Class

Michaela speaks with Ashwin, a River Valley DSA member and current researcher in Mexico City, about the social movement running UTOPIAs: experiments in providing services, education, and pleasure in the poorest district of the city backed by MORENA, the current ruling party, which promotes “Mexican Humanism” as a core principle of governance.  “Mexico City’s UTOPIAs” by Ashwin R https://socialistf...

Edward and Michaela share their experiences as long-time readers and guides to Capital Volume One, at a time when socialism is on the rise, and curiosity about this difficult but key work is growing.  Join NPEC’s current Capital group (familiarity with Part One of the text is highly recommended, but you can get caught up): https://actionnetwork.org/events/capital-reading-group-fall-semester-2025/...

In this episode, Michaela and Darren talk about socialist perspectives on archival research. DSA's next Archives Training Project is on Wednesday, the 29th. You can register here . Whether you're a chapter chair or secretary wondering how best to approach records, a comrade with a lot of socialist swag and no idea what to do with it, or just someone curious about how archives work, you&a...

This is a recording of NPEC's panel event with Aziz Rana and Matt McManus about the left's approach to the Constitution. Topics include how the left navigates terms like “bourgeois democracy," and how it should approach the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with its promises of equality and universal rights. The conversation asks us to push beyond conven...

Since at least 2015 in the US, American Socialism has been growing again, and DSA is currently the largest organized socialist formation in the country, by far. But what about the vast majority of… well, everyone else, of all different inclinations? What role does political education have in bringing non-socialists into DSA to build our party — or at least, bringing them closer to us, or not in op...

Libraries are quintessentially public goods and common spaces in the US, and are generally appreciated, if not beloved, by the vast majority. As a store of human knowledge and a free site of learning and literacy access supported and funded by the state, they often become ideological battlegrounds, especially in times of political strife. What role can a socialist librarian play as a worker and ad...

Class is back after a break, and we're excited to share what's new. Starting today, new episodes will be released biweekly, transitioning to a weekly schedule in January. We're expanding our content to include interviews with DSA members about ongoing projects and initiatives, as well as discussions on topical articles and current events. In other words, we aim to integrate more of...

This is Class, the official podcast of the National Political Education Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America. This is the second of a two-part conversation with Alina Herrera Fuentes about the feminist movement in Mexico.  Alina is a lawyer, feminist, and Marxist. She is a member of Morena's National Institute for Political Formation . Currently, Alina is the educational content...

This is Class, the official podcast of the Democratic Socialists of America’s National Political Education Committee. This is the first of a two-part conversation with Alina Herrera Fuentes about the feminist movement in Mexico.  Alina is a lawyer, feminist, and Marxist. She is a member of Morena's National Institute for Political Formation , or INFP. Currently, Alina is the educational conte...

This is Class, the official podcast of the Democratic Socialists of America’s National Political Education Committee. This is part two of our conversation with Rodrigo Nunes about what Lenin can teach us about pontaneity, organization, strategic thinking, and the current moment. Part two will be released in two weeks. Rodrigo Nunes is a senior lecturer in political theory and organisation at the U...

This is Class, the official podcast of the Democratic Socialists of America’s National Political Education Committee. This is part one of our conversation with Rodrigo Nunes about what Lenin can teach us about pontaneity, organization, strategic thinking, and the current moment. Part two will be released in two weeks. Rodrigo Nunes is a senior lecturer in political theory and organisation at the U...

This is Class, the official podcast of the Democratic Socialists of America’s National Political Education Committee. My name is Luke Pickrell. This is part one of our conversation with Daphna Thier about the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) Daphna is an organizer and educator at EWOC. In the last couple of years, she's trained a few hundred workers on the basics of workplace o...

This is Class, the official podcast of the Democratic Socialists of America’s National Political Education Committee. My name is Luke Pickrell. This is part one of our conversation with Daphna Thier about the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) Daphna is an organizer and educator at EWOC. In the last couple of years, she's trained a few hundred workers on the basics of workplace o...

This is part two of our two-part interview with José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth about politics in Mexico. José Luis and Kurt are journalists and activists based in Mexico and the co-hosts of Soberanía: The Mexican Politics Podcast . José Luis has written for Venezuela Analysis , and Kurt has written for Jacobin , including a recent article, “ Mexico’s Lessons for the International Left...

In this episode, we talk with José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth about politics in Mexico. The interview is divided into two parts, and part two will be released in two weeks. José Luis and Kurt are journalists and activists based in Mexico and the co-hosts of Soberanía: The Mexican Politics Podcast . José Luis has written for Venezuela Analysis , and Kurt has written for Jacobin , includi...

We're happy to share a bonus episode with you: the first episode of Haymarket Book’s Originals project, Fragile Juggernaut.  Haymarket Originals brings in-depth, series-length audio treatments of a wide range of historical and contemporary political subjects to podcast listeners worldwide. Haymarket Originals is a new home for audio deep dives, by and for the left. The first Haymarket Origina...

This is part two of our two-part conversation with Manisha Sinha about Reconstruction. Part one is here . In part two, Manisha discusses the historiography of reconstruction, the afterlives of “reconstruction and its discontents,” the eventual defeat of Reconstruction as the U.S. rose to become an imperial power, and the lessons contemporary activists can draw from the Reconstruction period. Dr. M...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Manisha Sinha about Reconstruction and the interconnectedness of social movements between the beginning of the Civil War in 1860 and the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.  The interview is split into two parts.  Part two will be released in two weeks.  You can now click on the “Send us a Text Message” link at the top of the episode description to share your t...

This is part two of our two-part interview with Aziz Rana.  To share your thoughts on the episode, click on the “Send us a Text Message” link at the top of the episode description.   Aziz Rana is a professor of law at Boston College.  He’s the author of two books, The Two Faces of American Freedom , published in 2014, and The Constitutional Bind , published in April of this year.  In 2022, Aziz sp...

In this episode, we talk with Aziz Rana about the struggle for democracy and America’s Constitutional Bind.  The interview is split into two parts.  Part two will be released in two weeks.  You can now click on the “Send us a Text Message” link at the top of the episode description to share your thoughts on the episode.  This episode's prompt: should socialists care about the Constitution? Wh...

Send us a Text Message. This is the second part of our conversation with Sanjiv Gupta and Paul Heideman about U.S. politics, conflict within the Republican Party, and the current state of American democracy. We invited Saniv and Paul back onto the podcast as a follow-up to their 2022 presentation at the Socialism Conference in Chicago.  Sanjiv Gupta is a member of the River Valley DSA chapter in W...

In today’s episode, we talk with Sanjiv Gupta and Paul Heideman about U.S. politics, conflict within the Republican Party, and the current state of American democracy. We invited Saniv and Paul back onto the podcast as a follow-up to their 2022 presentation at the Socialism Conference in Chicago.  Sanjiv Gupta is a member of the River Valley DSA chapter in Western Massachusetts and a sociologist a...

This episode is an attempt to make the first part of the Communist Manifesto, the part called “Bourgeois and Proletarians” intelligible for some one knew to socialism. This text is a part of the DSA NPEC “What is Capitalism?” curriculum .  Written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, this is one of the foundational texts of the socialist movement. The first chapter covers the expansion of ca...

Achieving the liberation of the queer community requires realizing the intersecting nature of all U.S. cultural oppressions — including class oppression — ties the liberation of all to the end of capitalism. Today, queer oppression is being used not only to sustain capitalism but to help grow fascism. When so many people’s personal hierarchy of needs requires them to spend their limited resources...

In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels wrote that “the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class, to win the battle of democracy.” Almost two centuries later, the battle for democracy continues. Today, economic precarity and social upheavals have led many to question our present political system. In these times, DSA’s positio...