Left Anchor

This time we've got New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie on to talk about reclaiming American traditions and institutions from conservative Republicans who want to destroy them. Items mentioned in the discussion: Jamelle's columns on the Supreme Court, the Senate, and Andrew Yang's dumb third party; his newsletter and podcast; and Ryan's article "Will no one defend the American Republic?"

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Today we've got Professor Harvey Kaye back on to talk about a new edition of his book The British Marxist Historians, which tells the story of Maurice Dobb, Rodney Hilton, Christopher Hill, E.P. Thompson, and Eric Hobsbawm. We discuss how these guys used Marxism in their work, what light it sheds on politics today, why they still matter, and more. Enjoy!

This time Ryan calls in to tell Alexi about the Faroe Islands. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

This time we are talking utopian futures. Somewhat by accident we ended up reading two different Catalyst articles by Alex Gourevitch: Alexi read "Post-Work Socialism?" while Ryan read "The Basic Income Illusion" (co-authored with Lucas Stanczyk). We discuss the practicalities of UBI, the case for collective ownership of all national wealth, and how to get the crummy jobs done without relying on the threat of poverty. Enjoy!

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Today we've got Volodymyr Artiukh, a postdoc at the University of Oxford and native of Ukraine, on to talk about what's going on in his country. We discuss the balance of forces on the ground, why the war happened, why the left has struggled to analyze the situation, what effect Western support has had on the conflict, and what Ukraine needs in the future.

In this preview of our latest bonus episode, Harold Meyerson talks about the state of the union movement in 2022. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

Happy Labor Day! Today we've got Maximillian Alvarez and Rebecca Garelli on to talk about Max's new book The Work of Living: Working People Talk About Their Lives and the Year the World Broke. It's a collection of interviews of various working-class folks, from a gravedigger, to a sheet metal worker, to a nurse, and many more. Rebecca is one of those interviewees; she speaks about her work as a teacher and organizer in the Phoenix area, and how they've fought to keep themselves and their students safe from both the pandemic and right-wing austerity.

In this preview, we review the Democrats' record of accomplishments over the last few weeks. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

Today we've got Aaron Kleinman, director of research for The States Project, on to talk about his work helping Democrats fight for control of state legislatures. We discuss how Republicans are plotting to use gerrymandered state legislatures as a springboard to turn America into a right-wing dictatorship, how campaign money stretches much farther in a state race as compared to a national one, conservatives' vulnerability on abortion, and more. Enjoy! Check out their "give smart" page of featured candidates here.

Today we've got David Dayen on to discuss just what is in the monster Inflation Reduction Act--the gobs of tax credits, new regulations, tax hikes, and so on. Then we discuss what it reveals about the state of the Democratic coalition and what it might bode for the future. Check out Lee Harris's Prospect articles on the IRA and energy investment, and how corn ethanol producers might benefit; along with David's backgrounder on it. Evergreen Action also has a useful summary of the bill here.

This is a sample of Ryan's book where he discusses how the pandemic's economic collapse disproves saving scold ideology. You can check out the whole thing on Audible, Barnes & Noble, or Audiobooks.com, or you can see a selection of outlets where you can get a print copy here as well. Much obliged for any purchase or review!

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Today we've got Pennsylvania state Senator Nikil Saval on to talk about the remarkable fact that he got a climate and affordable housing bill through a Republican-controlled legislature. What's up with that?? Other stuff mentioned in the episode: our previous episode with Nikil, his writing at n+1, and a run-down of Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.

Today we've got Professor Roberts, author of Marx's Inferno: The Political Theory of Capital, on to discuss his debate with Martin Hägglund regarding Hägglund's book This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom. We discuss the proper foundation of a socialist movement, the origins of capitalism, what American leftists should be doing in practice, and more. Check out our previous episode on This Life here: Part I, Part II.

In this preview, we discuss why the left should be taking the threat of Trump and the January 6 hearings more seriously. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

This time we've got David Duhalde, chair of the Democratic Socialists of America Fund and former DSA staffer, on to talk about his chapter in a new book Power Concedes Nothing: How Grassroots Organizing Wins Elections, which discusses the debate around DSA endorsing Biden and the problems the organization suffered during the 2020 campaign against Trump. We talk about the state of the socialist movement, why the left seems to have lost some of its broader cultural purchase, and what it should focus on going forward. Enjoy!

In this preview, Professor David I. Backer explains how school financing works in this country. Subscribe now to hear the full thing!

In this episode from the archives, we've got economist Marshall Steinbaum on to discuss his research on why it's necessary to cancel student debt, how to end segregation in higher education, and why the theory of "human capital" is a bunch of nonsense. Enjoy!

Today we've got Professor Nomi Claire Lazar on to talk about her fascinating book Out of Joint: Power, Crisis, and the Rhetoric of Time. We discuss revolutionary leaders' habit of changing the calendar when they seize power (think Julius Caesar, the French Revolution, or the Bolshevik Revolution), what happens when someone locks themselves in a cave for weeks with no clocks, what time has to do with political legitimacy, and more. Enjoy!

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Today we've got Michael Bérubé and Jennifer Ruth on to discuss their book It's not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom. We talk about the key distinctions between free speech and academic freedom, why any defense of free speech on the merits must be rooted in democratic values, and why racist (or similarly bigoted) views have no place in today's universities. Enjoy! Also, check out Ryan's review of the book here.

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In this episode from the archive, we've got Alex Pareene on to discuss the recent controversy and articles about political theoretician David Shor and his "popularist" dogma. Then we move on to talk about subscription media, and the promises and pitfalls thereof for the left. Enjoy! Make sure to subscribe to Alex's newsletter. He's pretty much the best lefty writer in the business.

Today we've got Trevor Strunk, host of the No Cartridge podcast, on to talk about his book Story Mode: Video Games and the Interplay Between Consoles and Culture. We discuss the political subtext of game genres, why Japanese games can be so different from American ones, how multiplayer games can build different kinds of community, and more. Enjoy!

We've got Labor Notes staff writer Luis Feliz Leon on to talk about his coverage of the Amazon Labor Union there and at The American Prospect. We discuss the union's wildly unorthodox tactics, what leadership really means in a left-wing context, and what their prospects are for the future. Enjoy!

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Mary Moriarty is running to be county attorney of Hennepin County, where she was formerly chief public defender. We talk about her history in the area, what's been going in Minneapolis since the George Floyd protests, the general state of criminal justice reform, and more. Enjoy!

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We've got attorney and podcaster Sparky Abraham on to talk about the latest Supreme Court news, why many liberals are foolish to prioritize court cases, and how utterly despotic courts can be at the local level -- it turns out in some county courts, fully half of cases are about small-dollar debt collection. Things mentioned in the episode: our episode with Brian Fallon, the Debt Collective, and "Do Courts Matter" by Stephen Carter.

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Clarence Thomas is apparently in the hospital, so we thought we'd return to our old episode with political scientist Corey Robin. We first talked about how most workers experience a severe lack of freedom in the workplace, and then move on to discuss Clarence Thomas's history and peculiar brand of black nationalism. Check out Corey's book: The Enigma of Clarence Thomas.

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Today we pose the question: how the heck did famed Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben turn into an anti-vaccine conspiracy nutcase? We've got Adam Kotsko, a leading Agamben scholar and translator of many of his works, on to discuss to what extent his goofball pandemic views emerge from his actual serious work. Enjoy! Check out Adam's Slate article on the topic here, as well as his books Neoliberalism's Demons and Agamben's Philosophical Trajectory.

This is the first half of our episode with journalist David Klion on the background of the Ukraine crisis. Check out the full episode here!

In this excerpt Phil talks about the weirdness of the norms of chivalry. Subscribe here to hear the whole thing! Also don't miss his book How to Be Normal.

Today we've got economics professor Rob Larson back on the pod (see his previous episode here) to talk about the bizarre state of the economy. The labor market is red hot, inflation is higher than in almost 40 years, and there are calls from the capitalist class to strangle the boom. We discuss whether Jerome Powell is going to pull a Paul Volcker on the labor market and what might be done to ease price pressure. Then we discuss Facebook's hilarious "metaverse" faceplant in the context of Rob's great recent book Bit Tyrants. Enjoy!

You can find the first part of the discussion with Jeff Spross here, or subscribe to hear the rest here, or check out Ryan's book here!

With the news of Justice Stephen Breyer retiring (and Ryan on vacation for the next week), we thought it would be a good opportunity to post this 2019 interview of Brian Fallon about his organization Demand Justice. Fallon is a longtime Democratic Party operative who nevertheless has become a pretty heated critic of the liberal legal establishment and an ardent advocate of Supreme Court reform. The current troubles the Biden administration is having with the courts proves much of what he said to be sadly prescient, alas.

Ryan's book is finally out on January 25!! Called How Are You Going to Pay for That? Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics, it's a book about political economy, how to break free of the mental stranglehold of neoliberalism, and how to fix up this jalopy country. (And then we've got a special guest at the end as well.) Ryan's doing a book launch event with David Dayen that you can check out here, and you can pre-order the book if you like here.

Subscribe now to hear the whole episode! Or you can pre-order Ryan's book here, or check out the launch event on January 25 here.

Today we are taking a look back at the January 6 putsch -- the total failure to prosecute any of the top organizers, above all Trump, how that has emboldened them to further extremism, how a segment of the left is weirdly naive about all this, and more. God help us all. Check out Osita Nwanevu's article here and Corey Robin's article here.

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We're reposting our episode from last year discussing It's a Wonderful Life, one of our favorite films of all time, and one that has only grown in relevance compared to when we grew up watching it decades past. Enjoy, and we hope everyone has a nice holiday season!

In this preview, Harvey Kaye discusses Josh Hawley's bizarre new book. Subscribe now to listen to the whole thing!

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Today we've got the authors of Carceral Con: The Deceptive Terrain of Criminal Justice Reform on to discuss their book. We discuss some of the downsides of how criminal justice reform has been portrayed in popular media, in particular the downsides of the austerian logic that doing so will save the government money. Enjoy!

Subscribe now to hear the whole episode! Also don't miss Kate's book here.

Today we've got Smith College Assistant Professor of Government Erin Pineda on to talk about her book Seeing Like An Activist: Civil Disobedience and the Civil Rights Movement. We discuss how her work relates to the famous James Scott book Seeing Like a State, how civil disobedience really worked during the civil rights movement, how the movement against police brutality today has been sidetracked by fussy liberals, and more. Enjoy!