The Socialist Program

We continue a series of discussions about the basics of  Marxism, focusing today on the corporate-owned media. The majority of  the media in the United States is owned by five giant corporations --  What does this tell us about the so-called “free press”? Richard  Wolff is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work and the  author of many books, the latest being...

Today's episode covers the struggle to stop the  impending massive wave of evictions. After public outrage and protest,  including a sit-in outside Congress led by Rep. Cori Bush, Biden  relented and extended the eviction moratorium. Brian is joined by Lee Camp, host of the TV show Redacted Tonight and author of the book Bullet Points & Punch Lines. Please make an urgently-neede...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker,  Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how the  Democratic Party leadership in Congress and the Biden administration are  failing to act in the face of impending mass evictions. They also  discuss the grassroots movement against evictions -- including the  sit-in outside Congress by Rep. Cori Bush, the...

As the U.S. war machine ramps up aggression towards  China, understanding the history of the country's engagement with the  world is more crucial than ever. This multi-part series takes an  in-depth look at the history of China's foreign policy since the 1949  revolution brought the Communist Party to power. This series is  now seamlessly combined into this one episode fil...

Today's episode is the seventh in a multi-part series  that takes an in-depth look at the history of China's foreign policy.  During the Obama administration, US imperialism adopts the "Pivot to  Asia" strategy and makes China its top target. At the same time, Xi  Jinping becomes China's president and navigates China's rise. Brian  is joined by Kenneth Hammond, a Professor...

Today we continue a series of discussions about the basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing the world used by many of the great revolutionaries of modern history. Brian and Prof. Wolff discuss rent, evictions and social programs under capitalism. With the CDC’s eviction moratorium set to expire, millions are now facing homelessness because they cannot pay rent. And why do gover...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker,  Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how people in  Cuba and their supporters around the world are stepping up  mobilizations in defense of the country’s independence as the U.S.  government announces more sanctions. They also discuss the legacy of  civil rights legend Bob Moses, the renewed spread o...

In this July 2021 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew discuss the role of the CIA in media, the lies in the mainstream media, and the role of alternative media. Brian discusses the current moment in Cuba and the history of the revolution, as well as stories from the fight for the release of the Cuban Five. Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to hear the...

Today's episode is the sixth in a multi-part series that  takes an in-depth look at the history of China's foreign policy. In  1997, China achieves another milestone in its long struggle to unify the  country and end foreign domination -- the return of the city of Hong  Kong to Chinese sovereignty. Meanwhile, China's economic growth  accelerates as the country plays a bigg...

Today we continue a series of discussions about the basics of Marxism —  a method for understanding and changing the world used by many of the  great revolutionaries of modern history. Brian and Prof. Wolff discuss  how oil is essential to the functioning  of the global capitalist economy. They cover how capitalists have  ferociously competed over the years to control...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how the people of Cuba demonstrated in support of their revolution and government over the weekend, new environmental disasters brought about by climate change, efforts to prohibit the teaching of the history of racism in America, a new global spying scandal involving an Israeli company, a...

Today's episode is the fifth in a multi-part series that  takes an in-depth look at the history of China's foreign policy. In the  aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, China found itself  internationally isolated and subjected to harsh new economic sanctions.  Then in 1992, Deng Xiaoping launches the "Southern Tour", culminating in  the dramatic deepening of ma...

Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff continue a  discussion on the Marxist understanding of the housing market, today  focusing on the system of rent and the current crisis resulting from  soaring rents. Today's episode is also part of a series of discussions  about the basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing  the world used by many of the great revolut...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker,  Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how the U.S.  government and corporate media are hoping for regime change in Cuba, but  the Cuban people and government are mobilizing to defend their  revolution in spite of the severe hardships caused by the U.S. blockade.  They also discuss the political crisis...

Today's episode is the fourth in a multi-part series that takes an in-depth look at the history of China's foreign policy. At a time when U.S. imperialism seemed to be in complete and utter decline  following its defeat in Southeast Asia, and with revolution spreading from Africa to Iran to Nicaragua, the United States enters into a de-facto alliance with China and facilit...

Brian Becker and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the Marxist understanding of the real estate market and how the speculative nature of this capitalist market leads to tragedies like the deadly Miami condo collapse. They also discuss the concept and experience of social housing as an alternative to private capitalist housing.  Richard Wolff is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work a...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss how activists trying to defend the environment are being sent to prison for many years and Indigenous communities and frontline water protectors are being targeted with vicious repression. They also discuss voting rights, the indictment of the Trump Organization, the death of war criminal...

On today's episode, we discuss the hidden history of the revolutionary class struggle that brought down the system of slavery in America, an accomplishment celebrated by the Juneteenth holiday. The military defeat of the confederacy -- accomplished thanks to the heroic intervention of hundreds of thousands of Black soldiers in the war -- ushered in a new era that sent shockwaves around the world....

In this June 2021 patrons-only seminar, Brian and the crew discuss the  Communist Party of China and other communist parties in power, the union  movement today and how to organize with unions, a behind the scenes  look at the struggle to end the Vietnam War, nationalism and national  liberation, and more. Check out the preview now and subscribe at patreon.com/thesocialistprogr...

Today we continue a series of discussions about the  basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing the world used by many of the great revolutionaries of modern history. We discus the Marxist understanding of the so-called gig economy. More and more workers are forced to make ends meet driving for Lyft or Uber, delivering food or an ever expanding number of irregular jobs. But f...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss the election of a socialist in the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, New York, a series of dramatic reversals by the Biden administration over infrastructure, injustices in the prison system, the sentencing of convicted murderer Derek Chauvin, U.S. airstrikes attacking Iraq and Syri...

Over the past month, the U.S. media and the Biden administration have sought to give credence to the conspiracy theory first advanced by Trump that the COVID-19 virus emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Last month, Biden breathed new life into this notion when he ordered intelligence agencies to redouble their efforts to determine whether the virus came from a lab and to report...

Today we continue a series of discussions about the basics of Marxism — a method for understanding and changing the world used by many of the great revolutionaries of modern history. We discuss the Marxist understanding of the role played by stock markets in capitalism. How has the function of stock markets evolved over the years, and how do they contribute to today’s exploding wealth inequality?...

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Esther Iverem, Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek discuss growing inequality, the Juneteenth holiday, the New York City mayoral race, Joe Manchin's war on the working class, far right calls for a coup in Peru, the Biden-Putin summit, and more. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at...

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the publication by The New York Times of excerpts of the Pentagon Papers — 7,000 pages of top-secret documents. These documents proved that the government of the United States had been lying to the people of this country for decades about a war that eventually ended with a U.S. withdrawal -- but only after millions of Vietnamese had been killed, 58,000 U.S....