The Dig

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The French Situation with Sebastian Budgen and Danièle Obono Jun 08, 2019

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The radical left has been unable to electorally capitalize on the Yellow Vest movement, a massive revolt against a vicious, unequal and alienating neoliberal order. Instead, French electoral politics has pit an insurgent far-right against a zombie liberal center that presents itself as a bulwark against the nationalist tide. Dan interviews Sebastian Budgen and Danièle Obono, a member of the National Assembly with La France insoumise.

Check out War over Peace: One Hundred Years of Israel’s Militaristic Nationalism by Uri Ben-Eliezer ucpress.edu/book/9780520304345/war-over-peace

Support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig

Labour’s Brexit Bind with Grace Blakeley, Maya Goodfellow, and Richard Seymour Jun 07, 2019

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Brexit has so dominated UK politics that it has put the Labour Party in a profoundly difficult and perhaps untenable position of strategic ambiguity toward how to handle the never-ending matter of leaving the EU. Today, in part two of our five-part series on European politics, Dan discusses this all with Grace Blakeley, Maya Goodfellow, and Richard Seymour.

Thanks to Verso Books, which has loads of great left-wing titles at versobooks.com

Go to the Socialism 2019 conference in Chicago July 4-7! Register now at socialismconference.org

Support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig

The European Situation with Chris Bickerton and Jerome Roos Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

This week and next, we’re bringing you five episodes on European politics. Today, we’re starting things off with Chris Bickerton and Jerome Roos for an overview of the European situation and the debate on the European left over how to approach Europe and the EU. Then, an interview on British politics with Grace Blakeley, Maya Goodfellow, and Richard Seymour. After that, a discussion of French politics with Sebastian Budget and Danièle Obono, a member of France’s National Assembly with the left-wing La France insoumise. Then, an interview on Spanish politics with Carlos Delclós and Magda Bandera. And finally, an interview with David Broder and Marta Fana on Italy.

Thanks to n+1. To get 25% off a one-year subscription, go to nplusonemag.com/thedig and enter THEDIG at checkout

Check out Next Left, a new podcast from The Nation magazine: thenation.com/next-left

Support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig

Rashida Tlaib Jun 03, 2019

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US Rep. Rashida Tlaib on the local struggles that guide her work on behalf of the working class in Congress, the urgent need for a politics that puts people over profit, the question of impeachment, and why American people are coming around to supporting a free Palestine.

Go to the Socialism 2019 conference in Chicago July 4-7! Register now at socialismconference.org

Support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig

Bernie and Black Voters with Malaika Jabali and Wendi Muse May 30, 2019

Show notes

Dan has in-depth discussion on Bernie’s approach to race and what he must do to win over Black voters with Malaika Jabali and Wendi Muse. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Sanders isn’t unpopular with Black voters. In fact, he has done rather well with young Black people. But to win the primary and beat Biden, he must do a lot better. In particular, Malaika and Wendi argue that Bernie must integrate racial justice into the core of his class struggle agenda, rather than emphasizing it as a separate and siloed issue.

Read Dan’s critique of Bernie’s immigration agenda jacobinmag.com/2019/04/bernie-sanders-immigrant-rights-border-policy

Thanks to Verso. Check out their huge selection of left-wing titles at www.versobooks.com

Go to the Socialism 2019 conference in Chicago July 4-7! Register for the early-bird rate now at socialismconference.org

Support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig

Doug Henwood on DSA May 25, 2019

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DSA’s explosive growth continues; it has already, in a few short years, become the center of a renewed American socialist movement. Dan interviews Doug Henwood, who recently published a lengthy article in The New Republic entitled “The Socialist Network: Inside DSA’s struggle to move into the political mainstream.”

Check out Lisa Duggan’s Mean Girl: Ayn Rand and the Culture of Greed ucpress.edu/book/9780520294776/mean-girl

Go to the Socialism 2019 conference in Chicago July 4-7! Register for the early-bird rate now at socialismconference.org

Support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig

Capitalism and Slavery. Part 2. May 22, 2019

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Three interviews: historian Seth Rockman, scholars Crystal Eddins and Zachary Sell, and public historians Akeia Benard, Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, Elon Cook Lee and Marco McWilliams.

Dan conducted six interviews on capitalism and slavery at The Dig’s recent Slavery’s Hinterlands symposium here in Rhode Island. This second of two episodes begins with Seth Rockman on the role of slavery in American capitalism. Then, scholars Crystal Eddins and Zachary Sell on revolution and counter-revolution across the racial capitalist global order. Finally, public historians Akeia Benard, Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, Elon Cook Lee and Marco McWilliams on teaching slavery today.

Go to the Socialism 2019 conference in Chicago July 4-7! Register for the early-bird rate now at socialismconference.org

Check out Next Left, a new podcast from The Nation magazine. Their first interview is with Rep. Ilhan Omar. thenation.com/next-left

Support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig

Capitalism and Slavery. Part 1. May 16, 2019

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Three interviews: historians Linford Fisher, Christy Clark-Pujara and Joanne Melish, and Emily Owens.

Dan conducted six interviews on capitalism and slavery at The Dig’s recent Slavery’s Hinterlands symposium here in Rhode Island. This first of two episodes begins with historian Linford Fisher, who explains that the English settlement of North America was a settler-colonial project that required genocidally dispossessing indigenous people of their lands. What you might not know is that a central tactic for that dispossession, in New England and Virginia alike, was the threat and actual enslavement of native people, including the widespread practice of forcing native youth to labor in English homes. Then historians Christy Clark-Pujara and Joanne Melish, who pick up where Fisher leaves off: slavery wasn’t the South’s peculiar institution; it was the bedrock of the northern economy. And finally, historian Emily Owens on sexual labor under slavery: what, Owens’ work explores, did slavery and freedom mean for women for whom, in brothels or the home, sex was work? On the next episode, Dan has two more interviews looking at the big picture questions of slavery, capitalism, revolution and colonialism, and an interview with a group of public historians who teach about slavery today.

Thanks to n+1. To get 25% off a one-year subscription, go to nplusonemag.com/thedig and enter THEDIG at checkout

Please support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig

Cyborg Revolution with Donna Haraway May 09, 2019

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Donna Haraway's work defies disciplines, combining insights from both biology and feminist thought, and drawing on her own involvement in political projects organized around feminism and radical science. Haraway’s most recent book, Staying With the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, takes up these questions as the fragility of earth’s webs of life is becoming frighteningly and increasingly apparent. What are the ethical and political demands in the face of the most pressing threat of our era—catastrophic climate change? To stay with the trouble, Haraway argues, is to reject technofixes that will save us from doom on the one hand, and on the other, to reject the pessimistic idea that “it’s too late” to make the world better. The book outlines a view of what Haraway calls “multispecies flourishing” and the obstacles to achieving it through theoretical insights and speculative fiction imaginings. Interviewed by Jacobin editorial board member Alyssa Battistoni. Thanks to n+1. To get 25% of a one-year subscription, go to nplusonemag.com/thedig and enter THEDIG at checkout Please support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig Alyssa's piece on Haraway for n+1: nplusonemag.com/issue-28/reviews/monstrous-duplicated-potent Sophie Lewis's critique of Haraway and population politics: viewpointmag.com/2017/05/08/cthulhu-plays-no-role-for-me The Leap Manifesto: leapmanifesto.org/en/the-leap-manifesto The Xenofeminist Manifesto: laboriacuboniks.net

Real Estate Capitalism and Gentrification with Samuel Stein May 02, 2019

Show notes

What is gentrification? It isn't just about what was once known as the hipster and is still known as the artist, the telltale warning signs of impending demographic change. It's part of an entire political-economic order that has made real estate global capitalism's most prized asset for storing wealth—one that has helped bend place-based urban governments to the will of mobile, and thus more powerful, capital. Dan interviews Samuel Stein on his book, Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State. Come to The Dig's Slavery's Hinterlands symposium Thursday through Saturday in Rhode Island: facebook.com/events/661508874305008/ Check out the English transcript of last week's Spanish-language interview with Communist Chilean Mayor Daniel Jadue jacobinmag.com/2019/04/communist-party-chile-left-governance-recoleta Thanks to Verso. Check out their massive left-wing book selection at www.versobooks.com Please support us with your cash at Patreon.com/TheDig

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