Jacobin Radio

What a time to be alive, when there are so many socialists running for Congress that it's difficult to schedule them all. We've interviewed two socialists running for House recently: Heidi Sloan, who's running in Texas, and Cathy Kunkel, who's running in West Virginia.Today, we're interviewing a third socialist House candidate: Rebecca Parson in Washington's sixth district. Rebecca is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, an activist with the Tacoma Tenants Organizing Committee, and a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Pierce County, advocating for children in the foster care system.You can visit her website here: https://rebeccaforwa.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Grace Blakeley, author of Stolen, on where financialized capitalism came from and how we could get out of it. Then, economist Emmanuel Saez, co-author of The Triumph of Injustice, on how the rich got richer while paying less of their income in taxes than the working class (Tax Justice website here). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The divide between Latin American and the United States was not always so evident. Across the hemisphere, creoles—the descendants of European settlers, born in the Americas—launched revolutions to cast off European rule and preserve their own elite position over black and indigenous people. Joshua Simon explains how rival settler-colonial projects became today's status quo of US dominance.Thanks to n+1. Dig listeners can take 25% off a year’s subscription. Go to nplusonemag.com/thedig to subscribe, and enter THEDIG at checkout.Please support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

René Rojas, author of this article, on the social explosion in Chile. Then, Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven, author of this article, on the little problems, little answers approach of this year’s economics Nobelists. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's safe to say that Julia Salazar's campaign for state senate in New York was the most watched and most brutal state legislature race in recent history, maybe in all of US history. But what she's done in office since then hasn't received as much attention. Micah sat down with Salazar to talk about what she's been up to since heading to Albany.jacobinmag.com/subscribe See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Gabriel Winant, author of this article, on the professional–managerial class and its decomposition (the 1977 Ehrenreich papers are here and here; their 2013 follow-up is here). Then, Alan Beattie, author of this paper, on the US-led global order and its decomposition. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Suzi talks to Pablo Abufom and Gilbert Achcar about the ongoing massive protest movements in Chile and Lebanon, where for more than two weeks the mobilization and demonstrations have spread spectacularly in breadth and depth. In Chile 1.2 million took to the streets on Oct 25 and in Lebanon protestors formed a human chain from one end of the country to another, in both places protesting the inequity of the status quo, a generalized protest against neoliberalism, and an unjust order. Protestors have demanded the resignation of their governments in both Chile and Lebanon, and Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri has now resigned. Lebanon’s October uprising of dignity has shaken its long-resilient sectarian political system to its foundations. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Adom Getachew explains how anticolonial leaders from across the black Atlantic tried to not only cast off European rule but also end empire by constructing an egalitarian global political and economic order in its place.Thanks to University of North Carolina Press. Check out Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor uncpress.org/book/9781469653662/race-for-profit/Please support this podcast with your money at Patreon.com/TheDig  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What could a Bernie Sanders presidency do for racial justice in America? Last month at Riverside Church in New York City, we hosted a discussion on this question with Briahna Joy Gray and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, moderated by Ariella Thornhill. Briahna Joy Gray is Bernie Sanders’s national press secretary. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is an assistant professor of African American Studies at Princeton and a Jacobin columnist. Ariella Thornhill is a Jacobin board member.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jodi Dean, author of Comrade, on the sense of political belonging formed by and essential to common struggle. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Corey Robin, author of The Enigma of Clarence Thomas, on the life and thought of a conservative black nationalist. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Perhaps nowhere is the far right stronger than in India. There, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, continues in power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi after winning a huge victory in this year’s elections. The BJP, however, isn’t just a party. It’s the electoral wing of a Hindu nationalist movement that constitutes the largest and most organized far-right force on earth. A deep dive with Indian scholar Achin Vanaik.Read some of his recent work:newleftreview.org/issues/II112/articles/achin-vanaik-india-s-two-hegemoniesjacobinmag.com/author/achin-vanaikThanks to Princeton University Press. Check out The Fire Is upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America by Nicholas Buccola press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691181547/the-fire-is-upon-usPlease support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Suzi talks to Tel Aviv University professor Yoav Peled, whose latest book is The Religionization of Israeli Society, about the still unclear outcome of the September 17 Israeli election — the second election this year. Likud prime minister Bibi Netanyahu got thirty-two seats and Benny Gantz of Blue and White got thirty-three, but so far Netanyahu has not been able to form a coalition that would get the 61 seats out of 120 needed to rule, and the clock is ticking toward the October 24 deadline. Secular far-right nationalist Avigdor Lieberman refuses to form a coalition with Netanyahu  (unless he can be acting PM) and Netanyahu needs the immunity granted to the PM from the indictments he faces. If neither Netanyahu nor Gantz succeed in forming a governing coalition, there could yet be a third election, in a single year. Yoav Peled explains the election results, what could happen next — and how we should understand the continuing ascendancy of the Israeli far right. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out

'Joker' is not an ode to the alt right. It is a film about the devastating consequences of austerity. This is an objective fact, which I spoke with Jacobin story editor Connor Kilpatrick about.You can read my review of 'Joker,' which touches on many of the themes we talk about in this discussion, for the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/10/joker-far-right-warning-austerity Eileen Jones's piece about 'Joker' and America's long history of movie moral panics is here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/09/joker-and-the-long-history-of-movie-moral-panics See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dan interviews Alex Gourevitch about how 19th century US labor radicals remade the idea of freedom into a principle of working-class social transformation.If you want more on the debate over Lexit, which they only touched on briefly, check out this June interview with Chris Bickerton and Jerome Roos www.thedigradio.com/podcast/the-european-situation-with-chris-bickerton-and-jerome-roosThanks to Verso. Check out their huge selection of left-wing titles at www.versobooks.comPlease support this podcast with money at Patreon.com/TheDig See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Suzi talks to UCSB Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein about the ongoing UAW strike against General Motors, the first strike since 2007, with 50,000 workers on the picket lines. Lichtenstein shares his views of the strike, the union leadership, and the impact he thinks this strike can have on politics and work life, in reviving and reshaping industries and workplaces — and the political order. Suzi then talks to Daniel Aldana Cohen about the Green New Deal (GND) in the wake of worldwide climate strike actions, and how the GND intersects with the housing crisis, racism, inequality, and energy and food systems, not to mention the political and socioeconomic order while seeking to decarbonize the economy. Plus — it is reviving the Left. It’s not pie in the sky and we get Cohen’s take on why. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Samuel Moyn (author of this article and this) on the political snares of impeachment. Then, Tom Athanasiou on the Sanders climate plan and the need for a global Green New Deal (article here) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dan interviews Noura Erakat, the author of Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine, a new book that analyzes the history of settler-colonialism in Palestine and the Palestinian struggle for liberation from just before the British mandate to the present through the lens of the law.Thanks to Haymarket Books. Check out their huge selection of left-wing titles at haymarketbooks.orgPlease support this podcast at Patreon.com/TheDig. We need those of you who can support us to do so because we provide every episode free to all. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our newest print issue is “War Is a Racket,” focused on war and imperialism. At the Chicago issue release party, I spoke with two organizers and writers who appear in the issue: Rory Fanning and Sarah Lazare.Rory is a former Army Ranger who fought in Afghanistan and became a war resister there. He’s the author of the book ‘Worth Fighting For’ and now works at Haymarket Books. He was profiled by our assistant editor Alex Press in the new issue.Sarah is a web editor at In These Times. She has an overview of where the top five Democratic candidates stand on the issue of foreign policy and war in the issue.If you’re not a subscriber, please buy a copy of the issue. You can purchase it here: https://jacobinmag.com/issue/war-is-a-racketAnd subscribe to Jacobin here:https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=WARISARACKET See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Joel Schalit, co-founder and editor of The Battleground, on the Israeli election. Then, Martin Lukacs, author of The Trudeau Formula, on that slippery Canadian prime minister. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.