Rev Left Radio

Latest Episodes:

Spotify Is Deleting Our Episodes... (ANNOUNCEMENT) Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

Best Of Series (creating a clean back-catalogue) starts tomorrow. Join the Patreon - even for free - to get new public episodes in the meantime. We will also be putting new episodes out on the Red Menace feed (subscribe on your preferred podcast app)

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Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

The Encampments: Uprising Against the Death Machine Apr 08, 2025

Show notes

Directors Michael T. Workman and Kei Pritsker join Breht to discuss The Encampments, their award-winning new documentary chronicling the 2024 student-led pro-Palestinian uprisings at Columbia, UCLA, and beyond. We talk about the ethical challenges of filming, the fascist state repression faced by people who speak out against Israel, the story of Mahmoud Khalil's ICE detention and its relationship to the film, this film as revolutionary cultural production and political education, the universities dereliction of duty in keeping their students safe from violent zionist thugs, and the film's role as a tool for organizers. With campuses - and society - under a reactionary crackdown and solidarity rising, this episode explores how cinema, student resistance, and revolutionary struggle converge in the fight for Palestinian liberation.

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Palestine Action: Direct Action Against the Death Machine Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

In this powerful episode, we sit down with a frontline activist from Palestine Action, the UK-based direct action network targeting Elbit Systems—the Israeli weapons manufacturer responsible for arming and enabling genocide in Palestine and beyond. We dig into the strategy of physically dismantling the military-industrial complex, the stakes of this fight, and the growing number of political prisoners facing terror charges for their resistance.

Max, from Palestine Action, joins Breht to discuss the organization, the moral responsibility those in the imperial core have toward the victims of imperialism, Palestine Action's tactics and strategy, why they focus on Elbit Systems in particular, the role weapons manufacturers play in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians as well as perpetuating imperialism and colonialism around the planet, The Filton 18 and other political prisoners, the deafening silence and lack of solidarity shown by liberal and mainstream pro-Palestine movements, and much more.

Learn more, support, and donate to PalAction HERE

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Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio

Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio

Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

Marxism 101: Intro to Historical Materialism (and the Necessity of Socialism) Apr 06, 2025

Show notes

In this lecture, Breht provides an accessible but rigorous introduction to the Marxist theory of history: historical materialism. Breht explains how historical materialism is dialectical materialism applied to the evolution of human societies over time, the role that the base-superstructure model has in understanding culture and ideology, the long march from hunter-gatherer communal societies to slave empires to feudal monarchies to capitalist republics and beyond - to socialist democracy and ultimately to the communist transcendence of class society altogether, marking humanities maturation beyond its predatory phase and into history proper. Throughout the lecture, Breht provides examples, explores nuances, and highlights the pitfalls of attempts to change the system without the theoretical and practical tools of Marxism.

This lecture is part of the Omaha-based political education program Socialist Night School

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Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio

Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio

Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

The Congo: From Colonization Through Lumumba & Mobutu w/ Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja (Guerrilla History) Apr 04, 2025

Show notes

With this episode of Guerrilla History, were continuing our series on African Revolutions and Decolonization with an outstanding case study on the Congo, looking at the process of colonization, how decolonization unfolded, Lumumba's short time as Prime Minister, and the transition to the Mobutu regime. We really could not ask for a much better guest than Prof. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, who not only is one of the foremost experts in not only this history, but also served as a diplomat for the DRC. We're also fortunate that the professor will be rejoining us for the next installment of the series, a dispatch on what is going on in the Eastern Congo and the roots of the ongoing conflict there. Be sure to share this series with comrades, we are still in the very early phases of the planned ~40 parts, so it is a great time for them to start listening in as well! Also subscribe to our Substack (free!) to keep up to date with what we are doing. With so many episodes coming in this series (and beyond), you won't want to miss anything, so get the updates straight to your inbox. guerrillahistory.substack.com Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja is Professor Emeritus of African and Afro-American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and previously served as the DRC's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Additionally, he is the author of numerous brilliant books, including Patrice Lumumba and The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History

Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory

African Revolutions and Decolonization: Intro to Pan-Africanism (Guerrilla History) Apr 03, 2025

Show notes

With this episode of Guerrilla History, we launch into Pan-Africanism as a great additional starting point to our series on African Revolutions and Decolonization. We bring on two marvelous guests, Prof. Layla Brown and Jacquie Luqman, to discuss the history, theoretical currents, and modern expressions of Pan-Africanism. This is a 2+ hour masterclass, you certainly won't want to miss a moment of it! Also subscribe to our Substack (free!) to keep up to date with what we are doing: guerrillahistory.substack.com Layla Brown is an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology & Africana Studies and affiliate faculty in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Brown's research focuses on Pan-African, Socialist, and Feminist social movements in Venezuela, the US, and the broader African Diaspora. She is a member of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (GC), and can be found on twitter @PanAfrikFem_PhD. She also cohosts the Life. Study. Revolution podcast alongside Charisse Burden-Stelly. Jacquie Luqman is a radical activist, journalist, and is a coordinator with Black Alliance for Peace. You can follow some (but not all!) of her writings at Black Agenda Report, and watch her show Luqman Nation on Black Liberation Media. She is on twitter @luqmannation1.

Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory

Trotsky on Fascism (and Lessons for us Today) Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Alyson and Breht welcome Brendan back on the show for the first time in a few years. Together, we dive deep into Leon Trotsky's Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It, a sharp and urgent intervention written in the shadow of the Nazi rise to power. We unpack Trotsky's class analysis of fascism, the role of the petite bourgeoisie, his searing critiques of both sectarian isolationism and liberal class collaboration, and his insistence on the United Front as the only viable revolutionary response. Alongside historical context, we explore in depth whether Trotsky's framework still applies to today's far-right movements, neoliberal authoritarianism, Trump's Oligarchic second term, and a decaying capitalist order teetering on the edge. What does fascism look like in 2025—and what must we do to resist it? Outro Song: May All The Lower Realms Be Empty by Friends in Real Life

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The Current Political Moment, U.S. Imperial Decline, and Organizing a Revolutionary Vanguard Party Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

In this episode Breht sits down with Brian Becker, a longtime socialist organizer and leading member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), to break down the current political and economic crisis in the United States and the urgent need for revolutionary organization. As Trump-aligned forces consolidate power, billionaires tighten their grip over the state, and the feckless Democratic Party continues its self-imposed paralysis, Brian and Breht examine what this moment signals about the trajectory of U.S. capitalism and imperialism. Is the U.S. empire in irreversible decline, or is it adapting to sustain itself through repression and restructuring?

Brian shares insights from decades of organizing, discussing the lessons PSL has learned in building a revolutionary party, the importance of anti-imperialism in U.S. revolutionary work, and the key weaknesses and strengths of today's left. Finally, Brian offers concrete advice for listeners looking to move from political awareness to active participation in the struggle.

If you're serious about understanding and engaging in revolutionary politics, this is an episode you won't want to miss. Outro Song: "Gangster" by Good Luck Chuck Feat. Rocky Rivera & Bambu

Learn about and Join the PSL HERE

Check out Liberation News HERE

Check out Brian's podcast "The Socialist Program" on YOUTUBE or subscribe to the show on your preferred podcast app

Learn more about the ANSWER Coalition HERE Check out BreakThrough News HERE

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American Capitalism in Decay: An Analysis (Pokepreet X Rev Left) Mar 18, 2025

Show notes

(There was a small audio issue at the end of this episode, we fixed it and are re-releasing it) Breht goes on the Pokepreet Podcast as a guest to have a fun and fiery conversation about his ideological development, why the United States is so hostile to socialism even relative to other hyper-capitalist countries, the current grotesque state of global capitalism-imperialism, and much more! "In this thought-provoking conversation, we sit down with Breht O'Shea to dive deep into the current state of world imperialism, the decline of the American empire, and the evolving global power dynamics. Brett opens up about how his ideology has transformed over time, offering a candid and enlightening perspective on his journey. This is one of the best conversations we've had on the podcast and I hope you enjoy!"

If you like the episode, go leave him a good review on Apple or Spotify and show him some Rev Left Love! Find Pokepreet:

Podcast main webiste: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/pokepreetpod Twitter: https://x.com/Thepokepreetpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pokepreet_1/?locale=es&hl=en

Substack:https://substack.com/@pokepreet

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Pure Excess: Capitalism, Commodity Fetishism, and the Promise of More Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

Todd McGowan joins the show once again, this time to discuss his newest book "Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity". Together, he and Breht discuss commodity fetishism, the tensions between Marxism and psychoanalysis, what a critique of the subjective aspects of capitalism offers anti-capitalist politics, the "superstructural malaise" of late capitalism, Desire and Lack, capitalism's death drive, how to resist becoming a neoliberal subject, and much more. "Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, McGowan shows how the production of commodities explains the role of excess in the workings of capitalism. Capitalism and the commodity ensnare us with the image of the constant fulfillment of our desires―the seductive but unattainable promise of satisfying a longing that has no end. To challenge this system, McGowan turns to art, arguing that it can expose the psychological mechanisms that perpetuate capitalist society and reveal the need for limits. Featuring lively writing and engaging examples from film, literature, and popular culture, Pure Excess uncovers the hidden logic of capitalism―and helps us envision a noncapitalist life in a noncapitalist society."

Check out all our other episodes with Todd HERE

Check out Todd's podcast Why Theory? on your preferred podcast app!

Outro Song: I Want to Work Less by Grand Commander

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