RevolutionZ

Latest Episodes:

Ep 332 The April 5th Protests and Beyond With Hunter Dunn from 50501 Apr 13, 2025

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Episode 332 of RevolutionZ has Hunter Dunn of Southern Cal 50501 as guest to share insight from his experiences with organizing the massive Southern Cal Unites protest in downtown LA, as part of the nationwide April 5th demonstrations against the Trump Administration. Hunter is a Senior at Pepperdine University and our conversation went beyond reporting April 5th tactics, scale, and mechanics to discuss the many factors shaping youth political engagement. Dunn explained how Gen Z members are pulled toward right wing involvement including talking about how right wing influencers and Trump as well as social media algorithms appeal to Gen Z economic despair at their future prospects and social awkwardness and loneliness, particularly among men even as other Gen Z youth are shifting toward progressive solidarity.
Dunn relays how the loudest cheers at the demonstrations weren't just for opposition to Trump, but for bold proposals like universal healthcare, ranked choice voting, and meaningful climate action. He reports that the events revealed not just a growing resistance but growing positive commitment. Americans aren't merely fighting against something, reports Dunn from his campus, an historically conservative one at that, they're fighting for a fundamentally different future.
Dunn provides concrete ways to get involved because, as Dunn reminds us, "this isn't just about stopping one administration - it's about creating a society that works for everyone."

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Ep 331 Stephen Lerner on Workers, the Labor Movement, and Resistance Apr 07, 2025

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Episode 331 of RevolutionZ has as guest long-time labor organizer Stephen Lerner to provide strategic clarity and emotive urgency about our current situation.
Lerner describes a coordinated assault by "billionaires, the fossil fuel industry, and Silicon Valley" to "dominate every aspect of the country." Make public institutions "broke on purpose, "deliberately underfund vital services, and finally privatize them.
Lerner argues that in addition to protesting government buildings we need to target the economic interests of billionaires bankrolling authoritarianism. From pension fund divestment to strategic disruption of luxury resorts and businesses, Lerner urges imposing real costs on those who drive inequality. Seek multi union and constituency alliances.
Lerner also addresses the paralyzing fear that now prevails. As universities, law firms, and even some unions quickly cave to political pressure, Lerner emphasizes that "to be driven by fear means to give up." He calls for "heroic moments" to inspire others to move "from fear to bravery." And crucially, he warns against fighting merely to return to pre-Trump conditions. He urges the need for positive vision of better.
Trump, Musk, and their buddies? For Lerner "These are flawed, billionaire, whiny clowns, and if we get our act together, we will win something much better than the past."

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Ep 330 Stand and Fight Mar 30, 2025

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Episode 330 of RevolutionZ confronts the growing threat of fascism by examining what constitutes genuine resistance versus complicity or apathy.
The episode says we face three choices: bow and scrape to fascism, ignore what's happening, or stand and fight. University presidents and private law firms that collaborate with authoritarian demands represent profiles in cowardice. They bow and scrape. Anyone looking around and saying oh no, but who then does nothing more, ignores reality. But students can stand and fight by speaking up in classrooms, dining halls, and dorms to build campus movements that protest and disobey. Workers facing MAGA-aligned employers can stand and fight through solidarity, refusal to comply, and collective action.

"Stand and fight" isn't just a rallying cry—it's our only viable path to stop fascism. Episode 330 examines what meaningful opposition looks like. It dismantles the temptations to submit or ignore what's happening, and instead provides practical examples of how resistance can take shape on college campuses, in workplaces, and throughout communities.
More, it urges that resistance must go beyond simply defending against Trump's agenda. To sustain itself and ultimately succeed, resistance must simultaneously plant seeds for a better future that addresses the fundamental flaws that led to our current crisis. This dual approach of defense plus offense can not only energize supporters but potentially reach Trump voters who begin to recognize their interests align more with progressive than reactionary change.
The episode concludes by examining three crucial warnings: don't attack attention to trans, race, and gender issues, don't create divisions between defensive and transformative activists, and most importantly, don't succumb to fear. Don't surrender disobey. Realize that nobody is going to win this by themselves. Realize that through collective action and persistent disobedience, we can not only defeat fascism but build something better in its place.

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Ep 329 Reform and/or Revolution: False Binary or What? Mar 23, 2025

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Episode 329 of RevolutionZ tackles the issue of reform versus revolution in context of the growing resistance to Trumpism and fascism in America. The episode recounts hopeful signs of resistance building across campuses, unions, and communities. But with this surge may come a familiar challenge: will those seeking immediate reforms and those advocating for revolutionary change work together or in opposition?
The episode distinguishes between reforms (specific policy changes) and revolution (transforming underlying institutions). It navigates the concerns of both camps: revolutionaries who fear reforms merely accept the existing system, and reformists who see revolutionary rhetoric as distracting from achievable goals.
To those who advocate revolution, the episode proposes that fundamental change may be the ultimate goal, but stopping fascism requires coalition with those who find revolution unrealistic. To those who favor only ws reforms, he suggests that resistance benefits from both defensive tactics and positive aspirations that extend beyond single campaigns. Let's try to immediate struggles that reduce suffering while building toward additional possibilities.
The episode offers that "Reformism that ignores anything beyond immediate campaigns is counterproductive. But reforms are essential," And that "revolutionary commitment that ignores the importance of winning reforms and denies existing reality are also counterproductive." For the most powerful resistance can we combine practical action with visionary thinking, immediate defense with long-term commitment.
So how will we engage in resistance? Whether through campus organizing, union solidarity, immigrant protection, or public demonstrations, shouldn't we pursue immediate justice while keeping our eyes on more fundamental transformations that might follow so we don't only go back to the status quo that birthed Trump in the first place?

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Ep 328 Yves Engler and Dealing With Repression Mar 16, 2025

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Episode 328 of RevolutionZ has as guest Yves Engler, a Canadian writer and political activist who shares his experience of being recently jailed for criticizing a pro-genocide influencer online and facing subsequent charges for "harassing the police" when he publicized his case. We discuss the growing criminalization of pro-Palestinian speech and the importance of solidarity in fighting back against repression.
Engler describes growing Canadian support for Palestine activism including how students at universities like Concordia have voted overwhelmingly for BDS resolutions while university administrations remain aligned with pro-Israel donors

We discuss the challenge of maintaining activism when results aren't immediate and in light of family and other responsibilities, doubts about winning, and other obstacles to activism.

Engler also describes how Canadian nationalism has been inflamed by Trump's recent tariff threats and we consider Trump's possible motives as well as differences and parallels between repression in Canada and the United States. and mainly how to successfully counter each.

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Ep 327 Unifying Nine Economic Visions for a Post-Capitalist World Mar 09, 2025

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Episode 327 of RevolutionZ takes up the question, can nine different post-capitalist economic visions find common ground in a single unifying framework?

Rather than viewing Mainstream Marxist Economy, Councilist Marxist Economy, Anarchist Economy, Solidarity Economy, Green Economy, Degrowth Economy, Feminist Economy, Intercommunalist Economy, and Anti-authoritarian Economy as competing frameworks, what if we highlight their essential virtues to identify areas of compatibility?
At the heart of this unification project lies Participatory Economics—a vision featuring a productive commons instead of private ownership, self-managing councils intest of top down authority, balanced job complexes instead of a corporate division of labor, equitable remuneration instead of profit seeking exploitation, and participatory planning instead of markets or central planning. Can this tenth perspective satisfy the core demands of the nine other approaches while violating none of their essential principles?
Each perspective contributes vital elements to a comprehensive economic vision: from eliminating capitalist class domination and preventing coordinator class rule to ensuring environmental sustainability, fostering solidarity, and preventing systemic disadvantages based on identity or community. What emerges is a synthesis that strengthens rather than dilutes each perspective's most valuable insights.
For activists and thinkers seeking both a defensive strategy against authoritarian capitalism and a positive vision ultimately win, does this synthesis offer a promising path forward? Can the left unite behind a shared economic vision that honors its diverse traditions while providing practical, revolutionary alternatives? That is our focus and challenge this episode.

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Ep 326 Stephen Shalom Offense, Defense, and Trump Mar 02, 2025

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Ep 326 of RevolutionZ discusses Trump's unique role in contemporary politics, the problems of a purely defensive strategy, and enlarging resistance activism including reaching Trump voters. It proposes seeking a wealth tax, living wage, labor reforms, free quality education, day care, and health care, positive immigration reform, and various electoral, social, and environmental reforms as positive program to augment defending against Trumpian reactionary attacks. It highlights the role of media and communication--their's and our's-- and emphasizes throughout the need to get beyond just preventing calamity.

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Ep 325 Nonviolent Resistance with Rivera Sun Feb 23, 2025

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Episode 325 of RevolutionZ has as its guest the novelist and activist Rivera Sun. We discuss nonviolent resistance as a strategy to combat rising authoritarianism in the U.S. and around the world. The episode reviews the historical effectiveness of nonviolent movements worldwide, the essentials of winning campaigns, the importance of active civil disobedience and of positively engaging allies, the importance of narratives to movement communication and much more regarding organizing and activism, plus some discussion the efficacy and complexity of writing fiction.

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Ep 324 About Time...Some About Me Feb 16, 2025

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Episode 324 of RevolutionZ gets personal, a bit strange, I hope a bit humorous, perhaps even a bit helpful. After over six years of episodes, I subject myself as interviewee to myself as a very aggressive interviewer, much more aggressive and even abrasive, than I have been with anyone else. I pounce on me as guest. I challenge me about my motivations. I ask how I navigate the interplay of confidence and ignorance to discuss a wide range of topics that often go beyond what I have studied. Is it arrogance? Or what? I ask me how I select guests? How I choose topics? What's the balance between expertise, willingness to engage in unfamiliar conversations, and the importance of examining diverse non-expert perspectives? To get still more personal, I ask me rapid-fire questions meant to reveal my personal preferences from favorite athletes, scientists, movies, and writers to whimsical but purportedly revealing queries inspired by Colbert's questionnaire. I then even reflect on this episode's content when asked if I ever wonder why I did what I did. And so on looking behind the curtain. I will be curious to hear, I hope, whether anyone is horrified, amused, or edified, by this episode's approach and content.

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Ep 323 Labor, Unions, and The Path Forward with Steve Early Feb 09, 2025

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Episode 323 of RevolutionZ has as guest Steve Early who discusses the vital role of the labor movement in the days of Trump. What is going on at work and in unions now? What are union organizers emphasizing? What might we expect from and contribute to worker activism in coming months? To address these matters, Early discusses coalitions between unions and veteran organizations, strategies against privatization, reaching out to attract and involve new union members, independent political action and working-class candidates, forging solidarity between public and private sector unions, integrating climate issues into labor activism, nurturing solidarity across diverse worker demographics, and more. At a time when some feel labor is lost, early shows it is not only not lost but on the move and pivotal to winning against Trump and then for positive change.

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