Jacobin Radio

Latest Episodes:

Confronting Capitalism: Are We Still in Neoliberalism? May 21, 2025

Show notes

The past fifty years have been the era of unchallenged market dominance in all areas of life. But with the global upheaval brought on by the Trump trade war, are we seeing the neoliberal order unraveling?

In this episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek discuss the historic origins of neoliberalism, so-called “pro-worker” conservatism, and the prospects for deglobalization.

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

Jacobin Radio: Trump’s Middle East Pivot w/ Juan Cole May 20, 2025

Show notes

Juan Cole joins Suzi to break down Donald Trump’s dramatic pivot in the Middle East: sidelining Israel, cozying up to Gulf monarchies, cutting billion-dollar deals, promising to lift sanctions on Syria, and exploring a new nuclear agreement with Iran.

Trump vowed quick peace in Gaza and Ukraine, but neither materialized because the aggressors don’t want peace. Putin wants Ukraine without Ukrainians. Netanyahu wants Gaza without Palestinians. Now he's zigzagging between billion-dollar deals and back-channel diplomacy. Is this strategic realignment, opportunism, or just more chaos?

We unpack the U.S.-brokered hostage deal with Hamas that bypassed Netanyahu, the collapse of the Assad regime, and the regional powers now vying for influence over Syria’s new government — amid Trump’s promise to lift sanctions. Is a coherent Trump doctrine beginning to emerge? Juan Cole gives us the big-picture view.

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

The Dig: Hayek’s Bastards w/ Quinn Slobodian May 20, 2025

Show notes

Featuring Quinn Slobodian on his book Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right. MAGA and its far-right populist siblings around the world aren’t just a backlash to neoliberalism. The far-right has also long been animated by extremist mutant neoliberal, anarcho-capitalist, and paleo-libertarian strains that in the 1980s and ’90s built a new New Fusionist politics of capitalist extremism — a politics that promoted IQ as the measure of individual and racial value; hard borders for humans with free trade for capital; and gold as the only true currency.

Support The Dig at patreon.com/TheDig

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

Red Star Over Palestine: Revolution and Counterrevolution in Lebanon May 17, 2025

Show notes

For many years, Palestine had one of the strongest left-wing movements in the Arab world, represented by prominent figures such as Emile Habibi, Leila Khaled, and Ghassan Kanafani. At the beginning of the First Intifada in the 1980s, Palestinian left groups were still the main challengers to the hegemony of Fatah, although the Left has lost much of its influence in the period since then.

Red Star Over Palestine: Histories of the Palestinian Left is a six-part series from Long Reads exploring radical movements and progressive organizations of the region. We examine the experience of Palestinian communism and the left-wing currents inside the PLO, the Palestine Liberation Organization. We also look at the outsized impact of the Left on Palestinian cultural life.

Our fourth episode focuses on the movement’s turn to Lebanon, where Palestinian radicals found a new base and hoped to launch a wider Arab revolution.

Red Star Over Palestine is hosted by Daniel Finn and produced by Conor Gillies. Music provided by Fadi Tabbal.

Jacobin Radio: The Americanization of a Russian Émigré w/ Emil Draitser May 15, 2025

Show notes

Emil Draitser — Soviet satirist turned American memoirist — joins Suzi to talk about his new book, Laughing All the Way to Freedom: The Americanization of a Russian Émigré. It's a sharp, funny, and moving account of his journey from censorship and conformity in the USSR to the chaotic freedoms of the 1970s United States.

We explore how satire served as both survival and resistance in the Soviet Union, and how his identity was reshaped — culturally, politically, and personally — through the messy process of becoming American.

Emil reflects on the welcome once extended to Cold War refugees like himself, and the stark contrast with today's hostile climate for immigrants. We also touch on the uneasy “friendship” between Putin and Trump, imperialists determined to redefine the character of politics.

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: Canadian Election Debrief w/ Jeet Heer May 12, 2025

Show notes

Jeet Heer surveys Canadian politics and the recent election. Natasha Piano, author of Democratic Elitism, discusses Italian “elite theory.”

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html

The Dig: A Conversation w/ Jean-Luc Mélenchon May 10, 2025

Show notes

Featuring Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing French party La France Insoumise. How the radical left confronts and then defeats the far right, in France and everywhere. Recorded before an audience at n+1’'s Brooklyn office.

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Buy Reconsidering Reparations at haymarketbooks.com

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

Confronting Capitalism: How the Democrats Abandoned Workers May 07, 2025

Show notes

It’s often said that the working class drifted away from the Democratic Party in response to cultural backlash and globalization. But what if the truth is more damning?

In this episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber speaks with Neal Meyer, author of “The Democrats Embrace Dealignment,” from the latest issue of Catalyst. They explore how Democratic leaders — from Clinton to Obama to Biden — consciously distanced the party from its working-class base, paving the way for today’s political crisis.

Read the article here: https://catalyst-journal.com/2025/04/the-democrats-embrace-dealignment

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 State of US Empire w/ Vijay Prashad May 06, 2025

Show notes

Vijay Prashad, executive director of Tricontinental, discusses the state of the US empire and the state of the global working class. Becca Rothfeld, author of All Things Are Too Small, speaks up for bigness.

The Dig: Rogue State w/ Aziz Rana May 04, 2025

Show notes

Featuring Aziz Rana on the making of the American project and its legitimation through popular worship of the US Constitution. This episode, the final in a four-part series, traces the great unraveling of the American empire from the 1970s to our present MAGA 2.0 moment.

Would you like to know more? Aziz made a bibliography for you: thedigradio.com/newsletter102

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Buy Enemy Feminisms and I Didn't Come Here to Lie at Haymarketbooks.com

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