Jacobin Radio

The “professional managerial class” has become a staple of political debate on the Left. In this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber explains why the “PMC” is better understood as a heterogeneous layer within capitalism rather than a distinct class, how and why the middle strata have expanded, and what has pushed so many professionals toward anti-capitalist politics. While skeptical...

Jodi Dean, author of a recent article about the “classism of defeat,” makes a case for why going anti-woke is very wrong. Emily Jashinsky analyzes Marjorie Taylor Greene’s use of the word “genocide” and other curious developments on the Right. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the...

Gaza is experiencing a man-made famine as Israel blocks the supply of almost all humanitarian aid. By the start of August, Israeli soldiers had killed nearly 1,400 Palestinians as they were looking for food. Most of the killings happened near sites managed by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the GHF. The GHF was sponsored by the Trump administration earlier this year to replace legitima...

Featuring Alex Han, Asha Ransby-Sporn, and alderwoman Jeanette Taylor on Chicago’s left political experiment. In the wake of Zohran’s remarkable victory in New York, organizers all over the country are taking a close look at Chicago under Mayor Brandon Johnson. A Chicago Teachers Union leader elected in 2023, Johnson’s win was the culmination of years of militant labor and social movement struggle...

Alex Vitale, author of a recent Nation article , discusses Zohran Mamdani, the NYPD, and policing generally. Plus: Dwayne Monroe takes on the latest wave of AI mania. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html

Suzi speaks to Yoav Peled of Tel Aviv University about the accelerating crisis in Israel and Gaza. Though there is a “humanitarian pause” in Israel’s war, the relentless and devastating destruction of Gaza grinds on with staggering human costs. Gazans are starving and the world is taking notice. Netanyahu faces growing international condemnation and internal anger. Along with Israeli spokesmen and...

Democratic voters are enraged by their party’s spineless “resistance” to the Trump administration’s draconian agenda. But the party’s dysfunction goes far deeper than just cowardly, uninspiring leaders. On this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber speaks with Philip Rocco about how the Democrats’ abandonment of organized labor has resulted in a party that is ineffective at fighting th...

Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute looks at US relations with the world under the Trump regime, specifically Russia–Ukraine, Israel–Palestine, and US self-evisceration. Samuel Moyn, author of an article for Boston Review , talks about democracy, checks and balances, and the need for “better elites.” Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their...

Back in 2023, Long Reads spoke with Ramaa Vasudevan of Colorado State University for an episode about the development of crypto capitalism. Since then, the crypto industry has launched a concerted effort to establish itself at the heart of the global economic system. Just a few days ago, Donald Trump gave his approval for a major bill designed to boost the sector. Ramaa Vasudevan spoke to Long Rea...

Featuring Isabella Weber, Malcolm Harris, and Paul Williams on Abundance. A debate and discussion of: the book; the discourse; the underlying economic and political questions of how we make the affordable housing, green energy, and fast trains we need; and how actual capitalist social relations appear to us in mystified form as “supply” and “demand.” Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Get 50% o...

Adam Gaffney, co-author of a recent article for the New York Review of Books , looks at Trump & Co.’s dismantling of health care and research. Also on the podcast, Alan Beattie of the Financial Times tries to make sense of Trump’s nonsensical trade policy. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the...

At the recent Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago, Suzi moderated a panel about political prisoners in Russia and brings it now to Jacobin Radio. We hear from Ksenia Kagarlitskaya, founder of the Freedom Zone campaign that organizes festivals around the world in support of political prisoners and their families. She plays a recorded message from her father, imprisoned Marxist Boris Kagarlitsky in...

US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last month were a dangerous escalation in the ongoing conflict with Iran. But while a ceasefire has remained in place, there’s good reason to believe that Iranian regime change isn’t off the table just yet. On this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber looks back on how the US pursued regime change in Iraq and why that disastrous invasion may wind up...

Juliet Schor, author of the book Four Days a Week , looks at experiments in reducing the workweek. Katherine Moos and Noé Martin Wiener, authors of a paper for the The Economic and Labour Relations Review , discuss the issue of overwork among teachers. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global....

Featuring Aslı Bâli and Gabriel Winant on the emerging conjuncture: the Trump regime’s fascist and authoritarian second coming; the giant vacuum created by the Democratic establishment’s inability to act like an opposition party; and the resurgent dynamism and energy now coming so powerfully from our political forces on the socialist left. Conducted before a live audience at the Socialism 2025 con...

It’s now ten years since the people of Greece voted in a referendum on the austerity program of the European Union. The referendum was called by the government of Alexis Tsipras and his left-wing Syriza party after months of negotiations with the EU. It brought the attention of the world media to what was happening in Greece after years of economic crisis. To the surprise of many, there was a deci...

Lily Lynch , who wrote about the NATO summit, discusses the event. Megan Greenwell , author of Bad Company , talks about the depredations of private equity. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html

Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, just stunned the political establishment — defeating Andrew Cuomo to win New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary. If elected, he’ll be NYC’s first Muslim mayor and the first democratic socialist to lead a major US city in generations, one that is both the epicenter of world finance and marked by extreme economic inequality. Mamdani’s campaign,...

Featuring NYC DSA co-chairs Gustavo Gordillo and Grace Mausser on how Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic mayoral primary. NYC DSA spent years building an electoral juggernaut that has now made history and offers a model for the left everywhere across the United States. A behind-the-scenes look at how NYC DSA and the Zohran campaign did it! Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out the Summer...

Sohrab Ahmari , US editor of UnHerd , provides perspectives on the current state of the conflict between Iran, Israel, and the US. Leigh Claire La Berge , author of Fake Work recounts her journey into the ludicrous side of financialized capitalism. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Fin...

Much of Trump’s popular appeal was wrapped up in his anti-establishment and anti-war posture on the campaign trail. But in only a few months, Trump’s populist mask has slipped completely and revealed him to be just another neoconservative Republican. In this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber and Paul Prescod discuss Trump’s phony right-wing populism, the US involvement in the war w...

Late on June 21st, Trump joined Israel’s war on Iran. Just two days after warning Iran it had two weeks to make a deal, Trump unleashed the military might of 30,000-pound bunker busters delivered by B2 bombers on Fordo, while Tomahawks struck Natanz and Isfahan. With typical bombast, Trump bragged that Iran's nuclear sites were “totally obliterated." Iranian officials, however, claim the faci...

Mouin Rabbani explains the regional and global context of Israel's war on Iran and Joel Schalit describes the society and politics that have informed Israel's latest aggression. Behind the News , hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html

Featuring Mouin Rabbani on Israel’s war on Iran, possible direct US intervention, and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Chicago: come see The Dig live! secure.actblue.com/donate/thediglive Listen to Thawra and our five-part Iran series: thedigradio.com/series Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Read Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi in Sidecar newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/culmination Buy All Our Trials...

The Left often invokes the media’s power of persuasion to explain why people accept their situation within capitalism. But what if instead the system remains stable by “the dull compulsions” of economic life? In this episode of Confronting Capitalism , Vivek Chibber discusses the difference between consent and coercion, the real role of the media, and the conditions for organized resistance. Confr...