Rev Left Radio

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Joy James on Du Bois, Liberation Struggles, & Revolutionary Love Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

Dr. Joy James joins Breht and PM for the third installment of Rev Left's ongoing Du Bois series, but this conversation goes well beyond the life and work of Du Bois to cover James' newest book, her long history of organizing, the history of black liberation struggles in the US, and much more. Together, they discuss George Jackson, James' concept of the Captive Maternal, Erica Garner, "New Bones Abolition", Marxism, black history, Ida B. Wells, and much more. Overall its a wide-ranging conversation with an incredibly wise and experienced revolutionary intellectual.

Dr. James is Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College. Her book is New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the (After)life of Erica Garner. Proceeds from New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the (After)Life of Erica Garner go to Prison Radio.

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Check out Dr. Joy James on Millennials are Killing Capitalism HERE & HERE

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Outro Music: "Sorrow Tears and Blood" by Fela Kuti

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UNLOCKED: Revolution and Resolutions Jan 06, 2024

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If you enjoy these monologue-style episodes and want to support the show and get access to multiple bonus episodes like this every single month, you can do so HERE

UNLOCKED: Breht opens this Patreon episode with a discussion of American politics, talks about Lenin's anaysis of what makes for a revolutionary situation, and then he reads, reflects upon, and comments on an article by Ahjamu Umi from Hood Communist titled "The Unknown Relationship between Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah"

Kwame Nkrumah: The Great Pan-African Revolutionary Leader of Ghana Dec 27, 2023

Show notes

Nicholas Richard-Thompson and Tunde Osazua from the Black Alliance for Peace join Breht to discuss the life and legacy of Kwame Nkrumah. Together, they discuss the Ghanaian Marxist and Pan-Africanist politician, political theorist, and revolutionary, his upbringing, his entrance into Ghanaian and African politics, his political ideology, the many assassination attempts on his life, the coup that overthrew him and who backed it (just take a guess...), his life in exile, his continuing legacy on the continent and beyond, and much more! Learn more and support Black Alliance for Peace Follow Nicholas on Twitter Follow Tunde on Twitter BAP Chicago's Twitter IMPORTANT: As the PAIGC/A-APRP is an active member of BAP's U.S Out of Africa Network (USOAN), and As the PAIGC is facing dire political repression within Guinea Bissau due to its substantial revolutionary gains against neo-colonialism in that country, We therefore call on BAP and the USOAN to mobilize immediate support for the PAIGC/A-APRP. Please read the following for background information:

The A-APRP Condemns the Attack on the PAIGC and the PAI Terra Ranka Coalition, 4 December 2023 By A-APRP
African Party for The Independence Of Guinea and Cape Verde, PRESS RELEASE: December 10, 2023 By National Secretariat

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Napoleon: The Film, The Man, The History Dec 18, 2023

Show notes

Everett from The Age of Napoleon and Arjun from Deep into History join Breht to discuss Napoleon Bonaparte. Together they explore and reflect on the new film by Ridley Scott, the actual history involved and what the film got wrong, Napoleon's real personality, the importance of the French Revolution in Napoleon's rise, the reaction to the French Revolution and Napoleon from the rest of Europe, Napoleon's treatment of Haiti, Napoleon's exile and death, and then they grapple with the question of how the socialist left today should view and understand Napoleon.

Outro Song: Napoleon's Hat by Bright Eyes

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Understanding Apartheid: South Africa, Settler Colonialism, & Lessons for Palestine Dec 13, 2023

Show notes

In this Rev Left Family Annual Collab (Rev Left+Red Menace+Guerrilla History), Alyson, Henry, Adnan, and Breht sit down for a deep dive on South African Apartheid. Together they discuss its euro-colonialist origins, explain the significance of the Boer Wars, define and explicate the origins of apartheid, explore the political economy of apartheid and how brutal racism shaped it, examine the multi-faceted indigenous resistance to apartheid, analyze the end of formal apartheid as well as its ongoing legacy in post-apartheid South Africa, and try to extract important lessons from this history to apply to the ongoing struggle in Palestine. -------------------------------------------------------

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Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States Nov 29, 2023

Show notes

This episode is from our sister podcast Guerrilla History, subscribe to it on your preferred podcast app!

In this absolutely fabulous episode of Guerrilla History, we bring back on the one and only Dr. CBS, Charisse Burden-Stelly! Here, we discuss her outstanding new book Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States. This work focuses on how anti-radical repression (especially anti-communist repression) is infused and inseparable with anti-Black racial oppression, and vice versa. This is a critical work by one of the most critical voices in our times, and we think that this conversation is a truly important one for everyone to hear!

Charisse Burden-Stelly is associate professor of African American studies at Wayne State University. She is the coauthor (alongside Gerald Horne) of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History and the coeditor (alongside Jodi Dean) of Organize, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women's Political Writing. Join the Black Alliance for Peace or BAP Solidarity Network, keep up with Dr. CBS's work by checking out her website www.charisseburdenstelly.com, and follow her on twitter @blackleftaf.

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

Les Misérables: Victor Hugo, Revolution, and French History Nov 21, 2023

Show notes

Corey Mohler from Existential Comics returns to the show to discuss the famous novel (and its many adaptations) by Victor Hugo "Les Misérables". Together they discuss the novel, its various adaptations, its political and social themes, 19th Century France, the "Giants of '93", read some passages from the book, and discuss its ongoing legacy and relevance for us today!

Check out Existential Comics HERE

Check our all our previous episodes with Corey on a wide range of topics HERE

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or make a one time donation: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/revleft

South African Apartheid: An Introduction Nov 20, 2023

Show notes

In this crossover episode that we have done in collaboration with our sister podcast Guerrilla History, we bring on Ashley Fataar to provide a primer into Apartheid in the South African context, and where we also begin to explore some of the parallels to the apartheid that the settler-colonial state of Israel is enforcing in occupied Palestine today. This is a good introduction to the topic, and we plan on getting everyone in the RevLeft family (Breht, Henry, Adnan, & Alyson) together in the coming weeks to do a deep dive into apartheid in South Africa and where we can further explore these connections to what we are seeing today! Be sure to listen to this conversation to prepare for that coming conversation, and be sure to subscribe to Guerrilla History, RevLeft, and Red Menace wherever you get your pods.

Ashley Fataar is a long time socialist activist and writer based in South Africa. If you would like to get in touch with Ashley, you can reach him via email at ash.fataar@gmail.com.

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

The Political Right and Equality: Turning Back the Tide of Egalitarian Modernity Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

Professor Matthew McManus returns to the show to discuss his newest book "The Political Right and Equality: Turning Back the Tide of Egalitarian Modernity"

Together they explore over 2,000 years of conservative, anti-egalitarian, and reactionary political thought to get a better understanding of what the political right believes, and where those beliefs come from. They discuss aristotle, the Englightenment, the French Revolution and the reaction it generated, Hegel, Dostoevsky, liberalism and socialism, Heigegger, and how conservative thought evolved throughout the 20th Century.

Check out more of Matt's work HERE

Check out our previous episode on the politics of Nietzsche HERE

Check out our episode with Corey from Existential Comics on the life and work of Dostoevsky HERE

Outro Song: Rebel Music by Bob Marley and Krayzie Bone

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or make a one time donation: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/revleft

Decolonizing Palestine: Toward National Liberation in the Levant Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

Alyson and Breht discuss the ongoing national liberation struggle in Palestine. Together, they discuss the incredible shift in public opinion on Israel and Palestine, the internal and external contradictions culminating in unison for Israel, the discussion about whether or not what Israel is doing is technically a genocide (it absolutely is), international law, Frantz Fanon on the psychology of national liberation, the prospects of a broader regional war, the possibilities of Turkish or Iranian engagement, the history and core elements of Zionism, the analytical importance of the settler colonial and decolonization frameworks, the disgusting role that Biden and the Democratic Party are playing in manufacturing consent for Israel's civilian mass murder campaign, the "lesser of two genocider" arguments being trotted out by liberals, how Hamas is basically an orphan army of men who have had their families killed by Israel in previous assaults, why we should reject the "terrorist" framing of the western ruling elites, what the palestinian resistance has managed to accomplish, and what might emerge from the Ruins of Gaza when all is said and done...

(recorded Oct. 30th 2023)

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