Jacobin Radio

Francisco Pérez of the University of Utah talks about the CFA franc. Caitlin Chandler, author of a 2022 Harper's article about "the next frontier in the war on terror," discusses US interests in Niger.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.

Featuring Amna Akbar, Gabriel Winant, and Thea Riofrancos on the American conjuncture. Did an era that began with Occupy and Ferguson—marked by teachers strikes, two Bernie campaigns, the explosive growth of DSA, Standing Rock, and summer 2020 rebellions—just end? What social, political, and economic terrain is emerging in the wake of the pandemic, and how should the left navigate it? The first of a two-part and wide-ranging interview.  Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig All Haymarket books are 40% off! Shop at haymarketbooks.org Buy After Work by Helen Hester and Nick Srnicek versobooks.com/products/496-after-work

When Simone de Beauvoir died in 1986, French TV news described her as a “symbol of women’s liberation,” but they couldn’t resist bracketing her name with that of Jean-Paul Sartre, her lifelong partner. Almost four decades later, Beauvoir’s reputation as a pioneering feminist thinker is well established. The main challenge she faces today is misunderstanding rather than neglect.Emma McNicol joins Long Reads to discuss Beauvoir’s work and legacy. Emma is a research fellow at the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre.Read her piece for Jacobin, "Simone de Beauvoir Understood the Link Between Gender and Class Oppression," here: https://jacobin.com/2023/06/simone-de-beauvoir-second-sex-socialism-classLong Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.

Unfortunately, there was no avoiding it. We finally went to see the right-wing human-trafficking blockbuster SOUND OF FREEDOM (2023) and had one of our more unpleasant viewing experiences. We discuss the film's astroturfed box office, as well as the reasons for its very real cultural resonance."Tim Ballard Has ‘Stepped Away’ From Operation Underground Railroad, Org Says" by Anna Merlan - https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7z74x/tim-ballard-sound-of-freedom-operation-underground-railroad-stepped-awayMichael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Sara Goldrick-Rab talks about rampant food and housing insecurity among undergrad and grad students. David Broder, author of Mussolini's Grandchildren and a recent article in the New York Times, discusses the whitewashing of far-right Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.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.

Barry Eidlin returns to guest host, talking to San Diego Teamster Justin Alo, Detroit Teamster Emily Butt, and San Francisco Teamster John Elward about the tentative agreement reached on July 25 between the Teamsters Union and the shipping giant UPS, one week before the contract covering 340,000 workers across the US was set to expire on July 31. Talks broke down on July 5, and practice pickets were building towards what would have been one of the largest strikes in U.S. history.Teamsters leadership has hailed the UPS tentative agreement as “historic” and “game changing,” noting that it immediately eliminates a hated second-tier driver category, creates more full-time jobs, raises wages, limits surveillance, and ends forced overtime among other gains. But some Teamster members are concerned that the proposed agreement doesn't go far enough to address key demands, particularly around part-time pay. Many are also wondering what they left on the table by not going on strike.Rank and file UPS Teamsters Justin Alo, Emily Butt, and John Elward, all deeply involved in the contract fight, join Barry Eidlin to discuss the tentative agreement with UPS, and what comes next.Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Reporter Dharna Noor learns about the Tennessee Valley Authority: the good, the bad, the past, and the future.This is the 5th episode of The Dig Presents.Produced by Dharna Noor. Edited by Liza Yeager and Mitchell Johnson.Support The Dig at patreon.com/thedigAll Haymarket books are 40% off! Shop at haymarketbooks.org

Tim Shorrock marks the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean war as tensions mount across the region. Christopher Morten discusses how the drug industry uses patents and secrecy to fatten its profits at the expense of patients and the broader public.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.

For almost fifty years, Portugal was ruled by a right-wing dictatorship. There was a military coup against Portuguese democracy in 1926. Antonio Salazar became the leader of the so-called Estado Novo in the same year Franklin Roosevelt entered the White House. His successor Marcelo Caetano was still in power when Richard Nixon was re-elected four decades later.Then, in April 1974, a group of junior army officers made a plan to overthrow the dictatorship. The Carnation Revolution brought down the Estado Novo and kick started a period of intense political upheaval. Its legacy can still be felt in Europe half a century later.Raquel Varela, professor of history at the New University in Lisbon and author of several books, including A People’s History of the Portuguese Revolution, joins Long Reads for a discussion about the upheaval and its legacy.Read Raquel's 2019 interview with Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/2019/04/portugal-carnation-revolution-national-liberation-aprilLong Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.

So, why do they call it "the little death"? Will is joined by film critic Adam Nayman to discuss Claire Denis's transgressive masterpiece TROUBLE EVERY DAY (2001) and how it scandalized film culture circa 2001. PLUS: What is it like to teach the history of satire at a university?Follow Adam Nayman on Twitter and find his books here.Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Gabriel Hetland, author of Democracy on the Ground, talks about contrasts in popular participation between Bolivia and Venezuela. Then Doug speaks with Leigh Cowart, author of Hurts So Good, on seeking out pain for pleasure.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.

Featuring Daniela Gabor, Ted Fertik, and Tim Sahay on Bidenomics. We define and debate the new American industrial policy, the energy transition, the New Cold War with China—and more.Support this podcast with a contribution at Patreon.com/TheDigSubscribe to The Polycrisis newsletter phenomenalworld.org/series/the-polycrisisBuy Travellers of the World Revolution versobooks.com/products/2938-travellers-of-the-world-revolutionBuy War Made Invisible thenewpress.com/books/war-made-invisible

Reports of God's death remain greatly exaggerated in GOD'S NOT DEAD 2 (2016), in which Evangelical Christianity is put literally on trial. We welcome back Alex Shephard (staff writer for The New Republic and expert in the blockbuster Christian film franchise), and discuss how this installment's relentless focus on Facts and Logic situates it in a recent but very different era of the culture war. PLUS: Ron DeSantis continues to have no juice."Ron DeSantis Has a Ron DeSantis Problem" by Alex Shephard - https://newrepublic.com/article/174327/ron-desantis-ron-desantis-problemMichael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Barry Eidlin sits in for Suzi Weissman, talking to longtime UPS Teamsters Carlos Silva, Carthy Boston and Greg Kerwood, who are mobilizing around the UPS-Teamster contract fight. Talks broke down on July 5, and the UPS contract expires July 31. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien has vowed that UPS Teamsters will walk out on August 1st if there is no deal. This is one of the most important labor negotiations in U.S. history that could culminate in one of the largest strikes in U.S. history, with 340,000 UPS workers, members of the Teamsters Union. We'll get the background context of this historic contract fight, and the key role that rank-and-file Teamster reformers have played.Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Harrison Stetler discusses recent riots in France. Peter Turchin, complexity theorist and author of End Times, explains why the US is heading for a smashup.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.

We return to a TV show that is one of the prime relics of mid-2000s libertarian culture. We watch episodes of PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT! on topics as disparate from handicapped parking to reparations, but find that for the libertarian funnymen, it all comes back to property rights. PLUS: thoughts on the QAnon human-trafficking thriller that's rocking the box office, and a shocking allegation that Napoleon Bonaparte was a bad guy. Our first episode on PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT! - https://www.patreon.com/posts/68-penn-teller-21372520 Our episode on TIM'S VERMEER - https://www.patreon.com/posts/367-penn-and-72436837 Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Japan may be a powerhouse of global capitalism. But it also developed a powerful socialist movement in the twentieth century. During the Cold War, the Socialist Party led the opposition to the ruling Liberal Democrats. Japan today still has a Communist Party with a mass membership and a serious electoral base.Kenji Hasegawa joins Long Reads for a conversation about the Japanese left. He’s a professor of modern Japanese history at Yokohama National University and the author of Student Radicalism and the Formation of Modern Japan.Read Kenji's article for Jacobin, "Japanese Socialism Was a Powerful Force Until It Lost Its Political Bearings," here: https://jacobin.com/2022/12/japan-socialist-party-social-democrats-ldpLong Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.An announcement for listeners in the New York area: Join us Friday the 14th (tomorrow) at 7pm at the Mayday Space in Brooklyn for our Bastille Day Party! There will be drinks and a live conversation with Tom O'Neill, author of CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties. Admission is free, but $10 solidarity tickets will get you a yearlong print subscription or a Jacobin tote bag, and $20 supporter tickets will get a subscription plus a Jacobin tote. More info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bastille-day-party-with-jacobin-tickets-665721048577

Clara Mattei, author of The Capital Order, explores the links among neoclassical economics, austerity, and fascism. Edwin Ackerman, author of a recent article for the New Left Review blog, looks at AMLO’s presidency in Mexico.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.

Featuring China Miéville on The Communist Manifesto. Miéville is the author of A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDigRegister for Dan's event with Miéville eventbrite.com/e/digressions-china-mieville-on-the-communist-manifesto-tickets-674432434567Subscribe to Jacobin bit.ly/digjacobinBuy A Different Trek: Radical Geographies of Deep Space Nine by David K. Seitz nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496227997

Quentin Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019) hit the zeitgeist by consciously going against the 2019-era cultural grain. Tarantino looks back on the winds of change that greeted the movie business in the late 1960s and lands firmly - but not uncomplicatedly - on the side of the old guard. PLUS: Bluesky vs Twitter, wrapping up the Toronto mayoral election, and checking in on a man by the name of Lights Camera Jackson.Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Anatol Lieven, Eurasia director of the Quincy Institute, discusses Prigozhin’s aborted uprising in Russia and Putin’s status. Samuel Bazzi, co-author of a paper on "The Confederate Diaspora," talks about the effects of white migration out of the South after the Civil War.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

William Morris is renowned for his work as an artist and designer. But he was also one of Britain's greatest socialist thinkers. Morris combined his opposition to capitalism with a deep understanding of environmental questions that was rare in his own time.Matthew Beaumont, professor of English at University College London and author of books including The Spectre of Utopia and Nightwalking: A Nocturnal History of London, joins Long Reads to discuss the life and thought of William Morris.Read Matthew's essay, "The Socialist Imagination of William Morris" here: https://jacobin.com/2023/04/william-morris-socialism-communism-arts-craftsLong Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.

Did Tetris bring down the USSR? That's the implication of TETRIS (2023), a highly fictionalized account of the beloved video game's journey from the Soviet Union to your phone. We examine what anti-Communist kitsch looks like in the year 2023. PLUS: Russian coups, disappearing subs, and further thoughts on the movie on everyone's lips, The Flash.Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Behind the News is slaying sacred cows this week. M. E. O’Brien, author of Family Abolition, discusses doing that and “communizing care." Then Jane Chung, author of a recent article in The Nation, lays out what’s wrong with the American cult of homeownership.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.

Jacobin Radio pays tribute to the late Daniel Ellsberg, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year and passed away on June 16 at age 92 . A committed, consequential activist with a moral compass that never left him, Ellsberg was always generous with his time. Shortly after he publicly announced his terminal illness, he took part in a Progressive Democrats of America Town Hall on April 9th, 2023, joined by Jacobin Radio producer Alan Minsky and Vietnam War historian Christian Appy. Ellsberg gives his thoughts on the current geopolitical situation, the continuing dire threat to humanity posed by heightened militarism and nuclear confrontation, and the need to keep fighting for progressive foreign policy. Looking back on his life, Ellsberg said, “When I copied the Pentagon Papers in 1969, I had every reason to think I would be spending the rest of my life behind bars. It was a fate I would gladly have accepted if it meant hastening the end of the Vietnam War.” Ellsberg spent decades working to alert the world to the perils of nuclear war and wrongful interventions. “As I look back on the last 60 years of my life,” he wrote recently, “I think there is no greater cause to which I could have dedicated my efforts.”Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Featuring Meredith Whittaker, Edward Ongweso Jr., and Sarah Myers West on the mundane dystopia concealed beneath the AI hype machine. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Subscribe to New Left Review newleftreview.org Register for the Socialism 2023 Conference socialismconference.org 

Our sacred quest to tackle every political comedy inevitably reaches the Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis vehicle THE CAMPAIGN (2012). We discuss what a middle-of-the-road comedy from the middle of the Obama era captures of its time and ambience. PLUS: Checking in on some of the wackier characters in the Toronto mayoral race.Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

While other shows are getting applause for interviewing Corey Robin about his excellent book on Clarence Thomas (who is very much in the headlines these days), Behind the News was there first, as it so often is. This is a rebroadcast of a show that first ran in 2019: Corey Robin on The Enigma of Clarence Thomas.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.

Featuring Giuliano Garavini on his book The Rise and Fall of OPEC in the Twentieth Century. The second in a two-part series on the 20th-century history of petrostates, petrocapitalists, and the world system.Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDigSubscribe to n+1. Go to nplusonemag.com/thedig and enter THEDIG at checkoutLearn more about Haymarket's Book Clubs at haymarketbooks.org

Italy’s current prime minister Giorgia Meloni can trace her political roots all the way back to Mussolini. But what exactly does the Italian far right of today have in common with its fascist forebears?In part two of our interview, David Broder, Europe editor for Jacobin and the author of Mussolini’s Grandchildren, discusses the rise and record of Meloni. You can find the first part of the conversation on Jacobin Radio.Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.

Hell is real, and it's really bad, and it's really important that you repent. That's the thesis of THE BURNING HELL (1974), a crackpot Evangelical oddity from the deep south, brought to you by the dynamic duo of director Ron Ormond and preacher/star Estus W. Pirkle. We discuss what this bizarre handmade movie tells us about American religious conservatism. PLUS: enter Mike Pence and Chris Christie; exit Vanderpump Rules Season 10.From deep in the Michael and Us archives, an episode on an earlier Ormond/Pirkle film, IF FOOTMEN TIRE YOU, WHAT WILL HORSES DO? - https://soundcloud.com/michael-and-us/61-if-footmen-tire-you-what-will-horses-do

Christopher Layne discusses his Harper’s magazine article, “Why are we in Ukraine?” Plus: Marcus Brown talks about his augmented reality exhibit that evokes the eighteenth-century Wall Street slave market.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.

Featuring Giuliano Garavini on his book The Rise and Fall of OPEC in the Twentieth Century. The first of a two-part series on the 20th-century history of petrostates, petrocapitalists, and the world system.Support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDigSubscribe to n+1. Go to nplusonemag.com/thedig and enter THEDIG at checkout

A ragtag gang of Beltway misfits discover how to start a proxy war in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (2007), a lighthearted look at American intervention from the combined forces of Tom Hanks, Mike Nichols, and Aaron Sorkin. We discuss how this celebration of the Reagan Doctrine from the very heart of "liberal Hollywood" offers a, shall we say, sanitized version of the end of the Cold War. PLUS: We discuss matters Pablo-matic and not. Preorder "Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality," the new Ed Broadbent memoir coauthored by our own Luke Savage - https://ecwpress.com/products/seeking-social-democracy-ed-broadbent "Fake News" by our own Luke Savage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crSeqJafFt8&ab_channel=JusticeDemocrats "With Hannah Gadsby’s ‘It’s Pablo-matic,’ the Joke’s on the Brooklyn Museum" by Jason Farago - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/arts/design/hannah-gadsby-brooklyn-museum-picasso.html "The True Mystery in James Comey’s Crime Novel" by Jacob Bacharach - https://newrepublic.com/article/172553/true-mystery-james-comeys-crime-novel-central-park-west-review Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Wanda Bertram of the Prison Policy Initiative talks about some under-appreciated aspects of the carceral state: probation, parole, and civil commitment. Francisco Pérez of the Center for Economic Democracy on why mainstream economics is so terrible and an online course that can help civilians break through the discipline’s mystifications. 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 here.

Featuring Brenna Bhandar on Colonial Lives of Property: Law, Land and Racial Regimes of Ownership. The centuries-long history of how dominant conceptions of private property were (and are) made alongside race and racial hierarchies in colonial encounters stretching from Ireland and British Columbia to Australia and Palestine. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Register for the Socialism Conference at socialismconference.org  Buy Let This Radicalize You by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes haymarketbooks.org/books/1922-let-this-radicalize-you

For over two decades, a pair of New England-based independent filmmakers have created a cinematic universe out with their friends, family, and as little money as possible. Cohost Will finally brings his well-documented obsession with Matt Farley and Charlie Roxburgh to the Michael & Us podcast with a discussion of their recent MAGIC SPOT (2022), and what it says about the democratic potential of cinema. PLUS: What is it with British celebrities and politics? We discuss three well-known U.K. citizens. Watch MAGIC SPOT - vimeo.com/ondemand/magicspot Watch LOCAL LEGENDS - vimeo.com/ondemand/locallegends "Motern on Motern: Conversations with Matt Farley and Charles Roxburgh" by Will Sloan and Justin Decloux - https://www.amazon.com/Motern-Conversations-Farley-Charles-Roxburgh/dp/B08KHRR4WR/ "The liberal complacency of Martin Amis" by Terry Eagleton -https://unherd.com/2023/05/the-liberal-complacency-of-martin-amis/ Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Tina Gerhardt, author of Sea Change, talks about the effects rising oceans are having on small island nations. Quinn Slobodian, author of Crack-Up Capitalism, compares libertarian enclaves insulated from democracy. 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 here.

Marc Cooper and Pablo Abufom join Suzi in a conversation about Marc's Dig “Chile's Utopia Has Been Postponed," The Truthdig original series compares dramatic political events in Chile over recent years to the Popular Unity period between 1970 and 1973. Marc and Pablo integrate the legacy of the military coup 50 years ago with a discussion of the present challenges for the leftist government of Gabriel Boric. Just a year in power, the Boric presidency suffered a huge defeat in the May 7 election, when right-wing parties won a majority to draft a new constitution. This marks the death knell for a progressive constitution in Chile and the emergence of a powerful far right. We ask Pablo what happened to the energy from October 2019, and we get Marc and Pablo’s account of how a political agenda that began with a focus on environmental, economic, and social justice got ensnared in debates about crime, immigration, and inflation.Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

As Canadians, we simply couldn't pass up a movie about our greatest national export. Matt Johnson's BLACKBERRY (2023) puts a darkly comic spin on the rise and fall of "the phone you had before your iPhone." We discuss the ways that this very funny film is both similar to and crucially different from such recent boardroom dramas as AIR. PLUS: the return of Pete Buttigieg, and a weekend with the world's most prolific songwriter.If you watch only one movie on Will's recommendation in your life, make it LOCAL LEGENDS - https://vimeo.com/ondemand/locallegends"BlackBerryIs a Movie That Portrays Tech Dreams Honestly—Finally" by John Semley - https://www.wired.com/story/blackberry-movie-review/Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

A sonic memorial to the Black women of the Peoples Temple. Produced and reported by Babette Thomas. Edited by Liza Yeager and Mitchell Johnson, with editorial oversight from Daniel Denvir and Alex Lewis.  Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Subscribe to The Dig Presents to find all of our documentary stories on one feed. 

Italy’s liberation during the Second World War was meant to have consigned fascism to history. But eight decades later, the country has a prime minister from the far-right tradition; Giorgia Meloni’s party is directly descended from the diehard supporters of Benito Mussolini who reorganized after the war.David Broder, Europe editor for Jacobin and the author of Mussolini’s Grandchildren, discusses Italy’s far right from the fall of Mussolini until the point when Giorgia Meloni entered the political stage. This is the first part of a two-part interview. You can hear the second part of David’s interview about Meloni’s rise to power in our next episode.Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.

Jeff Sharlet talks about his new book, The Undertow, essays on the increasingly violent and authoritarian politics on the right unleashed by Trump. Claire Dunning, author of Nonprofit Neighborhoods, discusses urban governance by philanthropists.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 here.

Featuring Quinn Slobodian on Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy. Radical libertarians, including anarcho-capitalists like Murray Rothbard, envision a world of micro-polities governed by private property and contract. In fact, we already live in their world, a world of zones—places where special rules tailor-made for capitalists prevail over the ordinary laws of the nation-state.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDigListen to Quinn's interview on Globalists thedigradio.com/podcast/a-history-of-neoliberalism-with-quinn-slobodianBuy Angela Davis: An Autobiography haymarketbooks.org/books/2001-angela-davisBuy Let This Radicalize You by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes haymarketbooks.org/books/1922-let-this-radicalize-you

We begin with a rundown of recent events, from the Coronation to the CNN Trump town hall to the Liberal Party of Canada's recent convention, before discussing the beloved comedy GALAXY QUEST (1999). We situate the film's satire in the context of 1999-era fan culture, and hash over our own respective histories with the Star Trek franchise. PLUS: a dive into a young Tucker Carlson's journalism.Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Michaela Chen of Foxglove discusses efforts to unionize the exploited workers who moderate content on social media. Micah Herskind, author of an article for Scalawag, "This Is the Atlanta Way: A Primer on Cop City," talks about the history and political economy behind the massive planned police training center.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 here.

Featuring Jules Gill-Peterson on Histories of the Transgender Child. Amid this right-wing reaction, a discussion of the history of trans medicine and trans children—and also trans politics more generally.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDigRegister for Socialism 2023 at socialismconference.org. Register before July 7 for the early bird discount rate!Subscribe to n+1 at nplusonemag.com/thedig. Enter THEDIG at checkout.

"A soy-banter Nicolas Cage Dracula movie" was too enticing a pitch to pass up, so we hit up our local multiplex to see RENFIELD (2023). PLUS: Do conservatives need "a populist Dracula"? At least one right-wing outlet thinks so!Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Howard Rodman, former president of the Writers Guild of America West (WGA), joins Alan Minsky to discuss the Writers Guild strike, which began a minute after midnight on May 2, after a near unanimous strike vote on May 1. This strike action, the first in fifteen years, impacts TV, movies, and streaming platforms across the country and the world. The last strike, in 2007-08, lasted 100 days and focused on "new media" when streaming was in its infancy and Netflix was still a DVD-by-mail company. This time, the key points are: residuals, preserving the writers room (ending the practice of so-called mini-rooms), viewership transparency (writers want ratings data and not algorithms), and protections regarding AI. As Rodman says, the strike is about a whole constellation of issues which, taken together, create an existential threat to the ability of writers to earn a decent living. There is a lot of public support for the writers, but the distance between the writers and the studios is very far apart. The writers are saying don’t use these new technologies to pay us less for more work. We get Rodman’s take on what is at stake.Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Featuring Stacy Davis Gates, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, and Alex Han on how Chicago's labor left took over City Hall. Brandon Johnson's mayoral victory, the product of a decade-plus of social movement union struggle, is a model for the left everywhere in the United States. Guest hosted by Micah Uetricht.Subscribe to n+1. Go to nplusonemag.com/thedig and enter THEDIG at checkoutBuy Occupation: Organizer by Clément Petitjean haymarketbooks.org/books/2054-occupation-organizer