IMTV radio - Marxist ideas. Fighting for revolution.

This year's US election was one of the most turbulent in history. It came amidst rising class contradictions and great instability on the world stage. Never before has American bourgeois democracy been so discredited, and never has it been confronted with so many challenges to its position as the world imperialist power. While neither candidate could solve the fundamental issues of the capitalist system, the victory of Donald Trump is already adding further instability to the US and world situation. Antonio Balmer, leading member of the Revolutionary Communists of America and editor of The Communist (USA), introduced a discussion on the next chapter of the crisis of US capitalism at this year's Revolution Festival. ✊ Help us overthrow the warmongers in Westminster! Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: communist.red/join

This year's US election was one of the most turbulent in history. It came amidst rising class contradictions and great instability on the world stage. Never before has American bourgeois democracy been so discredited, and never has it been confronted with so many challenges to its position as the world imperialist power. While neither candidate could solve the fundamental issues of the capitalist system, the victory of Donald Trump is already adding further instability to the US and world situation. Antonio Balmer, leading member of the Revolutionary Communists of America and editor of The Communist (USA), introduced a discussion on the next chapter of the crisis of US capitalism at this year's Revolution Festival. ✊ Help us overthrow the warmongers in Westminster! Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: communist.red/join

This week on Communist Radio, Fiona Lali and Ben Gliniecki discuss the victory of Donald Trump in the US elections, and the deep ramifications a Trump presidency will have for Starmer's government and British capitalism as a whole.

This week on Communist Radio, Fiona Lali and Nelson Wan discuss why Labour's recent budget won't be able to paper over the cracks, and why capitalism has been in crisis ever since the 2008 financial crash.

This week on Communist Radio, Fiona and Khaled discuss Fiona's 'Books Not Bombs' tour, the militarisation of universities in the UK, and some common questions that communists get asked about revolution and fighting imperialism.

This week on Communist Radio, Khaled Malachi and Georgina Ryan discuss the chaos of world capitalism, the US elections, the revolutionary movements that have taken place in recent months, and why we need Marxist ideas to guide the struggle for communism.

With Hurricane Milton battering the United States, bringing carnage and suffering in its wake, the apocalyptic threat of climate catastrophe is at the forefront of people's minds. In this week's episode, Ben Gliniecki and Tom Crozier discuss why capitalism is to blame, the impact the climate crisis will have on consciousness, and why only communism can save the planet.

In this week's episode of Communist Radio, Ben Gliniecki and Khaled Malachi sit down to discuss Israel's deadly attacks on Lebanon, Iran's retaliation, and the rank hypocrisy of western leaders like Keir Starmer. As Ben and Khaled explain, revolutionary communists side fully with the oppressed against the oppressor. In order to put an end to Israel's slaughter, workers and youth must fight the enemy at home – British imperialism and its lackeys in Westminster – with mass, revolutionary action.

In episode three of Communist Radio, Fiona Lali and Ben Gliniecki discuss Israel's killing of hundreds in Lebanon; the first one hundred days of Starmer's anti-worker, imperialist Labour government; and how we can build a revolutionary party like Lenin and the Bolsheviks. ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: communist.red/join

In episode two of Communist Radio, Ben Gliniecki and Fiona Lali sit down to discuss Israel's terrorist attack on Lebanon, why polls reveal an increase in support for communism, as well as answering some common myths about Marxism. ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

In this latest episode of Marxist Voice, Ben Gliniecki outlines the role of British imperialism today, and how communists can fight to overthrow it.

Welcome to Communist Radio, the brand new podcast series by the Revolutionary Communist Party. Each episode, we will dissect the key political events of the week from a Marxist perspective, as well as how our Party is responding to them, by building a revolutionary alternative. This week, Ben Gliniecki and Fiona Lali sit down to discuss the crisis in the Middle East, Starmer's anti-worker policies, the upcoming university freshers period, and the RCP's autumn growth campaign. ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

The national question is one of the most complex questions that Marxists must be able to answer, and has a renewed importance today, as the crisis of capitalism inflames national questions that were once considered fully resolved. In this talk, Jack Tye Wilson outlines Lenin and the Bolsheviks' approach and how it developed, the colonial revolutions, and the national question today. ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

Little over a month after Starmer's landslide election victory, Britain has been thrown into turmoil, with far-right riots and attacks, as well as impressive counter mobilisations. These events are a foretaste of the instability in store, as British capitalism sinks deeper into crisis. In this episode, taken from the opening talk of the recent RCP summer camp, Adam Booth explains these events within the context of the global crisis of capitalism, and outlines the tasks of revolutionary communists in the class struggle today. ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

⚠ Apologies for the poor audio quality. A piece of equipment malfunctioned. But since the analysis is so important we uploaded this anyway. Rest assured that we will have this fixed for the next episode. In the past week, Britain has been shaken by a wave of far-right violence, with migrants, asylum-seekers and Muslim communities facing intimidation and violent attacks. These shocking events should be a wake-up call for the labour movement. In this episode of Marxist Voice, we sit down with Fiona Lali to discuss why this unrest is taking place, the responses from the left and the labour movement, and the communist perspective on how we can smash the far-right using class struggle methods, ✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

Fiona Lali's election campaign shows that revolutionary ideas can connect with wide layers of people. In this episode, we sit down with Daniel Morley to discuss elections, parliaments, and broader questions around communist methods and tactics.

We're told we live in a democracy, but whether we vote for Starmer or Sunak, we're going to get pretty much the same thing. What's democratic about that? We're told we have rights like freedom of speech and a free press, but the government is banning protests and the newspapers are all owned by billionaires. What's the point of these “rights” if they don't actually mean anything? The fact is that the world is run by and for the rich. They decide everything and the rest of us don't get a say. That isn't democracy, that's a dictatorship. In this episode of Marxist Voice, Ben Gliniecki proves that what we live in today isn't a real democracy. Instead, he will give a vision of what a real, socialist, democracy would look like, along with how communists can best fight for it.

15 years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the economy is once again taking a turn for the worse. The past decade and a half has seen capitalism go from disaster to disaster. Instability and chaos are the new normal. Whether it's environmental crises, economic crises or political crisis, the world has lurched from one extraordinary event to another. But every measure the bourgeois take to solve one crisis only creates another. The bourgeois economists have started calling this a “permacrisis” or “polycrisis”. But this is nothing more than a description of the symptoms. It tells us nothing about the cause. In this episode of Marxist Voice, Niklas Albin Svensson will explain why the capitalist system has found itself in a dead end and why there is no way out without a communist revolution.

The events of the German revolution are some of the most tragic in the history of the world workers movement. One year after the Russian revolution, the German workers rose up, overthrew the Kaiser, and set up Soviets all over the country. But unlike the Russian revolution, where the Bolshevik party had been founded 14 years in advance, the revolutionary party in Germany, the Spartacus league, was founded one month after the revolution began. As a result, they were caught unprepared, and the revolution was beheaded. In this episode of Marxist Voice, Andy Southwark will explain the events of the German revolution to draw out the need for us to build a tempered revolutionary leadership, ready for the class struggles ahead.

The events of the Russian revolution were the greatest in all human history. For the first time, the exploited masses fought back and won. The revolution birthed the most progressive state the world had ever seen, with the Communist International — led by Lenin and Trotsky — becoming a beacon of internationalism, inspiring workers and poor everywhere. And yet, within 10 years, the Soviet Union had degenerated into a bureaucratic and totalitarian regime. The Communist International went from a harbinger of world revolution to a tool for the narrow, national interests of the Soviet bureaucracy, with Stalin at its head. In this session, Rob Sewell will discuss the main processes that led to the degeneration of the Russian revolution, answering the question: What is Stalinism?

Following her takedown of Suella Braverman, and with a surge of grassroots support, Fiona Lali is standing as a revolutionary communist candidate for Stratford and Bow in the upcoming general election. Vote for Fiona! Bring down the warmongers!

Student encampments in support of Palestine have rapidly spread to universities across Britain. This talk is from a meeting organised by the Revolutionary Communist Party which discussed how we aim to broaden, link together, and escalate this struggle. ✊ Help us overthrow these hypocritical warmongers in Westminster! Join the Revolutionary Communist Party! - communist.red/join

Communists are often accused of being bloodthirsty and violent provocateurs, who would stop at nothing to achieve their malevolent aims. But our accusers are the same people responsible for the slaughters in Gaza, Sudan, the Congo and countless others. In this episode of Marxist Voice, Ellen Morton will explain the difference between their morals, the morals of the bloody and barbarian capitalist system, and ours, the morals of the slaves in struggle to end slavery.

The RCP has been accused of antisemitism by Michael Gove in an attempt to cover up the crimes of British imperialism and its support of Israel's genocide. We sit down with Fiona Lali to discuss Gove's outrageous smear, the ICC request for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, and what lies ahead for the Palestine encampments. ✊ Help us overthrow these hypocritical warmongers in Westminster! Join the Revolutionary Communist Party!

‘Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition', by Cedric Robinson, has featured in countless anti-racist reading lists across schools and universities. The title suggests it will be a synthesis of Marxism and the Black struggle. In reality, it is an attempt to divide the two entirely. What is the ‘Black Radical Tradition', and how does the Marxist method apply to it? In this session, Fiona Lali will explore whether historical materialism can explain the development of racism, if the working class in the West can overcome racism, and whether a ‘black consciousness' exists.

Fanon has been used by academics as a basis for a whole series of confused and reactionary ideas about “de-colonisation of the mind”. However, “Wretched of the Earth” is a book about revolutionary struggle against colonialism, arms in hand. In the book, Fanon issues very sharp and prescient warnings about the treacherous role of the bourgeoisie after independence, but at the same time he argues that the only revolutionary classes in colonial countries are the peasantry and the lumpen-proletariat, as opposed to the working class. In this talk, Jorge Martin will discuss how Fanon reached these conclusions, what role he played in the Algerian revolution, and why the strategy he advocated was wrong.

The history of the British Empire is littered with horrendous crimes. From the partitions of India and Ireland, to the suppression of the Mau Mau uprising, to the violent Jallianwala Bagh massacre, to its murderous role in the Easter Rising and Bloody Sunday; it is impossible to mention all the brutalities of British imperialism. Many brave anti-imperialists have fought and died for the cause of expelling British imperialism from their countries. It is our duty to learn from this history. Despite this, the legacy of the British Empire lives on, as does British Imperialism, though in a degenerate and pathetic form. Today, many previous colonies are still struggling to break free from the economic and political backwardness imposed upon them by the British state. In this episode, Sarah Vedrovich will discuss the rise and fall of the British Empire and the heroic attempts to fight back against British forces, opening up the arsenal of historical lessons which must be absorbed if we are to overthrow imperialism and capitalism today.

With the founding congress only days away, we are joined by RCP national secretary Ben Gliniecki for the final episode of the series, to discuss the importance of this event, how the congress works, and what you can do to prepare for this historic weekend. ✊ Join the Communists! Build the RCP: https://communist.red/join

All across the world capitalism is in crisis. Climate change, imperialist war and the crushing poverty of the vast majority are exposing millions to the horror of the system and driving them towards revolutionary conclusions. But to bind these class fighters together and channel their anger into the fight for communism, a world party is needed, one that can create, school and orientate a leadership ready to successfully carry through the world socialist revolution. That is what we are building. In this session, Fred Weston will discuss the history of the International Marxist Tendency, and why, by building on the firm foundation of theory, it has been able to emerge as the strongest revolutionary force amongst workers and youth internationally.

The Iranian Revolution was one of the most inspiring revolutionary episodes of the post-war period. Without any pre-adopted plan, programme, or leadership, the Iranian masses swept away the Shah, and began to take charge of society for themselves through popular councils. And yet, this power was not consolidated, leading to the decline and defeat of the revolution. In this session, Hamid Alizadeh discusses this great historic drama, which holds a wealth of lessons for revolutionaries today — not only in Iran, but across the world where the working class is preparing to go onto to he offensive once again. ✊ Join the Communists! Build the RCP: https://communist.red/join

With only two weeks to go until the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party, and with students heading back to campuses for a final term of university, we sit down with Fiona Lali and Lubna Badi – members of the RCP's campaigns department – to discuss how RCP branches can recruit and organise around universities. In this episode, we cover how the capitalist crisis is affecting young people, the tactics and methods we can use to build the Party on campus, as well as how students can face outwards towards the wider class struggle. ✊ Join the Communists! Build the RCP: https://communist.red/join

The powerful rise of the Scottish independence movement once struck fear into the British ruling class, threatening to break the United Kingdom and raise the rebellious spirit of the working class. Nearly ten years since the referendum that unleashed opposition to Tory Britain, and raised the Scottish National Party to unprecedented support, the movement is at a crossroads. The SNP leadership clique have proven themselves to be politically bankrupt, unable to retain their rosy reformist image as they carry out attacks on the working class, and completely lack any sincere strategy for the independence movement. In this session, Shaun Morris will discuss the crisis faced by Scottish nationalism, and why we can look toward the class struggle for a way forward for the fight for independence.

With less than three weeks to go until the founding of the Revolutionary Communist Party, we sit down with Jorge Martín, a leading member of the soon-to-be Revolutionary Communist International which is also being founded this summer. In this episode, we cover why the working class needs an international, the successes we've had in the recent period, as well as how the international works. ✊ Join the Communists! Build the RCP: https://communist.red/join

In June, the International Marxist Tendency will take the monumental step of founding a new Revolutionary Communist International (RCI), to provide communist workers and youth around the world with a bold rallying point in the struggle to overthrow capitalism. In doing so, the RCI will build on the immense revolutionary legacy left behind by the Third (Communist) International, founded by Lenin and the Bolsheviks as the world party of revolution.

The capitalist system is in a deep global crisis. Its decline has devastating consequences, not only in terms of social and economic conditions, but also the destruction of the planet. This is shaking millions of people to political life and it has driven an increase in political activity of all kinds. In particular, some are drawn towards the methods of ‘direct action' and ‘civil disobedience'. In this talk, Joe Russell will examine the limits of ‘direct action' groups like Just Stop Oil, XR and, even to some extent, the self-proclaimed communist organisations. By revisiting some of Lenin's writings from the early 1900s, and by examining political developments today, Joe will present a Marxist approach to these struggles, which correspond to the period of revolution that is opening up before us.

As Lenin famously declared, "without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement." Defending the ideas of genuine Marxism is the bedrock of what we do here at the Revolutionary Communist Party. With just a month to go until the founding congress of the RCP, Fiona Lali and Jack Tye Wilson discuss why Marxist theory is essential to building the Party, as well as how communists can go about educating themselves. ✊ Join the Communists! Build the RCP: https://communist.red/join

In the first complete Marxist history of the Roman Republic, Alan Woods' recently launched book provides a gripping and accessible analysis of the titanic struggles that shaped the Roman world, and continue to resonate today. Spanning more than a thousand years of development, the book delves into the fundamental processes which gave rise to the emergence of Rome as an imperial power, the crisis of the Late Republic and the rise of the Caesars. It also features additional material by the author on the eventual decline of the Roman Empire and the Marxist theory of the state. In this session, Alan Woods will discuss the treasure trove of history and theory covered in his new book, and why all serious revolutionaries must study these lessons to better equip themselves for the battles ahead.

The oppression of women is one of the most reactionary elements of class society and Marxists have always stood on the frontlines in the fight against it. Yet one the most common prejudices against Marxism is that it views the struggle for women's emancipation as secondary. For example, Silvia Federici, who calls herself a Marxist-feminist, criticises Marxism and says Marx's analysis of capitalism falls short andignores the sexual division of labour in capitalist accumulation. This could not be further from the truth. In this talk, Lotta Angantyr will explain what Marxists actually have to say about women's oppression — both in terms of women's role in family throughout history, and what we need to do to end it once and for all.

With six weeks to go until the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party, Joe Russell and Jack Tye Wilson sit down to discuss the importance revolutionary finance, how to raise funds for the Party, and why a Bolshevik organisation requires material sacrifice. ✊ Join the Communists! Build the RCP: https://communist.red/join

141 years ago this week, Karl Marx died. His ideas laid the scientific foundation of the revolutionary communist movement, and would transform the course of world history. Today, not only do these ideas continue to inspire millions, they also provide our sharpest theoretical weapons in the struggle to overthrow capitalism and bring the working class to power. In this talk, Josh Holroyd – editor for In Defence of Marxism – explores the theories and events that inspired and shaped the young Karl Marx.

With deep anger at the establishment everywhere we turn, and a General Election on the horizon, we respond to a question from a listener: will the Revolutionary Communist Party run in the elections? ✊ Join the campaign to build a Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

[Recorded in November 2023] With NATO staring down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat in Ukraine, the western imperialists' boastful jingoism has turned into its opposite. While some on the so-called 'left' continue to call for support for Zelensky's gang – thereby betraying the interests of workers everywhere – the Communists have taken a principled, internationalist position since day one. In this talk from last year's Revolution Festival, Hamid Alizadeh outlines the only way to fight imperialism and war: proletarian internationalism and socialist revolution. ✊ Join the Communists! Build the Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

In the age of the Enlightenment, the young, ascendant capitalist class began to stretch it's wings against the spiritual dictatorship of the church, and the feudal monarchies that they propped up. Breaking the chains of obscurantist medieval dogma, bold thinkers and pioneers like Locke, Newton, Diderot and Rousseau fought for rationality and science and in so doing, theoretically cleared the ground for the great bourgeois revolutions. Today, however, the capitalism is decrepit and dying and the ruling class has turned away from the reason of it's youth. In fact, the irrational capitalist system threatens to drag human society back to a new dark age. In this episode, Ben Curry will discuss and defend the Enlightenment, which despite it's limits was an enormous conquest for human thought. We as Marxists lay claim to the bold materialism and clarity of thought which characterised the Enlightenment as theoretical armaments in our struggle against our own rotten ruling class. ✊ Join our campaign to build a Revolutionary Communist Party: communist.red/join

In episode two of 'Towards the RCP', we discuss why we have launched 'The Communist' newspaper, how we can use it as a tool to build the Party, and how we can pave the way for a weekly Communist paper. ✊ Join the campaign to build a Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

With only 10 weeks to go until the founding Congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party, we are launching a new weekly podcast series dedicated to building the Party. Each episode, we will cover the key political events of the week, and delve into a particular aspect of communist organising – from Marxist education, to revolutionary finance, to building a workplace cell. This week, we cover why we are launching the RCP, what makes it different, and how to get started with recruiting new revolutionaries. ✊ Join the campaign to build a Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

The Great French Revolution was one of the greatest events in human history. In just four years, the masses rose up and swept away the ancient regime that had stood for centuries, igniting revolutionary flames across Europe. Yet these heroic efforts ultimately prepared the way for the rule of the capitalist class, and could only herald what was to come: the struggle of the working class for socialism. Nevertheless, it is vital that all who are fighting for communism to carefully study these titanic events, and to grasp the dynamics of revolution in preparation for the colossal class struggles that are being provoked by the crisis of the capitalist system. In this episode, Keelan Kellegher discusses the epic drama of the French Revolution, drawing out lessons essential for every revolutionary communist today. ✊ Join our campaign to build a Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

From La France Insoumise, to Podemos, to the ‘Communist' Party of Britain, a number of figures and groups on the left believe that rallying around the national flag is the best way to attract the support of the working class. This opportunism goes back a long way. Both the reformists and the Stalinists have tended to bend to the chauvinism of the ruling class, leading to the betrayal of workers and oppressed peoples. As communists, we understand that the working class has no nation, and that reshaping or filling nationalities with a ‘progressive' content cannot lead the masses to emancipation. In this talk, Jack Tye Wilson argues why communists must reject these siren calls for ‘progressive' patriotism. Instead, we must put forward a programme of proletarian internationalism. Only on this basis can the world working class achieve its common interests. ✊ Join the campaign to build a Revolutionary Communist Party: https://communist.red/join

John Reed, the author of Ten Days that Shook the World, once said that Lenin was the most loved and the most hated person alive. He was loved by tens of millions who wanted to change society, but hated by the ruling class and their apologists. As the leader of the Russian Revolution, Lenin was a man who changed the world. A convinced Marxist, he created the Bolshevik Party, the most revolutionary party in history. Lenin translated the ideas of Marxism into reality. One hundred years since his death, the bourgeois historians continue to slander him and his ideas. Join Alan Woods and Rob Sewell, authors of the anticipated book In Defence of Lenin, on the centenary of Lenin's death for a discussion on his real life and ideas. By understanding the significance of Lenin, we can understand how to carry out the revolutionary struggle for communism today. Pre-order the book here: https://wellredbooks.co.uk/product/in-defence-of-lenin/ ✊ Join the campaign to build a Revolutionary Communist Party: socialist.net/join

For communists, China has a special importance, as it is home to the largest working class in the world. While the western capitalists denounce China as a totalitarian dictatorship, and the Stalinists praise it as a socialist motherland, Marxists must have a scientific understanding of the Chinese regime. In this episode, Jorge Martín explains the real nature of China today; its place in the world capitalist system; as well as the crisis, inter-imperialist conflict, and class struggle headed its way in the coming period.

The October Revolution was not just an act of economic and political emancipation for the downtrodden masses, it also represented artistic and creative emancipation. Individual geniuses - such as Eisenstein, Meyerhold, Stanislavski, Tatlin, El Lizzitsky, and Shostakovich - rose to prominence and revolutionised their artforms. But more remarkably, millions of ordinary people were given access to the world of art and culture, previously denied to them by the bourgeois class. A spiritual and cultural uplifting on this scale had never been seen in human history. In this episode, Nelson Wan discusses these outstanding artistic achievements, and why another revolution in art will not be brought about until the revolution in society is completed. ✊ Join the campaign to build a Revolutionary Communist Party: https://socialist.net/join

The coup in Gabon in August was most recent in a series of setbacks for French imperialism. The Sahel region of West Africa, which France has historically treated as it's colonial back yard, is today known as the 'coup belt', and has seen military takeovers in Chad, Niger, Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Guinea. In this talk, Josh Holroyd will explain the causes of these seismic events, as well as the revolutionary way forward: the masses can't be duped by the cynical Chinese and Russian imperialists, but must rely on their own forces.