The Magnificast

We talk about a lot of cool historical Christian leftists on this podcast, but this week we're talking with some cool contemporary Christian leftists: The Friendly Fire Collective! Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon

This week on The Magnificast we revisit the topic of violence! In this episode, you can hear us talk about Christian hang ups about violence, pacifism, we say "nuance" like a million times, Deans cat being noisy in the background, and Matt keep bringing up The Americans. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon

This week on the Magnificast we celebrate All Saints Day and talk about some of the leftist Christians who give us permission to be both committed to leftists struggles and faithful Christians. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro Music by theillogicalspoon

If you’ve been paying attention to the news cycle over the past few weeks, you know that there’s been a lot happening. Fascism in Brazil, anti-semitism, bombs in the mail and the US Army coming to the border to confront refugees. In all of that, there was also some important and troubling stuff from the Prez about possible changes to Title IX that would narrowly define an individual’s gender. Whil...

Hey did you know Kim Il-Sung taught Sunday School at a Methodist church once? Or that his parents were Christians? Or that his uncle was a Presbyterian pastor who served in the revolutionary government? Well thanks to a new article by Dae Young Ryu called "Kim Il-Sung and Christianity in North Korea," now you can learn all about that and the changing shape of Christianity in the DPRK. The article...

ok, so I can't promise that this episode is as fun to listen to as it was to record, but we're allowed a bad ep every once and while right? In this episode of The Magnificast Matt and Dean talk about socialist realism, kitsch, and the aestheticization of politics in the work of Jon Mcnaughton.

The big news lately is that we're still ecologically doomed by capitalism. We got bummed about that so we decided to read Michael Löwy's book Ecosocialism to get some ideas about how to comport ourselves. We also looked to Leonardo Boff for a little inspiration and get a little theological (sorry) at the end. Music by Amaryah Armstrong and theillalogicalspoon

Paul Virilio, a Christian anarchist, architect, urbanist, philosopher, and peace activist, died this year on September 10th. We're both really influenced by Virilio, and we've talked about him in the past on the show, so we thought we'd do a retrospective on some of his major themes to say goodbye to a radical Christian comrade. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillalogicalspoon

Last week we heard an interview with Damian Costello and Basil Brave Heart on Nicholas Black Elk. This week we're talking to Damian himself about his book Black Elk: Colonialism And Lakota Catholicism. We talk through some of the finer points of Damian's book, discuss colonialism, post-colonialism, and the agency of the colonized. Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong outro music by theillogicalspoon

Damian Costello, author of Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism, has gifted us with a neat interview with Lakota elder Basil Brave Heart. This episode features an interview with Basil over the Catholocism of Nicholas Black Elk. You can get Damien's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Elk-Colonialism-Catholicism-Culture/dp/1570755809/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537551433&sr=8...

this week you get two episodes! we put in a little bit of extra work to give you a double episode! A few episodes back, we talked with Jared Ware about Christians involved in prison abolition--we specifically we wondering about any hot takes from prison chaplains, but that was something he was aware of. We went down to the hot take mine and talked with an actual prison chaplain and got her opinion...

Do you like learning? Of course, you do! In this episode we talk through Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In this episode we get into some big ideas like pedagogy, revolutionary leadership, matt gets cranky about some stuff, and we learn the true name of Ty Pennington! Move that bus! It's the Magnificast! Intro music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro Music by theillogicalspoon

The usual deal on The Magnificast is to read a leftist Christian or a leftist who has something constructive to say about Christianity. This week, however, we're reading something really critical of Christianity. This week we're reading Mikhail Bakunin's God and the State! intro music by Amaryah Armstrong outro music by theillogicalspoon

Following up on last week's episode about Angela Davis's book "Are Prisons Obsolete?" we decided to talk to Jared Ware, a freelance journalist and prison abolitionist covering the prison strike going on right now. Jared is also co-host of the podcast Millennials Are Killing Capitalism (there's a great episode there on the prison strike as well) and a producer for the Beyond Prisons podcast. You ca...

In case you haven't heard, there's a massive prison strike going on in the US and in Canada from August 21 to September 9. Prisoners are striking with a list of ten demands (those demands and more info are available here: https://incarceratedworkers.org/campaigns/prison-strike-2018). This week we decided to look at prison abolition with the help of Angela Davis, a former prisoner herself. Her book...

Greetings from the past! Dean's on vacation this week, so here's an episode we recorded a few weeks ago. In this episode, Matt and Dean read through Marx's The Critique of the Gotha Program. Hold on to your butts for some more Marxism 101! Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro Music by theillogicalspoon

We did it folks, we finally talked about that good good book, that fifth gospel, the Communist Manifesto! Buckle up because this conversation is a meandering series of gushing comments about how good communism and how weird the bourgeoisie is! Music by Amaryah Armstrong and theillalogicalspoon

On this episode, Matt and Dean talk about the fine art of Jon McNaughton's "Crossing the Swamp" and the fine Christianity influenced communism of A.E. Smith. This episode highlights the biography of Smith and talks about what his example means for Christian Leftists. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro Music by theillogicalspoon

Over the past few weeks, we've been getting into that good pre-Marxist communism. This week, Matt and Dean take a look into what makes Marx so special in the first place! Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro Music by theillogicalspoon

Have you ever asked yourself, "is there communism in the bible?" If so, do we have a podcast for you! In this episode, Matt and Dean talk about Communism in the Bible by José Porfirio Miranda. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro Music by theillogicalspoon

We almost skipped from episode 68 to 70, but we thought our listeners deserved an extremely mature episode 69. Thankfully we found someone who can actually help us do that--Jessica Johnson, an anthropologist at the University of Washington who did an ethnographic study of Mark Driscoll's Mars Hill church in Seattle. Her findings and reflections are published in "Biblical Porn: Affect, Labor, and M...

Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea, was once called the "Jerusalem of the East" because there were so many Christians there. After a brutal war with the US left the country in rubble, however, things changed--but how? We talked to Derek Ford, member of the PSL and organizer of a recent delegation to the DPRK, to find out what the country is like. We...

God is not dead. God is bread. The bread is rising! Bread means revolution. —New York Young Lords, “Celebration for a People’s Church” This week, Matt and Dean talk with Darrel Wanzer-Serrano about his book "The New York Young Lords and the Struggle for Liberation." In this episode, we hear about The Young Lords, their 13 point platform, and the church offensive. You can find Wanzer-Serrano's book...

Continuing our historical tour through the medieval European radical Christians, this week we focus in on what Thomas Müntzer is all about by reading "Sermon to the Princes" and his confessions. In this episode, Matt and Dean connect Müntzer's radical message with the contemporary political situation and get to the bottom of just how many horses Counts and other noblemen should use. Intro Music by...

We know how much you love our episodes on the intertwined history of Christianity and leftist movements, so we dug up some hot takes on Gerrard Winstanley and The Diggers! Check out this episode for that good historical leftist Christianity and a new segment called "Answers from a Pastor" Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro by Chumbawamba