(2021)

2021 Guests

20 - (Dec 11, 2021)

Economist Jack Rasmus traces the rise of neoliberal economic policy from Reagan through Trump, analyzing how financialization, deregulation, and austerity have devastated the American working class while enriching the elite.

19 - (Nov 30, 2021)

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Scholar Tony Monteiro discusses the forgotten life and legacy of Henry Winston, African American leader of the Communist Party USA, whose decades of radical organizing and resistance to political persecution have been largely erased from history.

18 - (Nov 4, 2021)

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Historian Walter Johnson discusses his sweeping history of St. Louis as a lens for understanding American capitalism, settler colonialism, and systemic racism, showing how the city's history encapsulates the nation's deepest contradictions.

17 - (Sep 23, 2021)

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Prolific historian Gerald Horne discusses his book on how the Red Scare was used to suppress Black liberation movements, examining the intersection of anti-communism and white supremacy in mid-20th-century America.

16 - (Sep 8, 2021)

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A second poetry episode featuring Janice O'Mahony, Kevin Miller, and poet Derek Sheffield reading and discussing original work, exploring political and personal themes through verse.

15 - (Jul 27, 2021)

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The hosts assess Joe Biden's first six months in office, evaluating his administration's domestic and foreign policy record against his campaign promises and against the needs of working people.

14 - (Jul 21, 2021)

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Author Geoffrey Fox joins to discuss the 1871 Paris Commune, history's first working-class government, examining its rise, achievements, and brutal suppression, and its enduring lessons for socialist movements.

13 - (Jul 13, 2021)

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Friend of the show, Richard Hollwedel, joins us for a discussion of Sven Lindqvist's searing book tracing the intellectual roots of the Holocaust in European colonialism, arguing that the genocide of non-European peoples laid the ideological groundwork for Nazi atrocities.

12 - (Jun 25, 2021)

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Health care activist Kay Tillow discusses the single-payer Medicare for All movement, its history, current political obstacles, and why universal health care remains one of the central demands of the American left.

11 - (May, 20, 2021)

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Author and analyst Stephen Gowans presents his thesis that Israel functions as a strategic asset of Western imperialism in the Middle East, drawing on historical and geopolitical evidence to argue that its founding and maintenance serve US interests.

10 - (May 18, 2021)

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Poets Janice O'Mahony and Kevin Miller share and discuss their original work, exploring themes of politics, nature, and everyday life through verse. One of the podcast's recurring poetry episodes.

09 - (Apr 27, 2021)

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Labor historian Toni Gilpin discusses her book on the Farmall Works and the interwoven stories of the Farm Equipment Workers union and International Harvester, a richly detailed study of class struggle in the American heartland.

08 - (Apr 23, 2021)

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Education journalist Jennifer Berkshire discusses her book on the systematic effort by right-wing forces to defund and privatize public education, tracing the decades-long ideological and political campaign against public schools.

07 - (Apr 7, 2021)

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Labor historian Roger Keeran discusses his book on the Communist Party's pivotal role in building the CIO and organizing autoworkers, recovering a suppressed history of the left's central contribution to American labor.

06 - (Mar 23, 2021)

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Our friend, Richard Hollwedel, joins us for a discussion of the historic Amazon unionization drive at the Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse, examining the obstacles workers faced, Amazon's union-busting tactics, and the broader significance for the US labor movement.

05 - (Mar 16, 2021)

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Journalist Jim Painter joins to discuss corporate media, bias, and the declining state of American journalism. They examine how ownership concentration distorts news coverage and what alternatives exist.

04 - (Mar 11, 2021)

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Host Greg Godels is put in the guest chair to discuss Karl Marx, his life, writings, and continuing relevance to understanding 21st-century capitalism. A foundational episode establishing the podcast's Marxist theoretical grounding.

Human rights lawyer Dan Kovalik joins the hosts to discuss the phenomenon of 'cancel culture,' examining how it is wielded across the political spectrum and its implications for free speech and leftist organizing.

02 - (Mar 16, 2021)

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A review and discussion of Thomas Frank's book examining the long history of elite resistance to populist movements in America. The hosts analyze how anti-populist rhetoric is used to undermine progressive politics.

1 - (Mar 11, 2021)

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The hosts discuss the book 'How Democracies Die' by Levitsky and Ziblatt, examining the warning signs of democratic backsliding and how democracies collapse from within. They apply its lessons to the contemporary US political landscape.

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2021 Guests

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