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Unequal Exchange: The Engine of Modern Imperialism Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Torkil Lauesen joins us to discuss his book Unequal Exchange: Past, Present, and Future and the hidden mechanics of modern imperialism. Lauesen returns to the tradition of Arghiri Emmanuel to argue that while the world market tends to equalize prices, wages remain radically unequal across borders -- driving a structural transfer of value from low-wage production zones to high-wage consumer economies.

We walk through Lauesen's reconstruction of unequal exchange through Marx's value theory, the leading approaches to measuring global value transfer, and what contemporary estimates imply about the scale of the drain. From there, we explore the political consequences inside the Global North: why reformism and social democracy have often been stabilized by imperial arrangements, what that means for internationalism, and why the "imperial mode of living" is increasingly unstable.

Finally, we turn to the shifting world order -- especially Lauesen's argument that a new mode of production may be emerging, best exemplified by China -- and what that implies for the future of capitalism, multipolarity, and socialist transition. We also discuss the ongoing war/conflict involving Iran and what it reveals about crisis, hegemony, and the changing methods of imperial power.

Check out our other episodes with Torkil HERE

outro Music: 'Antithesnails' by spinitch and Chaz Matador

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War on the Iranian People and the American Mind (Workers' Lit & Rev Left Collab) Mar 04, 2026

Show notes

(recorded on 3/1/26) - Breht went on Workers' Lit as a guest!

"The American ruling class is at war.

Physically, they are at war with Iran, pummeling the country with unrelenting airstrikes, slaughtering civilians, and doing their best to make yet another nation unlivable.

But they are fighting another war: a psychological war against every one of us. They are building a world of declining literacy, misinformation, confusion, and fear.

Combine those two wars and you get an apathetic American populace even as its own country murders untold innocents

Breht O'Shea of RevLeft joins Aysha, Jen, and Jacob to discuss these dual wars and how we can fight back."

Check out more from Workers' Lit here: https://www.workerslit.com/

Make a donation to Socialist Night School via Venmo @OmahaNightSchool

Iran Under Attack by the Fourth Reich Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

On this YT livestream (3/1/26) Alyson and Breht discuss the illegal war of aggression launched by the US and Israel against Iran. Throughout the discussion they take live questions from the chat.

Subscribe to your YouTube Channel HERE

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Guillotines for the Epstein Class Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

Alyson and Breht discuss a range of current events, including Cuba, the Epstein Files, Iran and much more.

Make a donation to Socialist Night School via Venmo @OmahaNightSchool

Outro Song: "to each their dot" by Haley Heynderickx & Max Garcia Conover

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Nonviolence is Violence, Too: Somebody's Gotta Die Feb 04, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, we're joined by author and poet Too Black to unpack his essay "Nonviolence is violence, too: Somebody's gotta die," and to challenge the comforting myths that often surround "nonviolent" struggle. We dig into what he means by the claim that nonviolence is never actually bloodless, why he prefers the term "sacrificial violence," and how nonviolent movements frequently gain leverage precisely because an opponent supplies the repression that shocks the public, shifts legitimacy, and forces concessions. Along the way, we talk through the research Too Black draws on including Erica Chenoweth's work on lethal repression, and we explore his core metaphors and case examples, from confronting power like "poking a bear over honey" to the method-independent brutality of settler colonialism in Palestine.

At the heart of our conversation is a deep dialectic between Martin Luther King Jr. and Frantz Fanon, and how both frameworks, in different ways, move through violence as an unavoidable terrain of liberation. For King, suffering becomes the redemptive path, a willingness to absorb brutality to expose evil and transform the political and spiritual situation. For Fanon, revolutionary violence itself is the redemptive force, the route through which the colonized reclaim dignity, agency, and self-respect. We close by asking what this reframing means for organizers today: if rights require enforcement and "dramatizing evil" often demands real sacrifice, how should movements talk about nonviolence honestly and strategically in the world as it actually is?

Subscribe to Black Myths Podcast

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Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

Manufacturing Syria: HTS, Rojava, Iran, and the Consequences of Regime Change Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

Syria is entering a new and terrifying phase.

In this episode Breht is joined by a panel of scholars and activists (Angie Bittar, Adam, Joma, Nur and Jalyssa) to take a clear-eyed look at what's unfolded over the last year and how it fits into the longer arc of the Syrian civil war, including the rapid collapse of the Assad-era order and the emergence of a new regime centered around HTS and Ahmad al-Sharaa (Jolani). Together, they break down the latest waves of mass violence and displacement across the coast, Suwayda, Aleppo, and Rojava, and ask what these events reveal about the new Syria.

From there, they turn to the Kurdish question. They discuss the SDF, the long history of US imperial instrumentalization of Kurdish forces, the recurring pattern of abandonment, and the growing pressure now facing Rojava amid shifting regional and international priorities. They also examine ongoing kidnappings and sect-based killings, the breakdown of accountability, and what the allegations surrounding Syrian security institutions tell us about the direction of the new order.

Finally, they zoom out to the information war. They map the propaganda narratives being pushed in Western and Zionist media, and offer practical "tells" for separating genuine reporting from information operations. Then, they close by asking what Syria teaches us about the current political moment: imperial strategy, proxy warfare, sectarian fragmentation, and what real solidarity demands.

Access a full list of all the sources used for this episode HERE

Donate to Jalyssa on Cash App: $JalyssaDugrot

Or donate at: BuyMeACoffee/Jalyssa

Check out Joma's great podcast: JDPOD

Previous Episodes on Syria and Rojava:

"The Situation in Syria" Episode w/ Angie last year

"On Syria: Civil War and US Imperialism" with Rania Khalek from 2018

"The Kurds and Revolutionary Rojava" with Dr. Redcrow from 2017

Interview with Murray Bookchin's Daughter on his Life and Legacy

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Minneapolis on Fire Jan 25, 2026

Show notes

Breht discusses recent events in Minneapolis...

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Outro Song: Song for Alicia by Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia Conover

The Political Economy of Love: Attention, Affection, & What Capitalism Can't Buy Jan 19, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Breht is joined by Kristen R. Ghodsee to dig into her provocative essay on the political economy of love under capitalism. Using Marx's distinction between use value and exchange value, Ghodsee argues that love is not just a private feeling but a material necessity for human flourishing -- and that our economic system systematically depletes the time, energy, and security required to sustain it. Together, they explore how capitalism commodifies two core components of love, attention and affection, turning them into scarce resources bought and sold in everything from therapy and childcare to the attention economy and the market for professionalized intimacy.

But the heart of the conversation is the one thing capitalism can't truly monetize: reciprocal flow -- the non-transactional rhythm of giving and receiving that emerges in long relationships, cooperative play, music, community, and solidarity itself. Breht and Ghodsee discuss how inequality and insecurity train people into transactionalism, why loneliness is not an individual failure but a structural outcome, and what a genuine politics of love might look like beyond mere self-help or lifestyle fixes.

Learn more about Dr. Ghodsee and her work HERE

Check out AK-47, Kristen's podcast dedicated to Alexandra Kollontai here: https://kristenghodsee.com/podcast

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

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Western Marxism and The Imperial Theory Industry Jan 14, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Breht is joined by philosopher, author, and cultural critic Gabriel Rockhill to discuss his new book Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? The Intellectual World War: Marxism vs. the Imperial Theory Industry.

Rockhill argues that the Cold War was not only fought with bombs, coups, and sanctions -- but with ideas, institutions and intellectuals. Drawing on extensive archival research, Rockhill shows how U.S. imperial power built a vast apparatus of foundations, universities, media outlets and cultural organizations to shape what kinds of Marxism were allowed to exist in the West.

Rather than simply repressing Marxism, empire promoted a "compatible left"; a version of critical theory and Western Marxism that rejected actually existing socialist struggles and experiments, detached theory from mass struggle, and helped neutralize anti-imperialist politics. Together, they explore the role of the Frankfurt School, Herbert Marcuse, Cold War cultural warfare, and the long shadow this history still casts over today's left.

This episode was recorded in the immediate wake of the U.S.'s invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife, which they discuss at the beginning of the conversation.

Check out Critical Theory Workshop HERE

Follow Rockhill's work on his Substack HERE

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

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Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio https://revleftradio.com/

Solidarity With Children: Love, Autonomy, Parenting, and Innocence Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Breht is joined by revolutionary feminist and author Madeline Lane-McKinley to discuss her recent book "Solidarity with Children: An Essay Against Adult Supremacy", in which she argues for a politics that centers young humans as essential comrades in the struggle for a better world! In the process they examine the concept of childhood as historically structured, which children are granted innocence and which are robbed of it, how to parent through a lens that respects children as unique and autonomous human beings instead of the property of their parents, and much more! You can follow Madeline @la_louve_rouge_ (on twitter and IG)

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