SPS

News & Politics
**SPS**

The commentary on the commentary on the Left.

Latest Episodes:

Ep 29: On the US Election 2020 & the EU's Migrant Crisis Nov 04, 2020

Show notes

Pamela and Sophia discuss the shaming of black celebrities who dare to question the black loyalty to the Democratic Party. In particular we address the Left’s reception to Ice Cube’s ‘Contract for Black America,’ proposed to both the Democratic and Republican parties. Pamela sits down with Chris Cutrone to discuss what another four years of Trump--or Biden--might mean for the Left. In the last segment Sophia catches up with our new EU Correspondent, Andreas Wintersperger, to discuss the Left’s response to the on-going migrant crisis and their reaction to the recent fires that have destroyed large migrant camps in Greece. Links: (1) West Coast Platypus election watch party, Tuesday Nov 3, starting at 7:00pm Pacific time: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcuCvrTsjHtaNlh1UVGprn63LKqpSuV-K (2) Chris Cutrone, Marxism in the Age of Trump, Articles from the Platypus Review 2015 – 2017: https://www.amazon.com/Marxism-Age-Trump-Articles-2015-2017/dp/0996206132 (3) Efraim Carlebach, Returning to Marxism in the Age of Trump, 2020: https://platypus1917.org/2020/11/01/returning-to-marxism-in-the-age-of-trump-in-2020/ Hosted by Pamela, & Sophia, with editing help from Michael W. Music by Tamas Vilaghy

Ep. 28: On Cuties, Polanski & the "Pope of Marxism" Sep 25, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of SPS, Sophia and Pamela discuss the moral panic surrounding Netflix's new film, Cuties (2020), and take up the responses by Spiked Online and Jacobin magazine. Platypus members Marco Torres and David Faes join us to reflect on Polanski's critically-acclaimed J'Accuse (2019)and how it speaks to the present. In the final segment, Sophia interviews Jack Conrad from the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). They consider how the 'Left' uses and abuses Karl Kautsky's legacy in order to avoid Kautsky's Marxism and discuss what the CPGB is up to. If you want to learn more about Platypus, and get involved, read the Platypus review, visit us on Facebook under the Platypus Affiliated Society or visit www.platypus1917.org. You can follow us on Instagram: ShitPlatypusSays, and on Twitter: @PlatypusSays. If you like the podcast, share it, rate it, and write us a review. Mentioned:  (0) Theodor W. Adorno, "Sexual Taboos and the Law Today" (1963) https://platypus1917.org/wp-content/uploads/readings/adorno_sexualtaboostoday.pdf (1) Brendan O'Neill, Cuties Review  https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/09/15/in-defence-of-cuties/ (2) Eileen Jones, Cuties Review  https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/09/cuties-scandal-netflix-controversy-french-movie  (3) The Spartacist League on Polanski, “Stop the Puritan Witchhunt Against Roman Polanski!” printed in the Workers Vanguard, No. 192, 10 February 1978 https://www.icl-fi.org/english/wv/944/polanski.html  (4) Platypus' 'Kautsky in the 21st Century' Panel (2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL2TWNd1ntc (5) Communist Party of Great Britain's website https://communistparty.co.uk (6) The CPGB's Weekly Worker website https://weeklyworker.co.uk (7) The CPGB's Communist University 2020 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOkaFWQNpCTrQfT65UszE4A Hosted by Pamela C., Sophia F., with editing assistance by Michael Woodson, Audrey Crescenti and music from Tamas Vilaghy.

Ep. 27: On Jon Rafman, Police Brutality & the Left, and an interview with Joshua Citarella Aug 06, 2020

Show notes

Pamela, Sophia and Laurie discuss the call to cancel artist, Jon Rafman, and the revenge campaign led by the @surviving_the_artworld instagram account and break down the anti-sex and anti-art impulses of the culture industry. Pamela & Sophia sit down with Platypus members, Ethan Kaimana (U. Penn) and Will Lushbaugh (San Francisco State), two organizers behind the recent panel, "Police Brutality and the Left," with speakers Andrea Pritchett (Berkeley Copwatch), Conrad Cartmell (Democratic Socialists of America), Larry Holmes (Workers World Party) and Gerald Smith (a former member of the Black Panther Party and the Spartacist League and current member of the Oscar Grant committee). We listen to clips from the panel recording and give our impression of the conversation. In the last segment Pamela & Sophia talk with Joshua Citarella, an artist and cultural thinker whose books, Politigram & the Post-left (2018) and his most recent book, 20 Interviews (2020) offer an in-depth survey of young political spaces online, including interviews with Zoomers that provide and insight into the trajectory of their political education. We sit down with Joshua to discuss what motivates his work and his critique of the millennial generation. Links: (1) Police Brutality and the Left, a panel discussion by the Platypus Affiliated Society https://youtu.be/jwf1_df6FiA In the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police, against the backdrop of the covid shutdown, protests have erupted in every state across America raising the issue of police brutality. The relationship of the Left to these protests, however, has been unclear. Following disappointment with the Bernie Sanders campaign and the nomination of Joe Biden, the Left has sought to politicize the protests and police brutality in different ways. How can the Left address police brutality today? How has it sought to do so in the past? What is the role of the Left in the current moment? (2) Joshua Citarella Find 20 Interviews: https://www.patreon.com/joshuacitarella - https://newmodels.io/proprietary/irony-politics-gen-z-2019-citarella - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joshua-citarella/id1513817688?i=1000486940573

Ep 26: On 1776 and reading the Renegade Kautksy Jun 29, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, Pamela and Sophia discuss the destruction of statues depicting American Revolutionary figures. Our members James Vaughn and Spencer Leonard join us to discuss the legacy of the American Revolution and the repercussions of the 1619 project. And Sophia catches up with Rory Hannigan and Clint Montgomery in light of our Summer Reading group on Kautsky’s Marxism. We reflect on Karl Kautsky as a leading figure in Second International Marxism and how it might be important to consider Kautsky today. If you want to learn more about Platypus, and get involved, read the Platypus review or join the American Revolution lectures online, visit us on Facebook under the Platypus Affiliated Society or visit www.platypus1917.org. If you like the podcast, share it, rate it, and write us a review! (1) Trump’s address to the Young Conservatives of America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf8R3LTAarI (2) American Revolution Lecture Series: https://platypus1917.org/2020/06/06/the-legacy-of-the-american-revolution-a-platypus-lecture-series/ (3) Summer Reading Group on Kautsky’s Marxism: https://platypus1917.org/virtual/ Hosted by Pamela C., Sophia, with editing assistance by Michael W.

Ep. 25: On the environmental movement & joining Platypus May 31, 2020

Show notes

This episode of SPS is a new members edition, featuring new members of the Platypus Affiliated Society in the United States, Germany and Denmark. In the first segment, Sophia and Pamela ring up Carson Wright, a new member at the Oregon State University chapter. We chat about Planet of the Humans, a new documentary produced by Michael Moore, which takes a harsh look at green technology and the pitfalls of the environmental left. We reflect on the technocratic impulses of the climate left today and discuss Carson’s recent interview with the environmental activist Derrick Jensen, published in the April issue of the Platypus Review. In the second segment, Sophia and Pamela chat with new members in Platypus chapters around the globe to ask them about their encounters with the Left before Platypus, their experience as new members and their thoughts on hosting the conversation on the left. This segment features Lisa Müller at Leipzig University in Germany; Rana Ürek at Columbia University in New York; Osiris Crutchfield at Virginia Commonwealth University; and Francisco Sánchez Acosta at Aarhus University in Denmark. If you want to learn more about Platypus, and get involved, read the Platypus review or join the American Revolution lectures online, visit us on Facebook under the Platypus Affiliated Society or visit www.platypus1917.org. If you like the podcast, share it, rate it, and write us a review! (1) Platypus meme https://twitter.com/suavememestash/status/1262561790392664064/photo/1 (2) “The Left has never been against civilization”: An interview with Derrick Jensen, by Carson Wright and Andony Melathopoulos, for the Platypus Review #125 (April 2020) https://platypus1917.org/2020/04/02/the-left-has-never-been-against-civilization-an-interview-with-derrick-jensen/ (3)"What is Capitalism and Why Should We be Against It?" a panel hosted by the Aarhus chapter of the Platypus Affiliated Society on May 9th, 2020. Recording: https://youtu.be/UsQ1DqmyoqQ Hosted by Pamela C., Sophia F., with editing assistance by Michael W.

Ep. 24: On the anti-quarantine protests, Lenin at 150, and the sectarian extinction Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, Pamela and Sophia discuss the anti-quarantine protestors as the newly christened "deplorables" in the lead up to the presidential election, Brad Troemel's fake ad and the Biden campaign. Pamela interviews August Nimtz, Professor of political science at the University of Minnesota. Prof. Nimtz wrote a two volume book on Lenin’s electoral strategy from Marx and Engels through the Revolution of 1905 (vol. 1); & from 1907 to the October Revolution of 1917 (vol. 2). On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Lenin’s birth, we discuss the electoral area in his political strategy. We talk about the end of the Bernie Sanders campaign and then the legacy of the 1930s Popular Front today. On the second half of the episode, Sophia Freeman sits with to the current president of Platypus, Efraim Carlebach, who takes stock of the decline of the sectarian left, of the small Trotskyist and Maoists groups, and the waning influence of the party turn of the 1970s. They reflect on whether or not the mission of Platypus has changed in 2020, thirteen years after the organization's founding. Feel free to send it your responses, questions, criticism -- we’d like to hear from you -- to shitplatypussays@gmail.com. From the Platypus Archives: - Prof. Nimtz was on our Convention virtual panel, "The American Revolution and the Left," April 2020. Video: https://youtu.be/FvlbLgjnczo - Efraim & Sophia's interview with Ian Birchall, December 2017, for the Platypus Review https://platypus1917.org/2017/12/02/unchanging-core-marxism-interview-ian-birchall/ Hosted by Pamela C., Sophia, with editing assistance by Michael W.

Ep. 23: The one about the 'rona, and democracy & the Left Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

Sh!t Platypus Says, special quarantine edition, comes in three parts: (1) Pamela talks to Platypus members about the left’s response to the Corona Virus. She talks to Laurie Rojas, Chris Cutrone & Stefan Hain to figure out just what, David Harvey, Naomi Klein, the Socialist Workers Party, U.S., Spiked online, and Žižek are saying in these times of Corona. (2) A record 3.3 million people filed claims for unemployment in the US last week. We hear from Wentai, our resident financial guru, to learn about how this pandemic is impacting the world economy. (3) In the last segment, Sophia sits down with Philip Cunliffe in London for a post-panel reflection on our "After the Election" panel at the London School of Economics: https://platypus1917.org/2020/01/29/after-the-election-whats-left-lse-29-1-20/ Philip is a political scientist and Senior Lecturer the University of Kent, he is also the founder of the Full Brexit: https://www.thefullbrexit.com/. They discuss the failure of “fully automated luxury communism” and the relationship between the Left and democracy. The Platypus Convention 2020 will be hosted online, next week on Thursday 04/02 to Sat. 04/04. The panels are: (Th:) Politics of Environmentalism as Utopia, (Fr:) The American Revolution and the Left, (Sat:) Bonapartism: How is the State Revolutionary? , (Sat:)Socialism in the 21st Century? Speakers include Christian Parenti, August Nimtz, Alex Gourevitch, Helena Rosenblatt, John Beacham, Chris Cutrone and yours truly. Viewers will be able to ask questions on the online platform. Links to each panel on the FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/199797064708367/ Hosted by Sophia and Pamela Edited with the help of Michael W. e-mail: shitplatypussays@gmail.com

Ep. 22: Jacobin on Sanders & the Platypus German Conference Mar 02, 2020

Show notes

Pamela and Sophia discuss the recent episode of The Dig, a podcast from Jacobin magazine, featuring a roundtable discussion on the Bernie 2020 campaign and what a Sanders presidency would mean for the American left, including Jacobin founder Bhaskar Sunkara and assistant editor Alex Press. We play some clips, discuss, and ask some critical questions about the Democratic Socialists of America’s political strategy. On the second segment, we reflect on the first Platypus German Conference in Leipzig (January, 2020). Our members, Jim Kallenberg (Vienna) and two of the Leipzig organizers, Clint Montgomery and Henry Mitko, join us to discuss the crisis of Neoliberalism and the paralysis on the German left. Platypus German Conference Recordings: 01/24 Teach-In: Sexual Liberation by Stefan Hain https://archive.org/details/00downloadssr079ms1 Panel: Democracy and the left https://archive.org/details/demokratieunddielinke Panelists: Stefan Hain: Platypus Member | Prof. Dr. Klaus Dörre: Professor Work-, Industy- and Economic Sociology | Dennis Graemer: Association for the Design of History | Max Hauer: Member of translib Leipzig 01/25 Teach-In: What was the New Deal by Clint Montgomery https://archive.org/details/whatwasthenewdeal Panel: Crisis of Neoliberalism https://archive.org/details/25.01crisisofneoliberalism/25.01+Crisis+of+Neoliberalism.mp3 Panelists: Ingar Solty, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftungs Speaker For Peace and Safety Politics, author & social scientist | P.D. Jan Gerber, guest professor for critical research of society at the Justus-Liebig- Universität Gießen | Stefan Bollinger, political scientist and historian | Annika Klose: Landesvorsitzende der Jusos Berlin, Mitglied der Grundwertekommission der SPD

Ep. 21: Electioneering Blues, Labour's Defeat and Platypus in Manchester Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

Pamela and Sophia discuss the recent Warren-Sanders pseudo-controversy, Momentum's response to Labour's (UK) defeat, and the call for a Sanders' presidency by today's left. Members Mike Atkinson and David Mountain talk about building Platypus at the University of Manchester, their impressions of the city's left and their upcoming teach-in, "What the Bloody Hell is 'The Dialectic'?" Finally, we have a quick check-in with Erin Hagood, the editor-in-chief of the Platypus Review, who tells us about the articles in the latest issue, #122, and the upcoming line-up for the February issue. To learn more about Platypus in Manchester, drop by a reading group meeting on Wednesdays, from 6-8pm, at Samuel Alexander A213, University of Manchester M13 9PP, or coffee breaks at Biko's Cafe in the Student Union, on Thursdays from 3pm to 4pm. To attend the upcoming teach-in, on Thursday (01/30) at 5pm, see: https://www.facebook.com/events/484620452239409/ Send article submissions and inquiries about the Platypus Review to editor@platypus1917.org. The current issue: # 122, here, https://platypus1917.org/platypus-review/ The interview of Earl Silbar in the PR can be found here, https://platypus1917.org/2019/06/01/nobody-wanted-to-hear-youre-reactionary-in-what-youre-doing/ Comments / questions / criticism: shitplatypussays@gmail.com

Ep. 20: On Euphoria & Gen Z, the UK General Elections, and voting Labour Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

On this episode of SPS, we discuss HBO's Euphoria, what it says about the emerging "Zoomer" culture, and whether Gen Z's cynicism should be taken for granted. Sophia interviews Peter Tatchell, a human rights advocate and veteran activist of the LGBTQ movement. They discuss his experience on the left and his thoughts on Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. On the second half of the episode, Pamela is joined by London Platypus members, Efraim C., Rory H., Dominic J. and fellow traveler, Rebekah P., at the London School of Economics. They discuss the latest on Brexit & the upcoming election, as well as what it means to vote Labour today. The Platypus International Convention is on April 3-5 in Chicago. The theme is "Socialism in the 21st Century". We welcome ideas for panels! Send us your pitch to shitplatypussays@gmail.com. You can find audio/video record of past conventions on the Platypus website, www.platypus1917.org. As always send us your questions & criticism, and if you are into the podcast, share it, & hook us up with a review. Hosted by Pamela C. and Sophia.

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