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We're in a five-alarm shit-storm of trouble to be sure, and the overlapping crises can feel overwhelming— racial reckoning, catastrophic capitalist climate collapse, a financial system that parodies a massive, out-of-control Ponzi scheme, a legislature impersonating a medieval auction block, and more. We meet up with Danny Katch to help us name this political moment. Danny offers a delightful and accessible primer on socialism as a living alternative, and he shows us that Love and Imagination are still durable weapons to deploy in our fight for freedom—he reminds us that socialism is for lovers, not losers.
Featuring Michael Denning on Antonio Gramsci. The second of a two-part interview.Read the passages of Selections from the Prison Notebooks that Dan read to prepare: thedigradio.com/gramscinotebooksSupport The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig and get our weekly newsletter by emailCheck out our newsletter and vast archives at thedigradio.comCheck out Socialism...Seriously: A Brief Guide to Surviving the 21st Century by Danny Katch haymarketbooks.org/books/1943-socialism-seriouslyCheck out Black Women Writers at Work haymarketbooks.org/books/1926-black-women-writers-at-work Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Featuring Michael Denning on Antonio Gramsci. The second of a two-part interview. Read the passages of Selections from the Prison Notebooks that Dan read to prepare: thedigradio.com/gramscinotebooks Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig and get our weekly newsletter by email Peruse our newsletters and vast archives at thedigradio.com Check out Socialism...Seriously: A Brief Guide to Surviving the 21st Century by Danny Katch haymarketbooks.org/books/1943-socialism-seriously Check out Black Women Writers at Work haymarketbooks.org/books/1926-black-women-writers-at-work
On this week's show of Working Class Heroes Radio, Julian Guerrero speaks with restaurant workers, Natalia Tylim and Gary Inman, both members of the Democratic Socialists of America and organizers with the Restaurant Organizing Project. They'll be speaking with us about the struggles of the Restaurant Industry, especially with regard to the ongoing pandemic and their efforts to organize better work conditions through the Restaurant Organizing Project. Lupita Romero and Danny Katch host the show and speak with Stella Becerril, the organizer of the Street Vendors Project about the recent victories as well as the continued struggles of street vendors as essential workers who have been continuing to serve the public. Outro track by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
On this week’s show of Working Class Heroes Radio, we speak with Chris Smalls, a former Amazon worker who was fired after organizing a walkout to protest the violation of COVID-19 safety standards in the warehouse by Amazon management. Lea Ramirez and Danny Katch talk with Chris about his experience, what conditions were like for Amazon workers, and what led him to help found the Congress of Essential Workers. Lupita and Julian also break down the new Tax the Rich campaign in New York by a coalition of progressive organizations. This episode is a collaboration with Law at the Margins, which uses social media as a platform that aims to "highlight the ways that our laws and legal institutions expand or limits the rights and social justice aspirations of people and communities.” You can check out their work at LawAtTheMargins.com Outro song - Manu Chao - ALGUNDIAVACAER
On this week's show, Mel Gonzalez speaks with NYC delivery worker, Miguel, about their job conditions, treatment from the employer and the recent hit and run deaths of delivery workers. Lupita Romero and Julian Guerrero also discuss another segment of the informal labor force, the NYC Street Vendors, and their struggle to address police harassment and the City Council's inaction on street vending reform. Lastly, Khadija Mehter and Danny Katch give us some of the latest headlines from around the world and country.
In this week's episode, Danny Katch speaks with Victor Pate, a formally incarcerated organizer with the campaign for alternatives to isolated confinement about the fight to end the horrific practice of solitary confinement inside New York prisons. Mel Gonzalez and Julian Guerrero discuss some of the election results and bring you some local headlines while Lupita Romero and Khadija Mehter talk about the two communities who don't get participate in elections.
Forgive the hiccups! This is our first remote show live on the WBAI 99.5 fm's community radio station - we promise to get better as we get more comfortable with the technicalities of remote streaming radio shows. On this week's show, Yanny Guzman and Danny Katch speak with the Erin Neff, a housing attorney in New York City and organizer with the Housing Justice For All Coalition, about how rent strikes have helped win the housing laws we have today and argue for why they are necessary again in this unprecedented economic crisis under Covid19. We take a few callers at the end. Musical credit: Michael Kiwanuka - Hero Wu Tang Clan - 7th Chamber Part 2 Rent Party - Booker T. Jones Spoken word piece: “This is Home” by Deandre Evans, William Hartfield-Peoples, & Donte Clark
Bloomberg Is Back By Danny Katch by The Indypendent
In this episode, we talk to Helen Scott about the life and legacy of Rosa Luxemburg on the 100th anniversary of Luxemburg’s murder. We discuss her most essential works, The Mass Strike and Reform or Revolution, and talk about the historical context of Luxemburg’s political ideas as well as their relevance for today’s new socialist left. In our opening segment, we talk to LA teacher and strike leader Gillian Russom. This episode was recorded prior to the enormous victory won by the teachers, but it remains invaluable in its description of what a win would be, how they organized themselves and the community, and what the fight will look like after the strike ends. Helen Scott is the editor of The Essential Rosa Luxemburg: Reform or Revolution and the Mass Strike (Haymarket Books, 2008) and co-editor, with Paul LeBlanc, of an anthology of Luxemburg’s writings, Socialism or Barbarism (Pluto Press, 2010). She is Associate Professor of English at the University of Vermont and a member of United Academics: AFT/AAUP. She has published articles on Rosa Luxemburg in International Socialist Review, Socialist Studies, and New Formations and is on the editorial board of the Verso Complete Works of Rosa Luxemburg, for which she will be co-editing Volume 5 with Paul Le Blanc. Gillian Russom has been a rank-and-file teacher activist in UTLA for 18 years. She is part of the Union Power caucus and has been a leader in the fight to transform her union into a social-justice union capable of waging a fight against the forces of public education reform. Links for our opener on the LA teachers’ strike: *Gillian Russom at Socialist Worker on the strike victory (https://socialistworker.org/2019/01/23/we-won-a-historic-victory-for-la-schools) *Diana Macasa and Alex Schmaus on the inspiration behind Tacos for Teachers (https://socialistworker.org/2019/01/18/give-us-tacos-and-roses) *Danny Katch gives 10 reasons to support the LA teachers (https://socialistworker.org/2019/01/14/ten-reasons-to-support-the-la-teachers) *Melissa Rakestraw and Elizabeth Lalasz reporting from the picket lines on “Five days that stunned LA’s billionaires” (https://socialistworker.org/2019/01/22/five-days-that-stunned-las-billionaires) *Video of a strike solidarity meeting featuring Gillian Russom and teachers from Chicago and Oakland (http://bit.ly/LASolidarity) Links for our interview with Helen Scott: *Helen Scott’s edition of The Essential Rosa Luxemburg (https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/835-the-essential-rosa-luxemburg) *Paul LeBlanc on Rosa Luxemburg’s revolutionary socialism (http://socialistworker.org/2019/01/15/rosa-luxemburgs-revolutionary-socialism) *Paul LeBlanc on Rosa Luxemburg and the pathway to socialism (http://socialistworker.org/2014/06/05/luxemburg-and-the-path-to-socialism) *Danny Katch explores modern takes on the historic debates around reform, revolution and the road to power (http://socialistworker.org/2014/06/05/luxemburg-and-the-path-to-socialism) Music and audio clips in this episode Excerpt of a speech by Alex Caputo-Pearl, the president of the United Teachers of Los Angeles, addressing a massive rally of LA teachers five days into the strike Aryana Fields (5th grade student in LA public school), "This is a Strike Song” ScHoolboy Q, “X” (with 2 Chainz and Saudi) from the Black Panther soundtrack Pedro Pastor, “La Rosa de Luxemburgo” with Eva Sierra The Laggan, “Rosa Luxembourg” Purge, “Rosa Luxemburg”
33: Solidarity with the caravan; Leandros Fischer on Die Linke’s strategy This week, we talk to Leandros Fischer of Germany’s Die Linke (The Left Party). In the wake of a wave of refugee migration in 2015, the far right in Germany has made terrifying advances. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has gained seats in the German Parliament and openly fascist forces have rallied in the streets of Chemnitz. But in the last month we also saw a spectacular demonstration of anti-fascist forces a quarter of a million strong in Berlin. Leandros explains how Germany’s position as the leader of the European Union, the weakening of labor protections, and the creation of a two-tier, contract-based workforce have all set the stage for a deepening polarization in German politics. He discusses the history of Die Linke, one of the earliest broad-left party projects in Europe, and its current situation and debates. He helps us untangle the debates on the left about the controversial positions taken by Sahra Wagenknecht. He discusses the rise of the right and lays out a strategic vision for how the left can grow in this moment. In our opener, we are joined by Hector Rivera and Rory Fanning to discuss Trump’s racist hysteria about the migrant caravan and the politics of the border. Hector is a socialist and immigrant rights activist based in Los Angeles and is involved in cross-border solidarity efforts. Rory is a military veteran who recently wrote an essay calling on troops to refuse to obey Trump’s orders to deploy to the border. Links for our interview with Leandros Fischer: *Leandros has written frequently for Jacobin about the political debates inside the German left. Here he talks about the rise of the right and how to understand it (http://bit.ly/LeandrosRight). In this article, he discusses the questions surrounding Sahra Wagenknecht (http://bit.ly/LeandrosWagenknecht). *Socialist Worker recently carried two articles about the advance of the far-right in Germany and the anti-fascist response. In this article, Kathleen Brown describes the street marches of open Nazis in Chemnitz (http://socialistworker.org/2018/09/10/how-can-nazis-be-on-the-march-in-germany). And here, Axel Fair-Schulz discusses how the left should confront the rise of the far right (http://bit.ly/AxelFightRight). Links for our opener: *In Socialist Worker, Danny Katch and Khury Petersen-Smith discuss the politics surrounding the migrant caravan and how we can build solidarity (http://bit.ly/SWCaravan) *In an article for In These Times, Khury Petersen-Smith recounts the history of Germany’s welcoming movement during the refugee crisis of 2015 and talks about how we can apply those lessons to building solidarity with the migrant caravan today. *Rory Fanning and Spenser Rapone are military veterans who have called on soldiers to defy orders if they are called to the US-Mexico border (http://bit.ly/RorySW) Music for this episode: The Boy & Sister Alma, “Lizard Eyes” (Dead Sea Captains Remix) Lucius, "Two Of Us On The Run” Spoon, “Tear It Down” Egotronic, “Raven gegen Deutschland” Atari Teenage Riot, “Start The Riot” Die Ärzte, “Schrei Nach Liebe” Gastone, “Weihnachtsgans”
This week we turn the tables on one of our co-hosts and interview Danny about his latest book, Why Bad Governments Happen to Good People, published by Haymarket Books. Danny talks about how Trump’s election shows the way U.S. democracy tilts rightward, blocking the moderate social democratic platform of Bernie Sanders while allowing an erratic racist who flirts with fascists to assume the most world’s most powerful position. From there we get into the larger contradictions of democracy and capitalism, and how in many ways democracy under capitalism is less about empowering the people than winning our consent to the way things are going to be. We then move on to the exciting success of socialist candidates since Bernie’s campaign, most notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary victory in New York City. Danny talks about the way some of these campaigns have helped to popularize demands of Medicare for all and Abolish ICE, but also about the historic dangers socialists face when they start building their project inside a Democratic Party that is ultimately hostile to our interests. In our opener, we talk with Bay Area socialist Ragina Johnson about the horrific murder of Nia Wilson in Oakland and why so many people in the Bay are connecting her death with the growth of white supremacy in Trump’s America. She describes protest that took place on one day’s notice in response to the murder—which linked up with another protest against a plan by the far-right Proud Boys to meet up in a downtown Oakland bar. Ragina put Nia’s death and the rise of the far right in the context of continued police murders, relentless gentrification and the overall state of rising inequality and scapegoating—and stressed the importance of building the largest possible protest against the far right’s “No to Marxism” rally on August 5 in Berkeley. We encourage Better Off Red listeners to come out against the fascists that day—and those on the East Coast to join the mobilization against the disgusting “White Civil Rights” rally being held in Washington D.C. on August 12—the anniversary of last year’s horror in Charlottesville. See the links below for more information. Links for this episode: • Get a copy of Danny’s book Why Bad Governments Happen to Good People (http://bit.ly/WhyBadGovernments) • Danny’s Socialist Worker article on the potentials and pitfalls of electoral strategies for socialists (http://bit.ly/ElectoralIdeology) Links for our intro on Nia Wilson and fighting the right: • Nicole Colson’s article on Nia’s murder and the subsequent protests (http://bit.ly/NiaWilsonMuder) • Alpana Mehta on why we need to fight the right (http://bit.ly/WhyFighttheRight) • Information on how to join with socialists in Berkeley protesting the far right on August 5 (http://bit.ly/AntiFascistBerkeley) • Information on how to join with socialists in Washington D.C. protesting the far right on August 12 (http://bit.ly/AntiNaziDC) Music and Audio for this episode The Boy & Sister Alma, “Lizard Eyes” (Dead Sea Captains Remix) Alicia Wilson, mother of Nia Wilson Billie Holiday, “Strange Fruit” Josh White, “Freedom Road” (https://folkways.si.edu/anti-fascism-and-racial-struggle-in-song/music/playlist/smithsonian) Rapsody, “Power” ft. Kendrick Lamar Street Dogs, "Working Class Heroes"
A Nation under the Gun Gun Violence and Gun Control Danny Katch Socialism 2018 U.S. Politics For years each horrific mass shooting has followedby a loud but largely empty partisan debate: Republicans and Democrats pointfingers at each other while avoiding uncomfortable questions about why guns andgun violence are so prevalent in a country founded on stolen land and stolenbodies and maintained with the violence of mass incarceration and globalempire. read more
The Democrats are obsessed with Russiagate at the expense of issues impacting people’s lives. You can find his article in the June issue of The Indypendent or on our website https://bit.ly/2xBTARS To support this podcast and our publication, it´s as easy as visiting our Patreon page and becoming a monthly subscriber. bit.ly/2xsDpR
Haven’t you heard? People are feeling socialism these days--almost as much as they’re feeling the crushing anxiety of mounting debt, climate catastrophe and the rising tide of bigotry and racism. But what exactly does socialism mean today? Jen Roesch and Danny Katch talk politics and protest with a range of guests to uncover the path to a better world from the wreckage of this dung heap. If the daily struggle with capitalism has you teetering on the edge of existential despair, then this is your indispensable dose of socialist wisdom and hope.
Fan favorite Danny Katch (socialistworker.org) returns to the program to talk about American Democracy and his new book Why Bad Governments Happen to Good People. It is a fun one! Please send us fan mail or mean spirited mail at leftjest@gmail.com
In this episode I update you on the status of my financial meltdown. I also talk about the difficulty of being a socialist in a capitalist world. I also talk about Socialism, Marx and the book Socialism...Seriously by Danny Katch. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nicnacjak/message
SocialistWorker.org's Danny Katch drops in with his daughter to talk about his book (Socialism Seriously) and theorycraft some democratized economies. Alex is very sick. Anders is very handsome. Truly radio for the ages. We edited the reading segment down by half so be sure to buy the book to read the whole thing. Or go to a library... look the money's not what's important here, just read a book for once in your life. Damn.
Danny Katch comedian, activist, and the author of " Socialism... Seriously" and activist Mariano Muñoz-Elías . Join Noam Dworman and Hatem Gabr in a heated Hilarious discussion about Socialism, Cuba and being an activist in NYC.
The concept of socialism is not longer a taboo word any more, and in fact many opinio polls report that a significant amount of people prefer socialism over capitalism. Danny Katch in his well argued, and humorous book, Socialism...Seriously, explains why capitalism is not a sustainable economic system for the planet, and how modern solution can be a better solution. We interview Mr. Katch about his book and what he thinks of the Bernie Sanders presidential run.