From Alpha To Omega

We continue our reading of Paul Cockshotts critique of Mike MacNair's 'Revolutionary Strategy' book, and give sortition the once over.Panelists:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessKyle - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Machine Noise Expert

A very special Emancipation Network all-star panel with Ben Burgis of Zero Books discuss the recent poor showing by Bernie Sanders in the US primaries.What does it mean for politics?What does is mean for socialist/communist politics?Is Jake actually a meme?Listen to find out...

Since we finished the book in the previous episode, we now move on to Paul Cockshotts critique of the book, some of it very very good, some of it very very bad.http://paulcockshott.co.uk/reality/polemic/notesonmcnair.pdfPanelists:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessEzri - Swampside ChatsKyle - General Intellect UnitPouya - Machine Noise Expert

This week we continue our interview with Daniel Finn about his new book ‘One Man’s Terrorist: A Political History of the IRA’. We discuss how the IRAs strategy evolved from a purely military to a political strategy, and the tactics and decision making along the way.

This week we welcome Daniel Finn to the show, to talk about his really excellent new book: ‘One Man’s Terrorist: A Political History of the IRA’. Daniel is currently a writer for Jacobin and has also previously worked for the New Left Review. The massive surge of Sinn Fein in the recent Irish General Election to become the most popular political party is the culmination of a long term strategy, which led the party from a point of political irrelevance in the south, to the brink of government. This clear example of long term strategic planning fits neatly into our recent reading group series on the necessary strategic reorientation needed by the revolutionary left.

This week we continue our reading of boss level Chapter 9: ’Republican Democracy’ and I lose the plot when it comes to Proportional Representation. This was, of course, recorded before the UK election, where Corbynism got hung drawn and quartered.Panelists:Lexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week we continue our reading of boss level Chapter 9: ’Republican Democracy’ and talk all about the need to ditch bureaucratic centralism.Panelists:C Derick Varn - Pop The Left / Symptomatic RednessKyle - General Intellect Unit Lexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Machine Noise ExpertSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week we return to our reading of boss level Chapter 9: ’Republican Democracy’ and talk all about the importance of the international and the hurdles we face in building one. And umbilical cords...Panelists:C Derick Varn - Pop The Left / Symptomatic RednessKyle - General Intellect Unit Lexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Machine Noise ExpertSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week we have the third and final part of our discussion with fellow Emancipation Network comrade Grant from swampside, and his friend David Rylance on Gary Teeples excellent book: “Marx’s Critique of Politics’.

This week we have part two of the discussion with fellow Emancipation Network comrade Grant from Swampside Chats, and his friend David Rylance on Gary Teeples excellent book: “Marx’s Critique of Politics’. We leave the grey, post-industrial wasteland of Brexit behind, and dive deep into Marx's critique.

This week Grant from Swampside Chats and his friend David Rylance to the show to discuss Gary Teeples really brilliant book: “Marx’s Critique of Politics’. This is the first of a three parter, the last installment of which will be a patreon episode. Teeple’s book is really a Marxist tour de force in my opinion, and all good Marxists looking at the tawdry state of left politics today would do well to read it. We go off on a Brexit/UK Election tangent in this episode, but don’t worry, we return with great unfettered force to the main seam in the following parts.

This week my friend James returns to the show to talk about his experience of being a Labour member, Momentum canvasser, and radical marxist during the election. We also discuss our opinions on the fallout from the election, what were the strategic and tactical failings, and a return to Marx’s critique of politics.The articles mentioned are:The Ipsos Data:https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2019-12/general-election-2019-poll-aggregate-v8.pdfThe Ashcroft Data:https://lordashcroftpolls.com/2019/12/how-britain-voted-and-why-my-2019-general-election-post-vote-poll/The Datapraxis Data:https://www.dataprax.is/tory-landslide-progressives-split LSE Media Analysis:https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/bbc-election-night-and-systemic-media-bias/Loughborough University Centre for Research in Communication & Culture Reports:https://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/general-election/These two journal articles, both published before the election, are helpful in terms of analysing the longer term sociological and class factors at play and contextualising what happened in the so-called ‘Red Wall’ seats:Brexit and the working class on Teesside: Moving beyond reductionism - Luke Telford, Jonathan Wistow:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0309816819873310The class politics of prejudice: Brexit and the land of no‐hope and glory - Mckenzie:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-4446.12329Edmund Griffiths in three parts - very good stuff:http://www.edmundgriffiths.com/greatleap.htmlhttp://www.edmundgriffiths.com/brexitwqwa.htmlhttp://www.edmundgriffiths.com/notmentioningwar.htmlBoffy in three parts - as ever - some keen insights:https://boffyblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/why-labour-lost.htmlhttps://boffyblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/healing-no-hope-part-1-of-2.htmlhttps://boffyblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/healing-no-hope-part-2-of-2.htmlThe Lewis Baston piece that nuances the narrativised ‘Red Wall’:https://thecritic.co.uk/the-myth-of-the-red-wall/Interesting analysis from Callum Cant:https://notesfrombelow.org/article/understanding-our-defeatAdam Ramsey in Open Democracy with a good overview:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/dont-blame-corbyn-or-brexit-labour-failed-to-fight-our-broken-politics/Useful Graund piece from Aditya Chakrabortty:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/14/labour-meltdown-decades-govern-votesChakrabortty also discussed many of the issues he highlights in his Graund piece at length just prior to the election with the comrades at Desolation Radio:https://soundcloud.com/desolationradio/assessing-corbynism-with-aditya-chakrabortty-chakraborttyUseful reflections from the Doorsteps of Bridgend, a seat that fell:https://medium.com/@DrDanEvans/reflections-from-the-doorstep-e4337513d909Tietze on his anti-pol beat, as usual - some very perceptive stuff:https://left-flank.org/2019/12/13/anti-politics-the-last-gasp-of-british-labourism/One of the clearest, most concise, and persuasive pieces articulating this position from Paul O’Connell:https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/why-we-lost-how-we-winPhil BC on the working class politics of Brexit:http://averypublicsociologist.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-working-class-politics-of-brexit.htmlAndy Beckett trying to positive spin it in the long view:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/19/left-labour-michael-foot-tony-blair

This week we continue our reading of boss level Chapter 9: ’Republican Democracy’ and get into the party form and how it applies to the Labour Party and first past the post electoral systems.Panelists:C Derick Varn - Pop The Left / Symptomatic RednessKyle - General Intellect Unit Lexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week more of boss level Chapter 9: ’Republican Democracy’. We argue about the concept of communist universal military training, self government of the localities, and the world of cybernetics.Panelists:C Derick Varn - Pop The Left / Symptomatic RednessKyle - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

Join us as the Emancipation network crew join me to analyse the UK election post-fight shit-show. The MacNair stuff never seemed so relevant....Panelists:Lexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsKyle - General Intellect UnitShane - General Intellect Unit

Today we continue with Chapter 9: ’Republican Democracy’, and talk about the ills of bureaucratic centralism. Panelists:Kyle - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Machine Noise ExpertSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

Today we finally start the boss level final chapter that is Chapter 9: ’Republican Democracy’, and descend into a long discussion on the merits of bourgeois liberties.Panelists:Kyle - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Lord of the SerfsSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week we welcome Lawrence Parker to the show to discuss the Monty Johnstone 1967 pamphlet ‘Marx and Engels and the Concept of the Party’. We delve deep into the history of the Communist League, the 1st and 2nd Internationals, and Engels thoughts on a british labour party and the US scene.You can find the pamphlet here:https://www.marxists.org/archive/johnstone/1967/xx/me-party.htm

We have some more terrible abuse of the Trot-sect mania today as we eventually finish Chapter 8: ’Political Consciousness’. Hail to the death of the chapter which never ends.Panelists:Kyle - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Lord of the SerfsSophie - Section 31 Commander

We battle through the Trot-smorgasbord that is the end of Chapter 8: ’Political Consciousness’. Sophie puts Lexi on the leash....Panelists:Kyle - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Machine nose expertSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

We continue our march through Chapter 8: ’Political Consciousness’ and discuss why we shouldn’t just do what the Russians did. Word.Panelists:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessKyle Thompson - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Philosopher of ScienceSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week we continue our mega-intense reading of Chapter 8: ’Political Consciousness’ and riff poetical on historical materialism and markov chains.The panelists are:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessKyle - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Lord of the SerfsSophia - Trans Trans Revolution

On the latest patreon only episode we discuss the political economy of the Soviet Union and what we can learn from the failures of the Russian revolution with Jack Conrad of the Weekly Worker.

This week we read more of Chapter 8: 'Political Consciousness' talk about the importance of a functioning international and go in hard on Lenin’s strategic errors.The panelists are:Kyle - General Intellect UnitLexi - Swampside ChatsPouya - Lord of the Serfs

This week we continue with Chapter 8: ’Political Consciousness’ and get into the weeds on the role of the international and critique Lenin’s revolutionary strategy.The panelists are:Kyle - General Intellect UnitLexi - Swampside ChatsPouya - Lord of the Serfs

This week we continue with Chapter 8: ’Political Consciousness’ and riff some more on the elusive party form.The panelists are:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessKyple - General Intellect UnitLexi - Swampside ChatsPuoya - Machine Noise ExpertSophie - Swampside Chats

This week we welcome James to the show, a long time listener and patron who I met recently at the CPGB Communist University this summer. We give a thorough analysis of the event, our thoughts on the talks, the people we met there, and our overall general impression. For those unaware, Mike MacNair, whose book ‘Revolutionary Strategy’ we are currently studying on the podcast, is a member of the CPGB. He gave a number of talks related to the book, and was where I got to sit down with him to talk about brexit for the recent episodes.

We continue our conversation with Mike MacNair on Brexit, the history of the UK’s role in the EU, and what he expects to happen in the coming weeks and months. Apologies for the fridge sounds in the background

This week we welcome back Mike MacNair to the show. We caught up at the recent CPGB Communist university and sat down to talk about the history of the UK’s role in the EU, Brexit, and why he considers himself an ex-Trot.

This week we start the penultimate chapter, Chapter 8: ’Political Conciousness’ and are greeted by the four horsemen of the apocalypse.The panelists are:Sophie - Trans Trans RevolutionPouya - Machine Noise ExpertKyle - General Intellect UnitLexi - Swampside ChatsDerick Varn - Symptomatic Redness

This week we finish the long march through Chapter 7: ‘The Workers Government Slogan’.Only two chapters to go!Panelists:C. Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Machine Noise ExpertSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

We continue our trawl through Chapter 7: ‘The Workers Government Slogan’ and deal with the concepts of the United Front and the Workers Goverment. We also discuss Pouya's ability to turn tricks in Detroit, or the lack thereof.

This week we continue continue with Chapter 7: ‘The Workers Government Slogan’ and talk inevitably leads to the philosophical and sociological world of toilets. Zizek, bedamned!The panelists are:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessKyle Thomspon - General Intellect UnitLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Machine noise expert

This week start afresh with Chapter 7: ‘The Workers Government Slogan’ and discuss the revolutionary potential of toilets. Great hilarity ensues.The panelists are:C. Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - Machine noise expert

We continue our discussion with Prof. Andrew Kliman, dig deep into some econophysics critiques of the TSSI, Marx’s 3 system equalities, and Raya Dunayevskaya and the political history of the Marxist Humanism.

That's right! It's episode #100! It’s been over seven years since the first episode in April 2012. I’d like to thank all the listeners for listening to and supporting the show over the years - I couldn’t have kept it going without you all. This week we are excited to welcome back Prof. Andrew Kliman to the show, as Lexi and myself spill our thoughts on the TSSI series that concluded a few months past and we pick the good professors brain on a number of issues

This week finish Chapter 6: ‘Unity in Diversity’, and continue our brutal attack on the sect form. The panelists are:C. Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessLexi Dog Robot - Swampside ChatsPouya - self-help enthusiastSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week we try our best to conclude Chapter 6: ‘Unity in Diversity’, but get stuck neck deep in Sect depravity.Pounding the boards with me this week are:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessLexi - Swampside ChatsPouya - show stalwartSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week continue our leisurely amble through Chapter 6: ‘Unity in Diversity’.The panel consists of the usual stalwarts:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessSophie - Trans Trans RevolutionLexi Dog Robot - Swampside Chats

This week we begin the long and enjoyable task of deciphering Chapter 6: ‘Unity in Diversity’. We start off we a nice insult of the returning C Derick Varn….The panelists this week are:C Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessLexi - Swampside ChatsSophie - Trans Trans Revolution

This week we continue our examination of Chapter Five: ‘Communist Strategy and the Party Form’ with Lexi of Swampside Chats, and Sophie of Trans Trans Revolution.We are all gonna get sent to the Glue-lag....

This week we continue our examination of Chapter Five: ‘Communist Strategy and the Party Form’. We are joined again this week by Sophie of Trans Trans Revolution, Lexi of Swampside Chats, C Derick Varn of Symptomatic Redness, and Dan, friend of the show.

This week we have part 2 of our discussion with the ‘Regrettable Century’ crew about the Marxist sect. We also talk about the current state and likely trajectory of the DSA, and what exactly it is that revolutionary communists of today should be doing with their time.You can find their excellent podcast here:http://regrettablecentury.buzzsprout.com/

This week we talk to Kevin, Chris, and Jason of the ‘Regrettable Century’ podcast about their experience of spending 10 years in the ISO before leaving a few years ago. This follows on from an episode of their podcast where they talk about the recent demise of the ISO. This is part 1 of a 2 part interview.You can find their excellent podcast here:http://regrettablecentury.buzzsprout.com/

This week we begin our examination of Chapter Five: ‘Communist Strategy and the Party Form’. We are joined again this week by and Sophie of Trans Trans Revolution, Lexi of Swampside Chats, and Dan, friend of the show.Beware. The Feds are Everywhere, I tell ya.EVERYWHERE

This week we complete our perusal of Chapter Four: ‘War and Revolutionary Strategy’ of Mike MacNair's 'Revolutionar Strategy' book.We are joined again this week by Lexi of Swampside Chats and Sophie of Trans Trans Revolution.War, huh! What is it good for? Deciphering communist strategy, huh!

This week we continue our trawl through Chapter Four: ‘War and Revolutionary Strategy’. We are joined again this week by Lexi of Swampside Chats and Sophie of Trans Trans Revolution. This week the discussion turns to war, blood, guts, death, betrayal. It's essentially Game of Thrones.

This week we commence Chapter Four: ‘War and Revolutionary Strategy’. We are joined by Lexi of Swampside Chats and Sophie of Trans Trans Revolution.This podcast is a member of the Emancipation Network, a marxist podcast network and research collective Find out about our sister podcasts and research here: http://emancipation.network/

This week we talk to John Patrick Leary about his new book ‘Keyword - The New Language of Capitalism’. John is an associate Professor of English at Wayne State University in Detroit. He is also the author of ‘A Cultural History of Underdevelopment: Latin America in the U.S. Imagination’.You can buy his book here:https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1243-keywords https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/4938

The week I am delighted to welcome Cian Prendiville to the show to talk about the Limerick Soviet of 1917. Cian is a former Solidarity Councillor in Limerick city, currently a member of the Irish Socialist Party, and is the producer of the new podcast all about the Limerick Soviet ‘Bottom Dog’.You can find the podcast here: http://limericksoviet.ie/ And you can follow Cian here: https://twitter.com/cianplk