Jacobin Radio

Latest Episodes:

Michael and Us: God and Country Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

Released shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Howard Hawks' SERGEANT YORK (1941) was an attempt to rouse popular support for America entering the Second World War. We excavate one of the biggest box office hits of its day and find a movie in which God and Country are pitted together, and Country wins. PLUS: we hash over some of the drastic and unhappy changes that have happened to our local government in Toronto, Canada.

Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Behind the News: COP27 w/ Tina Gerhardt Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

Tina Gerhardt discusses the COP27 climate conference. Lyle Jeremy Rubin, author of Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body, speaks about connections between masculinity, the Marines, and imperial violence.

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 here: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html

Jacobin Radio w/ Suzi Weissman: War Report w/ Jeremy Bigwood Nov 28, 2022

Show notes

Suzi talks to Jeremy Bigwood, investigative journalist, researcher, and photojournalist, about his observations and perceptions of Russia, where he has been living off and on since 2017. Jeremy’s insights are especially valuable as he spent the last five years talking to ordinary Russians—not the intelligentsia, in his words—and this helps our understanding of those who support Putin and the so-called special military operation, those who avoid taking a stance, and those who oppose Putin and the war. Jeremy left Moscow a week after Russia invaded Ukraine, going first to Odessa, then to the front lines near Mikolayiv, and from there to the front near Kherson. Jeremy returned to Washington DC a few months ago, bewildered by the divisions in the American left over the nature of the war, especially those who do not support, in his view, Ukraine’s defensive war for national survival. We get his perspective.

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

The Dig: The "Woke Mob" Made Them MAGA? Nov 23, 2022

Show notes

Featuring Daniel Denvir on the Citations Needed podcast (as guest, not host) debunking the argument that "woke mobs" (liberal or left identity politics) drove white working-class men into MAGA's arms.

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Check out our vast archives and newsletters at thedigradio.com

Long Reads: Jonathan Wilson on Football, Money, and Power Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

The World Cup is beginning this week in Qatar. The biggest sporting event on the planet is taking place this year under a hail of controversy. The process that awarded Qatar its role as host prompted allegations of corruption. There has also been media reporting about the atrocious working conditions on stadium construction sites.

Jonathan Wilson, football columnist for the Observer and the author of several books, joins Long Reads to discuss the economic and political structures underpinning the world’s most popular sport.

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, music by Knxwledge.

Behind the News: Election Debrief w/ Jodi Dean Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

Jodi Dean analyzes the political landscape in the wake of last week’s election. Tobias Hübinette, author of a recent Boston Review article, discusses the role of immigration in the backlash against Swedish social democracy.

The Dig: Iran, 1997-2022. Reform, Reaction, and Crisis Nov 18, 2022

Show notes

Featuring Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Golnar Nikpour on the history of modern Iran. This is the fifth and final episode in what is now a FIVE-part series. We begin this episode in 1997, with reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami’s surprise landslide election to the presidency. Then we cover the reformists running into hardliner repression and George W. Bush's War on Terror, the 2005 election of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his 2009 reelection and Green Movement protests, Hassan Rouhani and the nuclear accord that Trump then tore up, the 2019 mass working-class protests, and the election (but really more coronation) of right-winger Ebrahim Raisi. We end with the death of Zhina Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police and the current mass protest movement that erupted in response.

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Check out our vast archives and the rest of this series at thedigradio.com

Buy Daring to Struggle, Daring to Win by Helen Shiller haymarketbooks.org/books/1952-daring-to-struggle-daring-to-win

The Dig: Iran, 1979-1997. Islamic Republic, War, and Thermidor Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

Featuring Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Golnar Nikpour on the history of modern Iran. This is the fourth episode in what is now a FIVE-part series. We pick up in the wake of the Islamic Revolution as Khomeini consolidates power, represses his rivals, and confronts an invasion from Saddam Hussein's Iraq. We continue through the Iran-Iraq War, the mass execution of thousands of leftist prisoners, and Khamenei and Rafsanjani's rise to power after Khomeini's death.

Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Check out our vast archives and newsletter at thedigradio.com

Behind the News: Bibi's Return w/ Joel Schalit Nov 14, 2022

Show notes

Joel Schalit on the return of Bibi Netanyahu in Israel, now in coalition with the religious right. Mohammad Salemy on the tripartite structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Megan Kinch on a labor upsurge in Ontario.

Michael and Us: The Silent Majority Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

We finally felt lucky enough to discuss the granddaddy of right-wing law-and-order movies, DIRTY HARRY (1971). One thing is for certain: this is one cop who takes no guff from no one. PLUS: fiery hot takes on the U.S. midterms, the labour strike that is rocking Canada, and the future of entertainment. This episode was recorded before election day in the US.

Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.