Podcasts about African National Congress

The African National Congress in Gauteng believes it's gradually moving towards the right direction in ensuring they improve in the upcoming 2026 local elections. The party's co-coordinator Panyaza Lesufi mentioned their satisfaction with recent by-elections results, where the party have won. Lesufi was speaking during a media briefing in Johannesburg, where the party outlined resolutions that were taken at the two-day Lekgotla that took place two weeks ago. He said they've been using the 2024 election machinery that they never dismantle and also followed on the post elections survey they conducted

Could billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe be harbouring a desire to become the next president of the ANC and of South Africa? There are whispers making the rounds that a campaign is being quietly organised to position him in such as way as to have him elected as the ANC’s president. Lester Kiewit explores this scenario with journalist and author Janet Smith, who wrote the 2022 book “Patrice Motsepe: An Appetite for Disruption”. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is a podcast of the CapeTalk breakfast show. This programme is your authentic Cape Town wake-up call. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is informative, enlightening and accessible. The team’s ability to spot & share relevant and unusual stories make the programme inclusive and thought-provoking. Don’t miss the popular World View feature at 7:45am daily. Listen out for #LesterInYourLounge which is an outside broadcast – from the home of a listener in a different part of Cape Town - on the first Wednesday of every month. This show introduces you to interesting Capetonians as well as their favourite communities, habits, local personalities and neighbourhood news. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit. Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 06:00 and 09:00 (SA Time) to Good Morning CapeTalk with Lester Kiewit broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/xGkqLbT or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/f9Eeb7i Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Litigation has become the go-to weapon to fight unconstitutional laws, lack of service delivery, abuse of power. In this interview with BizNews, constitutional law expert Professor Koos Malan says: “…we have such large scale malfunctioning of the executive, such large scale malfunctioning of the administration, covering each and every aspect of South African society and also having an effect on each and every possible right, specifically constitutional rights, that one can conceive of, that people are actually forced to go to the courts in order to try to seek help.” However, he warns that a court order amounts to “something like a wish” because “the moment you deal with this systemic problem, the courts are actually not in position to give any remedies, to give any real help, any real proper interference that could steer the executive, steer the relevant organ of state, whatever, in a positive direction simply because of the fact that the state has to such an extent crumbled, to use that strong word, that eventually the court's order won't mean anything.” Instead, Professor Malan hails the private sector for “superbly standing in for the failure of the State - also within the justice system”. Professor Malan further describes how the judiciary is “always somehow in step with the dominant elite” - and says: “…let's say for a moment, the African National Congress becomes weaker and the Democratic Alliance becomes stronger. Then the political landscape changes and the changed landscape implies that the Constitutional Court has more leeway, more liberty, not to take into account those risks that might be involved…”

Today we discuss the New Scramble for Africa! Dominic and Ian Linden dive into the differences between the ‘new' scramble for Africa and the ‘old' scramble of Africa, how strong the US influence is and whether it is currently weakening - or not, the economic opportunities offered by foreign investments, and much more!Professor Ian Linden formerly taught at the School of Oriental & African Studies in London and is a visiting Professor at St Mary's University, Strawberry Hill, London. He worked for the Swedish Government in the 1980s liaising with the African National Congress in apartheid South Africa.  A past director of the Catholic Institute for International Relations where he first worked on the southern Africa desk, he was awarded an Order of St Michael and St George for his work for human rights in 2000. His research for the former- British Government Department for International Development, DfID, has been on faith and development with special emphasis on Muslim approaches to development in West Africa, and for the Commonwealth Foundation on multi-faith programmes in the Commonwealth. He has written books on conflict in Zimbabwe and Rwanda and his latest book Global Catholicism provides an historical analysis of the political impact of the Catholic Church.The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international relations. Our host is Dominic Bowen, Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk consulting firms. Dominic is a regular public and corporate event speaker, and visiting lecturer at several universities. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests around the world to discuss international risk.The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn and Subscribe for all our great updates!Tell us what you liked!

Ivory Coast's main opposition leader Tidjane Thiam has been struck off the electoral list. The judiciary has declared he is ineligible to run in October's presidential election due to his citizenship. Tidjane Thiam also held French citizenship which he renounced in order to run for the presidency. A court this week argued, that the former Credit Suisse boss forfeited his Ivorian nationality when he acquired French citizenship in 1987. We'll get analysisAlso, did past African National Congress party (ANC) governments in South Africa interfere with investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes? President Cyril Ramaphosa has set up an inquiry. How will it work?And, how does money laundering work, what is a 'grey list' and how do countries can get off it?Presenter: Charles Gitonga Technical Producer: Jack Graysmark Producers: Tom Kavanagh and Nyasha Michelle in London and Richard Kagoe in Nairobi Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard

Africa Melane is joined by veteran politician and author Tony Leon to unpack revelations from his new memoir Being There: Backstories from the Political Front. Leon, South Africa’s longest-serving leader of the official opposition and former ambassador, offers a candid, insider account of the high-stakes negotiations that led to the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU). Follow us on:CapeTalk on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CapeTalkCapeTalk on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@capetalkCapeTalk on Instagram: www.instagram.com/capetalkzaCapeTalk on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567CapeTalk on X: www.x.com/CapeTalkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lester Kiewit speaks to EWN Politics Associate Editor, Tshidi Madia, about the state of the government of national unity, as the Democratic Alliance and the African National Congress struggle to see eye-to-eye on key issues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Maytham speaks to DA leader John Steenhuisen about the growing rift in the Government of National Unity after his party opposed the 2025/26 Budget. Steenhuisen explains why the DA rejected the VAT hike, the breakdown in talks with the ANC, and what this means for the future of the coalition. Is the GNU starting to fracture? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The question that I've been grappling with is, are we not punching above our weight as a country given the fact that we are not one of the biggest economies?” – Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast, Nelson Mandela University in South Africa Tensions between South Africa and the United States appear to be intensifying. President Cyril Ramaphosa's party, the African National Congress recently said, it won't be dropping its genocide case against Israel to appease America. South Africa took Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's country to the International Court of Justice in 2024, arguing that it was committing genocide. This relates to the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. These developments come weeks after President Donald Trump's administration took a hostile stance towards South Africa, including cutting off funding. In today's episode, Alan Kasujja tries to understand how far South Africa is prepared to go for the cause of Palestine, amid America's pressure.

ActionSA caucus leader, Athol Trollip, says the party will not support the African National Congress if their input continues not to yield fruit. Speaking to members of the media, earlier today, Trollip emphasised that the party is resolute in its resistance of a VAT increase or tax bracket creep in the 2025 budget. This after the National Assembly's adoption of the Fiscal Framework yesterday. The was adopted with recommendations - made by ActionSA - that Treasury must be given 30 days to come up with alternatives to tax hikes. Trollip says ANC can not make unilateral decisions, Sakina Kamwendo spoke to EFF Spokesperson, Sinawo Tambo and Analyst at the Centre for Risk Analysis, Carika Middelberg.

The uMkhonto we Sizwe Party has snatched from the African National Congress, ward 28 in KwaDukuza, in KwaZulu-Natal's iLembe District Municipality. The ward became vacant when Vishnugopal Govender resigned as ANC ward councilor, and contested the by-election as an MK Party candidate. He received 62 per cent of the votes. Candidates from the ANC, Inkatha Freedom Party, Economic Freedom Fighters and the MK Party contested the ward. For a look at what this means, Sakina Kamwendo spoke to SABC Senior Researcher, Maswele Ralebone.

Around the world and throughout history, bitter political adversaries have put aside their differences and worked together to create peace. In a conversation moderated by Jillian Youngblood, Executive Director of Civic Genius, hear two extraordinary leaders tell how they helped transform South Africa into a multiracial democracy, and what their experiences can teach us. Roelf Meyer is renowned for his pivotal role as the South African government's chief representative in the negotiations to end Apartheid. Mohammed Bhabha was on the African National Congress team at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA), and later part of the agreements on the final South African Constitution. They'll offer hard-won lessons on working across profound differences, and inspiration for healing divides at home. Roelf Meyer (South Africa) is renowned for his pivotal role as the South African government's chief representative in the negotiations to end apartheid and establish a multiracial democracy. His influence in persuading the National Party and the Afrikaner community to embrace negotiations and pursue a more just society is credited as crucial to South Africa's peaceful transition. Meyer's significant contributions extend to his involvement in the cabinet of former President Nelson Mandela, co-founding the United Democratic Movement, and consulting on international peace processes in various countries. Mohammed Bhabha (South Africa) is a former Member of Parliament, attorney, and experienced negotiator. He was part of the African National Congress (ANC) team at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA), and later as part of the agreements on the final South African Constitution. Mohammed has worked on transitional and constitutional support projects in Kenya, South Sudan, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Palestine, Bahrain, and Zimbabwe. Jillian Youngblood (United States) is the executive director of Civic Genius, a program of the National Civic League. She has nearly 20 years of experience in politics, government, and civic action with a focus on deliberative democracy and solutions-oriented public engagement. Jillian is a frequent speaker and trainer on innovative processes that help governments and communities work better together. She sits on the board of the Seattle City Club and is a 2024 fellow of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. Presented by Town Hall Seattle, William D. Ruckelshaus Center, and Civic Genius.

Sue Dobson was a white South African who risked her life as an ANC secret agentSue was a student when she was first recruited as a spy for the African National Congress liberation movement in the 1980s, and she knew that if she was caught she'd face prison, torture or death. Sue's mission would require her to infiltrate the pro-apartheid media establishment, but first she needed to learn spycraft and weapons handling. Her training would take place in Soviet Russia. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox

How much do you know about Nelson Mandela and South Africa's brutal, racially oppressive system of apartheid? Mandela became the first black president of South Africa in 1994, just four years after serving 27 years in prison for demanding equal rights for the black citizens of the predominantly black nation of South Africa. Mandela would do so much to help dismantle the South African system of apartheid that led to his incarceration, and we'll learn about how apartheid worked, who Nelson Mandela was, and more in today's inspirational and historical episode. Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89vWant to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" to locate whatever happens to be our most current page :)For all merch-related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)Please rate and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcastWanna become a Space Lizard? Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast.Sign up through Patreon, and for $5 a month, you get access to the entire Secret Suck catalog (295 episodes) PLUS the entire catalog of Timesuck, AD FREE. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch.

This year marks 35 years since Nelson Mandela was released from prison and apartheid was dismantled in South Africa. To mark the anniversary we are revisiting an episode that looks at some of aspects of the anti-apartheid struggle that you might not know: pirate radio and protest songs. Pirate radio was a weapon used by the African National Congress to inspire black South Africans and to counter propaganda and misinformation by the apartheid government. While protest songs performed by western musicians played a pivotal role in raising awareness in the rest of the world about the injustices in South Africa. Songs mentioned in episode: Biko, by Peter Gabriel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luVpsM3YAgw Free Nelson Mandela, by The Special AKA https://youtu.be/FmKiq0mQd8c?si=5J-EdHYYZU4rbusW Sun City, by Artists United Against Apartheid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BIvf-ZlJNc Guest Info: Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi (Ph.D.) Associate Professor of History University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg SHOW INFO: Show Info:  Instagram: @that90spodcast   TikTok: @90spodcast  Email: 90s@curiouscast.ca  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

United Independent Movement (UIM) President Neil de Beer defies death threats to be back on the Sunday Show with BizNews - and says: “You are not going to silence us. In actual fact, tomorrow I will buy a bigger megaphone.” He goes on to speak about the return of racism to South Africa; the charge of incitement to violence he has laid against Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) MP Andile Mngxitama; and describes the African National Congress's evolution from Nelson Mandela's reconciliation to Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa's “retribution”. As for US President Donald Trump's retribution against South Africa, De Beer says it is not driven by the land redistribution issue, but by support for Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and BRICS membership, and calls President Cyril Ramaphosa a “moegoe” if he thinks he can “kick America to touch….let the white Afrikaners that want to leave, leave….and then replace America and the minorities with China”. De Beer also takes a deep dive into the perilous state of the country's finances - and slams Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana as Treasury is negotiating a new R27 billion loan from the World Bank.

In the latest edition of the Sunday Show on BizNews, Neil de Beer, the President of the United Independent Movement, speaks about the “multitude of racial explosions” that has hit South Africa in the wake of Afrikaner farmers being offered refugee status in the US by President Donald Trump, who has also cut off aid to the country. “We have really this week…hit the lowest of the low in 30 years,” De Beer says. He lists some of the “litany of small detonations on a string of pearls of a big dynamite bomb” from Trump: race-based laws, BEE, the BELA and EWC acts and the NHI. De Beer dissects the roles played by the African National Congress, AfriForum, and the Democratic Alliance - and says the shots the DA has been taking the past week, he has “never seen in my lifetime …in politics”. Slamming the “compromised” Government of National Unity (GNU), De Beer charges: “…it seems that in the GNU, you'd rather be popular than take the bloody right decision for 60 million people”. He also gives his take on President Cyril Ramaphosa's “unfortunate dud” SONA speech; lists those politicians hoping to succeed him, but warns: “…it's a shocking shame that this country has run out of statesmen or stateswomen”. He concludes with this emotional plea: “I beg the leaders of this country to stop your absolute hogwash, to remember why you are there and to do anything necessary - even if it means that you've got to take the knee…but save this country…”

The future of South Africa's Government of National Unity (GNU) hangs by a thread after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the expropriation bill into law. The law allows the government to expropriate land if it deems it to be in the public interest, but coalition members say Ramaphosa is trying to implement ANC policies. Josey Mahachi talks to political analyst Sandile Swana and DW's Thuso Khumalo.

It's Tuesday, January 28th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Kevin Swanson Brazil's Leftist president a liability Brazil's Left-wing president is not doing well in the polls. Luiz Inácio da Silva's ratings have dipped to 47%. Lula's deficits are running 9.5% of the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product which is the measure of the total value of goods and services produced in a country over a year. The Brazil Real, which is worth 16 cents in America, has dropped 16% in reference to the U.S. dollar since he took office. The Real took the dubious award for the worst-performing major currency in 2024, reports The Economist.  Brazil's debt to GDP also increased from 71% to 78% in 2024 Milei's conservative policies boosted Argentina's economy Meanwhile, just south of Brazil, Argentina's government under President Javier Milei has successfully reduced the nation's Debt to GDP ratio in 2024 from 155% to 112%. Milei's fiscally conservative policies also improved the nation's Gross Domestic Product slightly, year over year. South Africa seizing private property without compensation And, last week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a bill into law that would allow the national government to seize private property without having to pay compensation. The confiscations will be allowed where it is “just and equitable and in the public interest.” The radical measure has fired up disunity among parties in the new South African government. Power shifted a bit in South African government after last year's election. The African National Congress and the South African Communist Party dropped from 68% to 49.7% control over the nation's government. Redistribution of the land has not yielded good results thus far for the South African people.  Business Day reported that “On-farm beneficiaries earn little-to-no income, and the majority of beneficiaries seek employment on surrounding commercial farms instead of actively farming their own land. Where land reform farms are in operation, they operate below their full commercial potential and have a strong bias towards subsistence agriculture. Across sampled sites, crop production had decreased by 79% since conversion to land reform.” God's law states plainly, “Thou shalt not steal.” (Exodus 20:15) Trump's administration arrested 2,500 illegals since Thursday The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has already arrested 2,500 illegal immigrants since last Thursday, 956 on Sunday, reports One America News. This isn't the first time the United States has deported illegal immigrants. The previous administration averaged about 311 deportations per day, according to ICE reports.  About one-third of deportations in 2023 were individuals facing serious charges or convictions of crime as well as 237 known terrorists.  Democrats oppose protecting baby survivors of botched abortions The U.S. Congress still has proven itself incapable of taking the most basic pro-life position against the greatest evil in American society today. Republican Senator James Lankford's  Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act failed again last Thursday, as 47  Democrats voted against allowing the bill to proceed in the Senate. Listen to what Republican Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said about the Democrat opposition. THUNE: “We should all be able to agree that a baby born alive after an attempted abortion must be protected. And yet, I fully expect that later today, my Democrat colleagues will vote no on this legislation. “They will vote against protection for a living, breathing newborn baby simply because that child has been born alive after an attempted abortion. Why are they going to vote like that, Mr. President?  After all, I think most Democrats would still claim to oppose infanticide, even if the moral line at times appears to be slipping. And yet, Democrats are going to vote against legislation to provide appropriate medical care to living, breathing, newborn children.” Be sure of this: “Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.” (Proverbs 11:21) Rubio halts all foreign spending except for Israel, Egypt, & emergency food assistance Politico reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has halted all foreign aid spending for 90 days, including distributions to Ukraine. However, the order exempts foreign military financing for Egypt and Israel, and allows for emergency food assistance and “legitimate expenses incurred prior to the date of this” guidance “under existing awards.” 11% now delinquent on mortgage Commercial Mortgage-Backed Security reports the highest delinquency rate on mortgages in recorded history going back into the 1990s — now at 11%. That's up from 2% in 2023. Coresight, which tracks store closures, recorded a total of 7,325 retail stores shuttered up last year — a 67% increase over 2023. Family Dollar and CVS were the big losers. Amazon, Walmart, and Costco had big years. Coresight estimates 15,000 closures this year to include Party City, Big Lots, and Walgreens, reports CNBC. 75% of Christian men & 40% of Christian women use porn Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries issued their 2024 “Beyond the Porn Phenomenon” report  concluding that pornography use has increased 11% over the last eight years. Seventy-five percent of Christian men and 40 percent of Christian women report that they are viewing pornography at least occasionally, and 60% are addicted. About half of practicing Christians say they are comfortable with the habit. Also, the younger generation (or Gen Zers) were the least likely to express comfort with how much porn they use. Gen Zers were almost twice as likely to say they wished they didn't use pornography at all, as compared to older generations. John Piper cites 2 Biblical motivations not to use porn Pastor John Piper addressed the porn problem in his recent “Ask Pastor John” podcast.   PIPER: “The biblical principle of motivation for purity, for not pursuing or indulging in sexual pleasure where it ought not to be found, is that the Bible uses fear and hope to draw us away from impurity. You hear both of these, for example, in Romans 8:13. “‘If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.'  So, if you spend your life giving into lust, the lust of the flesh, you perish. Now, that's meant to make us afraid. It's meant to strike fear into our hearts so that we turn away, flee from temptations of the flesh. “But then he says, ‘If by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.' And that's meant to awaken hope. In the power of the hope, pursue this purity and not sin. So, the Bible uses both fear and hope, threat and promise.” He points to the Gospel motive from 1 Peter 2:24. It says, “He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”   Pastor Piper emphasized that “Christ purchased the power not to sin.” Pray for Pastor John MacArthur's recovery after heart surgery And finally, Pastor John MacArthur, the host of the radio program Grace to You, remains in the hospital following heart valve surgery, dealing with ongoing issues with his heart, lungs and kidney. Grace Community Church Elder Phil Johnson took to X to correct rumors that the pastor was dying. Johnson is urging fellow believers to “keep him in your prayers.”  Please pray for his recovery and send a get well card to Pastor John MacArthur, Grace Community Church, 13248 Roscoe Blvd, Sun Valley, CA 91352. I hope you will be one of hundreds of Worldview listeners to take the time to do so. Close And that's The Worldview on this Tuesday, January 28th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Jacobin Radio has featured many presentations from the recent conference held in honor of Boris Kagarlitsky, author of The Long Retreat, a sobering analysis of the international Left that was discussed in our previous episode, and currently a prisoner in Russia for speaking out against Putin's war in Ukraine. We continue with Trevor Ngwane, a South African scholar-activist at the University of Johannesburg, and Nancy Fraser, professor of philosophy and politics at the New School for Social Research, who bring to the table some difficult truths and critical questions for the global Left. After brief introductory comments from Patrick Bond, Trevor Ngwane outlines the brutal history of South Africa's turn to neoliberalism and its consequences — widespread suffering and deepening despair among ordinary people as well as a political crisis in the African National Congress. He asks what it will take to revitalize the vibrant, militant, working-class movements that once overthrew apartheid. Nancy Fraser then reflects on Kagarlitsky's analysis of the chaotic political reality we face today, and raises three central strategic questions for the Left and mass politics: How can we engage with actually existing social forces towards positive social change? How do we navigate the geopolitics of war and migration in mass movement organizing? And what could a transformative working-class movement even look like in the 21st century? Guest host Meleiza Figueroa and Alan Minsky, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America, follow with a discussion of the critical insights and questions brought up by Trevor Ngwane and Nancy Fraser, and consider what this means for American politics at this particular moment in history, as we face a new year filled with uncertainty, political confusion, and deepening crisis. Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Former South African President Jacob Zuma last week gave the African National Congress until January 31 to reinstate him as a member. The South Africa Mail and Guardian reports Zuma made the demand through his lawyers in a letter to the ANC Secretary General. Zuma was ousted from the ANC last year when he helped form the uMkhonto we Sizwe, (MK) Party. Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe at the University of Zululand, tells VOA's James Butty Zuma wants to irritate the ANC to expose its flaws.

“The African National Congress right now is at a crossroads and that crossroads is as a result of one, the electoral performance in 2024 and two, some of the challenges that the country is facing” – Jamie Mighti, South African political commentator Today South Africa's biggest political party, the African National Congress (ANC), is celebrating its 113th birthday. It comes nearly a year after it lost its parliamentary majority, for the first time since the end of apartheid. Its poor showing at the May 2024 national election was attributed to several factors including its failure to create enough jobs, provide uninterrupted electricity and clean water. As the ANC's president Cyril Ramaphosa leads week-long celebrations, the party will be reflecting on its past successes and failures. So, today Alan Kasujja attempts to understand if Africa's oldest liberation movement is still fit for purpose. Guests: ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu and political commentator Jamie Mighti

Gangsterism, immigration, economic inequality, land reform and whether the historic prison of Robben Island could be turned into a luxury resort: World Questions is in Cape Town to debate issues raised by South Africans thirty years after democracy came to their nation. Crime is rampant, six out of ten young people are without a job and housing is still a massive issue but this year, elections returned a grand coalition of multiple parties who are working together for the first time. Jonny Dymond presents from the Homecoming Centre in Cape Town's District Six, a place where a multi-race community is returning after forced eviction during the apartheid years. He is joined by a panel from the coalition and opposition and a Cape Town audience. The panel: Solly Malatsi: MP, Democratic Alliance. Minister for Communications and Digital Technologies Naledi Chirwa: Economic Freedom Fighters. Delegate in South Africa's Upper House, the National Council of Provinces Khalid Sayed: MPP, African National Congress. Leader of the Opposition in Western Cape Provincial Parliament Ashley Sauls: MP, Parliamentary Leader of the Patriotic Alliance Party in the National Assembly.

Dr. Franz Cronje and Bheki Mahlobo join us to unravel the unexpected conservative leanings within South Africa's electorate, a surprising twist given the nation's turbulent history. Together, we examine the African National Congress's promises and its transformative role since apartheid's end, leading to significant socioeconomic changes. Through historical insights, we gain a deeper understanding of how these foundational shifts continue to influence South Africa's political climate today.As South Africa forms a new government of national unity, we explore the intricate dynamics of this pivotal transition. The coalition between the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance offers both opportunities and threats, particularly concerning severe unemployment among young black women. We discuss how bolstering domestic industries and foreign direct investment could revitalize the economy, alongside recent advancements in electricity production that are restoring faith in democracy and curbing radical populism.Amidst the backdrop of global power shifts, the strategic significance of regions like the Solomon Islands, Indian Ocean, and South Atlantic comes to the fore. We critique Western diplomacy's misalignment with Africa's developmental goals and the potential pitfalls of outdated strategies, particularly in light of China's expanding influence. As we unpack these complex issues, we call for a thoughtful reconsideration of Western approaches to maintain influence in these critical regions. Join us for a profound exploration of South Africa's political and economic landscape in a rapidly changing world.Support Our WorkThe Center for Demographics and Policy focuses on research and analysis of global, national, and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time. It involves Chapman students in demographic research under the supervision of the Center's senior staff.Students work with the Center's director and engage in research that will serve them well as they look to develop their careers in business, the social sciences, and the arts. Students also have access to our advisory board, which includes distinguished Chapman faculty and major demographic scholars from across the country and the world.For additional information, please contact Mahnaz Asghari, Associate Director for the Center for Demographics and Policy, at (714) 744-7635 or asghari@chapman.edu.Follow us on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-feudal-future-podcast/Tweet thoughts: @joelkotkin, @mtoplansky, #FeudalFuture #BeyondFeudalismLearn more about Joel's book 'The Coming of Neo-Feudalism': https://amzn.to/3a1VV87Sign Up For News & Alerts: http://joelkotkin.com/#subscribeThis show is presented by the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, which focuses on research and analysis of global, national and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time.

The African National Congress (ANC) has sold its soul, its democratic principles, its “brilliant” legacy, its own people to anti-democratic, “Nazi-inspired” forces. That is the view of Dr. Charles Small, the Founding Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy and a former Chair of the ANC Solidarity Committee of Canada. In this interview with BizNews, he charges that the ANC went to the Hague for “two pieces of silver” from “paymasters” with “Nazi ideology”. Dr Small says the fact that SA has paved the way for the Iranian Revolutionary Regime to join BRICS, and its working with Russia, and Hamas, “is not going over very well” in Washington. “I think they're going to be checked by democratic countries. I don't think this can go on,” he warned. “…we can see the Iranian Revolutionary regime and Hamas preaching hatred based on Nazism. And for the ANC to be aligned with this is shocking. And it's just, I would say for money, for political expedience…And the ANC leadership needs to question itself. Do you want a quick fix for your financial troubles or do you want to rectify it slowly and methodically for a bright future? Or do you want to take bribes from anti-democratic entities that are diametrically opposed to the raison d'etre of the African National Congress?”

Listen to the Sat. Nov. 9, 2024 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. The episode features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the United States and British bombing of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen; a summit of African and Russian ministers is taking place this weekend; there has been a rash of racist text messages sent to African Americans after Trump was declared winner of the presidential elections; and Germany is hosting an exibition of African art. In the second hour we look in detail at the situation in Lebanon and other West Asian states. Finally, we review a briefing from the African National Congress of South Africa.

WIN. This year's Sinn Féin Ard Fheis last weekend was full of enthusiasm and passion with great speeches covering every issue imaginable and the delegates voting through policy motions that will help shape Sinn Féin politics in the time ahead. The speeches, particularly from Michelle O'Neill and other national leaders demonstrated the strength and relevance of the party across our island. South Africa Supports Irish Unity.Irish Republicans have had a long and enduring relationship with the African National Congress. In 1995 I travelled to South Africa to meet its senior team of negotiators who successfully achieved an end to apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela as President. In the midst of the negotiations around the Good Friday Agreement some of those senior figures travelled to Ireland to hold public meetings and go into the prisons to talk about their experience of negotiations. That relationship has remained strong over the years thanks in part to the hard work of Declan Kearney, Sinn Fein Party Chairperson.Irish government must take a stand against IsraelLast week most of the governments of the world turned their back on Israel as Benjamin Netanyahu took to the rostrum at the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York. Netanyahu claimed that “no army has done what Israel is doing to minimise civilian casualties” and as he described the United Nations as an “anti-semitic swamp” and an “anti-Israel Flat Earth Society,” scores of UN delegates got up and walked out. Regrettably, the Irish government representatives stayed.

South Africa's allegations of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice draw on the African National Congress's own long history and views on apartheid. But is Pretoria's foreign policy consistent across other parts of the world—for example, Russia or Sudan? Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola sits down with Ravi Agrawal to discuss how he's shaping South Africa's foreign policy.  Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): Nontobeko Hlela: Why South Africa's Nonalignment Is Here to Stay Oliver Stuenkel: BRICS Faces a Reckoning Chile Eboe-Osuji: South Africa's ICJ Case Was Too Narrow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get ready for a game-changing episode of Connecting the Dots! Dr. Wilmer Leon and Caleb Maupin dive into the seismic shifts happening worldwide—where the U.S. is no longer the sole superpower and what that means for our future. They explore a growing movement challenging America's global influence and break down what the 2024 election could mean for the future of U.S. politics. If you care about where our country is headed, this is a must-listen. Don't miss out on insights that could change how you see the world!     Find me and the show on social media. Click the following links to find @DrWilmerLeon on X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Patreon and YouTube!   Hey everyone, Dr. Wilmer here! If you've been enjoying my deep dives into the real stories behind the headlines and appreciate the balanced perspective I bring, I'd love your support on my Patreon channel. Your contribution helps me keep "Connecting the Dots" alive, revealing the truth behind the news. Join our community, and together, let's keep uncovering the hidden truths and making sense of the world. Thank you for being a part of this journey!   Wilmer Leon (00:00:00): As we are living through a pivotal moment in world history, the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world, anti-imperialism is at the core of this global movement as the US is at the center of this global shift. How did anti imperialism take hold in the us? Let's find out Announcer (00:00:27): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. Wilmer Leon (00:00:35): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon and I am Wilmer Leon. Here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they happen in a vacuum, failing to understand the broader historical context in which these events take place. During each episode, my guests and I have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between these events and the broader historical context in which they take place. This enables you to better understand and analyze the events that impact the global village in which we live. On today's episode. The issue before us, the issues before us, are the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar world. How is this happening and what does it mean? As well as the developing 2024 US presidential political landscape to help me work through these issues. Let's turn to my guest. He's an author, independent journalist, political analyst and reporter for RT, and his latest book is entitled “Out of the Movement to the Masses, Anti-Imperialist Organizing in America”. And he's also the author of Kamala Harris and The Future of America, an essay in Three Parts. He is Caleb Maupin, my brother. Welcome back! Caleb Maupin (00:01:53): Sure. Glad to be here. Wilmer Leon (00:01:55): So first of all, your thoughts on my introduction, is that a hyperbole or is that a fairly accurate description of the dynamics that we find ourselves dealing with? Caleb Maupin (00:02:13): Trying to stop the rise of a multipolar world would be a lot like trying to stop the sun from rising in the morning, maybe trying to stop gravity. That's the way the world is moving. But our leaders are committed to trying to keep the world centered around Wall Street and London and they are going to fail. The question is how much of a cost in terms of human lives, in terms of the economy, in terms of political repression, are we going to have to endure before they come to the terms of reality, which is that we're going to have a world where there are other centers of power and countries trade with each other on a different basis. So I would agree with you, Wilmer Leon (00:02:54): And so as we look at this changing dynamic from the unipolar to the multipolar, we've got China, we have Russia, we have India. There are a number of countries that over the years have been targets of American sanctions, regimes and all other types of pressure from the United States. With all of that or from all of that, we now have the rise of the BRICS nations, we've got Brazil, we've got Russia, we've got India, we've got China, we've got South Africa, and now what about how many, I've lost track now about 15 or 17 other countries that have joined this organization, this economic organization, which also seems to be an anti imperialist organization. Caleb Maupin (00:03:49): Sure. I mean, if you understand imperialism in the economic sense, imperialism is a system rather than a policy, right? Kind of layman's terms imperialism is when one country is mean to another country or attacks another country. But we're referring specifically to imperialism as an economic system when the world is centered around financial institutions, trusts, cartels and syndicates centered in the Western countries that dominate the world through the export of capital, sending their corporations all over the world to dominate the economies of developing countries, to hold back economic development, to keep countries as captive markets and spheres of influence. That process whereby countries are prevented from lifting themselves up, from electrifying, from building modern education systems, developing modern industries, developing their own economies, and just kind of used to dump the excess commodities of Western countries and have their economy dominated by a foreign country and a foreign monopolies and big corporations from another country from the west. (00:04:55): That process refers to, that's what I mean when I say imperialism. I'm referring to a global economic setup, and that economic setup is on its way out. And that's been pretty clear and a lot has gone on, went on in the 20th century to kind of erode imperialism. And in the 21st century, imperialism continues to be in the decline, and there is this new economy rising around the world, centered around the two U superpowers, Russia and China. They are kind of at the center, the linchpin of a global network of countries, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba. But then there's even other countries that are willing to trade and are kind of on the one hand friendly to the United States, but on the other hand are happy to work with Russia or China if they give them a better deal. The shape of global politics is changing, the world is changing, and this is just something we need to embrace. The world is not going to be centered around the West as it was for so long during the age of colonialism and sense. Wilmer Leon (00:05:54): In fact, what we're finding out is that on the 27th and the 28th of August, Moscow is hosting the sixth annual, the sixth International Municipal BRICS Forum. And what might surprise a lot of people is there are delegations from 126 countries that are expected to take part, more than 5,000 participants from 500 cities around the world. This isn't getting very much attention or coverage here in the western media, but folks need to understand, as we talked about the shift from the unipolar to the multipolar, this is a perfect example of that shift isn't happening, that shift HAS happened. Caleb Maupin (00:06:45): Sure. When I was at the Valdi Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia in the mountains near the city, I saw Ael Togi, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, and he pointed out that in the Eurasian subcontinent and outside of the Western countries, this is like a golden era. The amount of electrification that's going on, the amount of roads and railways that are being constructed, I mean, there is a whole exploding new economy happening in the world. And I saw that when I was at the Yalta Economic Forum in Crimea in 2018, and other people have seen it when they go to the Vladi Stock Economic Forum in the Russian Far East. People have seen it with the Belt and Road Initiative and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that China is building. There is this whole new economy in the world now that is focused on development and growth, building power plants, building schools, building universities, building hospitals, and it's a really, really big part of the global economy. And our leaders are being very foolish by trying to just barricade it and blockade it and oppose it because they're locking the United States out of that economic growth. When somebody's growing economically, they have more money to spend, they have more products they can buy, and we could be benefiting from this new economy that's rising, but instead, our Western leaders are committed to maintaining their monopoly at all costs. And so we are getting locked out of an explosion of growth. It's just a very, very mistaken approach. Wilmer Leon (00:08:18): And I want to, with that intro shift to shift to your book out of the movement to the masses, anti-imperialist organizing in America, because as I said in the intro, one of the major elements I believe of this shift from the unipolar to the multipolar is anti imperialism. And you write in the second paragraph of your introduction, what made the Communist party USA important was that it was the first anti-imperialist organization to take hold in the country. There were certainly anti-war organizations such as Mark Twain's, anti-Imperialist League. There had been pacifists and socialists like Eugene Debs, who opposed War on a Class basis, but the Communist party of USA was founded on the ideological breakthroughs of the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia specifically the teachings of Vladimir Lenin. So I wanted to use this book out of the Movement to the Masses, which is a textbook, and wanted to start the conversation with what motivated you to write this book and what motivated you to write this as a textbook? Caleb Maupin (00:09:33): Well, it's important to understand that I think the ultimate interest of we the American people is in a society free from imperialism. I don't think that helping ExxonMobil and BP and Shell and Chevron dominate the global oil markets really benefits American working people in the long run. There might be some short-term bonuses, but those things are fading and that there is a long Wilmer Leon (00:09:57): Short-term bonuses such as, Caleb Maupin (00:09:59): Well, we've had a higher standard of living at least in the past, but that standard of living is in decline, and the future of the United States is not in this decaying western financial system. It's in a new order where we're trading with countries on the basis of win-win cooperation. And the reason I wrote the textbook is because I wanted people to be aware of the fact that there has been a strong anti-imperialist movement in this country, and that we can learn from these struggles of the past and these organizations that existed and what they achieved as we figure out in our time how we can build an anti-imperialist movement to rescue our country from the nightmare of the emerging low wage police state and the drive toward World War iii. And I mean, really, you don't have anti imperialism as we understand it, right? You don't have the rise of Russia and China. (00:10:50): You don't have the bricks. You don't have any of that without the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. That was a pivotal moment. That was a country that broke out of the Western imperialist system during World War I and started on an independent course of development. And it came out of the Bolshevik started out as part of the Marxist movement. Marxism was the ideology of the labor movement, right? The worker versus the employer. But there was a division in the labor movement increasingly between wealthy labor union bosses and higher paid skilled trade jobs that increasingly became supporters of empire and supporters of their country, colonizing countries in Africa and countries in Asia, et cetera. And the lower levels of the labor movement of more oppressed workers, the American Federation of Labor, the A FL was the big labor federation in the United States. And the people who started it, like Samuel Goer's, they were socialists or Marxists, but they were not anti-imperialist. (00:11:55): And by the time World War I came along, the A FL was a union that largely was for whites only. Most of the unions that were part of it banned black people from joining, banned people not born in the United States from joining, banned people who did not speak English as their first language from joining. And they were big supporters of World War I when it happened. And there was a divide in the labor movement and Marxism that had been the ideology of the labor movement got very much divided. And you had parties like the British Labor Party, the ruling party of Britain today. It originated as a Marxist party of labor organizers, but it became a pro imperialist party. Well, Bolshevism and the people who took power in Russia, the Bolsheviks, they were a breakaway from the Marxist movement that had developed this new theory of imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. (00:12:48): And they said, we're not just fighting against regular capitalism. We're fighting against the monopolistic capitalism of Britain and France and Germany and America, and that means that we support nations, right? Originally, Marxists and the labor movement said, there are no nations workers of the world unite. It's just the workers versus the bosses. No borderers in our struggle. Well, Lenin says, actually, we do support nations in their fight against imperialism. And after the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, one of the first things they did is they called a conference in Baku in Azerbaijan. And at that conference, they invited all kinds of people from all over the world and they said, we will support you as long as you're fighting imperialism. And one of the people that came to that conference and was given military support by the Bolsheviks was the Amir of Afghanistan. And the Amir of Afghanistan was a conservative monarchist. (00:13:40): He was not a Marxist, not a socialist of any stripe. He was a conservative monarchist, a very conservative Muslim, but the Bolshevik said, you're fighting imperialism and so and so, we support you. And he gave them support. And many people around the world were inspired by the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist message that the Bolsheviks had, which was kind of a breakaway from the standard Marxist movement. The understanding was we're not just fighting capitalism, we're fighting against imperialism, and we support nations and colonized people of all different classes, workers, capitalists, whoever who are struggling against imperialism. That is the basis of this new movement that we are trying to build. And the Communist Party of the United States was the incarnation of that movement, and that's why it was embraced by many different sections of the population, most especially the black community in America, because they viewed black people as a colonized people, an oppressed nation within US borders. Marcus Garvey had been leading the black nationalist movement in the United States, the Back to African movement, and many black people saw African-Americans as a colonized people within the US borders. And the Communist Party agreed with that, and that was a winning point that they had with many people in the United States. And the Communist Party was supportive of anyone around the world who was struggling against British American or French imperialism. Wilmer Leon (00:15:04): And as we look at that history and we bring it forward to the current moment and the Russia phobia that we find ourselves subjected to, I submit, and please if I'm wrong, correct me that one of the things that's at the crux of this Russia phobia is the fact that America is an imperialist nation and a neo-colonial power, and Russia has the Soviet Union and then into Russia has been anti-colonialism, which is one of the reasons why we find now Russia gaining so much traction with countries on the continent of Africa. Caleb Maupin (00:15:53): Well, I got to tell you, just a few weeks after the special military operation in Russia began a couple of years ago, I was in New York City with Tanner, 15 of my friends, and we were marching around with American flags and Russian flags chanting, Russia is not our enemy, Russia is not our enemy. And we chanted this in Union Square, and then we went up to Grand Central Station, we marched around Grand Central Station chanting that, and while we were doing that, we got thumbs up from a lot of different people. Now, many people did not agree with us, but the people who did give us thumbs up, many of them were people that were not from the United States. New York City is a big international center. You have the United Nations that's there. You have Wall Street that's there. And I would say the majority of the people who gave us thumbs up and gave us support were from the continent of Africa. (00:16:40): They were people from West Africa, from Nigeria. They were people from South Africa. And that the economy of Africa is very tied in with the Russian economy, and Russia provides fertilizer to many countries. Russia has partnerships with many countries to help them develop their state run mining industries or their state run oil and natural gas industries. So support for Russia on the African continent is widespread. Now, this doesn't match the narrative of liberals. Liberals would have us believe that Russia is a white supremacist country, and that's why they rigged the elections in 2016 to get white supremacist. Donald Trump elected, and that just does not match reality. The Soviet Union, which modern Russia is built on the foundations of the Soviet Union, was the best friend of anti-colonial and liberation movements on the African continent, and those relationships still exist. When I was in Russia, I sat down with people from various African countries. (00:17:43): I sat down with people from Namibia. Well, the ruling party of Namibia is the Southwest People's Organization, which was a Soviet aligned, Soviet funded organization that fought for Namibia to become independent. The ruling party of South Africa, the African National Congress was armed and funded by the Soviet Union. If you go to Ghana, the man who created modern Ghana was Kwame Nkrumah, who was a big friend of the Soviet Union and was called himself an African socialist and developed his own interpretation of the Marxist philosophy that was specific to the African continent. I mean, there was Julius Nire, there was Gaddafi who built Libya into the most prosperous country on the African continent. There are just so many examples of how Russia is intimately tied in with the struggle against colonialism on the African continent with the struggle of African countries to pursue their own course of development. (00:18:43): And that is rooted in the foundation of the Bolshevik Revolution. And the Bolshevik ideology, which I will emphasize was a break with the standard Marxist view. Marx himself, he believed that the first communist revolution would happen in Germany, and it would be the European countries that had the communist revolution first because they were the most advanced. And it was Lenin who came along and said, well, actually, that's wrong. The center of revolutionary energy is going to be in the colonized and oppressed countries of the world. And the working class in the imperialist homeland is largely being bought off, and it's going to be the division between what we now some academics talk about the global north and the global south. It's going to be that division that brings socialism into the world. And that is kind of the defining aspect of what Lenin taught. And as much as the global anti-imperialist movement is not explicitly Marxist Leninist in the Soviet sense, they don't exactly follow that Soviet ideology. That understanding of imperialism and what happened in the 20th century with the Soviet Union, with later the Chinese Revolution, the Vietnamese revolution, the Cuban Revolution, all of that laid the basis for what exists today. And that understanding is important, and that's why I wrote this textbook. Wilmer Leon (00:19:55): And to your point about all of these myths and stories and fictions about Russia being involved in our election and all of this other foolishness, mark Zuckerberg just wrote a letter to Jim Jordan saying that he apologizes for having purged stories from Facebook regarding the Hunter Biden laptop and some of the other stories, because he has now come to understand that that whole narrative was not Russian propaganda as the FBI had told him, he now has come to understand that those stories are true. And I bring that up just as one data point to demonstrate how so much of this rhetoric that we've been hearing, so much of this propaganda that we've been hearing about China being involved in our elections and Russia being involved in our elections, and Iran, mark Zuckerberg, the head of Facebook, just sent a letter to Jim Jordan laying all this out, that it was bs. It was a fiction created by the FBI, Caleb Moin. Caleb Maupin (00:21:14): Well, we've been through this before, right after the Russian Revolution, just a few years later in London, in Britain, there was a scandal called the Enovia of letter. And the British people were told, oh my goodness, the Russians are meddling in our elections. They're trying to get the Labor Party to win the election. And Lloyd George, who was the conservative military leader, was playing up the idea that the Labor Party was being funded and supported by Russia, and they held up this piece of paper they said was the smoking gun. It was the proof, the Enovia letter, this letter supposedly from the Russian government official of Enovia to the Labor Party. Well, it was later proven to be a complete hoax. It was fake, right? But that was happening back in the 1920s. And we've been through this over and over and over again. When Henry Wallace ran for president, he was the vice president under Roosevelt, and then when Truman was president, he ran against the Democrats as they became a pro-war party, the party that was leading us into the Korean War, et cetera. (00:22:12): He ran as an independent candidate in 1948, and they acclaimed his campaign was a big Russian conspiracy, and it was a communist conspiracy. There's a whole history of this and the FBI, if you look at the number of investigations they've done into supposed Russian influence in American elections, it's endless, but it's always a hoax, right? American elections happen because of events in America, not because of Russia. However, there is no question that many people in the United States do want peace, and they do want peace with the Soviet Union or with modern Russia, and they may vote for candidates who they think are more likely to bring about that peace, but that's not a conspiracy. That's doing what you're supposed to be able to do in a democracy expressing yourself at the ballot box. And what they're really worried about is Americans thinking wrong. They're really worried about not having a monopoly over the information that we receive. They're really worried about us questioning what we're told and not marching in lockstep behind their agenda of war and dividing the world into blocks and isolating certain countries. And this story has happened over and over and over again in American politics. We've been through it so many times. Wilmer Leon (00:23:25): Final point on this, I don't want to get back to the book. As you just said, events happen in American elections due to America. Well, all of this chicken little, the sky is falling and the world is interfering in our elections. Well, there was a story in the New York Times about what, three months ago, about APAC spending $100 million to unseat what they consider to be left-leaning Democrats, whose position on Israel was not consistent with the Zionist ideology. I'm going to say that again. This was in the New York Times. I'm not making this up. This is an anti-Semitic dialogue. It was in New York Times APAC spending $100 million on primary campaigns to remove Democrats that they consider to be anti-Israeli. What happened in New York with Jamal Bowman? That's what happened in Missouri with, what's her name? I think she's in St. Louis, the Congresswoman. I'm drawing a blank on her. Anyway, and they were successful in a number of campaigns. So we're running around chasing ghosts, chasing Russian ghosts, and Chinese ghosts when the real culprits are telling you right upfront in the New York Times what it is they're doing and why it is they're doing it. With that being said, you can either respond to that or how did you organize your textbook and why is it organized in the manner in which it is? Caleb Maupin (00:25:16): Well, I went over like case studies of three different anti-imperialist movements or organizations in the United States. I started with probably the most successful, which was the Communist Party of the United States, which at one point had a huge amount of influence During the Roosevelt administration, they entered an alliance with Roosevelt, and in the late 1930s, the Communist party controlled two of the city council seats in New York City. They had a very close ally in the US Congress representing Harlem named Veto Mark Antonio. They also had a member of Congress in Minnesota who was their friend and ally and read their newspaper into the congressional record. They had meetings at the White House with President Roosevelt. On multiple occasions, members of the Communist Party or the Young Communist League were brought to the White House to meet with Roosevelt, and they led the CIO, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which was a new labor federation they had created as an alternative to the American Federation of Labor. (00:26:14): And they were a very influential group in the labor movement among intellectuals in Hollywood. And they put forward an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist message, and their successes are worth studying. There were certainly mistakes that were made, and they were very brutally crushed by the FBI in the aftermath of the Second World War with the rise of McCarthyism. But there were studying then from there, I talked about the Workers' World Party, which was a Marxist Leninist political party that really came into prominence in the late sixties and really kind of peaked in its influence during the 1980s. And they were a party that took inspiration, not just from the Soviet Union, but from the wave of anti-colonial movements that emerged. They were sympathetic to Libya and Gaddafi. They were sympathetic to North Korea and others, and they did a lot of very important anti-war organizing, building anti-war coalitions. They were very close to Ramsey Clark, the former US Attorney General who left the Lyndon Johnson administration and became an international lawyer and an opponent of the International Criminal Court in his final years and such. (00:27:17): And then I talked about the new communist movement of the 1970s, which was a number of different organizations that emerged during the 1970s that were trying to take inspiration from China. They wanted to take guidance from the Chinese revolution. China had argued that the Soviet Union had kind of abandoned the global anti-colonial, anti-imperialist struggle. They felt it was holding back revolutionary forces, but China was at that point presenting itself as a bastion of anti imperialism. And so there were a number of new political parties formed during the 1970s that modeled themselves on China. And all three of these case studies, all three of these groups made big mistakes, but also had big successes. The most successful was the Communist Party prior to it being crushed by the FBI during the McCarthy period. All of them had big successes and were able to do big important things, and I studied all of them. (00:28:08): And then from there, the fourth chapter talked about divisions in the ruling class, and why is it that we see, at this point, we're seeing a big all-out fight between Donald Trump and those who oppose him. And when you talk about the Watergate scandal and you talk about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, what was really going on behind closed doors? And then in the final chapter, I tried to kind of take from all of that what we could take and what we could learn when trying to build a movement in our time. One thing I made a point of doing in the book is that every chapter is accompanied by a number of original texts from the period discussed. I have a number of texts from the Communist Party, from the Workers' World Party, from the new communist movement of the 1970s, so that we can hear from the horse's mouth, so to speak, what these people were preaching and what they believed as they were building their organizations. Wilmer Leon (00:29:01): So how does this history, how relevant is this history you just mentioned Donald Trump? How relevant is this history to where we find ourselves today with our politics? Caleb Maupin (00:29:15): I would argue it's extremely relevant. And if you look at Roosevelt and who opposed him, and if you look at the Kennedy assassination, and if you look at the Watergate scandal, there has always been a divide among the American elite between what you can call the Eastern establishment, the ultra rich, the ultra monopolies, the Rockefellers, the DuPonts, the Carnegies that are now at this point aligned with Silicon Valley, the tech monopolies, bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and others. There's always been a divide between these entrenched ultra monopolies and a lot of lower level rich people who are not part of the club and feel that those entrenched monopolies are kind of rigging things against 'em. And I quote, there's a very good text called the Anglo-American Establishment by Carol Quigley that talks about this divide. I think he was one of the first people to talk about it. (00:30:06): But then from there, you also have a great book by Carl Oglesby called The Yankee and Cowboy War that talks about this and specifically applies that analysis to what went on with the Watergate scandal, with the assassination of JFK and the political crisis in the 1960s and seventies. And I would argue that in our time, this is the fight that kind of defines things when we talk about trying to build a movement against colonialism and imperialism in the United States, these lower level capitalists would gain if America had paved roads, if America had a stronger economy, and if we were doing business with the countries around the world that are growing right now in alliance with China, right? If we were trading with them and some of that wealth was flowing into our economy, we would be benefiting. However, it is the ultra monopolies that are very much tied in with the intelligence apparatus, the people who brought us, Henry Kissinger, the people who brought us z, big new Brozinsky. (00:31:01): They are determined to keep the United States at the top and keep Western imperialist this financial system at the top of the world at all costs, even if that means kind of playing a long geopolitical game and if it means dramatically decreasing the standard of living and kind of collapsing the domestic economy of the United States. And so when Trump talks about America first and his supporters rail against globalists, this is really what they're getting at is the lower levels of capital are fighting against the Eastern establishment. And that creates an opening for those of us who want to build an anti-imperialist movement in this country to intervene. And I talk about that, and unfortunately, it seems like really since the 1970s and since kind of the end of the 1960s and seventies, political upsurge, much of the left has kind of just deteriorated into being the foot soldiers of that Eastern establishment. (00:31:56): They see those lower level capitalists as being the most hawkish and warlike as being the most anti-union and the most authoritarian. So they think, okay, we're going to align with the Eastern establishment against them. And I argue that that's not the correct approach because right now it is those lower level capitalists who feel threatened, and it is among them that you found support for Julian Assange that you find interest in being friendly with Russia and with China and anti-establishment sentiment, you find opposition to the tech monopolies and their censorship. And that really we're in a period where those of us who are anti-imperialist need to pivot into trying to build an anti-monopoly coalition. And that's what the Communist Party talked about at the end of the Second War as the Cold War got going, as they were being crushed by the FBI, they said their goal was to build an anti-monopoly coalition to unite with the working class, the small business owners, even some of the wealthy against the big monopolies in their drive for war. (00:32:54): And I would argue that's what we should be aiming to do in our time, is build an anti-monopoly coalition. And that's what I've pulled from that textbook and from that history going over what has been done and what has been successful and that the Communist Party really gained from having an alliance with Roosevelt that was very strategic on their part. And I would argue that similar alliances are necessary, but the main thing is that there needs to be a network of people that are committed to building anti-imperialist politics in America. We need a network of people who can work together, who can rely on each other and can effectively carry out anti-imperialist operations. And there are examples of this. I'm about to go to Florida to support the Yahoo movement, the Yahoo movement, the African People Socialist party. They are an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist organization, and they're doing it. And if you go to St. Louis, Missouri, and if you go to St. Petersburg, Florida, Wilmer Leon (00:33:50): Who, Cory Bush, I'm sorry, her name you said St. Louis, Cory Bush, sorry, is the other congresswoman that was defeated by the, sorry, I had to get it out. Go ahead. Okay. Caleb Maupin (00:34:01): But you'll see the huge community centers that they've built, the farmer's markets that they've built, I mean, they have built a base among the African-American community in these two cities where they are providing services to people while teaching an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist ideology. Now, I don't necessarily agree with their entire approach on everything, but I see why they're being targeted because they are laying the foundations of building a broader anti-imperialist movement. And what they are doing is a great model to look at. They are building a base among the population. The title of the book is Out of the Movement to the Masses. I've been going to anti-war protests, and I've been going to socialist and communist spaces, and very rarely did I ever encounter the African People's Socialist Party, but they were organizing where it counted not in these kind of obscure academic bohemian spaces. (00:34:54): They were organizing in communities and they were providing real services, and they were building community centers and having classes for pregnant mothers and having organic farmer's markets. And they were doing things among the masses of people, not among the, so-called movements of people that like to read books about communism or whatever. And that is why they're being targeted, because they are actually building the kind of movement that needs to be done. They're doing what the Communist Party did during the 1930s. They're doing what the new communist movement of the 1970s attempted to do and was pretty unsuccessful because of global circumstances, et cetera. They are doing what needs to be done to build a real anticolonial movement. And that's kind of what I'm in the text is we have to have a reevaluation and we have to figure out how we can reach the bulk of the American people and not confine ourselves to kind of left academic and intellectual spaces. Wilmer Leon (00:35:50): Is it too simplistic to, when you look at this battle between the elites, is it too simplistic to categorize it as the financials versus the industrialists? Caleb Maupin (00:36:01): Yes. It's a little bit too simplistic because there is a lot of financialization, a lot of the lower levels Wilmer Leon (00:36:07): Of capital. Caleb Maupin (00:36:09): Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's not exactly right, but you're pointing to a certain trend that there is one faction that favors economic growth because economic growth will mean more money for them. There's another faction that is not concerned about economic growth so much as they're concerned about maintaining their monopoly. And in order to maintain their monopoly, they need to slow down growth around the world, and they're actually pushing degrowth or slow growth economics. So that's probably the primary divide is pro-growth and anti-growth, right? You would think that every businessman would be pro-growth, but the ultra monopolies that are heavily involved in finance at this point, they're blatantly talking about degrowth as a way to stay at the top. Wilmer Leon (00:36:51): In fact, one of the ways that they maintain their position is through consolidation. One of the ways that the banks control their monopoly is by buying smaller banks and bringing the or. So that's just one example. Caleb Maupin (00:37:10): Sure, sure. I mean, we live in a time where at the end of the day, the issue is technology is that it is human labor that creates all wealth, right? It is only human labor that creates value at the end of the day, and it is the value that workers create that lays the basis for the profits that capitalists can make, et cetera. And we are in a period where the technological revolution is reducing the role of workers at the assembly line. There's a lot of jobs that are no longer in existence because of technological advancement. And in a rational society that would be great. But in our society where profits are in command, that's leading to an economic crisis. Great example is self-driving cars, self-driving cars should be a great thing. It should be great that this job called driving this chore, this human labor of driving cars is no longer necessary. (00:38:02): But if they introduce self-driving cars, you would immediately in this country have millions of truck drivers unemployed, millions of Uber drivers unemployed, millions of traffic court employees unemployed. You would have riots in the streets. And Andrew Yang talked about how if self-driving cars came to the United States, we would have a society-wide crisis of unemployment and chaos like we never seen. How is that rational? Why should technological advancement lead to greater poverty? And that is the problem that we are facing. Human creativity and brilliance has outstripped the narrow limits production organized to make profit. We need a rationally planned economy so that economic growth can continue and technological advancement leads to greater prosperity for all Wilmer Leon (00:38:46): That sounds like China. Caleb Maupin (00:38:47): Yeah. And China, by controlling their economy and by having the state assigned credit based on their five-year plans and having state controlled tech corporations that are in line with the Communist party's vision, they're able to continue having growth despite having technological advancement. And that's ultimately what we need to have. And that is what Marx wrote about. One of the writers I quote extensively from is a brilliant thinker from the new communist movement named Nelson Peery and his autobiography, black Radical, which is very good, talks about his involvement in the Communist Party and then getting kicked out of the Communist Party and FBI infiltration of the Communist Party and then starting the Communist Labor Party during the 1970s. But also his very important book that he published before he died, I believe in 2004, called The Future Is Up To Us, which really gets into this contradiction of technology leading to impoverishment. (00:39:42): And he's saying this like during the Bush administration before ai, before any of what we're saying now he's laying out how this is going to lead to a big economic crisis that's going to necessitate a new economic system. Nelson Period is a brilliant thinker who had this kind of understanding. I also draw from Fred Goldstein, from Sam Marcy from some of the other writers who said the same thing. But this has always been kind of the understanding is that technological advancement should not lead to impoverishment, it should lead to greater prosperity. I often quote, there's an old story called the coal miner's riddle, the coal miner. He's sitting in his house with his son. The son says, father, why is it so cold in the house? And he says, because I can't afford to buy any coal. And he says, well, why can't we afford to buy any coal? (00:40:30): And he says, because I lost my job at the coal mine. I was laid off. And he says, father, why were you laid off from the coal mine? Why did you lose your job? He says, because there is too much coal. That's capitalism, but that's not rational. It's poverty created by abundance. I keep hearing our politicians talk about a housing shortage. Have you heard this? A housing shortage in America, there's no housing shortage. I live in New York City, there's four empty apartments for every homeless person. There's millions of empty housing, there's no housing shortage in America. There's a shortage of affordable housing black, because the national economic system, Wilmer Leon (00:41:06): BlackRock bought up a lot of the housing stock and instead of putting those houses back on the market, they held those homes off the market and then put 'em out for rent. So in many instances, it's not a matter of oh, $25,000 credit to those first time home buyers allegedly to lower the price of housing or to make housing more affordable. No, all that's going to do is raise the price of houses by $25,000. What you need to do is get that housing stock that BlackRock has as bought up and put that on the market, make that available. Because if you look at the Econ 1 0 1 supply and demand, you put more houses on the market, chances are the price of houses is going to decline. Caleb Maupin (00:42:02): Absolutely. Absolutely. When we talk about imperialism and we talk about anti-imperialist movements, one great example is the situation with Yemen, right? Yemen right now, this is one of the poorest countries in the world, and right now, this country that has a big movement called the Houthis or Anah, they're shaking the world. But if you go and listen or read the sermons or the founder of the Houthis movement, Hussein Al Houthis, what he's fighting for is economic development because he points out that Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, but yet it has a huge amount of oil. It has a huge amount of arable land to grow food, but the people there are very, very poor. And the Houthis movement that is now at this point, stopping ships in the Mediterranean and standing with the Palestinians and sending drones to the Indian Ocean and just shaking the world. (00:42:56): That was a movement of very, very poor people in one of the poorest countries in the world that demanding to take control of their natural resources and take control of their economy. My understanding of imperialism and such very much had a lot to do with the fact that in 2015, I participated in a humanitarian mission attempting to deliver medical aid to Yemen after the upsurge of 2015 when the Houthis movement and their revolutionary committee took power, I went on a ship from the Islamic Republic of Iran with the Red Crescent Society, and we tried to deliver medical aid to Yemen, and we were blocked in doing so. And reading about this anti-colonial movement that was formed in Yemen, a very religious Shia Muslim movement, demanding economic development, demanding, taking control of their resources, reading about that was very inspiring in the aim of building an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movement in the United States. (00:43:54): Now to see what the Houthis are doing as they're blocking ships to support the Palestinians as they're withstanding us attack, this is a movement of impoverished people fighting for their economic development and fighting to build a new country. This is a mass anti-colonial movement that is worth studying. And the fact that they align themselves with Russia and China, they're not blocking ships from Russia, they're not blocking ships from China. They are blocking ships from Israel and any country that trades with them, that shows you that this global anti-imperialist movement that is about mobilizing millions of people to fight for their rights, this global movement has a real strength. Wilmer Leon (00:44:34): Let's shift now to the 2024 presidential election. We've come out of the Republican Convention, we've now come out of the Democratic Convention and the Democratic Party convention, and Donald Trump was shocked when Joe Biden stepped down, Kamala Harris stepped in. That has changed the dynamic, at least in terms of the dialogue, and we're starting to see some shift in the numbers. Your thoughts on where we are now with this landscape. Caleb Maupin (00:45:09): I think that Kamala Harris is a completely manufactured candidate. She was created by the people who brought us the Hillary Clinton State Department when it was made clear that Hillary Clinton couldn't run for president once again in 2020, all of Hillary Clinton's financial backers put their money behind Kamala Harris. She was not popular with the American people, but yet powerful forces twisted Joe Biden's arm and put her on the ticket as vp. She has not been popular or successful as vp, but she is the candidate that the forces that are committed to regime change and all out efforts to oppose Russia and China at all costs. She is the one that they have invested the most in supporting. And I don't think she's going to win. I think that Trump will win the upcoming election. And that doesn't mean everything about Trump is good or I endorsed Donald Trump. (00:46:03): I'm just telling you that I think Trump is going to win. But I also believe that there are very powerful forces that see Kamala Harris as their best bet at getting what they want, which is more regime change wars, more destabilization around the world. I did write a book in 2020 about Kamala Harris four years ago, and I thought it was very odd that right after she got the Democratic nomination, this book that had been on sale for four years on Amazon suddenly got removed from Amazon. And for seven days my book was banned from Amazon and then restored with no explanation seven days later. I thought that was very, very odd. It raised a lot of eyebrows, but it also points to the amount of power the tech monopolies really have. It seems like everything was being done to support Kamala Harris. What I also thought was interesting is that in my book, I talked about Tulsi Gabbard and how Tulsi Gabbard kind of represents forces in the Pentagon that are really worried about another Arab Spring and what Kamala Harris and the Hillary Clinton State Department forces people like Samantha Power, people like Anne-Marie Slaughter, what they might engineer if they come back to office. (00:47:11): My book highlighted Tulsi Gabbard as being kind of a faction that is opposed to Kamala Harris. And the very same day that my book was pulled from Amazon, Tulsi Gabbard was added to the Quiet Sky's terrorism watch list by the American government. When she tried to board a plane, she found out she was accused of being a terrorist. And I thought that was interesting as well. And it just kind of points to, and there was all kinds of weird stuff going on in terms of social media and Google searches that was being manipulated around that time. But the book that I wrote about Kamala Harris and who has backed her and the ties that she has getting pulled from Amazon, it was interesting to see the timing, Wilmer Leon (00:47:52): The position of the Democratic Party as it relates to Gaza. And I was at the DNCI was also at the RNC conventions, but there were protestors in Chicago demanding a change in the US policy as it relates to the genocide in Gaza. Then you had uncommitted delegates that were able to have a sit-in at the DNC right outside the front door of the entrance to the United Center, demanding that a pro-Palestinian spokesperson be added to the speaker's list. And none of that was agreed to. In fact, it was basically dismissed summarily. So your thoughts on the dangers that the Democrats are playing with taking that position as it relates to the general election? Caleb Maupin (00:48:55): Well, if the Democrats are going to win this election, they're going to need lots of votes in Minnesota, lots of votes in Wisconsin and lots of votes in Michigan. And what do all three of those states have in common? Those swing states, Wilmer Leon (00:49:06): Large Arab populations. Caleb Maupin (00:49:08): That's right. Lots of Muslim Americans, lots of Arab Americans, and with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris giving a blank check to Israel to do what they're doing. I think it's very unlikely to see those folks lining up to vote for them. Now, Kamala Harris has made some noise about this or that, but she's basically the president already. If she was going to do something, she could do it right now. I mean, she's the vice president, but Joe Biden doesn't seem to be as actively involved in the political running of the country as some people might expect. That said, I will say that Donald Trump, I mean his position on Israel Palestine, I mean, is pretty reprehensible, and he continues to play up the idea that Kamala Harris and the Democrats are somehow anti-Israel, which they are not. What I think is interesting though, and I noticed that it seems like anti-Israel voices in the Trump camp, they may not be on the front stage, but they do have a lot of influence. (00:50:03): And I'm not saying all these people are doing what they're doing for necessarily good reasons, but I noticed when Elon Musk was interviewing Donald Trump in the chat, it just exploded. And all over Twitter, it exploded. The phrase, no war on Iran that came from Nick Fuentes. Now, Nick Fuentes is somebody that I don't agree with on many, many things and find a lot of his views and just his presentation style to kind of reprehensible and gross, but he, for his own reasons says no war with Iran. I also noticed that Candace Owens, who is a conservative and was very pro-Israel at one point, she was not pro-Israel enough. Now she's kind of moved for interesting reasons that are very different than anything I would say. She's moved into an anti-Israel direction and she has also got a lot of people in the Trump camp who listen to her and she is making noise, no war in Iran and urging Trump supporters not to support Israel. And this points to the fact that opposition to Israel, I think is much more widespread in both parties than anyone wants to recognize. (00:51:07): It's an element of the emperor has no clothes. Both parties pretend that everyone in their camp just supports Israel. But anyone who talks to a typical Democrat, you were at the Republican Convention and the Democrat Convention, and you could probably confirm that opposition to what Israel is doing is boiling beneath the surface, amid both political parties and amid all sections of this country. And that there is a lot of growing outrage about the influence and power of Israel and American politics, even among people who might support Israel otherwise, but just don't appreciate the arrogance and grip that they seem to have over policymaking. Wilmer Leon (00:51:46): And some people just help me understand why, but some people just have a problem with genocide. It's a bit os there are growing groups, Republicans for Harris, and there are those who are positing that this is because she's a stooge of the elite and this represents how she who's truly backing her. What about the argument that many of those in those types of organizations see her as an opportunity to reclaim the Republican party by getting rid of Donald Trump? And it's almost a any port in the storm kind of mentality, they see her as the stalking horse. If they can back her, if she can defeat Trump, they then can, the old school, the traditional Republicans can regain control of their party. What say you Caleb Opin? Caleb Maupin (00:52:58): Well, I would say that the Bush era Republican party is gone. It's never coming back. And Donald Trump is a symptom of that. And that's very clear. And that Donald Trump's recent embracing of Tulsi Gabbard and RFK, that indicates that Donald Trump is taking his campaign in an anti-establishment direction. Now, that doesn't mean that he's going to necessarily do good things as president. That just means that he's increasingly realizing that his appeal is to people that are opposed to the establishment. And I think that means the establishment is going to fight him a lot harder. There's no question about that. And that there are your regular traditional neo-conservative Republicans, my country, right or wrong, if you don't like it here, move to some other country, support the military, support the wars, support America dominating the world, and showing the world about our great American way of life. (00:53:51): Those folks are increasingly finding the Republican party to not be their home. And this is all very interesting. I noticed in Kamala Harris's DNC speech, she attacked the Republicans for denigrating America. And that made me smile because it reminded me of what I always heard about the far left, right? It was the far left. They hate America. They're always saying things are bad. Why are you always running down our country? And a lot of things that Kamala Harris said in her speech almost sounded like Neoconservatism. She attacked Donald Trump for meeting with Kim Jong-Un. She said he was cozying up to tyrants and being friendly with tyrants. And it seemed to me like there was very much the Republican Party, I believe over time is going to become more of a catchall populist, anti-establishment party, whereas the Democratic party is more and more becoming the party of the establishment of the way things are supposed to be. I think that what I would call the late Cold War normal in American politics is being flipped. It used to be the Republican party was the party of the establishment, and the Democrats were the party of opposition. Not very sincere opposition in many cases, but they were the party of, if you didn't agree with what you're supposed to think necessarily, if you're a little more critical, you become a Democrat. Well, Wilmer Leon (00:55:05): If you were proc civil rights, if you were pro-environment, if you were anti-war, that's where you went. Caleb Maupin (00:55:12): Yeah. And I think it's being flipped. And that doesn't mean that Republicans and the MAGA base that are talking a certain way are sincere at all. That just means who they're appealing to. The Republican party has an anti-establishment appeal more and more every day. The Democratic party has a ProE establishment appeal. And I think this Republicans for Harris is a great example of that. Wilmer Leon (00:55:32): So as we move now, spiraling towards November 5th, you've already said you believe that Donald Trump is going to win the election. One of the things that I find very, very telling, and I check it every day when you go to the Harris website, there's still no policy positions stated. There's no policy tab. In fact, when I asked that question a couple of times at the DNCC, I was told, oh, you don't understand. She hasn't had time. There hasn't been. I said, wait a minute. She ran for president four years ago. So she had to have, we hope she had established some policy positions as a candidate. She was the vice president going on four years now, we hope during those four years she could have figured out some policy and it's now been almost a month. You can't tell me that she couldn't pick up the phone and call a bunch of people in the room and say, Hey, I need policies on education, on defense, on the economy, on these five positions. I need policy in 10 days. Go get it done. Caleb Opin. Caleb Maupin (00:57:00): Well, I think there are three possible outcomes for the election. In my mind, probably the worst case scenario would be Kamala Harris winning. And I think that would be followed by a number of, there'd be chaos in the streets. A lot of Trump supporters will not accept it as a legitimate election. And I expect there will then be a big crackdown on dissent, and I expect there'll be a lot of provocations, et cetera. And that will be used by the establishment to crack down on dissent. Wilmer Leon (00:57:26): Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. And people need to understand the crackdown on dissent has already started by looking what's being done to who's being platformed from social media sites. Look at what's happening to folks who are getting arrested, the guy that started Instagram and all of these folks, the three Scott Ritter, your book taken off of taking all of these things are data points to support your position that the crackdown on descent has already started? Caleb Maupin (00:58:02): No, I mean the Biden administration has already indicted. Sue me, Terry, who was the top advisor to Obama and Bush on South Korea. And I mean the fact that she's been indicted as a foreign agent of South Korea just because South Korea wants to have mattered negotiations with North Korea. I mean, it looks like blatant retaliation. Wilmer Leon (00:58:22): And South Korea is an ally. Caleb Maupin (00:58:23): Yeah, their closest friend in Washington dc Sumi Terry has now been accused of being a foreign agent. She's facing decades in prison. I mean, this is craziness. This is a top CIA person who's been a top advisor on career matters. So that would be kind of what I think the worst case scenario would be. The most likely scenario is that I think Donald Trump will win. But all the negative things about Trumpism will amplify. I think the pro-Israel stuff, the pro-police stuff, the anti-immigrant stuff will amplify Wilmer Leon (00:58:55): Project 2025. Caleb Maupin (00:58:56): Yeah, the government will try to, the powers that be will try to ride the wave of Trumpism to push forward their own agenda, which is not good But I do think there is a third possible scenario, which is a real long shot. It's a real long shot, which is that Donald Trump takes office in a completely defensive position. And under those circumstances, he may be compelled to do a lot of good things because he's just at odds with the establishment and needs popular support. So much so we shall have to see. But those are my three predictions. But in all of those circumstances on anti-imperialist organization, a network of people that are committed to anti imperialism and building a new America beyond the rule of bankers and war profiteers is going to be vitally important. And at the end of the day, what really matters is not so much who is in office, it's what the balance of forces is in the country and around the world, and what kind of movement exists, what kind organizations. (00:59:58): There are people that are involved in the political process and to change the world and taking responsibility for the future of their country. And I wrote the book as a textbook for the Center for Political Innovation. My organization as we try to do just that, as we try to build a network of people who can rely on each other and build an anti-imperialist movement in the United States to support the Hru three, to study these ideas to be out there. That is one thing we aim to do. If Donald Trump wins the election, one thing that we aim to do is and intend to get that picture of Donald Trump shaking hands with Kim Jong-un and get it everywhere and say that this election is a mandate that the peace talks on the Korean Peninsula should continue. And that could be a way to nudge the discourse toward a more peace oriented wing of Trumpism. (01:00:46): That's one thing that we intend to do. We have other operations that we intend to carry out with the aim of nudging the country in an anti-colonial direction. One thing that I think is very important is Alaska, right? Alaska is right there close to Russia and there's the bearing Strait that separates Russia and Alaska and Abraham Lincoln had the idea of building a bridge to connect Alaska to Russia. And a lot of great people have had the idea of doing that since. And I think popularizing the idea of building a world land bridge to connect Alaska to Russia and pivot the US economy toward trading with the Russian Far East and with the Korean Peninsula and with China that could nudge the world and a direction of Multipolarity pivot away from Western Europe and towards the World Land Bridge and the bearing Strait and all of that. (01:01:36): So there are various things that we can do to try and influence discourse, but I must say the explosion is coming, right? I mean, you can feel it rumbling in the ground. The avalanche is going to pour, the volcano is going to go off. It's only a matter of time. Those of us who study these ideas and understand things, we have the job not of making the explosion come, but rather of trying to guide it in the right direction. The conditions in this country are getting worse. Americans are angry at the establishment. Things are going to change. But what we hope to do is guide that change and point it in a good direction toward a better world. And that's all we can really hope to do. I quote Mao the leader of the Chinese Revolution. He said The masses are the real heroes and at the end of the day, it will be the masses of the American people and their millions who determine what the future of this country will be. I think they are going to awaken and take action. The question is only what type of action will that be? And I think guys like you and I have a role to play in shaping what kind of action they might take when they do awaken. Wilmer Leon (01:02:39): Well, thank you for putting me in that group. And if we are able to build a bridge across the bearing strait between Alaska and Russia, I'm sure Sarah Palin will be the first one. Should be operating the toll booth. My brother. Alright, my brother Kayla mopping. Man, thank you so much for being my guest. Thank you so much for joining the show today. Caleb Maupin (01:03:05): Sure thing. Always a pleasure Wilmer Leon (01:03:07): Folks. Thank you so much for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Woman Leon. Stay tuned for new episodes every week. Also, follow us on social media. The Patreon account is very, very important. That helps to support the effort. You can find all the links below in the show description and remember that this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge talk without analysis is just chatter. And we don't chatter here on connecting the dots. See you again next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Wilmer Leon. Have a great one. Peace. I'm out Announcer (01:03:50): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge.    

This is the second part in our two-part series on South Africa's politics 30 years after the election of Nelson Mandela, and with it, the end of apartheid. Around the same time as that anniversary this past spring, there was another momentous event in the country: South Africans went to the polls in May, and for the first time in 30 years, the African National Congress — the political party of Nelson Mandela — lost its parliamentary majority. On this episode, Dan Richards talks with three experts on South African politics about this pivotal moment in the country: what it can tell us about South Africa's politics since the fall of apartheid, and what it might mean for the country's future. Guests on this episode: Wilmot James, a senior advisor at Brown University's Pandemic Center. Prior to coming to Brown, Wilmot was a member of South Africa's parliament. Before that, he managed multiple special projects for Mandela's office and was a co-editor of his presidential speeches.Redi Tlhabi is an award-winning South African journalist, producer and author. She hosted the acclaimed “Redi Tlhabi Show” for many years in South Africa, and regularly comments on the country's politics for international media. Stanley Greenberg is an American political strategist and pollster who assisted in Nelson Mandela's presidential campaign in 1994 and has written extensively on politics and race relations in South Africa. Listen to part one of this two-part special, exploring the history of the fall of apartheidLearn more about Brown University's Pandemic CenterTranscript coming soon to our websiteLearn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts

“It's unacceptable for a member who was a veteran and he was a former president, to have started a new political party. Of course he knew that he was violating the ANC's rules” – Snuki Zikalala, president of the ANC's Veterans League The relationship between South Africa's African National Congress and its former president Jacob Zuma appears to have come to an end. Zuma was officially expelled by the party last month, following a disciplinary hearing. It comes after he established Umkhonto Wesizwe Party, which claimed almost 15% of the vote at this year's national election. On Thursday, the ANC's Secretary General Fikile Mbalula reiterated that Zuma's matter had now been finalized and that he was no longer the party's member. Although it's not clear if Zuma will appeal, he earlier insisted that this was far from over. Zuma is a popular but also controversial figure who's known for staging sensational political comebacks. Alan Kasujja sits down with two ANC veterans Tony Yengeni, who represented Zuma at his disciplinary hearing as well as Snuki Zikalala, a critic of Zuma's. To unpack all these political developments, Alan hears from Professor Daryl Glaser from Wits University in Johannesburg.

This spring marked the thirtieth anniversary of the election of Nelson Mandela as South Africa's president and the end of apartheid, the system of legalized racial segregation that had existed in South Africa for decades. Around the same time as that anniversary, there was another momentous event in the country: South Africans went to the polls in May, and for the first time in 30 years, the African National Congress — the political party of Nelson Mandela — lost its parliamentary majority. These two events — the anniversary of Mandela's election and the unprecedented defeat of his party today — bring up important questions about South Africa's politics since the fall of apartheid and where the country will go from here. This will be the first in a two-part special looking at South Africa 30 years after the end of apartheid. Wilmot James, a senior advisor at Brown University's Pandemic Center, will be our guide for these two episodes. Prior to coming to Brown, Wilmot was a member of South Africa's Parliament, and before that he managed multiple special projects for President Mandela's office, and was a co-editor of his presidential speeches.To start this episode, we'll hear some of Wilmot's story and how his life intersected with the rise and fall of apartheid in his home country. Learn more about Brown University's Pandemic CenterTranscript coming soon to our websiteLearn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled a new coalition government, after his party, the African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority in May's elections. Mr Ramaphosa said "the government of national unity is unprecedented in the history of our democracy". What do South Africans think of the new cabinet?Also a conversation with Ugandan designer Latif Madoi who was arrested and relased on bail.And can Tunisia's Ons Jabeur bring home tennis's most title..Wimbledon Champion? Presenter: Charles Gitonga Producers: Joseph Keen, Sunita Nahar, Rob Wilson, Nyasha Michelle and Bella Hassan Technical Producer: Gabriel O Regan Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard

Today Alan Kasujja sits down with Dr.Philbert Komu from the University of Dar es Salaam and Dr. Gideon Chitanga of the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. They are discussing the role of former liberation movements in Africa's contemporary politics. Is their performance in line with the expectations of their nations? The conversation was sparked by the dismal showing of the African National Congress in South Africa's May 2024 elections. Others like Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe have also lost support over the years, relying on rural votes to remain in power. Although icons like Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere and Samora Machel are still celebrated to this day, Alan attempts to understand if their ideas still work.

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) and the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) have agreed to form a government of national unity, along with two smaller opposition parties. We look at the state of politics in South Africa as the once mighty African National Congress is forced to share power. Also in the programme: The first match of the European football championships has begun - so how strong are politically nationalist feelings among the fans? And we'll hear from the German comedian who's just had an audience with the Pope. (Photo: The DA and ANC parties have been bitter rivals for many years. Credit: Getty Images)

Residents of Rafah say western areas of the overcrowded city have come under heavy fire, over the past 24 hours, with Israeli helicopter missions and street battles. We hear from a spokesman from the UN's agency for children. Also in the programme: South Africa is on course for a historic coalition government after the centre right Democratic Alliance announced it would join the African National Congress; and researchers say Pacific grey whales are rapidly getting smaller.(Photo: Girls walk while carrying a container as Palestinians flee Rafah following heavy fighting, 13 June 2024. Credit: Hatem Khaled/Reuters)

Kate Adie introduces stories from India, Mexico, South Africa, Russia and a trans-continental sleeper train.Narendra Modi has returned for a third term as India's Prime Minister, but has seemingly lost some of his star power among voters, as the BJP lost its parliamentary majority. Yogita Limaye reflects on what this surprising election outcome says about the current health of Indian democracy.In another major election, Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as Mexico's first female president – the first in nearly 200 years. Many cite her victory as a tipping point, following decades of campaigning by Mexico's pioneering women politicians. Will Grant met the new president's celebrating supporters.When the African National Congress came to power in 1994, it promised greater equality and economic opportunity for black South Africans. But last week's election saw its support drain, as voters punished the party of Nelson Mandela for the economic hardship they still face. Anne Soy reflects on the difficult choices ahead for the ANC.The St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which took place this week, used to attract the biggest players in global finance, from the US to Europe. Their presence has dissolved somewhat since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent onset of Western sanctions. That friction is not new, of course, and Paul Moss remembers an encounter he had in Russia when the effects of mass privatisation were still being felt – and arguably, still are today.‘Train bragging' is a Swedish phenomenon that encourages travellers to take pride in opting for climate-friendly rail travel over polluting aeroplanes - and it's becoming more popular, as new overnight sleeper routes proliferate across Europe. Horatio Clare reflects on the enduring romance of transcontinental train travel.Series Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison

Nvidia's market value briefly rose past $3tn to overtake Apple as the world's second-most valuable company, South Africa's African National Congress party is considering the formation of a national unity government with rival parties, and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was accused on Wednesday by Sir Keir Starmer of “resorting to lies” over Labour's tax plans. Plus, a US appeals court has tossed out new rules that would have forced private equity and hedge funds to be more transparent.Mentioned in this podcast:Nvidia's market value powers past $3tn in AI-fuelled rallyKeir Starmer accuses Rishi Sunak of ‘lying' over Labour £2,000 tax claimANC considers national unity government in South AfricaNew SEC rules on private funds thrown out by US appeals courtThe FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian and Marc Filippino. Additional help from Breen Turner, Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Monica Lopez. Our intern is Prarkiti Panwar. Topher Forhecz is the FT's executive producer. The FT's global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show's theme song is by Metaphor Music.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted his African National Congress party has suffered a challenging election result. Also: Mexicans vote in election likely to see first woman president, and the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch marries for fifth time at the age of 93.

From the BBC World Service: Mexico is set to elect its first female president, and South Africa’s African National Congress party has lost its majority after 30 years. So what will that look like for the economies of both countries? Then, a BBC investigation finds evidence about the fate of Ruja Ignatova — the woman on the FBI’s 10 most-wanted list for her alleged participation in a fake crypto scheme worth $4.5 billion.

Watch Part 2 of our interview about the election in South Africa, where the African National Congress has lost its majority after last week's election.

From the BBC World Service: Mexico is set to elect its first female president, and South Africa’s African National Congress party has lost its majority after 30 years. So what will that look like for the economies of both countries? Then, a BBC investigation finds evidence about the fate of Ruja Ignatova — the woman on the FBI’s 10 most-wanted list for her alleged participation in a fake crypto scheme worth $4.5 billion.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu risks losing power if he agrees to the latest deal on the table for a ceasefire in Gaza. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have threatened to bring down the government if Mr Netanyahu agrees to the deal. We speak to Hanoch Milwidsky, a member of the Knesset for Mr Netanyahu's Likud Party.Also in the programme: China lands a probe on the unexplored, far side of the moon; and coalition talks begin in South Africa, with the African National Congress losing its outright majority in the elections.(Photo: Israeli right-wing Knesset members Itamar ben Gvir (L) and Bezalel Smotrich (R) in the Israeli parliament in November 2022. Credit: Abir Sultan/Pool via REUTERS)

The ruling African National Congress has lost its parliamentary majority in South Africa, after its worst electoral performance in the 30 years since the end of apartheid. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. It is day 237 of the war with Hamas. Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode. Two soldiers seriously hurt in a car-ramming attack near the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday night have died of their wounds, the military announced. An initial investigation into a ramming attack has found that the incident unfolded in a matter of seconds and that soldiers did not have time to open fire to attempt to stop the attack. Hebrew media reports said the suspect turned himself over to the Palestinian Authority's security forces, after fleeing into Nablus. Berman was recently in Nablus with the IDF unit in charge of the region. What did he learn? According to early results from South Africa's elections yesterday, the African National Congress appears set to lose the parliamentary majority it has held for 30 years. Could Israel see any real change in agenda, for example at the International Court of Justice case alleging Israel is committing genocide in Gaza? Brazil has reportedly formally recalled its ambassador to Israel and will not immediately appoint a replacement. Is this move as particularly harmful to Israel? Yesterday National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in an interview with Kan public radio that “this year, we expect another seven months of combat, in order to deepen our achievement and achieve what we define as the destruction of the military and governing capabilities of both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.” Berman gives an overview of the IDF's recent achievements, including the operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor. For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog. Discussed articles include: Two soldiers killed in car-ramming attack outside West Bank city of Nablus Israel watches as South Africa's hostile ANC set to lose support but remain in power Brazil said to withdraw ambassador from Israel, no plans to appoint new envoy 3 soldiers killed in blast in booby-trapped building in Gaza's Rafah IDF takes control of key Gaza-Egypt border road, locating at least 20 tunnels Top Israeli official says fighting in Gaza likely to last at least another 7 months Reports: In Rafah strike, IDF used US bombs designed to reduce casualties Under a rug in Gazan home, IDF troops found shaft leading to bodies of 4 hostages THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.  IMAGE: Israel Defense Forces operations in Nablus following October 7, 2023. (IDF Spokesperson)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South Africans have been voting in the most pivotal election since the end of apartheid, which could see the African National Congress lose its majority for the first time. Newshour gets the latest and speaks to voters.Also in the programme: the impact on civilians as Israel pushes ahead with its military operation in Gaza; and the table tennis player who's qualified for the Paralympics tell us how he competes with no hands.Photo: People queue to cast their votes in the South African elections in Durban, South Africa Credit: REUTERS/Alaister Russell

It's being called South Africa's most significant election in 30 years. After playing a key role in liberation after apartheid could the governing African National Congress lose its majority for the first time? In this episode:  Lester Kiewit (@lesterkk), Podcast Host, Good Morning Cape Town Episode credits: This episode was produced by Ashish Malhotra, Sarí el-Khalili, and Chloe K. Li, with Sonia Bhagat, Catherine Nouhan, and our host Malika Bilal. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to focus on job creation if the governing African National Congress is voted back into power next week. He was speaking during the ANC's final campaign rally at a football stadium in Johannesburg. Also in the programme: An American journalist recalls her meeting with Cambodian dictator Pol Pot in the 1970s; and are dumbphones the answer to parents woes about smartphones?(Photo: ANC supporters attend the African National Congress Party final election rally held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Credit: Kim Ludbrook/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Iran's regime carefully vets candidates for new presidential elections after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash; Israeli leadership reacts to the International Criminal Court (ICC) request for warrants to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant; South Africa prepares for a general election that could contest the ruling African National Congress' long-standing majority; and Taiwan inaugurates Lai Ching-te as the new president, aggravating China.   Mentioned on the Podcast   Elbridge Colby, “America Must Face Reality and Prioritize China Over Europe,” Financial Times   Virtual Media Briefing: Iran After Raisi and New ICC Charges, Council on Foreign Relations   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/irans-succession-woes-icc-angers-israel-south-africas-election-and-more 

Three decades ago, South Africa held its first democratic election, closing the door on the apartheid era. And Nelson Mandela was elected its first Black president.Today, the country is still led by Mandela's political party - the African National Congress. But polls show that voters are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the party's leadership, and next month's national elections could lead to the ANC having to share power with opposition parties.Thirty years ago, South Africa became an emblem of a multiracial democracy. Decades on, how is that legacy holding up?For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy