Jacobin Radio

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Confronting Capitalism: Who Counts as a Worker? Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

In the midst of Graham Platner’s high-profile senate race in Maine, several media commentators jumped on whether he would fit within his own definition of the working class. Do we know how to pick out workers from other classes? And what bearing does this have for socialist politics?

On the latest episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek offer a full definition of who’s in the working class, how to understand the modern US class structure, and why workers are central to left political strategy.

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.

The Dig: Primary Struggle w/ Troy Jackson Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

Featuring Maine candidate for governor Troy Jackson, Wisconsin candidate for governor Francesca Hong, New York State Senate candidate Aber Kawas, and victorious Tempe, Arizona City Council candidate Bobby Nichols. The third episode in a series of short interviews with left-wing and socialist candidates at every level of US politics.

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Our huge new Thawra study guide and resource website thawraproject.com

Dan and Thea’s Berlin event: “Trump 2.0 and the Rebirth of the American Left.” June 12, 6pm at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) in room EB 202 of the Erweiterungsbau (Straße des 17. Juni 145, 10623 Berlin). Part of the Take Back the Future conference hosted by Socialist Democratic Student League, the campus affiliate of Die Linke. Followed by drinks with Dig listeners and friends of the pod.

Find Unpaid at Versobooks.com

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

Long Reads: Mohammed Harbi and the Algerian Revolution w/ Muriam Davis Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

On January 1 this year, Mohammed Harbi died at the age of 92. Harbi was one of the leading historians of modern Algeria and the movement that led it towards independence. Harbi began writing about the Algerian revolution after taking part in it himself.

Born under French colonial rule, Harbi became a member of the National Liberation Front in the 1950s. He was an adviser to Algeria’s first president, Ahmed Ben Bella. But Harbi was sent to prison after Ben Bella was removed from power in a military coup. He later escaped from house arrest and went into exile.

Harbi remained deeply engaged with political events inside the country, from the civil war of the 1990s to the hirak protest movement of the last decade.

Muriam Haleh Davis joins Long Reads for a discussion of Harbi’s life and work. Muriam is a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She’s the author of Markets of Civilization: Islam and Racial Capitalism in Algeria.

Read her obituary for Jacobin, “Mohammed Harbi Was Algeria’s Revolutionary Historian”: https://jacobin.com/2026/02/mohammed-harbi-algeria-historian-obituary

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.

The Dig: Nusantara Ep. 4 — Indonesian Republic, Third World Revolution Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

The fourth episode in a series on the history of Indonesia: a hinge in the world system where colonialism and revolution have decisively shaped the trajectory of global history. This installment picks up with the Indonesian Revolution securing sovereignty from the Dutch in 1949. The Communist of Party of Indonesia, or PKI, revived after its repression to once again become a mass force in politics and society. All while Sukarno put Indonesia at the vanguard of global Third World revolution, hosting the legendary Bandung Afro–Asian Conference. Featuring Rianne Subijanto, Made Supriatma, and Farabi Fakih.

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Dan’s Berlin event: “Trump 2.0 and the Rebirth of the American Left.” June 12, 6pm at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) in room EB 202 of the Erweiterungsbau (Straße des 17. Juni 145, 10623 Berlin). Part of the Take Back the Future conference hosted by Socialist Democratic Student League, the campus affiliate of Die Linke. Followed by drinks with Dig listeners and friends of the pod. For drink details come to the talk or keep an eye on The Dig’s Instagram @thedigradio.

Our huge new Thawra study guide and resource website thawraproject.com

Find Unpaid at Versobooks.com

Get 50% off From the Clinics to the Streets, or any first book purchase from plutobooks.com with code ‘DIG50’

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

Behind the News: The Canard of Cultural Marxism w/ A.J.A. Woods Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

Greg Grandin, author of a recent article for the New York Review of Books, looks at how Pope Leo was shaped by his time in Peru. A.J.A. Woods, author of The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy, explains why the right sees the Frankfurt School as the root of modern decay.

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: How Will Capitalism End? May 27, 2026

Show notes

Socialists have long predicted capitalism’s overthrow and replacement by a better system. But do we have any reason to believe capitalism must come to an end?

On the latest episode of Confronting Capitalism, Melissa Naschek and Vivek Chibber discuss the role of economic and ecological crises in capitalism’s possible demise. Just as it is a mistake to think that capitalism will last forever, it’s also unrealistic to think that it is destined to collapse.

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 Trump-Xi Summit w/ Jake Werner May 26, 2026

Show notes

Jake Werner of the Quincy Institute analyzes the Trump–Xi summit and US–China relations generally. Gareth Gore, author of Opus, talks about Opus Dei, a secretive, cult-like Catholic organization involved in right-wing politics around the world (and very much in the US).

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

Jacobin Radio: Red Pilled w/ David Ost May 26, 2026

Show notes

The rise of the far right is the defining political crisis of our time. But are we analyzing it correctly? Suzi speaks with David Ost about his book Red Pill Politics: Demystifying the Far Right from Fascism to Right-Wing Populism. David argues that by focusing on whether Trump, Orban, or Netanyahu is or isn’t a fascist, we’re missing the deeper question: what political species do fascism and right-wing populism share? And what does understanding that species tell us about why the left keeps losing workers it once counted as its core constituency?

It’s a sweeping comparative political analysis that argues fascism and today’s right-wing populism are not separate phenomena but two expressions of the same underlying political species, that of the Red Pill (a loose acronym of Right-wing, Exclusionary Nationalist-Democratic, Populist Illiberalism). From the Boulanger Affair in 1880s France to Tucker Carlson, from Mussolini's syndicalist unions to Orban’s welfare chauvinism, the radical right has won by offering workers something — economic recognition, belonging, enemies to hate — that the neoliberal center-left abandoned along with NAFTA and the Third Way.

David ends with a diagnosis of the left’s own failures and a prescription for what it would take to turn things around.

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

The Dig: Dan Denvir’s Theory of Power and Organization May 25, 2026

Show notes

This one is different: an episode cross-posted from the new podcast Fighting Fascism, where Dig host Daniel Denvir gets behind the guest mic to discuss his political work beyond the pod. Speaking at length for the first time about his own organizing project in Rhode Island, he elaborates his theory of class and political power building.

Check out Fighting Fascism and subscribe at thenation.com/content/fighting-fascism

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Our huge new Thawra study guide and resource website thawraproject.com

RSVP to the May 26 Dig party in LA! eventbrite.com/e/a-party-in-la-for-the-dig-friends-tickets-1987008568116?

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

Long Reads: Reform UK’s Path to Power w/ Phil Burton-Cartledge May 21, 2026

Show notes

Britain held local and regional elections earlier this month that proved to be catastrophic for the Labour government of Keir Starmer. Labour fell behind the right-wing party Reform UK, which is led by Nigel Farage. Ten years after the Brexit referendum of 2016, could Farage be on track to become Britain’s next prime minister?

Phil Burton-Cartledge, lecturer in sociology at the University of Derby and the author of The Party’s Over: The Rise and Fall of the Conservatives from Thatcher to Sunak, joins Long Reads for a conversation about the state of British politics.

Phil spoke with us two years ago to discuss the UK general election that brought Starmer to power. Read or listen to that interview here: https://jacobin.com/2024/07/uk-elections-tory-party-conservatives-defeat-labour

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.

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