Victor's Children

Listen Even If You Don't Want To: COVID-19, Health and Politics Today . . Over four years after the COVID-19 pandemic first swept the world, most governments are giving the disease almost no attention and most of us don't want to think about it and are acting as if "COVID is over." But the virus isn't trivial and it's still circulating on a large scale and in unpredictable ways. Socialist health r...

Settler colonialism, capitalism and Indigenous liberation: An Indigenous marxist view The Palestine solidarity movement has drawn more attention to the concept of settler colonialism, which growing numbers of people have been using to name the oppression of Indigenous nations on Turtle Island. John Carlson discusses "reconciliation," the relationship between settler colonialism and capitalism, and...

What is Imperialism Today? More people are talking about imperialism because of the US's backing of Israel's war against Gaza and heightened rivalry between the US, China and Russia. But what is imperialism in the third decade of the 21st century? Jeff Webber and Charlie Post discuss how we should understand imperialism and its relationship to capitalism today, the need for a better theory of impe...

Workers in the Global North: Bribed into Compliance? Why don't more workers in rich countries support radical politics? Some leftists say it's because imperialism bribes some or all workers in imperialist countries, making them a "labour aristocracy." In this episode, Charlie Post argues against this explanation, discusses how imperialism does affect the working class in these countries, and sugge...

The Palestine Solidarity Movement in the USA. Busy organizers Iman Abid, Shireen Akram-Boshar and Sherry Wolf pause to discuss where the movement is at in the USA and ideas for strengthening it. A recent article: Toward a free Palestine https://www.tempestmag.org/2024/02/toward-a-free-palestine/ One of many valuable books (available as a free ebook): Palestine: A Socialist Introduction https://www...

The Palestine Solidarity Movement in Canada Busy organizers Chandni Desai and James Hutt pause to discuss where the movement is at in so-called Canada and ideas for strengthening it. Some readings and resources: On unions and Palestine solidarity: https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/moving-unions-to-fight-for-a-free-palestine/ On Canadian arms exports to Israel: https://www.readthemaple.com/trudeau-gove...

Jabra Nicola, Matzpen and a Socialist Perspective on Israel/Palestine, w/ Moshe Machover Jabra Nicola (1912-1974) was arguably the most far-sighted Palestinian marxist of the 20th century. He was an important influence on Matzpen, a socialist group of Jewish Israelis and Palestinians whose analysis of Zionist settler colonialism had an international impact much greater than the group's very small...

What Kind of Anti-Imperialism? The support of the US and other Western states for the Israeli state's genocidal violence against Gaza is leading more people to learn about imperialism. There's more than one kind of anti imperialist politics, though. In this episode, Ramah Kudaimi and brian bean talk about anti-imperialism that's consistent, internationalist and looks to exploited and oppressed peo...

Palestine 101: 75 years of Colonialism, Imperialism, and Resistance This episode is made up of presentations from a Nov. 12 online event organized by the Tempest Collective https://www.tempestmag.org, a revolutionary socialist project based in the US that now also accepts members from Canada. Speakers: Shireen Akram-Boshar, a contributor to Palestine: A Socialist Introduction Brian Bean, co-editor...

Germany 1923: A New Perspective on a Failed Revolution (& a Poem for Palestine) One hundred years ago, a socialist revolution came close to happening in Germany. This episode is an interview with Sean Larson, who has written an article that draws on original research to illuminate what happened and why: https://spectrejournal.com/germany-1923/ For further reading: On the revolution of 1918: https:...

Episode 33: Chinese Imperialism Episode 31 of this podcast looked at the imperialism of the US, which despite its relative decline is still the most powerful component of global capitalism. In this episode Kevin Lin and Ashley Smith look at the rise of China and US-China rivalry. Suggestions for Reading: Ashley Smith, "As US-China Tensions Mount, We Must Resist the Push Toward Interimperialist War...

The War in Ukraine Drags On: A Conversation with a Russian and a Ukrainian Socialist A year and a half after Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, the war goes on and unfortunately the war is still not well understood by much of the left outside of those countries. Hanna Perekhoda and Ilya Matveev discuss Putin's war, some common political ideas about it on the Western left, the situation in Ukrai...

Episode 31: U.S. Imperialism Today Although no longer the world's unchallenged dominant power, the U.S. remains the most powerful state in the economic and political system of global capitalism. Ashley Smith discusses U.S. imperialism from the end of the Cold War to today. Articles by Ashley Smith: After Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine https://againstthecurrent.org/atc219/after-russias-invasion-of-uk...

The Politics of the Family, w M.E. O'Brien Families are political -- part of how most people survive under capitalism, places of love and support as well as often violence, other forms of oppression, and suffering. ME O'Brien's new book "Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care" is an important radical analysis of families in capitalist society and communist politics of the family...

Against the Market, w/ David McNally Even though capitalism's problems are becoming increasingly obvious, commitment to fight for an alternative to capitalism – rather than a regulated capitalism -- is still weak. Part of the problem is the belief that markets are the least-bad way of producing and distributing goods and services. This episode is an interview with David McNally, editor in chief of...

The Right vs Trans People: Understanding the Attacks and Fighting Back in the U.S. and Canada Eric Maroney and Skyler discuss the right-wing forces attacking transgender people in the U.S. and so-called Canada and how to organize to beat back their attacks. To learn more: Understanding the big picture: Misha Falk, “Neither Liberalism Nor Fascism But Trans Liberation and Socialism” https://www.midn...

About Future on Fire and Victor's Children André Goulet interviews David about his new book "Future On Fire" and the Victor's Children podcast. This episode is a re-post from the Harbinger Society Presents podcast. On April 15, 2023 at 1:00 pm Eastern Time, the online magazine Midnight Sun and Haymarket Books present an online discussion: Fighting Capitalism's Ecological Death Cult. For more infor...

The Socialism We Need What kind of society is possible and worth fighting for? What would it take to begin a transition to socialism? What should people who yearn for liberation be doing today? James Graham, Saima Desai and John Clarke join David in a multi-generational conversation. A few readings relevant to this episode: A Revolutionary Way of Doing Politics Is Taking Shape in Sudan - New Polit...

The Most Important Strike in Years: the Education Workers Strike in Ontario The law-defying strike by the 55, 000 workers in CUPE's Ontario School Board Council of Unions in November 2022 was brief but arguably the most important strike in so-called Canada in almost two decades. Peter Hogarth talks about the background to the strike, how it unfolded, why it ended the way it did, and its lessons. S...

Future on Fire: Capitalism and the Politics of Climate Change On this episode, Sara Birrell, Saima Desai, James Hutt and David Camfield discuss ideas raised by David's Future on Fire: Capitalism and the Politics of Climate Change in an online book launch event hosted by Fiona Jeffries. In Canada you can order the book from Fernwood Publishing: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/future-on-fire In t...

Sexual Violence, Feminism and Socialist Organizing A discussion with three thoughtful socialists and feminists, Hazel, Jamie and Sheila, about feminism, the left and sexual violence. How can left activists get better at preventing and responding to sexual violence? Some readings: Articles by Hazel https://www.rs21.org.uk/author/hazel-croft/ Why I Left Fightback by Jamie https://jamiegraham.substac...

Ecosocialism and the Ecological Crisis Faced with the worsening ecological crisis caused by capitalism, what's the ecosocialism we should aim for and what climate justice reforms should we fight for in the here and now? How should ecosocialists relate to degrowth politics? How should we respond to the immediate concerns of working-class people as the cost of living rises? A discussion of these and...

The Labour Front in Canada Today The cost of living is rising, unemployment is low, and a recession triggered by the Bank of Canada pushing up interest rates is coming. The number of strikes is also up, with the number of private sector workers who struck in the first half of 2022 being especially noteworthy. What's happening? How can workers take advantage of the moment to win as much as possible...

Moralism: A problem for the left Moralism -- which assumes that moral judgment can change society and thinks about people and what they do as either good or bad -- is a powerful influence today. It's a barrier to thinking about social structures, how change happens, and left strategy. Barnaby Raine and Vanessa Wills dissect what moralism is, how it affects the left, why it's so influential, how so...

History of the Reproductive Justice Struggle The overturning of Roe v Wade in the US puts the spotlight back on the politics of abortion. David speaks with Jocelyn Piercy about the movement organizing that eventually led to the decriminalization of abortion in so-called Canada and defeated the Mulroney Tory government's attempt to recriminalize it, and in particular the work of the Ontario Coaliti...