Left Anchor

Latest Episodes:

Episode 53 - Adorno on the Psychology of Fascism Apr 06, 2019

Show notes

This time, we talk about Theodor Adorno's essay "Freudian Theory and the Pattern of Fascist Propaganda," and the Public Seminar roundtable discussing it. We hit on the fake image of fascist vigor and efficiency, and the utterly moronic consequences of fascist governance.

Episode 52 UNLOCKED - Polkapalooza with @maximillian_alv and @ambientGillian Apr 02, 2019

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This paid episode is unlocked for 48 hours! Enjoy! This time we're breaking new ground with 2 guests simultaneously -- Maximillian Alvarez of The Baffler and the Working People podcast, and Aisling McCrea of Current Affairs! We talk about why there is no good conservative comedy, the madness of valuing history for history's sake, why James K. Polk is a badly overrated president, and several other topics. Check out Max's piece on Francis Fukuyama here.

Episode 51 - Interview with @mehdirhasan on Mueller and White Nationalist Terrorism Mar 29, 2019

Show notes

This time we bring on special guest Mehdi Hasan, a columnist at The Intercept where he also hosts the fantastic "Deconstructed" podcast. We discuss the media circus around the Mueller report, and what to do about the worldwide plague of white supremacist terrorism. (Mehdi also gives us a lesson in how a real radio pro sounds, enjoy!)

Episode 50 Preview - Frantz Fanon on Political Violence Mar 24, 2019

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In this excerpt from our latest bonus episode, we talk the imperial politics of the film Black Panther.

Episode 49 - Billionaire Boondoggles with @Pat_Garofalo Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

This time we bring on Pat Garofalo to talk about his new book The Billionaire Boondoggle: How Our Politicians Let Corporations and Bigwigs Steal Our Money and Jobs. It's a great read, digging into the wretched practice of corporations extracting bribes to move factories to communities -- which surprisingly doesn't even change the business decision most of the time. Enjoy!

Remember if you'd like an extra episode per week, you can subscribe to our Patreon here!

Episode 47 - Gothic Marxism with @TheLitCritGuy Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

This time we bring on Jon aka "The Lit Crit Guy" to talk about the concept of Gothic Marxism, how horror can reveal underlying social pathologies, and the use (or lack thereof) of theory in politics writ large. You can find his Horror Vanguard podcast here.

We had a couple unfortunate technical snags, but the audio is mostly fine. Enjoy!

Episode 45 - Varieties of Left Ideology and You Might be a Neoliberal If ... Mar 10, 2019

Show notes

This time we explore the differences between neoliberalism, Brandeisianism, social democracy, and democratic socialism, and which presidential candidates represent each tradition (if any). In the process we inexpertly riff on Jeff Foxworthy's signature comedy bit, so send in your submissions if you can think of better examples.

The FDR biography Ryan mentions is this two-part work by Roger Daniels.

Episode 43 - Interview with @DavidKaib on MLK and Iris Marion Young Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

This time we bring on activist and scholar David Kaib to discuss Martin Luther King's famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, and Iris Marion Young's essay "Activist Challenges to Deliberative Democracy." We talk about the intersection between democratic theory and practice, and the conditions under which it may become necessary to set aside debate and break the law to achieve justice.

(Also note that while Ryan's audio sounds bad at the start, it was only a temporary glitch for the first couple minutes.)

UNLOCKED: Episode 42 - Interview with @AOC Adviser @rch371, Part II Feb 24, 2019

Show notes

We're taking this one out from behind the paywall for a special occasion (and a sample of what you can find as a paying customer). This time we continue our discussion from the last episode with Cornell Law professor Robert Hockett, Green New Deal adviser to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. We talk more broadly about climate change, politics, and moral philosophy.

Episode 41 - (Part I): Interview with @AOC Green New Deal Adviser Robert Hockett @rch371 Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

This time we talk about the Green New Deal with Robert Hockett, a Cornell law professor and policy adviser of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. We discuss the basic objectives of aggressive climate policy, the policy mechanics thereof, and the political foundations of climate policy. This interview went long, so we'll be breaking it up into two parts -- stay tuned for the next episode!

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