Jacobin Radio

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Jacobin Radio: Confirming Kavanaugh Jul 18, 2018

Show notes

Suzi talks to Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Law, about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Chemerinsky writes that Senators should exercise their power and insist Kavanaugh reveal his views on crucial constitutional issues — and that Kavanaugh should not be confirmed if he refuses to answer questions. Suzi also talks to Dan La Botz about the landslide victory of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) in Mexico’s recent presidential election. AMLO arguably had the election stolen from him in 2006, but this victory was too large to undermine or steal. But what are his politics and what is his program?

The Dig: A New Party of a New Kind Jul 16, 2018

Show notes

The last episode in this week's Ocasio-Cortez super series. First, an interview with Seth Ackerman on his essay "A Blueprint for a New Party," which lays out a strategy for building independent socialist power effectively, which means opportunistically seizing the Democratic Party ballot line when necessary (jacobinmag.com/2016/11/bernie-sanders-democratic-labor-party-ackerman/).

Then, Kate Aronoff on her article "A Revolution From Within," which explains Our Revolution and Justice Democrats, two organizations formed out of the Bernie campaign that are playing critical roles in the left electoral insurgency (dissentmagazine.org/article/transforming-electoral-process-our-revolution-justice-democrats). Thanks to Verso Books. Check out The Amateur: The Pleasures of Doing What You Love by Andy Merrifield versobooks.com/books/2765-the-amateur. And support this podcast with $ and access our weekly newsletter at patreon.com/TheDig!

The Dig: Julia Salazar Brings Socialist Insurgency to Brooklyn Jul 12, 2018

Show notes

This week's super series on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's victory and the future of left politics continues with Julia Salazar, a DSA member running for a Brooklyn state Senate in New York's District 18. Salazar's campaign worked hard for Ocasio-Cortez; now, Ocasio-Cortez's team is returning the favor. Recently, The New York Daily News wondered if Salazar might be the new Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez responded: Salazar "isn’t the next me, she’s the first HER." Indeed, Salazar has her own story to tell. She immigrated from Colombia as a child, and came of age as a young activist by organizing a rent strike in her Harlem building. She describes herself as a democratic socialist, which she defines as recognizing "the capitalist system as being inherently oppressive and actively working to dismantle it and to empower the working class and the marginalized in our society."

Get involved with the campaign at salazarforsenate.com

Support this podcast with $ and access our weekly newsletter at patreon.com/TheDig

The Dig: Bernie on Ocasio-Cortez-Style Victories Jul 11, 2018

Show notes

Capitol Hill used to be a lonely place for a leftist. And, frankly, it still is. But now that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appears to be headed to Washington, Senator Bernie Sanders will likely have some powerful company. Today, Sanders is Dan's guest, and they're talking about the impact of Ocasio-Cortez's victory and where the Left goes from here. This is the latest interview in this week's Ocasio-Cortez super series, which has already included interviews with Ocasio-Cortez and Cynthia Nixon. Next up is DSA member Julia Salazar, who is running for state senate in Brooklyn.

Support this podcast with $ and access our weekly newsletter at patreon.com/TheDig

The Dig: Cynthia Nixon on Challenging Cuomo in Wake of Ocasio-Cortez Win. Jul 10, 2018

Show notes

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's victory should make New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a larger-than-life bully and ideologically-chameleon Democrat, very afraid. He faces a challenge from Dan's guest today, Cynthia Nixon, who has spent the years after her time on Sex in the City organizing for public education. After what happened to Joe Crowley, the left is more energized than ever. And what once appeared to be a long-shot attack on the king of New York politics now appears like it might just hit its target. This is the second episode in this week's super series on left electoral politics in the wake of Ocasio-Cortez's stunning win.

Thanks to Verso. Check out Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump by Asad Haider versobooks.com/books/2716-mistaken-identitySupport this podcast with $ and access our weekly newsletter at patreon.com/TheDig

The Dig: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Winning Power Jul 09, 2018

Show notes

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a 28-year old Latina working-class champion committed to social transformation who beat one of the most powerful men in Congress: the King of Queens. Dan had an extended conversation with her about how organized people won her election, how she’ll stay accountable to those movements now that she’s a rock star, establishment myopia and denial, The Congressional Progressive Caucus' shortcomings, and where the insurgency goes from here. Then Intercept D.C. Bureau Chief Ryan Grim on left media and left electoral politics, why mainstream media missed Ocasio-Cortez, and why Emily's List fails to support left women challengers.

Thanks to Verso Books. Check out A World to Win: The Life and Works of Karl Marx with Sven-Eric Liedman versobooks.com/events/1785-a-world-to-win-the-life-and-works-of-karl-marx-with-sven-eric-liedman And the new paperback edition of China Miéville’s October: The Story of the Russian Revolution versobooks.com/books/2731-october

And support this podcast with $ and access our weekly newsletter at patreon.com/TheDig

The Dig: AMLO Shatters Mexican Establishment Jul 07, 2018

Show notes

Leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, won an overwhelming victory in Mexico's presidential election, shattering a corrupt, old party system that brought ordinary Mexicans rampant violence and economic immiseration. But AMLO faces powerful political and economic constraints once in office—including some of his own making. Dan's guest is Christy Thornton, a professor of sociology and Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins. During the last week, she was an election observer for the Scholar and Citizen Network for Democracy in Mexico.

Thanks to Verso. Check out Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis by George Monbiot, now out in paperback versobooks.com/books/2732-out-of-the-wreckage George did a Dig interview too blubrry.com/thedig/34202825/telling-a-new-story-with-george-monbiot/

And Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump by Asad Haider versobooks.com/books/2716-mistaken-identity

You can find lots of great left Latin America news in English at nacla.org

Support this podcast with $ and access our weekly newsletter at patreon.com/TheDig

The Dig: The Italian Left’s Collapse with David Broder Jul 03, 2018

Show notes

Today, we're talking about Italy, where a so-called "populist" alliance of the Five Star Movement and right-wing League just took over the government with anti-migrant and Euro-skeptic agenda. Dan's guest is David Broder, a historian of French and Italian communism and frequent contributor to Jacobin. The Five Star Movement was for a time welcomed by some on the left. But it’s not of the left; rather, it is a product of the Italian left’s collapse.

Thanks to Verso. Check out Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life by Adam Greenfield versobooks.com/books/2742-radical-technologies

And register for the Socialism 2018 conference (July 5-8, Chicago!) at socialismconference.org

And support this podcast with $ and access our weekly newsletter at patreon.com/TheDig

Jacobin Radio: Our Squeezed, Post-Recession Lives Jul 02, 2018

Show notes

Suzi talks to Joel Jordan and then Alissa Quart, who in different ways are both looking at our squeezed post-recession lives and the fight to win or win back a decent standard of living. Longtime teacher and teacher-union strategist Joel Jordan joins us to talk about the spectacular mass strikes of the red-state teachers — and draw comparisons with the worsening conditions for teachers in California. Then, Suzi seapks with Alissa Quart about her new book, Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America,which tells the stories of the financial instability — and downward mobility — of what she calls the "middle precariat": highly educated but insecure, so-called middle-class Americans who can barely afford to raise children and meet expenses.

The Dig: The Trump Doctrine and Its Mandarin Detractors Jun 30, 2018

Show notes

Stephen Wertheim, a Lecturer in American and international history at Birkbeck, University of London, breaks cuts through the suffocating foreign policy debate that shapes American Empire under Trump.

Peace has broken out across the Korean Peninsula—or, at least, the odds that Donald Trump will blow the world up have gone down a just a bit—at least temporarily. Yes, Trump is the one who pushed us way too close to the brink of nuclear war. And yes, he likely sought peace with Kim Jong-Un because he loves wins, whatever their political or ideological content. But wow, has the liberal reaction been revealing. According to the mindset that pervades the liberal media and political elite, a move toward peace with North Korea is bad because Trump is bad. Or perhaps worse yet, it's bad because the national security state conventional wisdom that has governed Washington under both parties for so long—purveyed by the very people who have brought us endless war almost everywhere—says that it's bad. It's clearer than ever that the task of the left to find a way out of this ideological closed circuit of the liberal vs. Trump foreign policy debate—and, if we win power, to shut down its warmongering for good.

Thanks to Verso. Check out Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump by Asad Haider versobooks.com/books/2716-mistaken-identity

And register for the Socialism 2018 conference (July 5-8, Chicago!) at socialismconference.org

Support this podcast with $ and access our weekly newsletter at patreon.com/TheDig

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