black death - Logos Journal by Isaiah Blake.   MAKC Host Josh Briond is joined by guest host...

In this episode Damien Sojoyner returns to the podcast to talk about his book First Strike: Educational Enclosures in Black Los Angeles. This episode was recorded in November and unfortunately its release was delayed due to the circumstances of the world today, which have necessitated for us a lot of media work in solidarity with Palestinian resistance, and against the genocide being enacted on Pa...

In this episode Josh was joined by special co-host Noah Tesfaye and they interviewed several organizers from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) who have been organizing solidarity encampments this spring. This interview took place about a month ago, so the events they describe are not reflections of the most current activity on their campuses, but nonetheless this conversation is a useful loo...

In this episode we speak with Paul Renfro about his book Stranger Danger: Family Values, Childhood, and the American Carceral State Paul Renfro is an associate professor of history and an affiliate faculty in the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at Florida State University. In addition to Stranger Danger, He is also the coeditor of Growing Up America: Youth and Politics since 1945 ,...

In the episode members of the Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network returns to the podcast. Folks will recall that we had a conversation  with them last year on their book Breaking the Silence on NGOs in Africa .  This conversation started thinking about the situation in Haiti. We previously had a discussion with  Dr. Jemima Pierre  on the current situation and the western backed invasion of Haiti f...

In this episode Josh interviews Amba Guerguerian and Harry to discuss the New York War Crimes project and their efforts to get people to Boycott, Divest, and Unsubscribe from the New York Times. Amba Guerguerian is an associate editor at The Indypendent  and a contributor at The New York War Crimes .  Harry is a writer, educator and organizer with  Writers against the War on Gaza and a contributor...

In this episode Abdaljawad (Abboud) Omar returns to the show.   This is the lightly edited audio from a livestream we recorded on March 24th  Abdaljawad Omar is a writer, analyst, and lecturer based in Ramallah, Palestine. He currently lectures in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Birzeit University. He has written extensively in Arabic. In English Abboud has contributed to Elec...

In this conversation we welcome Eugene Puryear back to the podcast to talk about the recently published book The Black Belt Thesis: A Reader which was compiled by The Black Belt Thesis Study Group and features a foreword by Eugene Puryear. The reader itself was published by 1804 Books, and they have published a lot of really good stuff recently that I just want to take a moment to shout-out. They...

In this episode we interview Tammy Kovich and El Jones to discuss the book Antifascism Against Machismo Published by our good friends at Kersplebedeb, and described as   " An intergenerational dialogue on the meaning of feminist antifascism. Anti-Fascism Against Machismo collects and continues a conversation begun by Tammy Kovich (as "Petronella Lee") in 2019. Four feminist, antifascist revolution...

In this conversation we talk to Zeyad el Nabolsy about two of his recent pieces on Marxism-Leninism in the East African context. One piece is entitled, " Lenin in East Africa: Abdul Rahman Mohamed Babu and Dani Wadada Nabudere " from  The Future of Lenin: Power, Politics, and Revolution in the Twenty-First Century  and the other is "Questions from the Dar es Salaam Debates" which is in the book Re...

For this episode we interview Ernest McMillan to discuss his memoir Standing: One Man's Odyssey During the Turbulent '60s   which came out last summer. McMillan grew up in the highly segregated heart of Dallas, Texas. We talk to him about his childhood experiences within his segregated Black community, and his experiences organizing against white supremacy in Dallas and across the South with the S...

In this episode we speak to Pulitzer Prize winning composer and musician Henry Threadgill and the co-author of his autobiography Brent Hayes Edwards. The book we discuss, which was published last year is entitled Easily Slip into Another World: A Life in Music . Henry Threadgill was born in Chicago in 1944. He is one of the most significant and innovative composers of the 20th and 21st Century. In...

In this episode we welcome Chris Gilbert back to the podcast to discuss his new book, Commune or Nothing! Venezuela's Communal Movement and its Socialist Project .   Chris Gilbert is a professor of political studies at the Universidad Bolivariana de Venezuela and creator and co-host of Escuela de Cuadros, a Marxist educational television program and podcast. Gilbert is co-author with Cira Pascual...