Jacobin Radio

Latest Episodes:

Behind the News: We Need Robots Working More So We Can Work Less Apr 07, 2017

Show notes

Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams, authors of Inventing the Future, on getting beyond folk politics to a world where robots work more and people (supported by a universal basic income) work less.

The ABCs: Isn't the US Already Kind of Socialist? Apr 06, 2017

Show notes

You’ve probably seen the memes purporting to show just how socialist the United States already is by listing a bunch of government programs, services, and agencies. The idea that any government activity is synonymous with socialism has major political and strategic implications. After all, if our country were already at least partly socialist, then all we would have to do is keep gradually expanding government.But simply electing politicians to office or watching the government expand by its own momentum has never been, and never will be, enough. Economic power is political power, and under capitalism the owners of capital will always have the capacity to undermine popular democracy—no matter who’s in Congress or the White House.This is the last episode of The ABCs of Socialism, a four-part series taking up some of today's common questions asked about socialism. Each of those questions is also a chapter in The ABCs of Socialism, which was produced by Bhaskar Sunkara and the editors of Jacobin, and published by Verso Books. You can buy the book for just $5 at the Jacobin store: https://www.jacobinmag.com/store/ The sessions are recorded at the Verso loft in Brooklyn, New York, in front of a live audience.Chris Maisano is a contributing editor at Jacobin and a union staffer in New York.

The Dig: Matt Bruenig on Why Welfare Is Great and We Need More of It Apr 04, 2017

Show notes

Medicaid expansion saved Obamacare from repeal. There’s a lot to hate about Obamacare, but that expansion did something very good on a very large scale — and it made just enough Republicans very nervous about taking it away. It's an important lesson about economic policy generally: the more universal a program is, the greater the number of Americans who become advocates for its preservation — a fact conservatives know and fear thanks to Medicare and Social Security but that many liberals don't. Today, my guest is Matt Bruenig, a writer who is one of most incisive analysts of poverty, inequality and welfare systems, and the political conflicts that surround them.

Behind the News: Jodi Dean on Populism and Jane McAlevey on Real Organizing Apr 03, 2017

Show notes

Doug Henwood interviews Jodi Dean on why the temptations of populism should be resisted, and Jane McAlevey, author of No Shortcuts, on real organizing, not fake organizing.

Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman: Adam Curtis: The Left Must Present an Alternative Vision Mar 31, 2017

Show notes

Suzi Weissman interviews documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis on why the Left has to present a compelling, alternative vision of a better future — or it's doomed.

The ABCs: Is Socialism Just a Western, Eurocentric Concept? Mar 29, 2017

Show notes

Socialism is in the air. But the idea of socialism is under attack—and not only from the Right. Within the Left itself, there is suspicion of an ideal many view as single-mindedly focused on economic issues and distant from other everyday sufferings, especially those of black and brown people.The underlying assumption is that socialism, a supposedly Western and white ideology, while capable of addressing economic injustices, can't speak to the lived experience of oppression and discrimination in the Global South and to oppressed groups elsewhere. Is there any validity in this criticism? We pose the question to Nivedita Majumdar, an associate professor of English at John Jay College and secretary of the Professional Staff Congress, the CUNY faculty and staff union.This is the third episode of The ABCs of Socialism, a four-part series taking up some of today's common questions asked about socialism. Each of those questions is also a chapter in The ABCs of Socialism, which was produced by Bhaskar Sunkara and the editors of Jacobin, and published by Verso Books. You can buy the book for just $5 at the Jacobin store: https://www.jacobinmag.com/store/ The sessions are recorded at the Verso loft in Brooklyn, New York, in front of a live audience.

The Dig: Corey Robin on the Reactionaries' Minds Under Trump Mar 28, 2017

Show notes

What a moment to read, or to re-read, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin, political scientist Corey Robin’s 2011 collection of essays — especially if you need to disabuse friends and family of the notion that Trump is some historic degradation of conservatism’s good name rather than a malignant, nasty outgrowth of a long history of violent reaction against left movements for equality. Robin is a professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center and a contributing editor at Jacobin. We’ll take a look back at The Reactionary Mind and discuss how its pre-Trumpian insights apply to a political moment quite that is quite different but, upon closer inspection, still all too familiar. A new edition of The Reactionary Mind is due out in September with new chapters on Trump and Trumpism, a chapter on Burke and his economic theory, and a chapter on Hayek, Nietzsche and neoliberalism.

Behind the News: Yanis Varoufakis on Europe's Crises Mar 24, 2017

Show notes

Doug Henwood interviews the former Greek minister of finance Yanis Varoufakis, discussing the interminable euro crisis, austerity, Brexit, the nationalist international (Trump, Le Pen, etc.), and DiEM25, among other things.

The Dig: The Democratic Socialists of America and the Fight Against Trump Mar 23, 2017

Show notes

The Democratic Socialists of America are growing — suddenly and explosively. Last June ahead of the Democratic National Convention, DSA counted 6,500 members. Today, after a presidential bid from a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and Trump’s terrifying election, membership has grown to more than 19,000 and counting. People are considering socialism, long a dirty word in American politics, in far larger numbers than in decades past — especially young people. Today, Daniel Denvir talks to DSA National Political Committee member Sean Monahan and National Director Maria Svart to discuss some tough questions about the fight for socialism in the coming months and years, both for DSA members and those who aren't.You can support the Dig by visiting its Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4839800

Behind the News: The Fight for Single Payer and What's Next After the Women's Strike Mar 22, 2017

Show notes

We are happy to announce that we will be hosting journalist and author Doug Henwood’s show Behind the News on Jacobin Radio.In addition to writing a number of excellent books and many articles on finance and politics over the years, Henwood has hosted a consistently excellent radio show, interviewing experts on a wide range of topics both domestic and international. Behind the News is one of the best radio shows on the Left, and we’re proud to be a home for it. For his first show on Jacobin Radio, he interviews Steffie Woolhandler of Physicians for a National Health Program on Ryancare, Obamacare, and the prospects for single-payer, and Cinzia Arruzza on what’s next after the March 8 women's strike.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected