From Alpha To Omega

This week we finish our reading of Chapter Three: ‘The Revolutionary Strategy of the Centre’. We are joined by Lexi and Rosa of Swampside Chats. We are joined by Rosa and Lexi from Swampside Chats.Lexi lays bare her love for hunting foxes, which deeply shocked the panelists....

This week we continue reading Chapter Three: ‘The Revolutionary Strategy of the Centre’. We are joined by Lexi of Swampside Chats, Sophie of Trans Trans Revolution, and C. Derick Varn of Symptomatic Redness.Some of the panel get outraged by my scab stories.

We Are Emancipation Network

This week we start Chapter Three: ‘The Revolutionary Strategy of the Centre’ which deals with the strategy pursued by the German Social Democratic Party, or the SPD. The SPD was the most successful socialist revolutionary party in a major western power to this date, right up till it met with disaster by backing the German state in the WW1.We are joined by Lexi of Swampside Chats, Sophie of Trans Trans Revolution, and C. Derick Varn of Symptomatic Redness.

We continue with our reading of the second chapter - ‘Reform Coalition or Mass Strike’’ with panel stalwarts Lexi, and Grant of Swampside Chats. We give the Mass Strike strategy espoused by Rosa Luxembourg et al a thorough hauling over the coals.

We delve into the 2st chapter - ‘Reform Coalition or Mass Strike’ with panel stalwarts Lexi, and Grant of Swampside Chats.We pick apart exactly how MacNair lays out the 'Marxist Left', and we critique the three main strands: Centre Stragegy of Patience, Coalitionism, and the General Strike

We continue on our journey through the 1st chapter - ‘Marxism as a Political Strategy’ of Mike MacNairs 'Revolutionary Strategy' with Lexi, Sophie, and Grant. It all gets quite heated as I call 'Occupy' an premature ejaculant...

Today we continue our discussion of the 1st chapter - ‘Marxism as a Political Strategy’ of Mike MacNair's 'Revolutionary Strategy' book. This chapter lays out the traditional political strategy as laid out by Marx & Engels and refined by Bebel, Liebknecht and Kautsky.

Today we continue our reading of ‘Revolutionary Strategy - Marxism and the Challenge of Left Unity’ and grapple with the 1st chapter - ‘Marxism as a Political Strategy’ which lays out the traditional political strategy as laid out by Marx & Engels and refined by Kautsky. Panelists:Lexi & Donald - Swampside ChatsC Derick Varn - Symptomatic RednessEmanuel - En Forlorad SakIan Szabo

‘Revolutionary Strategy - Marxism and the challenge of left unity’ was a book written by Mike MacNair in 2008 in which he analysed the history of the 20th century from a Marxist perspective to see what strategic learnings could be gleaned. In this reading group we hope to tease out what they are and what we think of them.In this first episode, we introduce the participants and discuss the introduction to the book.The panelists are:Sophia - Trans Trans RevolutionLexi, Rosa, Donald - Swampside ChatsDerek - Symptomatic RednessIan Szabo

This week we welcome Mike MacNair to the show. Mike is a long time political activist, author and Tutor in Law at St Hugh's College. He is also a regular contributor to the Weekly Worker newspaper. Today we discuss Mikes' seminal work: ‘Revolutionary Strategy: Marxism and the challenge of left Unity’. We talk about the history of the 20th century and how, as Marxists, we can hope to learn from its failures. We will be studying this book as part of our upcoming Reading Group series, so get yourself a copy - it’s an amazing book.You can buy it here:http://www.lulu.com/shop/mike-macnair/revolutionary-strategy/paperback/product-6225135.htmlAnd you can check out the Weekly Worker here:https://weeklyworker.co.uk/

Today we have part 2 of our Anti-politics interview with Dr. Tad Tietze. Tad is currently writing a book on the topic for Verso Books, provisionally titled: ‘The Great Derangement’. We talk some more of Trump, take a look at Brexit, and discuss whether the Environmental Crisis can create a social base?You can find his writing on his blog: left-flank.orgAnd you can follow him on twitter at @Dr_Tad.

Today we have part 1 of our interview with Dr. Tad Tiedtze. Tad is currently writing a book on anti-politics for Verso Books, the topic of todays podcast. We try to get a handle on what is meant by anti-politics, and how we can use this to understand our current see-saw political scene.You can find his writing on his blog:https://left-flank.org/You can follow him on twitter at: @Dr_Tad

Hello and welcome to the 14th episode of the Refuting Marx's Inconsistency - Capital & the TSSI series. It’s the one you’ve been waiting for - this week the panelists give our final appraisal on Andrew Kliman’s ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’, and what we see as the political and theoretical implications of it.It’s a belter. Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel - from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakDerick - from https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-redness/Pouya - the mashed up Marxist

This week we look at Chapter 11 of Andrew Kliman’s ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’, where we dive into a critical appraisal of the empirical evidence that supposedly supports Marx’s Labour Theory of Value. This weeks panelists are:Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel - from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakDerick - from https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-redness/ Additional Graphs & Equations:Figure 11.2: https://www.podomatic.com/ts/b5/3f/a6/tomobrien2004/0x0_13213064.jpgEquations in Section 11.5: https://www.podomatic.com/ts/b5/3f/a6/tomobrien2004/0x0_13213063.jpg

Today we are delighted to welcome back Michael Roberts to the show to discuss the new book 'World In Crisis: A Global Analysis Of Marx's Law Of Probability', which he has co-edited with Guglielmo Carchedi. This is a collection of great scholarship by Marxist economists from around the globe, and contains a number of very interesting papers indeed.You can buy World In Crisis here:https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1216-world-in-crisisYou can find Michaels Blog here:https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/

Hello and welcome to the 12th episode of the Refuting Marx's Inconsistency - Capital & the TSSI series. This week we dismember the rotting corpse of the Fundamental Marxian Theorem in our close reading of chapter 10 Andrew Kliman’ s ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’.This weeks panelists are:Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel - from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakPouya - The Mashed Up Marxist

Today we bash through as best we can Chapter 9 of Andrew Kliman's marxist masterpiece "Reclaiming Marx's Capital". This is a probably the densest of all the chapters and tables abound like a mofo. I've included the initial tables as the artwork for this episode. Many of these tables are extremely similar and repeatedly display similar phenomena, so don't worry about them toooo much. All the tables can be accessed by clicking on the image links below:Tables 9.1 & 9.2https://www.podomatic.com/ts/b5/3f/a6/tomobrien2004/0x0_13169411.jpgTables 9.3 & 9.4https://www.podomatic.com/ts/b5/3f/a6/tomobrien2004/0x0_13169413.jpg Tables 9.5 & 9.6https://www.podomatic.com/ts/b5/3f/a6/tomobrien2004/0x0_13169414.jpgTables 9.7https://www.podomatic.com/ts/b5/3f/a6/tomobrien2004/0x0_13169412.jpgThe panel this week consists of:Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsDerick - https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-rednessPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2Omega

Today we are speaking with Maximillian Alvarez, the host of the excellent ‘Working People’, a podcast by, for, and about the working class.You can find his podcast here:http://workingpeople.libsyn.com/And you can follow him on twitter thus:https://twitter.com/WorkingPodhttps://twitter.com/maximillian_alv

This week we smite all foes in our path and finish of chapter 8 Andrew Kliman s ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’ with great fanfare Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2OmegaThe panel this week consists of:Lexi from https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakPouya - the mashed up Marx

This week we strive forward, thrashing all that lies in the way of our understanding of chapter 8 Andrew Kliman’ s ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’. The tables we discuss form the graphic for this episode.This weeks panelists are:Pouya - the Mashed Up MarxistLexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel - from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsak

This week we welcome Rob Larson, Professor of Economics at Tacoma Community College, to the show. We talk about his new book ‘Capitalism vs Freedom: The Toll Road to Serfdom’ recently released by Zero Books. Enjoy!

This week we continue the Marxist self-flaggelation by finishing off Chapter 7 of Andrew Kliman’ s ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’. We deal again with three tables all of which form the lovely for this weeks episode, for those who don’t have the book handy.Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel - from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsak

This week we determinedly continue our microscopic reading of Andrew Kliman’ s ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’ and pick up where we left off in Chapter 7. The Panel this week consisted of:Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel - from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsak

This week we continue our close reading of Andrew Klimans ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’ and go for broke on Chapter 7. Interview Date: 13th Oct 2018The panel this week consists of:Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsDerick - https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-redness

This week we continue our close reading of Andrew Klimans ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’ and parse as best as we can Chapter 6.Interview Date: 6th Oct 2018The panel this week consists of: Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechats Derick - https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-... Emanuel - from Emmanuel from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsak Pouya - the mashed-up MarxPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2Omega

We continue our close reading of Andrew Klimans 'Reclaiming Marx's Capital' and stumble through chapter 5.Interview Date: 22nd Sep 2018Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2OmegaTo Donate Click Here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...The panel this week consists of: Lexi - https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsAmogh - https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-...Emanual - from Emmanuel from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakAlex - from down under

This week we welcome a new guest Jamie Merchant to the show, to talk about his recent essays critiquing Market Socialism in one country recently published in the Brooklyn Rail journal. You can find his articles here:https://brooklynrail.org/2018/07/field-notes/Dreams-of-National-Capital-Market-Socialism-Past-and-Presenthttps://brooklynrail.org/2018/02/field-notes/Fantasies-of-Secession-A-Critique-of-Left-Economic-NationalismYou can become a patreon for the show here: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2OmegaEnjoy!

We continue our close reading of Andrew Klimans 'Reclaiming Marx's Capital' and eat chapter 4 aliveInterview Date: 15th Sep 2018Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2OmegaTo Donate Click Here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...The panel this week consists of:Lexi & Rosa from https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsC Derick Varn from https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-redness/

We continue our close reading of Andrew Klimans 'Reclaiming Marx's Capital' and stick our snouts deep into chapter 3 Interview Date: 8st Sep 2018Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2OmegaTo Donate Click Here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...You can find the podcast website here:http://fromalpha2omega.podomatic.com/The panel this week consists of:Lexi from https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakC Derick Varn from https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-...Pouya - a listener of the show

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2OmegaTo Donate Click Here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=CM23PFP9E5YYAYou can find the podcast website here:http://fromalpha2omega.podomatic.com/Interview Date: 1st Sep 2018The panel this week consists of:Lexi & Rosa from https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakC Derick Varn from https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-...Pouya - a listener of the show

Part 2 of the Refuting Marx's Inconsitency & The TSSI Reading GroupPaypal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=NnqeJJnYcZ4t9Wu76a3eRxmEhh7r0fC4mm9TBUxBMu0H44F5YjlZ-HJTyMXzk5DWtjmxA0&country.x=GB&locale.x=GBPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2OmegaInterview Date: 18 August 2018The panel this week consists of:Lexi & Rosa from https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakC Derick Varn from https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-...Alex - a listener of the show

Part 1 of the Refuting Marx's Inconsitency & The TSSI Reading GroupTo Donate Click Here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr...Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2OmegaInterview Date: 11 August 2018The panel this week consists of:Lexi from https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechatsEmanuel & Aiden from https://soundcloud.com/enforloradsakAmogh from https://www.mixcloud.com/symptomatic-...Alex - a listener of the show

This week we welcome back Prof. Andrew Kliman to the show, to talk all about the idea that the election of Donald Trump was a reaction to neo-liberal economic policies. We delve into what the evidence from the political research shows. We also get into the nitty gritty of US inequality statistics and discuss what effect Trumps politics and ‘The Resistance’ will have on US society.

This week we welcome back Paul Cockshott to the show, where we discuss his 1993 book ‘Towards a New Socialism’. We discuss a possible vision of how a future socialist society would work.Lexi from the 'Swampside Chats' podcast and myself are planning to do a long series on Prof. Klimans ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’ book as a series of live youtube hangouts. Let me know if you are interested or would like to take part. We will be getting deep down into the nitty gritty detail on the TSSI interpretation of Marx’s value theory. You can contact me about it by email here: [email protected].

This week we have part 2 of our discussion with show stalwart Prof. Andrew Kliman about the Communist Manifesto. This is part one of a two part interview on the topic. I will be also appearing on a couple of upcoming episodes on the Swampside Chats podcast. Check it out - it’s the best commie podcast out there.

This week we welcome back show stalwart Prof. Andrew Kliman to talk about the Communist Manifesto. This is part one of a two part interview on the topic. We discuss in depth the the revolutionary nature of the proletariat

This week we are joined by David Zachariah,a Researcher in machine learning in Uppsala University and a political econo-physicist in his spare time. We discuss the seminal work of Machover and Farjoun, 'Laws of Chaos', which introduced the techniques of statistical mechanics to world of political economy. He tells us about the empirical evidence for the predictions made by Machover and Farjoun, and subsequent work in the field, including his own work into understanding the mechanics of the rate of profit.

This week we talk again to Professor Helena Sheehan about her book ‘Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History’. Verso books have just released a new edition, as part of their Radical Thinkers series.You can find the book here: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2565-marxism-and-the-philosophy-of-scienceYou can also find my new patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/FromAlpha2Omega

This week we talk to show regular C. Derick Varn about the recently released 10 part documentary series of ‘The Vietnam War’, made by Ken Burns and Lynn Novak. It’s a pretty amazing documentary series, about as balanced and accurate a program about a US war you could expect to find on a mainstream US network. Even more so, considering it was made with money from the Koch Brothers. The idea for the show was to talk about the amazing ability of the Vietnamese people to purposefully act under the guidance of their Marxist-Leninist leaders, and what positives we can take from that type of organisation. However, we are quickly blown off course and end up talking about every revolution under the sun, and the problems facing radical action in today's world.Enjoy!Note: Since recording, Derek's friend let informed him of a factual error about Kim Il Sung: Kim was not in France. He was radicalized in Manchuria during his teenage years through Korean Marxists and later through leadership and involvement in Chinese and Korean anti-Japanese resistance armies. He also did retreat to Russia for a good part of WWII.

The podcast is back on track after an extended break, with many new shows lined up and raring to go. This week I am delighted to welcome Professor Helena Sheehan to the show to discuss her most recent book ‘The Syriza Wave: Surging and Crashing with the Greek Left’. She is a professor emeritus at Dublin City University, and the author of many books included 'Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History'.The music on this show was:‘The Order of the Pharaonic Jesters’ by Sun Ra and his Arkestra'Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major' by JS Bach, played by Colin CarrYou can find Professor Sheehans book here: https://monthlyreview.org/product/syriza_wave/And you can follow here on twitter at @HelenaSheehan

This week I am delighted to welcome John Helmer, the man behind the excellent 'Dances With Bears' blog. John is a journalist working in Moscow since 1989, the author of several books on military and politics, and has previously worked as a an adviser to the US President Jimmy Carter and the Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. We discuss the current state of the Russian economy, the economic war currently being waged against Russia, and the prospects for the geopolitcal and economic future of the Russian state.You can check out John's excellent blog here:http://johnhelmer.net/Enjoy!

A UK Election Special with regulars C. Derick Varn and Doug Lain, where two yanks slate the election for not ushering in a communist revolution, and one exiled paddy gets all in a fluster for Jeremy, his meme army, and the possibilities for an alien invasion led communist revolution. Enjoy!

This week I am delighted to welcome back Alexander Douglas to show. Alex is a lecturer in philosophy at St. Andrews University, and is the author of ‘The Philosophy Of Debt’. This show digs deeper into the murky world of understanding the differences and possible syntheses between MTT and Marxist economics. We discuss the problems an inflationary crisis poses to MMT, the stability of MMT and a job guarantee under times of duress, and Kalecki’s class based critique of full employment policies. We also discuss keynsian accounting identities, what they mean for marx’s ideas on profits driving investment, and the impact of government investment upon our understanding of Marxist economics. Enjoy!

This week I am delighted to welcome back C. Derick Varn to show. Derick, a regular guest, last appeared on the show on the Donald Trump Election special. I got quite a bit of feedback on that show, with a number of requests to get Derick back on the pod, to set him straight on MMT. What starts out as a feisty affair, eventually settles into a Marxist love-in, where we end up essentially agreeing about everything, and decide to get married. We also discuss the idea of a Church of Marx, something very dear to my heart.The music on this episode was:‘The Order of the Pharaonic Jesters’ by Sun Ra and his Arkestra‘Song no.1.’ by Sun Ra and his Arkestra Enjoy!

This week I am delighted to welcome Tony Norfield to the show to talk about his excellent new book: 'The City: London and the Global Power of Finance'. We discuss the role of Britain in the current geopolitical scene, and how and why finance plays such an important role in the UK economy. We also talk about why neoliberalism is such an overused and misused term, the recent Brexit fiasco, and the rise of China with it's new Silk Road.You can find Tony's book here:https://www.versobooks.com/books/2103-the-cityYou can also find Tony's excellent blog here:http://economicsofimperialism.blogspot.co.uk/On music on this episode was:‘The Order of the Pharaonic Jesters’ by Sun Ra and his Arkestra‘Song no.1.’ by Sun Ra and his ArkestraEnjoy!

This week we have part two of our discussion with Charles Farrell, where we delve into the murky world of high stakes sports-betting, his appearance in the new documentary film ‘Dirty Games’, and his life-changing meeting with a two headed calf.You can find out more about the film Dirty Games here:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5068818/And you can find out more about the book ‘The Bittersweet Science’ here:http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo22758559.htmlThe music on this episode was: 'The Order of the Pharaonic Jesters' by Sun Ra and his Arkestra'A Couple of Show-Offs' by Charles Farrell

This week we have a change of tack, a complete break from the Donald and that jazz. We delve into the shady of world of Professional Boxing, with the former Boxing Manager, Gambler, Gangster, Jazz Pianist, Writer, and Fight-Fixer, Charles Farrell. Boxing is a sport that has always fascinated me. It’s much more than a mere sport - it’s a metaphor for life itself, full of light and shadow, failure and redemption. Charles has led a life of a pulp-fiction novel character, from living on the streets of Boston from the age of 12, and playing piano in the hotels and brothels of Boston, to managing former heavyweight champion of the world, Leon Spinks. Charles is also starring in a new documentary, Ditry Games, about the corruption and fixing in the world of sport, and is appearing in the new book ‘The Bittersweet Science’, a collection of essays from some of the greatest writers on boxing, which is due out early next year from the University of Chicago Press.You can find out more about the film Dirty Games here:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5068818/And you can find out more about the book ‘The Bittersweet Science’ here:http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo22758559.htmlThe music on this episode was: 'The Order of the Pharaonic Jesters' by Sun Ra and his Arkestra'I Love This Place' by Charles Farrell

In a first for the podcast, we do a live hangout with Doug Lain and C. Derick Varn to talk about todays Donald Trump election victory. We discuss race, gender, geo-politics, the falling rate of profit, economic stimulus, and manage to disagree and agree on absolutely everything. Enjoy!

After an unplanned hiatus, I am delighted to welcome back Michael Roberts to the show. Michael has a new book just out, called ‘The Long Depression: How it happened, why it happened, and what happens next’. We discuss the main thesis of the book - the idea of a long depression, the problems with Keynesian accounting identities, the hopes for a capitalist revival, and chances of a breakdown.You can find Michael’s blog here:https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/You can buy his book here:https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/693-the-long-depressionThe music on this episode was: 'The Order of the Pharaonic Jesters' by Sun Ra and his Arkestra'No Woman' by WhitneyEnjoy!