Red Caste

A special episode in which Communist Party of Britain General Secretary Rob Griffiths and Convenor of the party's Political Economy Commission Stewart McGill discuss the unfolding crisis in Ukraine: how we got here and how we can work for peace. This is the comprehensive analysis based on current and historical fact that the supine mainstream media will not provide and is essential listening for those wishing to enhance their understanding of this complex situation. Further Reading: https://www.communistparty.org.uk/stop-the-war-start-the-peace/?fbclid=IwAR3AsPD0KKPeUGYc8WxuTMr1EeTONdsYlvd_DtwaSbz4RDkUHoC2ge394Uk https://sceptical.scot/2022/01/a-crisis-made-in-the-usa-why-russia-will-likely-invade-ukraine/?fbclid=IwAR0IptagsZIFgQcIMJ0bH1gfgTIeRyzgvdPMpXhl6AIX7n2DqyspvBY2iO0 https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thenation.com/article/archive/four-years-of-ukraine-and-the-myths-of-maidan/tnamp/ https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-68-putins-challenge-to?utm_source=url https://ctc.usma.edu/the-nexus-between-far-right-extremists-in-the-united-states-and-ukraine/ https://jacobinmag.com/2022/02/maidan-protests-neo-nazis-russia-nato-crimea https://www.illiberalism.org/far-right-group-made-its-home-in-ukraines-major-western-military-training-hub/ https://www.rt.com/news/156652-odessa-fire-mainstream-media/

Nothing embodies the idea of sport as politics pursued by other means so clearly, and painfully, as the 1932/1933 cricket tour of Australia by the MCC. This story has everything: class struggle and prejudice: camaraderie across the class divide; the attempt of a decadent empire to exert control over its uppity colony at a time of economic crisis; the wonderful complexity of Douglas Jardine who hated Australians from above but was always a good friend to the Nottinghamshire miner, Harold Larwood; the secret illegitimate child of the chairman of England selectors bowling for England in the series; splits in the Australian team based around hatred of Bradman and ill feeling between the Irish Catholics and the Free Masons in the camp; all that and some great cricket featuring some of the best who ever played the game. Apart from the fascinating politics this is one of the best Australian soap operas you will ever encounter. In Part 2 of this podcast we talk more about the politics of the tour and its aftermath with the very knowledgeable Hugh Kirkbride, an expert on the sport and the politics of this intensely interesting time. The Australian economy suffered very badly in the great depression partly because of its dependence on the extraction industries, this dependence was a function of the colony's place in the British Empire so the tour happened at a time of some tension between Australian and the Mother country, all of which influenced the aftermath of the tour. As well as global political economy we talk about the shabby treatment of Jardine and Larwood after the tour, their enduring friendship across the class divide and how Larwood found contentment through moving to Australia in the 1950s, becoming fully reconciled with the country that hated him so resoundingly in those depression years.

Nothing embodies the idea of sport as politics pursued by other means so clearly, and painfully, as the 1932/1933 cricket tour of Australia by the MCC. This story has everything: class struggle and prejudice: camaraderie across the class divide; the attempt of a decadent empire to exert control over its uppity colony at a time of economic crisis; the wonderful complexity of Douglas Jardine who hated Australians from above but was always a good friend to the Nottinghamshire miner, Harold Larwood; the secret illegitimate child of the chairman of England selectors bowling for England in the series; splits in the Australian team based around hatred of Bradman and ill feeling between the Irish Catholics and the Free Masons in the camp; all that and some great cricket featuring some of the best who ever played the game. Apart from the fascinating politics this is one of the best Australian soap operas you will ever encounter. In Part 1 of this podcast we talk about the tour and its wider context here with the very knowledgeable Hugh Kirkbride, an expert on the sport and the politics of this intensely interesting time.

You may not like bicycles, you may not be that keen on cyclists, but the history of cycling and its impact is fascinating, and radical. In the second of this two-parter we talk to Les Doherty of the mighty pedal4progress about that history . We talk about the connection between the Dreyfus affair and the the birth of the Tour de France, why the UK bourgeoisie feared young men on bicycles as a dangerous bunch the way small-town America did the prospect of a visit from Marlon Brando's Black Rebel Motorcycle Club from The Wild One, how they tried to ban cycling in groups for decades, why we need an integrated transport policy and what can be done about cycling gear looking so irredeemably dorky. Les talks about pedal4progress's future plans and talks me me into cycling across Ireland this year and in North Korea in 2023, and I hate cycling! Find out more about the work of pedal4progress here: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/pedal4progress-cyclists-saddle-help-range-socialist-causes https://pedal4progress.wordpress.com Cycling is one of the many things that is more complicated, and more interesting than you think, have a listen.

You may not like bicycles, you may not be that keen on cyclists, but the history of cycling and its impact is fascinating, and radical. In this two-part episode we talk to Les Doherty of the mighty pedal4progress about that history, more next week. Les is a smooth talker as he's persuaded me to take part in some of the marathon pedal4progress fund raising runs, and I am most definitely not a cycling fan; find out more about their work here: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/pedal4progress-cyclists-saddle-help-range-socialist-causes https://pedal4progress.wordpress.com The widening of gene pools which resulted from the growth of cycling led the biologist Steve Jones to rank the invention of the bicycle as the most important event in recent human evolution. In 1969, geographer P.J. Perry completed a study of how the gene pool changed in rural Dorset in western England. What he found was that before 1887, 77 percent of marriages took place between people from the same parish. However, between 1907 and 1916, this had dropped to 41 percent. At the same time, marriages among people who lived between six and 12 miles apart doubled. But, Perry pointed out that “It must equally be remembered that, as late as 1927-36, three-quarters of all working-class marriages were to a distance of less than 12 miles.” Perry concluded that the greater genetic diversity brought about by the change in distance between marriage partners was caused by the arrival of the bicycle. According to the BBC's Quite Interesting “The invention of the bicycle increased the average distance between the birthplaces of spouses in England from one mile to 30 miles.” And the impact on the spread of socialism, one of the reasons why the authorities didn't like people cycling in groups. The first Clarion Cycling Club was founded in Birmingham in 1894. The National Clarion Cycling Club was established in 1895, and had eighty affiliated clubs by the end of that year; its object was to organise ‘Cyclists for Mutual Aid, Good Fellowship and the Propagation of the Principles of Socialism, along with the social pleasures of Cycling.' In his history of the Clarion Cycling Club, Denis Pye comments how ‘the bicycle seemed admirably suited to the beliefs of people dedicated to the spreading of what was to them a new religion of freedom and equality'. Pye notes how ‘in the twenty years before the First World War a Clarion cyclist, almost by definition, was someone riding a machine with saddlebag crammed or carrier piled high with copies of [The Clarion newspaper, a left wing publication], all of which would eventually be sold or given away.' Pye notes that ‘most of the growing number of local clubs in the 1890s regularly cycled to open-air meetings and distributed masses of literature. This required courage as well as energy, for they encountered much opposition and harassment, not least from the police'. https://clarioncc.org/about-the-national-clarion/ Have a listen, there's a lot more to it than you imagined.

In this Red Caste we talk to Professor Collins about his Sport in Capitalist Society, a book which could be the text book for this series. In this magnum opus Tony exposes, inter alia, the intimate links and interdependencies between the development of UK and international sports and capitalism; the utter, tendentious cant behind the cult of amateurism and the intimate connections between the growth of sport and the gambling industry. There was no golden age of sporting innocence, that's just another myth idealising a past that never existed. Tony is a historian, author, an emeritus professor of history at De Montfort University, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Sports Humanities and also a visiting professor at Beijing Sports University. His books have won the Aberdare Prize for Sports History four times since 1999 and he has been a consultant to numerous TV and radio programmes including the excellent Codebreakers about Welsh Rugby union players who went north to play for League clubs. In March 2018 he began the weekly Rugby Reloaded podcast on the history of rugby and the other football codes, which is highly recommended. His latest book is Rugby League: A People's History, published in July 2020. He is a prolific author some of his books are listed here: http://www.tcollins.org https://www.routledge.com/Sport-in-Capitalist-Society-A-Short-History-1st-Edition/Collins/p/book/9780415813563 Buy the book we are talking about in this podcast here. http://www.tcollins.org more information on Tony here. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rugby-reloaded/id1358627156 Tony's excellent Rugby podcast.

The history of all hitherto existing Rugby codes is the history of class struggle. Here we talk with the best historian in the field about how Rugby League arose from the class politics of Britain in the late 19th century, and how its history has continued to reflect the vicissitudes of that struggle. We were privileged to be joined by Professor Tony Collins, historian, author, emeritus professor of history at De Montfort University, a Research Fellow at the Institute of Sports Humanities and also a visiting professor at Beijing Sports University. His books have won the Aberdare Prize for Sports History four times since 1999 and he has been a consultant to numerous TV and radio programmes including the excellent Codebreakers about Welsh Rugby union players who went north to play for League clubs. In March 2018 he began the weekly Rugby Reloaded podcast on the history of rugby and the other football codes, which is highly recommended. His latest book is the excellent Rugby League: A People's History it was published in July 2020. He is a prolific author but a special mention here for the People's History , Rugby's Great Split, about the context of the breakaway of some northern clubs to form what would evolve into the Rugby League code, the greatest game of all. And the magnificent Sport in Capitalist Society, which is basically the subtext of this whole Red Caste series on sport and politics, this book forms the topic of our next episode. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rugby-reloaded/id1358627156 Tony's excellent podcast series http://www.tcollins.org Some of Tony's books

In this episode we talk to Jack Duffin about his experience of the tumultuous politics of the Six Counties since the 1960s. Jack is an old Official IRA member and was Best Man at the wedding of the legendary Joe McCann; here he talks about Joe and much more: the split in the Republican movement between socialists and Catholic nationalists; the inherently sectarian nature of the state in the North of Ireland; the formation of the Provisional IRA; the relationship between the British security forces and Loyalist paramilitaries from an early stage in the conflict; the future for the Six Counties as the partitioned entity approaches its centenary year. Some further reading: https://www.historyireland.com/troubles-in-ni/the-che-guevara-of-the-ira-the-legend-of-big-joe-mccann/ https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/paratroopers-accused-of-murdering-official-ira-man-joe-mccann-end-court-bid-to-face-jury-trial-38963474.html https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/915 Review of the excellent "The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party." https://www.bookdepository.com/Official-Irish-Republicanism-1962-1972-Sean-Swan/9781430319344 A shorter book than the above and a good concise intellectual as well as political history of the movement and the times.

This Redcast is about the late, great Belfast Celtic. Gone but most definitely not forgotten. Celtic were founded in 1891, a few years after Glasgow Celtic and with a sense of responsibility to imitate their counterparts in “style, play and charity.” We talk to our friend and comrade Jack Duffin about the history of the club and their importance to the nationalist community in the North of Ireland, to Irish football, and of course about the interaction off that football with the politics; more about the politics in part 2 of the cast. Jack is a Belfast historian, political activist, former member of the Official IRA and football fan with a uniquely knowledgeable perspective on the history of the Six counties. In 1896 they were admitted to the Irish league, in 1900 they won that league for the first and by the means the only time. Now, Celtic were always the team of the nationalist community in Belfast and Celtic Park was in the heart of Catholic West Belfast but the club was not sectarian, many of the club's famous players were Protestants as was the most successful manager Elisha Scott, and Protestants consistently formed a good 10% of the club's support. Like most things, the history of the North of Ireland is more complicated than it looks. However, the club's support was overwhelmingly Catholic and in 1912 the turbulent politics in the Northern counties lay behind some serious violence at a match against Linfield. The Great war ended formally in 1919 but hostilities certainly didn't cease in the North of Ireland. In 1920, Celtic was forced to abandon their participation in the 1920–21 season, and did not rejoin the league until 1924–25 season. The return was triumphant with Celtic winning the league 4 times in a row between 1925 and 1926. Celtic were champions on 6 more occasions in the 1930s and also in the 1947/48 and 1948/49 seasons. Then it was pretty much all over. The spark for the end of the club came on 26 December 1948, at the traditional Boxing Day league game between Linfield and Celtic at Windsor Park. Celtic were winning for most of the match but Linfield equalised in the final minute. Linfield fans, high on adrenaline and sectatianism invaded the pitch and began attacking several Celtic players, including centre-forward Jimmy Jones, a protestant, who suffered a broken leg and was kicked unconscious. Celtic felt the response from the police and Irish Football Association was wholly inadequate. The team's management met on the night of the match and decided that the club had no option other than to withdraw entirely from the league after the end of the 1949 season. In a 2011 profile, The Guardian spoke with Celtic fan Jimmy Overend, then 86, about the void left by the team's exit: those of us who never saw the club but were brought up with tales of its legendary prowess, what it meant to the community and the tragedy of its demise, can feel his words: "It was like a black cloud coming down, as if there was nothing to live for or look forward to on a Saturday. It's a grief which never went away." http://www.belfastceltic.org/history/index.html Fine site with a lot of information on the club. http://coiste.ie The tour company that Jack works for in Belfast, highly recommended.

In this second part of the Detroit City FC podcast, Matt talks to us about the politics of the club's supporters and gives us his colourful take on USA politics. This was recorded before the USA November election and when Donald Trump was in hospital. Events may have been slightly overtaken parts of this cast but it remains well worth a listen, particularly Matt's warning about the future: we may end up with someone like Trump in a few years time in the USA; but intelligent, competent and much more dangerous. Some extra reading: https://www.newsweek.com/veterans-call-dan-crenshaw-resign-alleged-role-disparaging-female-vet-1555309 A little about the politician that Matt warns about https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/s/dont-forget-motor-city My article in The Morning Star about the club. https://www.detcityfc.com The official club website https://twitter.com/KeyworthCasuals The Keyworth Casuals twitter account. https://noonelikes.us The website of the biggest Detroit City supporters's grouping, The Northern Guard.

SINCE David Bowie sung about Panic in Detroit in 1973 I have been fascinated by Detroit. I have also been fascinated by the international spread of British football culture since being asked to teach a bunch of Penarol fans in Montevideo in 1989 how to properly sing: “You're going to get your fucking heads in!” I'm a Nacional man but thought it best to keep that quiet. So when I read about Detroit City's Northern Guard supporters group gathering before a match outside the stadium's gates chanting: “Can you hear the (opponents) sing? No! … I can't hear hear a fucking thing, no, no-oo,” a classic 1970s Brit football chant, I thought I had to find out more about this club. Then I found out about the anti-fascist credentials of the fans and the ideals of the owners and was sold. In this Red Caste episode, Alex Gordon and I talk with Matt Smyth, a member of the Keyworth Casuals ultra group about his love of Detroit City FC, the history of the club and its vociferous, foul mouthed, leftist supporters. Some extra reading: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/s/dont-forget-motor-city My article in The Morning Star about the club. https://www.detcityfc.com The official club website https://twitter.com/KeyworthCasuals The Keyworth Casuals twitter account. https://noonelikes.us The website of the biggest Detroit City supporters's grouping, The Northern Guard.