Jacobin Radio

Latest Episodes:

Jacobin Show: How Capitalism Created the Drug Crisis w/ Meagan Day Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

Over the past year, more than 100,000 people have died from drug overdoses in the US. Jacobin editor Meagan Day joins us to discuss the roots of the opioid crisis, how the profit motive fuels widespread addiction, and what kinds of drug policies the left should be fighting for today.

The Jacobin Show offers socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, the failures of liberalism, and the prospects of rebuilding a left labor movement in the US. This is the podcast version of the show from November 22, 2021 with Jen Pan and Ariella Thornhill hosting.

Verso book club: https://www.versobooks.com/bookclub

Subscribe to Jacobin for just $10: https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=JACOBINYT

Music provided by Zonkey: https://linktr.ee/zonkey

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jacobinmag

Primer: Black Friday Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

On Black Friday, people in some twenty countries will target Amazon under the banner of “Make Amazon Pay.” We speak with Casper Gelderblom, the Make Amazon Pay coordinator for the Progressive International, about what to expect.

You can listen to Primer by searching for Jacobin Radio on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you’d like to support the show, subscribe at Patreon.com/primerpodcast. To keep up with us elsewhere, follow @primerpod on Twitter.

Jacobin Radio w/ Suzi Weissman: Inside the New Wave of Labor Militancy Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

Crystal Hopkins just stepped down as President of IATSE Local 871 on the eve of the ratification vote citing personal obligations and frustration over the ratification process that has deeply divided the membership. The 3 year contract or Basic Agreement with studios and streaming services squeaked by thanks to a delegate voting system many compare to the electoral college: 50.4% of the popular vote rejected the deal, but the agreement was ratified with 256 delegates voting yes and 88 voting no. That has left a lot of hard feelings and there is mounting criticism of President Matthew Loeb’s leadership of the union. We get the story of the deal, what lay behind it, and Crystal’s reasons for stepping down.

UCSB labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein has an article in the Washington Post and another in Dissent that address the current enormous churn in the workplace: some call it “The Big Quit,” others a strike wave. Record numbers of workers are quitting their jobs, but there is also rising labor militancy and strikes, increasing wages and accelerating inflation. The employer response is to pay more but remain vigorously anti-union—and, as Nelson Lichtenstein says, getting millions of new workers unionized is what is required.

The Dig: Visions of Freedom w/ Piero Gleijeses Part 2 Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

The second of Dan’s two-part interview with Piero Gleijeses on his book Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1976–1991. This is the story of Cuba’s military defense of the Angolan government against a US and South Africa-backed effort to overthrow the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The future of the entire region was on the line—including the fate of apartheid in South Africa and of Namibia, then a South African colony.

Learn Southern African geography by studying these maps: thedigradio.com/visions-of-freedom-maps

Support The Dig with money at Patreon.com/TheDig and receive our weekly newsletter.

Weekends: The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan w/ Tariq Ali Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

Tariq Ali, author of the new book The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan, discusses how four decades of US intervention in Afghanistan destabilized the country, led to countless civilian deaths, and fueled the global opium trade. Weekends with Ana Kasparian and Nando Vila features free-flowing and humorous commentary on current events and political strategy. This is the podcast version of the show from November 19, 2021, with Cale filling in for Nando.

Tariq's latest book: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3939-the-forty-year-war-in-afghanistan

Verso book club: https://www.versobooks.com/bookclub

Subscribe to Jacobin for just $10: https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=JACOBINYT

Music provided by Zonkey: https://linktr.ee/zonkey

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jacobinmag

Michael and Us: The Outsider Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

With its story of an idealistic political outsider who arrives in Washington to shake things up, Frank Capra's MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) helped codify what is perhaps the quintessential archetype of American politics. But... what does the movie actually say? To find out, we sat down and actually watched it. This one has been a long time coming, folks!

Behind the News: COP26 Debrief & Steve Bannon's War on the State Nov 20, 2021

Show notes

Doug talks with Christina Gerhardt on the COP26 climate summit. Plus, an interview with Mike Lofgren on the dangers of Steve Bannon's war on the administrative state (article here).

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

The Dig: Visions of Freedom w/ Piero Gleijeses Part 1 Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

Part one of Dan's two-part interview with Piero Gleijeses on his book Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1976–1991. This is the story of Cuba's military defense of the Angolan government against a US and South Africa-backed effort to overthrow the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The future of the entire region was on the line, including the fate of apartheid in South Africa and of Namibia, then a South African colony.

Learn Southern African geography by studying these maps: thedigradio.com/visions-of-freedom-maps

Support The Dig with money at Patreon.com/TheDig and receive our weekly newsletter.

Check out Six Faces of Globalization: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why It Matters by Anthea Roberts and Nicolas Lamp hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674245952

Jacobin Radio w/ Suzi Weissman: The 'Big Quit' & Chilean Election News Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

Chloe Watlington talked to four women about their workplace experiences and their decision to quit in her article in LA Taco called "The Big Quit of 2021 – as told by women of color in Los Angeles."The backdrop is what has happened to work during the pandemic. Month after month workers have been quitting jobs at unprecedented levels—for a variety of reasons including lack of childcare, burnout from toxic working conditions, and more. We talk to Chloe to get the big picture—who is quitting, which jobs they are quitting, why they are quitting—and what the long term implications are for the future of work and working conditions.

Oscar Mendoza joins Suzi to explain the Chilean Presidential election taking place on November 21. The massive social protest movement of October 2019 accomplished what decades of center-left rule could not: the end of the Pinochet Constitution, the right to develop and write a new one based on the guarantee of universal social rights, and the recognition of Chile as a plurinational, multilingual society. The election for the constituents wiped out the right and the center. The next step was the formation of new electoral coalitions to select their presidential candidate. That brought more surprises, with the collapse of the traditional right. Gabriel Boric, the candidate of the left Apruebo Dignidad coalition, is now being challenged from the very far right pro-Pinochetista José Antonio Kast, and polls show the fascist Kast gaining on the young leftist Boric—but Oscar Mendoza cautions that the polls have been more wrong that right. We get the story.

A World to Win: A History of Everything w/ David Wengrow Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

This week, Grace speaks to David Wengrow, Professor of Comparative Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and the author of a brilliant new book with the late David Graeber, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity.

In this episode, David and Grace talk about literally everything—human history, human nature, and how to change the world. You can support our work on the show by becoming a Patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

A World to Win is a podcast from Grace Blakeley and Tribune bringing you a weekly dose of socialist news, theory and action with guests from around the world.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected