Left Anchor

We've got Mike on to discuss Freedom from the Market, a great book that examines how the "free" market has in fact been a source of tyranny and oppression throughout American history, and how Americans have mobilized in many since-forgotten ways to expand their freedom by protecting themselves from the market. Enjoy!

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Today we are hoisting up an episode from the archives in celebration of MLK Day. We discuss King's advocacy of democratic socialism and his argument that civil rights were inadequate without an equal share of economic production. Then we turn to his foreign policy views, including his speech attacking the Vietnam War, and how his argument for a brotherhood of nations is more vital than ever in the age of climate change. The MLK Nation article "Let Justice Roll Down" can be found here.

Today we're bringing back Peter Cole to talk about the second edition of his book Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly. Fletcher was one of the most impressive labor organizers of the early 20th century -- a guy who successfully organized the very diverse workforce of the Philadelphia docks into one of the keystone unions of the IWW. If you've heard of Fred Hampton, you should know about him. Enjoy!

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Alexi is out, so Ryan briefly discusses how the coronavirus pandemic blows apart the conservative/libertarian conception of freedom, and illustrates the value of a socialist version of same. Hope you all had a good holiday, and enjoy!

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Thanks to popular demand, we are unlocking this one for everyone. We couldn't decide how we wanted to tackle such a gigantic book, so we decided we'd each pick out 10 quotes that drove us furthest up the wall, and talk about them. Enjoy! Support the show here!

Today we are talking with Steven Klein, a professor of political theory at King's College London, about his book The Work of Politics. How does the welfare state interact with traditional conceptions of political activity and struggle? Klein has complex and interesting answers to this question. Enjoy!

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Today we've got philosopher David Livingstone Smith on to discuss his book On Inhumanity. We discuss how people can come to believe others are less than human, how that is related to various atrocities, whether the entire idea of "races" should be abolished, and more. Enjoy!

What happens after Trump? We've got The New Republic's Osita Nwanevu on to discuss his recent article on why the left should take to the streets immediately, broader questions of political possibility, how American democracy might be defended, and more. Enjoy!

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Today we've got Matt Sitman, who is co-host of the excellent Know Your Enemy podcast, associate editor at Commonweal, and editorial board member of Dissent, on to discuss the quite remarkable papal encyclical from a few weeks ago. We talk the politics of Catholicism, how Pope Francis relates to his predecessors, how to live well in such a terrible age, and more. Enjoy!

On this episode we discuss the LARB symposium on Martin Hägglund's book This Life. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

Today we've got Professor Robert Vitalis on to discuss his book Oilcraft, and how a mistaken understanding of how the oil supply works has bedeviled both imperialists and anti-imperialists. Enjoy! PS: Alas, despite our best efforts we once again had a few audio glitches, thanks it seems this time to internet connection problems. Apologies!

In the second half of our latest bonus episode we discuss the presidential debate, the Amy Coney Barrett nomination, and judicial theories of originalism. Subscribe now to hear the whole thing!

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Today we've got Daniel Bessner, University of Washington professor and recently inaugurated Foreign Exchanges columnist, on to discuss various foreign policy topics: the motivations and functioning of the American empire, how we should think about China regarding the Uyghur abuses and climate change, and how one might go about rolling back the imperial system. Enjoy!

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Today we've got Marshall Steinbaum from the University of Utah to discuss whether socialism and antitrust (or antimonopoly) inherently trade off, or can complement each other. The Gabriel Winant review of Goliath we discuss can be found here. Enjoy! PS: Unfortunately we had some more technical glitches during recording. Apologies, but everything should be reasonably comprehensible.

Today we've got Professor Harvey Kaye on to discuss his book The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great. We discuss the radical content of this doctrine, how the Democratic Party has forgotten its own history, and how the "Greatest Generation" has been sanitized by morons like Tom Brokaw. Enjoy!

Today we've got Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on to talk about his new book, Healing Politics. We discuss the coronavirus pandemic, health care reform, the experience growing up in an immigrant community, what he's learned from his faith, and more. Enjoy!

Today we've got political philosopher Meena Krishnamurthy on to talk about her writings on Martin Luther King, Jr. We discuss distrust and solidarity, how individualism strangles American government, how his thought bears on the Black Lives Matter movement, and more. Enjoy! Her article on the democratic value of distrust can be found here. (PS: Apologies for the occasionally scratchy audio, there was an unnoticed problem during recording. Alas, bit of an occupational hazard for podcasters during quarantine.)

We discuss Peter Beinart's argument that black politicians can't be as progressive as white ones in this preview. To hear the whole thing, subscribe here!

Today we've got Dave Dayen of The American Prospect on to talk about his new book Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power. Enjoy!

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Here we've got Tobi Olowe, host of the Impressions of America podcast, on to talk about the life and legacy of Ayn Rand, and her eponymous institute's decision to get on the coronavirus welfare train. Enjoy! PS: The very funny Whittaker Chambers review of Atlas Shrugged can be found here.

Subscribe here to listen to our full discussion of Martin Hägglund's book This Life.

Today we've got an interview with Bill Humphrey, a city councilor for Newton, Massachusetts. We ask him about how he got into politics, how he ran his successful campaign, and what it's like being a leftist in government during pandemic times. Enjoy! You can find Bill's radio show Arsenal for Democracy here.

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Today we've got Arati Kreibich, who is running in the Democratic primary for New Jersey's 5th District against Josh Gottheimer, one of the most pro-Trump Democrats in the House. (New Jersey voters take note, the primary is July 7.) Enjoy!

Today we continue our discussion of what a post-police society might look like with David Kaib, who has taught some DC DSA night school classes on the subject. Links to articles we mentioned: Ryan on the Nordic style of policing, Alex Vitale's book The End of Policing, and this Jacobin article on the abolition of police and prisons. Enjoy!

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Today we've got Nikil Saval, candidate for the upcoming primary in the Pennsylvania First Senate District on June 2nd. We talk about how he got into organizing and politics, what it's like interacting with the Philadelphia Democratic machine, his advice for others considering a run for office, and more. Enjoy!

We've got journalist Zach Carter on to talk about his new book The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes -- an intellectual biography that he's been working on for years. We talk about Keynes' fascinating personal life, the development of Keynesian doctrine, and how "bastard Keynesianism" stripped of most of its interesting elements took root in American economics departments. Enjoy!

We've got David Dayen, the executive editor of the The American Prospect, on to discuss his latest coverage of the pandemic -- the utter failure of the national government response, the timidity of congressional Democrats, why monopolist agribusiness is spreading the virus, and more. Enjoy! Here are links to subscribe or donate to support the Prospect's excellent work.

Subscribe now to hear the full episode! Also subscribe or donate to The American Prospect to support the great work of David and his colleagues!

We've got religion reporter Jack Jenkins on to talk about his forthcoming book American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country. We talk about the struggles of the religious left to counter the religious right, whether evangelical Christianity is really a cult of Mammon, why Jeremiah Wright was way ahead of his time, and more. Enjoy!

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We've got former Bernie Sanders speechwriter David Sirota on to talk about why the Democratic establishment ultimately defeated Bernie Sanders. We ask whether he could have done anything differently, how much of it came down to luck, and what lessons the left can take away for the future. Enjoy! PS: We'll have an extended discussion of this question coming up soon for subscribers, so stay tuned!

Enjoy this preview of our latest bonus episode, where we talk with Jeff Spross about our previous episode with Rohan Grey. To hear the whole thing, subscribe here!

Today we are talking with Harvey Kaye about his new book FDR on Democracy: The Greatest Speeches and Writings of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We discuss how Roosevelt's radical politics can be discerned well before he became president, his extraordinary political agility and boldness, how he used history to paint a new picture of America, and more. Enjoy!

We've got author Tara Isabella Burton on to talk about her forthcoming book Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, to talk about spirituality and belief in an age when traditional religious forms are collapsing. We discuss the faith-like activities and beliefs of the religious "nones," the blasphemous theology of the Prosperity Gospel, how people might discover collective moral views during the coronavirus pandemic, and more. Enjoy!

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We're talking with Rohan Grey today about a proposal he worked on with Rep. Rashida Tlaib on funding massive cash aid to Americans funded with two $1 trillion platinum coins. We talk about the balance of power between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, what it would mean for the Treasury to reclaim the authority to print money, a UBI versus a job guarantee, and more. Enjoy! PS: This essay Ryan wrote on a similar idea might be useful background.

This time we've got a bit of an off-beat interview, talking with Anne Orchier about the effort to stop Los Angeles from hosting the Olympic Games in 2028. It's not directly relevant to the coronavirus pandemic, but it does have a lot of the same themes, in that the Olympics have become a locus of disaster capitalism where rich elites wreak terrible social carnage to make a quick buck. Enjoy!

Once again we're talking coronavirus, with returning guest Manu Saadia. We talk about what is to be learned from the various approaches different countries have taken, how Democrats are bungling the crisis, and how we might seize the moment to change prevailing ideological orthodoxy, and push through vital reforms. Enjoy! You can find Manu's book Trekonomics here.

Today we've got A.C. Grayling on to talk about his book The Good State, which provides his model of how an ideal democratic system should be set up. It's a bit off the news but we thought it would be a nice break for people worried about the coronavirus pandemic. Enjoy!