Victor's Children

The Politics of War from Ukraine to Canada A discussion with Olena Lyubchenko and Dru Oja Jay about Ukraine in the years before Russia's invasion, the impact of the war on politics in so-called Canada, and what the left should do in relation to the war. To learn more: Olena Lyubchenko, On the Frontier of Whiteness? Expropriation, War, and Social Reproduction in Ukraine https://lefteast.org/frontie...

Anti-racism and Socialism The problems with liberal responses to racism are no reason to dismiss or downplay the importance of anti-racist struggle as some on the left do. A discussion with Sharmeen Khan and Teddy Zegeye-Gebrehiwot on the politics of representation, multiculturalism, allyship and other aspects of anti-racist politics from socialist perspectives. Some writings referred to in this e...

The Anti-Girlboss Socialist Club This episode is an interview with Paniz and Tamsyn, the hosts of the socialist-feminist podcast The Anti-Girlboss Socialist Club (https://harbingermedianetwork.com/show/the-anti-girlboss-socialist-club/). They discuss topics covered in two episodes of AGSC: the “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Industry” and sexual violence programs at universities. Sources mentione...

Understanding Russia Today, w/ Simon Pirani Anyone trying to understand Russia in the context of the war unleashed by Putin and co. on Ukraine will find little of use in the mainstream media, and a lot of left media isn't much better. This episode presents an interview with Simon Pirani about capitalism and politics in Russia today. Simon has written extensively on contemporary Russia as well as o...

The Far Right Mobilizes & Workplace Organizing at Canada Post The far right-led action in Ottawa against pandemic public health measures was the largest mobilization by the far right in so-called Canada since the 1930s, so this episode opens with analysis from Todd Gordon. Next is an interview with Edmonton CUPW organizer Roland Schmidt about building workplace power among postal workers in that c...

The Politics of the Pandemic A discussion with Nora Loreto, Daniel Sarah Karasik and Corvin Russell about the politics of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Canadian state, how the NDP and the radical left have responded, and the politics we need going forward. Nora Loreto (@nolore)'s new book Spin Doctors: How Media and Politicians Misdiagnosed the COVID-19 Pandemic. https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/...

Transgender Liberation, Transgender Marxism An interview with Jules Joanne Gleason, co-editor of Transgender Marxism, about gender, the politics of trans liberation and their universal implications, and transgender marxism. If you're unfamiliar with the subject of this episode, this is worth reading: Notes on women, men, trans and intersex: "the gender binary does not fit the facts" https://www.rs...

China Today & the Politics of China in Canada w/ Ralf Ruckus and Vincent Wong China's growing power in the world and the worsening rivalry between "Western" states and China make it ever-more important for leftists to understand China. This episode presents an interview with Ralf Ruckus, author of the new book The Communist Road to Capitalism: How Social Unrest and Containment Have Pushed China's...

Imperialism, w/ Todd Gordon An interview with Todd Gordon about imperialism today and Canadian imperialism. This is a rerelease of a recent episode of the Solidarity Winnipeg Podcast. Some of Todd's writing on imperialism: Todd Gordon, Imperialist Canada https://arpbooks.org/Books/I/Imperialist-Canada Todd Gordon and Jeffery Webber, Blood of Extraction https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/blood-of-e...

Dialectics Demystified, w/ David McNally Marxism is usually associated with the concept of dialectics, but what is dialectics? Is Marxist theory "dialectical materialism"? Should dialectics be rejected as "unscientific," as mainstream academics argue? Or should it be discarded as part of European Enlightenment ideology that makes false claims to universal truth, as others claim? David McNally disc...

Is The Enemy of My Enemy My Friend? Campism and Emancipatory Politics Today, w/Barnaby Raine In recent years the influence of "campist" politics within the left has grown. Barnaby Raine goes beyond explaining what's wrong with campism by explaining why its influence has grown and discussing what this says about our times and some implications for emancipatory politics today. Background reading: Jo...

Should Socialists Take Union Staff Jobs? Katherine Grzejszczak, Gene McGuckin and Sherry Wolf, three socialists with a lot of union experience, discuss this question. If you want to learn more: Kim Moody's writing on "the rank-and-file strategy" is a must-read for socialists. For a start, check out "In Defense of the Rank-and-File Strategy" https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/06/rank-and-file-strategy...

In this episode, Alex de Jong discusses Stalinist politics, including Maoism, outside the so-called "Communist" societies, and why it's still important to understand them today. If you haven't listened to Episode 3: Stalinism and the Future of Socialism (Part I), which deals with the history of the USSR and China, you might want to listen to that first. By Alex de Jong: "The Philippine Left in a C...

An interview with Harsha Walia about the politics of Canadian nationalism, including left-nationalism, followed by a discussion about Midnight Sun, a new online magazine, with Daniel Sarah Karasik, Lina Nasr El Hag Ali, and David. Harsha Walia's Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism and the Rise of Racist Nationalism https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/border-and-rule Midnight Sun https://w...

May 2021 marks the centenary of the formation of the Communist Party of Canada (CPC), so David interviews marxist historian Bryan Palmer about the CPC's history. If you want to read about the CPC: David Camfield, "The History and Politics of the Communist Party of Canada: An Overview" https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/the-history-and-politics-communist-party-of-canada Ian Angus, Canadia...

Stalinism and the Future of Socialism (Part I) At the end of the 1920s a new social order emerged in the USSR. This Stalinist model later became the basis for reorganizing society in a series of other countries. It was criticized by anti-communists and supported by many people on the left, but other socialists challenged the claim that this was socialism. How socialists today understand what happe...

What is class struggle? Why does it matter? What's happened to class struggle in Canada? What are the implications for socialists? A discussion of these and other questions with Kate Jacobson (Alberta Advantage podcast, in Calgary) and John Clarke (former organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, in Toronto). Email: victorschildren at gmail.com Subscribe: https://pod.link/1556511995 Al...

Victor's Children is named after Victor Serge, so in this first episode David introduces the podcast and interviews Suzi Weissman, author of the political biography Victor Serge: The Course is Set on Hope, about this socialist fighter and writer and why Serge matters today. https://www.versobooks.com/authors/1615-susan-weissman