Jacobin Radio

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Jacobin Radio: Four Years of War in Ukraine w/ Oleksandr Kyselov Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

Suzi speaks to Ukrainian socialist Oleksandr Kyselov, who says the current “peace process” is a dangerous illusion. Russia’s goal, he argues, is not compromise but subjugation — and any ceasefire that doesn’t confront that reality only postpones the next war. We discuss the Witkoff-Dmitriev 28-point plan (critics call it the “DimWit plan”), exhaustion inside Ukraine, and why calls from the Western left for immediate, unconditional ceasefire, without a single protest outside a Russian embassy, are, as Kyselov puts it, “beyond naive.”

Ksenia Kagarlitskaya then joins us from her exile in Montenegro. Her father, Marxist sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, has now spent two years in Penal Colony No. 4 for opposing Putin’s war. She discusses her father’s imprisonment and the explosion of political prisoners inside Russia since 2022. Ksenia runs Freedom Zone, an organization that raises funds and organizes events globally to support political prisoners and their families. Ksenia reminds us that political prisoners don’t appear in any of the current peace negotiations, because Russia doesn't acknowledge that they exist.

Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Behind the News: Authoritarianism From Below w/ Stuart Schrader Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

Naomi Hossain analyzes politics in Bangladesh generally and the recent election specifically. Stuart Schrader discusses “authoritarianism from below” — the role of local cops in the Trump crackdowns.

Read Stuart’s article: https://www.nybooks.com/online/2026/02/14/authoritarianism-from-below-trump-city-takeovers-police/

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Confronting Capitalism: Is AI Coming for Our Jobs? Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

The developments in artificial intelligence appear to promise a radical transformation of modern work. But what happens if AI turns out to be much more like previous waves of technological change?

In this episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek discuss the history of automation, the effects of technology on employment and wages, and why socialists should want to harness AI to create human flourishing.

Join Confronting Capitalism for a live recording in Brooklyn on April 6! Find more details and RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jacobin-who-speaks-for-the-working-class-majority-tickets-1984301239423

The latest issue of Catalyst is out and you can subscribe for just $20 using the code CONFRONTINGCAPITALISM: https://catalyst-journal.com/subscribe/?code=CONFRONTINGCAPITALISM

Have a question for us? Write to us by email: confronting.capitalism@jacobin.com

Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber is produced by Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, and published by Jacobin. Music by Zonkey.

Behind the News: How Mortgage Fraud Devastated East New York w/ Stacy Horn Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

Stacy Horn, author of The Killing Fields of East New York, on the damage mortgage fraud did to that neighborhood. David Backer, author of As Public as Possible, on how we finance schools and how we could do better.

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Long Reads: The Ceasefire Scam in Gaza w/ Yara Hawari Feb 13, 2026

Show notes

Last October, the Trump administration announced a ceasefire deal in Gaza after two years of relentless carnage. Since the deal was announced, Israel has continued to occupy much of Gaza, and its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has launched his so-called Board of Peace to administer Gaza without any input from Palestinians. Having received a blank check for his scheme from the UN Security Council, Trump now presents the Board of Peace as an alternative to the UN itself.

Yara Hawari joins Long Reads for an update on conditions in Gaza and the wider international context. Yara is the co-director of Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network.

Read her analysis of Palestinian politics here: https://al-shabaka.org/authors/yara-hawari/

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 with music by Knxwledge.

The Dig: The Commons w/ Peter Linebaugh Feb 11, 2026

Show notes

Featuring Peter Linebaugh on the long histories of commons and commoning, connections between enclosures in Europe and imperial conquest abroad, and writing history from below.

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Buy Engineered Conflict: Structural Violence and the Future of Black Life in Chicago at Haymarketbooks.org

Buy Global Casino: How Wall Street Gambles with People and the Planet at Versobooks.com

Dig party in London with Equator magazine on March 13. Info and RSVP here: eventbrite.com/e/the-dig-x-equator-party-tickets-1982694479561?

The Dig goes deep into politics everywhere, from labor struggles and political economy to imperialism and immigration. Hosted by Daniel Denvir.

Jacobin Radio: From Outrage to Power in Minneapolis w/ Luis Feliz Leon Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

When federal immigration raids went from brutal to deadly in Minneapolis, the epicenter of Trump’s escalating war on immigrants and Blue cities, residents responded with coordinated “no work, no school, no shopping” shutdowns that drew tens of thousands into the streets there and around the country. It wasn’t technically a general strike — but it demonstrated how unions, clergy, and community networks could create the organizing infrastructure to transform outrage into collective power, building a movement and a new strike culture.

We explore how all this happened and what organizers believe comes next with labor journalist Luis Feliz Leon and President of Minneapolis CWA Local 7250 Kieran Knutson, who bring us stories of daily life under ICE occupation. Feliz Leon situates this Minneapolis moment in the history and theory of mass strikes. Knutson explains the role of mutual aid, the strategic targeting of corporations, and the push toward a worker assembly to shape the next steps. They show how ordinary people organized democratically to vanquish fear, turning moral shock into power.

Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Behind the News: How Capital Works w/ David Harvey Feb 09, 2026

Show notes

David Harvey speaks about his new book The Story of Capital. We hear an excerpt from Mark Carney’s Davos speech. Adam Federman discusses Trump’s Greenland obsession.

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Confronting Capitalism: When Do Protests Become a Revolution? Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

The Trump administration has ramped up its bellicose rhetoric against the Iranian regime after it clamped down on the latest wave of protests. Is the regime teetering on the edge of collapse?

In this episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek contrast the Iranian Revolution of 1979 with the current protests, and discuss what makes a revolution possible.

The latest issue of Catalyst is out and you can subscribe for just $20 using the code CONFRONTINGCAPITALISM: https://catalyst-journal.com/subscribe/?code=CONFRONTINGCAPITALISM

Have a question for us? Write to us by email: confronting.capitalism@jacobin.com

Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber is produced by Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, and published by Jacobin. Music by Zonkey.

Behind the News: The Myth of Respectable Conservatism w/ David Austin Walsh Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

David Austin Walsh, author of Taking America Back, looks at the relationship between the kooks and respectables on the Right. Laura Field, author of Furious Minds, examines the intellectual wing of Trumpism.

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

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