Podcasts about political theory

In this episode of Uncommon Sense with Ginny Robinson, I further analyze the circumstances surrounding Charlie Kirk's assassination and the subsequent (and obvious) coverup. I also address listener questions, offering my current perspectives on Donald Trump and the many, many challenges of modern dating. -___---https://bakerbookhouse.com/pages/the-brand-sunday

Hugh interviews Albanian academic and author Lea Ypi about her new book Indignity: A Life Reimagined. The book is an exploration of political, historical and philosophical themes through the story of Ypi's grandmother, Leman Ypi, who experienced Albania's tumultuous 20th century, from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, through fascism, Nazism, communism and its fall.Lea talks about how literature helps us hear silenced histories - particularly those of women. She also discusses nation formation, the role of archives, and the analogies between historical and current political crises.Lea Ypi is Professor in Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Indignity: A Life Reimagined is published by Penguin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Bromell is the author of By the Sweat of the Brow: Labor and Literature in Antebellum American Culture and Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the Sixties, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His articles and essays on African American literature and political thought have appeared in American Literature, American Literary History, Political Theory, Raritan, and The Sewanee Review. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and he blogs at thetimeisalwaysnow.org. Nick Bromell's book is a work of intellectual history and political theory that places Black thinkers—writers, activists, and artists—at the center of American democratic thought. He argues that African American intellectual traditions have continually reshaped the meaning of democracy in the U.S., offering critiques and visions that go beyond the frameworks typically emphasized in mainstream political philosophy. The title, taken from James Baldwin's writings, reflectsthe idea that democracy is never finished—it is always urgent and ongoing.The Time is Always Now: Black Political Thought and the Transformation of U.S. Democracy (Oxford UP, 2013) posits that Black thought epitomizes the crucible of American Democratic theory Bromell contends that African American thinkers are not simply responding to oppression but actively producing political theory—ideasabout freedom, justice, equality, and collective life. Their insights emerge from lived experiences of slavery, segregation,and racial inequality, which provide a unique vantage point for critiquing American democracy.Secondly, Democracy is an ongoing and incomplete project of reconstruction, renewal, and revival. Building on Baldwin's phrase “the time is always now,” Bromell argues that democracy must be constantly reimagined and fought for. Black intellectual traditions highlight democracy's fragility and incompleteness, challenging myths of American exceptionalism.Third, American Democracy exists beyond what are known to be traditional American institutions. While mainstream American political theory often places focus on constitutions, governments, or laws, Black thinkers and citizens emphasize affective, relational, and cultural dimensions of democracy—dimensions that exhibit and feature American virtues and values of community, solidarity, and recognition.Fourth, Professor Bromell calls for a vibrant relational empathy and mutual recognition. In this sense, Bromell highlights Black thought's insistence on recognition of shared humanity and mutual vulnerability as the foundation for democraticpractice. Thinkers as varied as James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison stress the necessity of empathy as a civic virtue. Bromell reframes African American intellectual history as politicaltheory, not just cultural or social commentary. He challenges readers to recognize that the deepest resources fordemocratic renewal in America come from traditions forged under conditions of racial oppression.  Ultimately The Time is Always Now insists that democracy is less about stable American institutions and more about the practice of bettering and refining incipient features of American institutions-facing each other honestly, acknowledging and shouldering of collective pain, and being committed to a shared mutual recognition of the totality of our collective experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Nick Bromell is the author of By the Sweat of the Brow: Labor and Literature in Antebellum American Culture and Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the Sixties, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His articles and essays on African American literature and political thought have appeared in American Literature, American Literary History, Political Theory, Raritan, and The Sewanee Review. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and he blogs at thetimeisalwaysnow.org. Nick Bromell's book is a work of intellectual history and political theory that places Black thinkers—writers, activists, and artists—at the center of American democratic thought. He argues that African American intellectual traditions have continually reshaped the meaning of democracy in the U.S., offering critiques and visions that go beyond the frameworks typically emphasized in mainstream political philosophy. The title, taken from James Baldwin's writings, reflectsthe idea that democracy is never finished—it is always urgent and ongoing.The Time is Always Now: Black Political Thought and the Transformation of U.S. Democracy (Oxford UP, 2013) posits that Black thought epitomizes the crucible of American Democratic theory Bromell contends that African American thinkers are not simply responding to oppression but actively producing political theory—ideasabout freedom, justice, equality, and collective life. Their insights emerge from lived experiences of slavery, segregation,and racial inequality, which provide a unique vantage point for critiquing American democracy.Secondly, Democracy is an ongoing and incomplete project of reconstruction, renewal, and revival. Building on Baldwin's phrase “the time is always now,” Bromell argues that democracy must be constantly reimagined and fought for. Black intellectual traditions highlight democracy's fragility and incompleteness, challenging myths of American exceptionalism.Third, American Democracy exists beyond what are known to be traditional American institutions. While mainstream American political theory often places focus on constitutions, governments, or laws, Black thinkers and citizens emphasize affective, relational, and cultural dimensions of democracy—dimensions that exhibit and feature American virtues and values of community, solidarity, and recognition.Fourth, Professor Bromell calls for a vibrant relational empathy and mutual recognition. In this sense, Bromell highlights Black thought's insistence on recognition of shared humanity and mutual vulnerability as the foundation for democraticpractice. Thinkers as varied as James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison stress the necessity of empathy as a civic virtue. Bromell reframes African American intellectual history as politicaltheory, not just cultural or social commentary. He challenges readers to recognize that the deepest resources fordemocratic renewal in America come from traditions forged under conditions of racial oppression.  Ultimately The Time is Always Now insists that democracy is less about stable American institutions and more about the practice of bettering and refining incipient features of American institutions-facing each other honestly, acknowledging and shouldering of collective pain, and being committed to a shared mutual recognition of the totality of our collective experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Nick Bromell is the author of By the Sweat of the Brow: Labor and Literature in Antebellum American Culture and Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the Sixties, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His articles and essays on African American literature and political thought have appeared in American Literature, American Literary History, Political Theory, Raritan, and The Sewanee Review. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and he blogs at thetimeisalwaysnow.org. Nick Bromell's book is a work of intellectual history and political theory that places Black thinkers—writers, activists, and artists—at the center of American democratic thought. He argues that African American intellectual traditions have continually reshaped the meaning of democracy in the U.S., offering critiques and visions that go beyond the frameworks typically emphasized in mainstream political philosophy. The title, taken from James Baldwin's writings, reflectsthe idea that democracy is never finished—it is always urgent and ongoing.The Time is Always Now: Black Political Thought and the Transformation of U.S. Democracy (Oxford UP, 2013) posits that Black thought epitomizes the crucible of American Democratic theory Bromell contends that African American thinkers are not simply responding to oppression but actively producing political theory—ideasabout freedom, justice, equality, and collective life. Their insights emerge from lived experiences of slavery, segregation,and racial inequality, which provide a unique vantage point for critiquing American democracy.Secondly, Democracy is an ongoing and incomplete project of reconstruction, renewal, and revival. Building on Baldwin's phrase “the time is always now,” Bromell argues that democracy must be constantly reimagined and fought for. Black intellectual traditions highlight democracy's fragility and incompleteness, challenging myths of American exceptionalism.Third, American Democracy exists beyond what are known to be traditional American institutions. While mainstream American political theory often places focus on constitutions, governments, or laws, Black thinkers and citizens emphasize affective, relational, and cultural dimensions of democracy—dimensions that exhibit and feature American virtues and values of community, solidarity, and recognition.Fourth, Professor Bromell calls for a vibrant relational empathy and mutual recognition. In this sense, Bromell highlights Black thought's insistence on recognition of shared humanity and mutual vulnerability as the foundation for democraticpractice. Thinkers as varied as James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison stress the necessity of empathy as a civic virtue. Bromell reframes African American intellectual history as politicaltheory, not just cultural or social commentary. He challenges readers to recognize that the deepest resources fordemocratic renewal in America come from traditions forged under conditions of racial oppression.  Ultimately The Time is Always Now insists that democracy is less about stable American institutions and more about the practice of bettering and refining incipient features of American institutions-facing each other honestly, acknowledging and shouldering of collective pain, and being committed to a shared mutual recognition of the totality of our collective experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Nick Bromell is the author of By the Sweat of the Brow: Labor and Literature in Antebellum American Culture and Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the Sixties, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His articles and essays on African American literature and political thought have appeared in American Literature, American Literary History, Political Theory, Raritan, and The Sewanee Review. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and he blogs at thetimeisalwaysnow.org. Nick Bromell's book is a work of intellectual history and political theory that places Black thinkers—writers, activists, and artists—at the center of American democratic thought. He argues that African American intellectual traditions have continually reshaped the meaning of democracy in the U.S., offering critiques and visions that go beyond the frameworks typically emphasized in mainstream political philosophy. The title, taken from James Baldwin's writings, reflectsthe idea that democracy is never finished—it is always urgent and ongoing.The Time is Always Now: Black Political Thought and the Transformation of U.S. Democracy (Oxford UP, 2013) posits that Black thought epitomizes the crucible of American Democratic theory Bromell contends that African American thinkers are not simply responding to oppression but actively producing political theory—ideasabout freedom, justice, equality, and collective life. Their insights emerge from lived experiences of slavery, segregation,and racial inequality, which provide a unique vantage point for critiquing American democracy.Secondly, Democracy is an ongoing and incomplete project of reconstruction, renewal, and revival. Building on Baldwin's phrase “the time is always now,” Bromell argues that democracy must be constantly reimagined and fought for. Black intellectual traditions highlight democracy's fragility and incompleteness, challenging myths of American exceptionalism.Third, American Democracy exists beyond what are known to be traditional American institutions. While mainstream American political theory often places focus on constitutions, governments, or laws, Black thinkers and citizens emphasize affective, relational, and cultural dimensions of democracy—dimensions that exhibit and feature American virtues and values of community, solidarity, and recognition.Fourth, Professor Bromell calls for a vibrant relational empathy and mutual recognition. In this sense, Bromell highlights Black thought's insistence on recognition of shared humanity and mutual vulnerability as the foundation for democraticpractice. Thinkers as varied as James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison stress the necessity of empathy as a civic virtue. Bromell reframes African American intellectual history as politicaltheory, not just cultural or social commentary. He challenges readers to recognize that the deepest resources fordemocratic renewal in America come from traditions forged under conditions of racial oppression.  Ultimately The Time is Always Now insists that democracy is less about stable American institutions and more about the practice of bettering and refining incipient features of American institutions-facing each other honestly, acknowledging and shouldering of collective pain, and being committed to a shared mutual recognition of the totality of our collective experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Nick Bromell is the author of By the Sweat of the Brow: Labor and Literature in Antebellum American Culture and Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the Sixties, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His articles and essays on African American literature and political thought have appeared in American Literature, American Literary History, Political Theory, Raritan, and The Sewanee Review. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and he blogs at thetimeisalwaysnow.org. Nick Bromell's book is a work of intellectual history and political theory that places Black thinkers—writers, activists, and artists—at the center of American democratic thought. He argues that African American intellectual traditions have continually reshaped the meaning of democracy in the U.S., offering critiques and visions that go beyond the frameworks typically emphasized in mainstream political philosophy. The title, taken from James Baldwin's writings, reflectsthe idea that democracy is never finished—it is always urgent and ongoing.The Time is Always Now: Black Political Thought and the Transformation of U.S. Democracy (Oxford UP, 2013) posits that Black thought epitomizes the crucible of American Democratic theory Bromell contends that African American thinkers are not simply responding to oppression but actively producing political theory—ideasabout freedom, justice, equality, and collective life. Their insights emerge from lived experiences of slavery, segregation,and racial inequality, which provide a unique vantage point for critiquing American democracy.Secondly, Democracy is an ongoing and incomplete project of reconstruction, renewal, and revival. Building on Baldwin's phrase “the time is always now,” Bromell argues that democracy must be constantly reimagined and fought for. Black intellectual traditions highlight democracy's fragility and incompleteness, challenging myths of American exceptionalism.Third, American Democracy exists beyond what are known to be traditional American institutions. While mainstream American political theory often places focus on constitutions, governments, or laws, Black thinkers and citizens emphasize affective, relational, and cultural dimensions of democracy—dimensions that exhibit and feature American virtues and values of community, solidarity, and recognition.Fourth, Professor Bromell calls for a vibrant relational empathy and mutual recognition. In this sense, Bromell highlights Black thought's insistence on recognition of shared humanity and mutual vulnerability as the foundation for democraticpractice. Thinkers as varied as James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison stress the necessity of empathy as a civic virtue. Bromell reframes African American intellectual history as politicaltheory, not just cultural or social commentary. He challenges readers to recognize that the deepest resources fordemocratic renewal in America come from traditions forged under conditions of racial oppression.  Ultimately The Time is Always Now insists that democracy is less about stable American institutions and more about the practice of bettering and refining incipient features of American institutions-facing each other honestly, acknowledging and shouldering of collective pain, and being committed to a shared mutual recognition of the totality of our collective experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Bromell is the author of By the Sweat of the Brow: Labor and Literature in Antebellum American Culture and Tomorrow Never Knows: Rock and Psychedelics in the Sixties, both published by the University of Chicago Press. His articles and essays on African American literature and political thought have appeared in American Literature, American Literary History, Political Theory, Raritan, and The Sewanee Review. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and he blogs at thetimeisalwaysnow.org. Nick Bromell's book is a work of intellectual history and political theory that places Black thinkers—writers, activists, and artists—at the center of American democratic thought. He argues that African American intellectual traditions have continually reshaped the meaning of democracy in the U.S., offering critiques and visions that go beyond the frameworks typically emphasized in mainstream political philosophy. The title, taken from James Baldwin's writings, reflectsthe idea that democracy is never finished—it is always urgent and ongoing.The Time is Always Now: Black Political Thought and the Transformation of U.S. Democracy (Oxford UP, 2013) posits that Black thought epitomizes the crucible of American Democratic theory Bromell contends that African American thinkers are not simply responding to oppression but actively producing political theory—ideasabout freedom, justice, equality, and collective life. Their insights emerge from lived experiences of slavery, segregation,and racial inequality, which provide a unique vantage point for critiquing American democracy.Secondly, Democracy is an ongoing and incomplete project of reconstruction, renewal, and revival. Building on Baldwin's phrase “the time is always now,” Bromell argues that democracy must be constantly reimagined and fought for. Black intellectual traditions highlight democracy's fragility and incompleteness, challenging myths of American exceptionalism.Third, American Democracy exists beyond what are known to be traditional American institutions. While mainstream American political theory often places focus on constitutions, governments, or laws, Black thinkers and citizens emphasize affective, relational, and cultural dimensions of democracy—dimensions that exhibit and feature American virtues and values of community, solidarity, and recognition.Fourth, Professor Bromell calls for a vibrant relational empathy and mutual recognition. In this sense, Bromell highlights Black thought's insistence on recognition of shared humanity and mutual vulnerability as the foundation for democraticpractice. Thinkers as varied as James Baldwin, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison stress the necessity of empathy as a civic virtue. Bromell reframes African American intellectual history as politicaltheory, not just cultural or social commentary. He challenges readers to recognize that the deepest resources fordemocratic renewal in America come from traditions forged under conditions of racial oppression.  Ultimately The Time is Always Now insists that democracy is less about stable American institutions and more about the practice of bettering and refining incipient features of American institutions-facing each other honestly, acknowledging and shouldering of collective pain, and being committed to a shared mutual recognition of the totality of our collective experience.

Today my guest is Matthew McManus. Matt McManus is an incoming assistant professor of political theory at Spellman College. He is the author of The Political Right and Equality as well as The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, which we are discussing today. McManus sees himself as engaging in a project of retrieval of a forgotten tradition of thought within the liberal tradition which advocates for socialist ends. This is a project with which I have some affinity as a liberal anarchist, but I have some big disagreements with how he sees the difference between liberal socialists and other more pro-market liberals as well as the institutional form he thinks liberal socialism should take: a form of statist social democracy. You will see us get into those disagreements at the end of the discussion. Show Notes Matthew McMannus, The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism Jason Lee Byas, Radical Liberalism: The Soul of Libertarianism Judith Shklar, The Liberalism of Fear Charles Taylor, Modern Social Imaginaries David Dyzenhaus, Hobbes and the Law Thomas Paine, Rights of Man Thomas Paine, Agrarian Justice Isaac Kramnick, The Rage of Edmund Burke Edmund Burke, A Vindication of Natural Society Helen McCabe, John Stuart Mill, Socialist Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Hayek, Marx, and Utopia Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Program David Prychitko, Marxism and Workers' Self-Management: The Essential Tension Karl Marx, The Civil War in France Gary Chartier, Radicalizing Rawls Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right FA Hayek, Individualism True and False Gus Dizerga, Outgrowing Methodological Individualism Tony Smith, Beyond Liberal Egalitarianism Kevin Carson, Studies in Mutualist Political Economy David Beito, From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State Fabio Perocco, Racism In and For the Welfare State Quinn Slobodian, Hayek's Bastards Kjell Östberg, The Rise and Fall of Swedish Social Democracy Pelle Dragsted, Nordic Socialism John Rawls, Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy Karl Marx, Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy Wendy Brown, Walled States: Waning Sovereignty

Since the French Revolution, leftism has served as the impetus for many of the state's worst massacres and totalitarian impulses.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/unique-evil-left

Since the French Revolution, leftism has served as the impetus for many of the state's worst massacres and totalitarian impulses.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/unique-evil-left

How are LGBTQ+ Jews navigating today's overlapping crises in Israel and in America? In this Z3 Podcast episode, Rabbi Amitai Fraiman speaks with Hila Peer and Asher Gellis about the impact of rising antisemitism and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment at a moment when community feels both more fragile and more essential than ever. The aftermath of October 7 saw rising tensions around LGBTQ+ identity in Jewish and queer spaces alike, and the polarization in both Israel and America have placed enormous pressures on an already vulnerable community. They conversation explores the heated debate over pinkwashing and how it has shaped perceptions of Jewish LGBTQ+ activism. What unfolds is a candid and deeply personal conversation about personal identity, community belonging, and the shared values that can sustain Jewish communities through times of crisis.About Our GuestsAsher Gellis, MBA, founder and CEO of JQ International earned a BA in Political Theory from UCLA and an MBA from Pepperdine University. Prior to launching JQ International in 2004, Asher served as the Regional Director for Hadassah's Young Judaea in California, Nevada, and Hawaii. He created curriculum for the Bureau of Jewish Education in Los Angeles, and guided teen scholastic Israel tours. Asher has launched dozens of groundbreaking LGBTQ+ Jewish programs and services affecting tens of thousands of lives and steering the Jewish Community towards greater LGBTQ+ inclusion for generations to come.Hila Peer is the Chair of the Aguda – Israel's LGBTQ Association, the country's pioneering LGBTQ organization established in 1975, now celebrating 50 years of activism. A respected leader and passionate social activist, she has spearheaded major advances in civil rights and pro-LGBTQ legislation in Israel. Re-elected as Aguda's Chair since 2020, Peer is recognized as one of the most prominent voices of Israel's LGBTQ community and a proud mother of twins.(00:00) Introduction(03:14) Meet the Guests(05:34) The U.S. Experience(07:47) The Israeli Experience(12:25) Polarization and Internal Divides(18:03) Proximity and Resilience(20:00) Media, Families, and Acceptance(25:00) What Makes a Community?(26:49) Debates over inclusion: “Drop the T” controversy(32:14) Understanding divides within the LGBTQ+ community(40:10) Pinkwashing and Tokenization(53:36) Extreme Polarization(54:44) Judaism and Advocacy(1:03:07) Signs of Hope

In this SEDI session, anarchist writer and editor Iain McKay delivers a brisk, idea-dense tour of Peter Kropotkin's science, ethics, and revolutionary politics—showing how the famed geographer's fieldwork and evolutionary arguments undergird a living anarchist program.McKay (lead author of An Anarchist FAQ and editor/translator of major Kropotkin editions) threads together mutual aid, syndicalism, and council organization with Kropotkin's critiques of state socialism and “red-in-tooth-and-claw” misreadings of Darwin.He contrasts T. H. Huxley's dour view of nature with Kropotkin's empirical case that cooperation is a force in evolution, then links that insight to the ethics and strategy of class struggle. Along the way he situates key works—Modern Science and Anarchy, Mutual Aid, Fields, Factories and Workshops, The State: Its Historic Role, and The Great French Revolution—as a coherent toolbox for building working-class power outside parliament and against bureaucratic socialism.McKay also speaks from the editor's desk: he assembled the comprehensive Direct Struggle Against Capital and produced new English editions of Modern Science and Anarchy and Words of a Rebel, restoring Kropotkin's revolutionary edge against later hagiography.This event is part of the Sam and Esther Dolgoff Institute (SEDI)'s ongoing series, bringing radical thinkers, organizers, and historians to deepen our understanding of the past and sharpen our interventions in the present.The Sam and Esther Dolgoff Institute (SEDI):https://www.dolgoffinstitute.com/Explore Iain McKay's work:An Anarchist FAQ – https://www.anarchistfaq.org/Author page – https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/iain-mckay

"Liberalism," divorced from its particular connotations in this or that modern political context, refers broadly to a philosophy of individual rights, liberties, and responsibilities, coupled with respect for institutions and rule of law over personalized power. As Cass Sunstein construes the term, liberalism encompasses a broad tent, from Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher to Martin Luther King and Franklin Roosevelt. But liberalism is being challenged both from the right and from the left, by those who think that individual liberties can go too far. We talk about the philosophical case for liberalism as well as the challenges to it in modern politics, as discussed in his new book On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom.Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/09/01/327-cass-sunstein-on-liberalism/Support Mindscape on Patreon.Cass Sunstein received a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and worked as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He is currently Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. He served in several government roles during the Obama administration. He is recognized as "by far the most cited legal scholar in the United States and probably the world."Harvard web pageGoogle Scholar publicationsSubstackAmazon author pageWikipediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is Hans-Hermann Hoppe a firebrand revolutionary, or something very different? On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton traces Hoppe's American debut in 1986 and follows the controversies that later made Hoppe a lightning rod. The case here is straightforward: Hoppe isn't a political revolutionary aiming to remake society by seizing state power; he's a natural-rights theorist whose analysis—grounded in property, history, and Austrian economics—argues for social cooperation without a predatory state. Hoppe is an exacting analyst of what works, not an architect of upheaval.Additional ResourcesA Life in Liberty: Liber Amicorum in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, edited by Jörg Guido Hülsmann and Stephan Kinsella (PDF): https://mises.org/MI_135_A Or, purchase the book online: https://mises.org/LiberAmicorum"Understanding the timing and outcome of the Russian Revolution: a public choice approach” (Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice)" by Gregory Dempster, Robert B. Ekelund, Jr., and Mark Thornton: https://mises.org/MI_135_B"Rent Seeking as an Evolving Process: The Case of the Ancien Régime" (Public Choice) by Robert. B. Ekelund, Jr., and Mark Thornton: https://mises.org/MI_135_C"A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism” by Mark Thornton (in Property, Freedom, and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe): https://mises.org/MI_135_DThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at https://mises.org/IssuesFreeBe sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

Having warned of the rise of national socialism and having fled the German army's march into Austria, Ludwig von Mises was in an excellent position to analyze Nazi economic doctrine.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-daily/etatism-protectionism-and-demand-lebensraum

Having warned of the rise of national socialism and having fled the German army's march into Austria, Ludwig von Mises was in an excellent position to analyze Nazi economic doctrine.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-daily/etatism-protectionism-and-demand-lebensraum

When the war in Ukraine began back in February 2022, the remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle or drone as its commonly known, was peripheral to the conflict. But three years on, the drone in all its shapes and sizes has taken on a central role in this battle, in the air, on land and at sea, for surveillance, reconnaissance, combat and other purposes. Now drone technology is evolving even further into the area of autonomous weapons. But whilst the drone can offer greater strategic and operational flexibility and a possible reduction in the number of military casualties, there are concerns that the drone, particularly in Ukraine's case, has prolonged the war. Only last year the United Nations reported that 118 countries now had military drones, along with at least 65 non-state actors. And as an increasing number of countries have begun to manufacture and export their own array of military drones, many are concerned about how drone technology is presenting a big challenge in terms of defensive measures. So, on this week's Inquiry, we're asking ‘How are drones changing the landscape of modern warfare? Contributors: James Patton Rogers, Author and Executive Director, Brooks Tech Policy Institute, Cornell University, New York State, USA. Dr Oleksandra Molloy, Senior Lecturer in Aviation, University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia Stacie Pettyjohn, Director of the Defence Programme, Centre for A New American Security, Washington DC. USA. Dr. Elke Schwarz, Professor of Political Theory, Queen Mary University, London, UKPresenter: Gary O'Donoghue Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Maeve Schaffer Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Toby James Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey

On this episode, Nathan Goodman interviews political theorist Jacob Levy about the rule of law and its tensions with modern immigration enforcement. Drawing on his 2018 article, “The rule of law and the risks of lawlessness,” Levy explains that the rule of law requires laws to be general, predictable, and applied equally. Referencing thinkers like Montesquieu, Fuller, Hayek, Oakeshott, and Shklar, Levy argues that immigration control often violates these principles, especially when it involves militarized policing, extrajudicial punishment, and fear-based governance, which ultimately threatens both civil liberties and democratic institutions.Dr. Jacob T. Levy is Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory and associated faculty in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University. He is the coordinator of McGill's Research Group on Constitutional Studies and was the founding director of McGill's Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds. He is a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center. He is the author of The Multiculturalism of Fear (Oxford University Press, 2000) and Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2014).If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.Virtual Sentiments, a podcast series from the Hayek Program, is streaming. Subscribe today and listen to season three, releasing now!Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgramLearn more about Academic & Student ProgramsFollow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatusCC Music: Twisterium

Joshua Mitchell, professor at Georgetown University, joins Timon and Josh for a wide ranging discussion about America, identity politics, and Protestantism.    Joshua Mitchell, PhD. is currently professor of political theory at Georgetown University. He has been Chairman of the Government Department and also Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at SFS-Q. During the 2008-10 academic years, Dr. Mitchell was took Leave from Georgetown, and was the Acting Chancellor of The American University of Iraq - Sulaimani. His research interest lies in the relationship between political thought and theology in the West. He has published articles in The Review of Politics, The Journal of Politics, The Journal of Religion, APSR, and Political Theory. In 1993 his book, NOT BY REASON ALONE: RELIGION, HISTORY, AND IDENTITY IN EARLY MODERN THOUGHT, was published by the University of Chicago Press. A second book, THE FRAGILITY OF FREEDOM: TOCQUEVILLE ON RELIGION, DEMOCRACY, AND THE AMERICAN FUTURE, was published in 1995, also by the University of Chicago Press. In 2006, PLATO'S FABLE: ON THE MORTAL CONDITION IN SHADOWY TIMES, was published by Princeton University Press. His most recent book, TOCQUEVILLE IN ARABIA: DILEMMAS IN A DEMOCRATIC AGE, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2013. More recently, he finished a book entitled, AMERICAN AWAKENING: IDENTITY POLITICS AND OTHER AFFLICTIONS OF OUR TIME, to be published shortly by Encounter Books (2020). His next book-length project will be called THE GENTLE SEDUCTION OF TYRANY.   Learn more about Dr. Joshua Mitchell's work: https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014Rh8tAAC/joshua-mitchell   ––––––   Follow American Reformer across Social Media: X / Twitter – https://www.twitter.com/amreformer Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AmericanReformer/ YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanReformer Rumble – https://rumble.com/user/AmReformer Website – https://americanreformer.org/   Promote a vigorous Christian approach to the cultural challenges of our day, by donating to The American Reformer: https://americanreformer.org/donate/   Follow Us on Twitter: Josh Abbotoy – https://twitter.com/Byzness Timon Cline – https://twitter.com/tlloydcline   The American Reformer Podcast is  hosted by Josh Abbotoy and Timon Cline, recorded remotely in the United States, and edited by Jared Cummings.   Subscribe to our Podcast, "The American Reformer" Get our RSS Feed – https://americanreformerpodcast.podbean.com/ Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-american-reformer-podcast/id1677193347 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1V2dH5vhfogPIv0X8ux9Gm?si=a19db9dc271c4ce5

Many "social justice" advocates claim to appeal to a “higher law,” but they usually refuse to acknowledge economic laws because those laws stand in their way of creating the "just" society.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/austrian-perspectives-social-justice

Many "social justice" advocates claim to appeal to a “higher law,” but they usually refuse to acknowledge economic laws because those laws stand in their way of creating the "just" society.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/austrian-perspectives-social-justice

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea that Civility, in one of its meanings, is among the most valuable social virtues: the skill to discuss topics that really matter to you, with someone who disagrees and yet somehow still get along. In another of its meanings, when Civility describes the limits of behaviour that is acceptable, the idea can reflect society at its worst: when only those deemed 'civil enough' are allowed their rights, their equality and even their humanity. Between these extremes, Civility is a slippery idea that has fascinated philosophers especially since the Reformation, when competing ideas on how to gain salvation seemed to make it impossible to disagree and remain civil.With Teresa Bejan Professor of Political Theory at Oriel College, University of OxfordPhil Withington Professor of History at the University of SheffieldAnd John Gallagher Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of LeedsProducer: Simon TillotsonReading list: Teresa M. Bejan, Mere Civility: Disagreement and the Limits of Toleration (Harvard University Press, 2017)Anna Bryson, From Courtesy to Civility: Changing Codes of Conduct in Early Modern England (Oxford University Press, 1998)Peter Burke, The Fortunes of the Courtier: The European Reception of Castiglione's Cortegiano (Polity Press, 1995)Peter Burke, Brian Harrison and Paul Slack (eds.), Civil Histories: Essays Presented to Sir Keith Thomas (Oxford University Press, 2000)Keith J. Bybee, How Civility Works (Stanford University Press, 2016)Nandini Das, João Vicente Melo, Haig Z. Smith and Lauren Working, Keywords of Identity, Race, and Human Mobility in Early Modern England (Amsterdam University Press, 2021)Jurgen Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (Polity, 1992)Jennifer Richards, Rhetoric and Courtliness in Early Modern Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2003)Austin Sarat (ed.), Civility, Legality, and Justice in America (Cambridge University Press, 2014)Keith Thomas, In Pursuit of Civility: Manners and Civilization in Early Modern England (Yale University Press, 2018)Phil Withington, Society in Early Modern England: The Vernacular Origins of Some Powerful Ideas (Polity, 2010)Lauren Working, The Making of an Imperial Polity: Civility and America in the Jacobean Metropolis (Cambridge University Press, 2020)In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio ProductionSpanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

If New Yorkers wanted to help students by paying for their tuition, they would have already done so on their own.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/busting-free-college-myth

If New Yorkers wanted to help students by paying for their tuition, they would have already done so on their own.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/busting-free-college-myth

What does it mean when people start calling Donald Trump a king? And why are some political theorists — on both the right and left — exploring the possibility of leaving democracy behind? All this debate got co-host Tom Ginsburg thinking about an argument he's been turning over in his head for years: could constitutional monarchy actually be the best form of government?Is it possible that constitutional monarchy actuallystrengthensdemocracy? Do monarchs serve as symbols of national unity that modern republics are missing? And is America's obsession with political dynasties — the Obamas, the Bushes, the Kennedys — actually more monarchical than we'd like to admit?This wide-ranging conversation takes us from Thailand to the United Kingdom, from the founding ideals of the U.S. Constitution to the rise of populist leaders. Along the way, Tom and Claudia debate whether democracy is still holding strong — or if we're inching toward something more authoritarian.

Ecological crises threaten all forms of life on earth. Democracy too is endangered, as popular discontent, elite malfeasance, and unresponsive institutions imperil its survival. Present political concepts have proven inadequate to meeting these challenges, and their inadequacies are themselves symptoms of the failures of prevailing political, cultural, and ecological stories and practices.This book offers a new vision of ecological and participatory democratic life for a time of crisis. Identifying myth and ritual as key resources for contemporary politics, Earthborn Democracy excavates practices and narratives that illustrate the interdependence necessary to inspire ecological renewal. It tells stories of multispecies agency and egalitarian political organization across history, from ancient Mesopotamia and the precolonial Americas to contemporary social movements, emphasizing Indigenous traditions and resistance. Resonating across these practices and stories past and present is a belief that we are all―human as well as nonhuman―earthborn, and this can serve as the basis for reimagining democracy. Allying visionary political theory with environmental activism, Earthborn Democracy: A Political Theory of Entangled Life (Columbia UP, 2024) provides a foundation and a guide for collective action in pursuit of earthly flourishing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

The mission of MinistryWatch is to help Christian donors become more faithful stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them. With a mission like that, it's easy to see why Dana and Bill Wichterman's new book got my attention. The book is Stewards Not Owners: The Joy of Aligning Your Money With Your Faith. Over the years, I've read a lot of books about this topic, from Randy Alcorn's Money, Possessions and Eternity to Jay Richards' Money, Greed, and God. Other books I often recommend on the topic of stewardship include When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett, and Marvin Olasky's The Tragedy of American Compassion. These books are classics of the genre. But I honestly think that Dana and Bill's new book is the book I would recommend  to someone who wants to read just one book on the topic. Their new book is relatively short and highly readable, but it doesn't “dumb down” the deep biblical principles involved. Also, it includes lots of stories of men and women who have lived out the principles they espouse. Those stories make the book come alive, and make the abstract principles seem credible and achievable. Bill Wichterman has spent his career in law and politics, including as Special Assistant to the President in the White House. Bill is the author of the book Dying to Live: Finding Joy In Giving Yourself to God, and the influential essay “The Culture: Upstream from Politics.” He is co-founder of Wedgwood Circle and board president of Faith and Law. Bill holds an M.A. in Political Theory from The Catholic University of America. Dana works for Impact Foundation (Impactfoundation.org), a donor-advised fund specializing in helping Christians align their charitable capital with their unique calling to partner with Kingdom-oriented for-profit companies. Their new book is Stewards Not Owners: The Joy of Aligning Your Money With Your Faith. And, as I promised earlier, we have a way for you to get your own copy of this book. Bill and Dana have donated nearly 200 books to MinistryWatch, and we are going to make them available to you for a gift of any size during the month of July. So, if you would like your own copy of this book, just go to MinistryWatch.com and hit the donate button at the top of the page. We'll get your book in the mail immediately. The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. I'm your host Warren Smith. Until next time, may God bless you.

Contrary to popular myth, every Republican president since and including Herbert Hoover has increased the federal government's size, scope, or power. Over the last one hundred years, of the five presidents who presided over the largest domestic spending increases, four were Republicans.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-daily/republicans-and-big-government

Contrary to popular myth, every Republican president since and including Herbert Hoover has increased the federal government's size, scope, or power. Over the last one hundred years, of the five presidents who presided over the largest domestic spending increases, four were Republicans.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-daily/republicans-and-big-government

On this week's episode, I'm joined by Daniel Drezner—cohost of the Space the Nation podcast with Ana Marie Cox and proprietor of the Drezner's World Substack—to discuss the eternal popularity of zombies (most recently via the hit movie 28 Years Later, which I reviewed here) and the continued relevance of his book, Theories of International Politics and Zombies, which is now in its third edition. We chatted about the ways different political theories might confront waves of the undead and discussed how this book can help explain basic problems of international relations to even lay audiences. If you enjoyed this episode, I hope you share it with a friend! (And, as a bonus, here's a link to a video starring Dan, me, and Across the Movie Aisle's Alyssa Rosenberg that asked what Star Wars would have looked like if it had been shot in the style of Ken Burns's Civil War. Enjoy!)

Ecological crises threaten all forms of life on earth. Democracy too is endangered, as popular discontent, elite malfeasance, and unresponsive institutions imperil its survival. Present political concepts have proven inadequate to meeting these challenges, and their inadequacies are themselves symptoms of the failures of prevailing political, cultural, and ecological stories and practices.This book offers a new vision of ecological and participatory democratic life for a time of crisis. Identifying myth and ritual as key resources for contemporary politics, Earthborn Democracy excavates practices and narratives that illustrate the interdependence necessary to inspire ecological renewal. It tells stories of multispecies agency and egalitarian political organization across history, from ancient Mesopotamia and the precolonial Americas to contemporary social movements, emphasizing Indigenous traditions and resistance. Resonating across these practices and stories past and present is a belief that we are all―human as well as nonhuman―earthborn, and this can serve as the basis for reimagining democracy. Allying visionary political theory with environmental activism, Earthborn Democracy: A Political Theory of Entangled Life (Columbia UP, 2024) provides a foundation and a guide for collective action in pursuit of earthly flourishing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Ecological crises threaten all forms of life on earth. Democracy too is endangered, as popular discontent, elite malfeasance, and unresponsive institutions imperil its survival. Present political concepts have proven inadequate to meeting these challenges, and their inadequacies are themselves symptoms of the failures of prevailing political, cultural, and ecological stories and practices.This book offers a new vision of ecological and participatory democratic life for a time of crisis. Identifying myth and ritual as key resources for contemporary politics, Earthborn Democracy excavates practices and narratives that illustrate the interdependence necessary to inspire ecological renewal. It tells stories of multispecies agency and egalitarian political organization across history, from ancient Mesopotamia and the precolonial Americas to contemporary social movements, emphasizing Indigenous traditions and resistance. Resonating across these practices and stories past and present is a belief that we are all―human as well as nonhuman―earthborn, and this can serve as the basis for reimagining democracy. Allying visionary political theory with environmental activism, Earthborn Democracy: A Political Theory of Entangled Life (Columbia UP, 2024) provides a foundation and a guide for collective action in pursuit of earthly flourishing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

"In this episode we are joined by Breht O'Shea to talk about fascism and it's peculiarities in the 21st Century." I went on The Pokepreet Podcast for a second time recently and had a really in-depth and nuanced conversation about fascism, presently and historically; together we discuss how American fascism arising out of the ruins of neoliberalism is qualitatively different than previous fascisms, the role of insecure masculinity in all fascist movements, the implications of a lack of an organized and militant working class to combat it, the feckless liberal (non)response, the Democrats embrace of the "Abundance" agenda, the Palestinian liberation struggle, and MUCH much more. You can find Henri's work at: ⁠https://substack.com/@henrimartel ⁠ Support Pokepreet on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/thepokepreetpod   ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio: https://revleftradio.com/

Today we have Dr. Matthew McManus on to discuss his book The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism. It turns out that there is an extensive tradition of socialism emerging out of classical liberal theory in the 19th century that is clearly relevant for today. What can modern leftists learn from John Stuart Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Rawls, and many others? Listen to find out.

In this episode of UCL Uncovering Politics, we explore one of the most foundational questions in human rights theory: Is there a human right against discrimination?While many of us instinctively view discrimination based on attributes like sexual orientation as inherently wrong, not all human rights theorists agree that this wrong is best understood as a violation of a human right. Some argue that discrimination, though harmful, doesn't necessarily fall under the scope of human rights protections.Joining us to unpack this complex debate is Dr. Saladin Meckled-Garcia, Associate Professor in Human Rights and Political Philosophy at UCL's Department of Political Science. Dr. Meckled-Garcia presents a powerful case for why the right against discrimination should be considered a core human right — and offers a fresh philosophical grounding for why such rights matter.Mentioned in this episode:The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Human Rights, edited by Jesse Tomalty, Kerri Woods. Chapter 21: "Is there a human right against discrimination?" Saladin Meckled-Garcia UCL's Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, political theory, human rights, public policy-making and administration. The Department is recognised for its world-class research and policy impact, ranking among the top departments in the UK on both the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and the latest Guardian rankings.

In this episode, Alyson and Breht explore Friedrich Engels' Dialectics of Nature, a bold and underappreciated attempt to apply dialectical materialism to the natural sciences. Often dismissed or misunderstood, this unfinished work offers a sweeping view of reality - from physics and chemistry to evolution, human consciousness, and ecological breakdown - through the lens of Marxist philosophy. Together, they unpack Engels' central claim that nature itself unfolds dialectically: through contradiction, motion, transformation, and interconnection. They cover the three laws of dialectics, Engels' materialist account of human evolution, his critique of mechanistic science, vulgar materialism, and metaphysical thinking, as well as his early warnings about capitalism's ecological consequences. Along the way, they connect these insights to Marx's concept of species-being, and reflect on what this revolutionary worldview offers in the age of climate crisis, hyper-alienation, and late capitalist decay. Finally, Alyson and Breht have a fascinating open-ended discussion about the existential and spiritual implications of dialectical materialism as a worldview. Whether you're new to dialectical materialism or looking to deepen your understanding, this conversation reframes Engels' work as a profound contribution not just to Marxism, but to the philosophy of science itself. Here are the episodes recommended for further listening in the episode: Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 - Karl Marx On Contradiction - Mao Marxism 101: Intro to Historical Materialism (and the Necessity of Socialism) The Nature of All Things: Spinoza's Philosophical Odyssey All Dialectic Deep Dive Episodes ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio: https://revleftradio.com/

[Originally released Oct 2020] Alyson and Breht summarize and discuss the fundamental ideas, concepts, and arguments within Marxism. We want this episode to stand as a resource for *everyone* interested in Marxism - from those who are brand new to the Marxist left all the way to veterans of the Left who simply want a concise refresher. If you know someone who is moving leftward but still struggling with understanding Marxism, please point them toward this episode!  ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio: https://revleftradio.com/

A whole episode of Political Theory 101 devoted to Thomas Hobbes' Behemoth. We discuss Hobbes' historical narrative and his theory of education, both of which receive little attention in Leviathan.

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Sep 27, 2023 In this crossover conversation, Jared from Millennials Are Killing Capitalism joins Breht to dive deep into Friedrich Engels' Principles of Communism—a crucial draft that laid the groundwork for the Communist Manifesto. Together, they unpack the text's key insights, from the historical development of class struggle to the revolutionary role of the proletariat. This episode explores Engels' clear, accessible articulation of communist principles, examines the dialectical materialist worldview that underpins the document, and connects these foundational ideas to today's struggles under late capitalism. Along the way, Jared and Breht reflect on the enduring relevance of Engels' thought, challenge liberal misreadings of Marxism, and offer a grounded, revolutionary take on what it means to fight for communism in the 21st century. Whether you're new to socialist theory or looking to revisit its roots, this episode provides both historical clarity and political urgency. ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio: https://revleftradio.com/ Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood  

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Dec 15, 2022 Breht responds to the criticism that Marxism is just Christianity mixed with the Enlightenment concept of Progress; that it is basically just a religious faith... Listen to the full episode here: https://redmenace.libsyn.com/desert ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio or here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio & Red Menace: https://revleftradio.com/  

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Mar 18, 2018 In this engaging episode, Breht sits down with philosopher and author J. Moufawad-Paul, the mind behind the influential books "The Communist Necessity" and "Continuity and Rupture" among others. Together, they delve deep into JMP's profound exploration of communism and Maoism, unpacking key concepts like revolutionary necessity, historical continuity, and theoretical rupture. This wide-ranging discussion tackles pivotal questions of Marxist theory: Why is communism not merely an ideological preference, but a necessity born from the contradictions of capitalism? How does Maoism represent both a continuity with Marxist-Leninist traditions and a significant rupture, signaling a critical evolution in revolutionary theory and practice? And importantly, what can contemporary revolutionaries and activists learn from this dialectical understanding of revolutionary history? Tune in to deepen your grasp of Marxism, enrich your theoretical toolkit, and learn about the nuances of marxism-leninism-maoism.  ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio https://revleftradio.com/ Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

Back in 2016, Joan Williams, distinguished professor of law (emerita) at UC Law San Francisco, wrote an essay for the Harvard Business Review on why President Donald Trump attracted so many non-college voters. It went viral with almost four million views, becoming the most-read article in the 90-year history of the publication.Williams' new book, Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back, outlines how the seemingly common view that her fellow progressives must abandon their social causes to win back those non-college-educated voters is wrong. What is required, she argues, is a renewed understanding of class. She introduces her conceptualization of the “diploma divide,” or the gap between Americans with and without college degrees. Her worldview divides the electorate into three class-based groups: the college-educated, upper-class “Brahmin left”, the low-income working (middle) class, and the right-wing merchant class, which pushes for economic policies that benefit the rich. Her argument is that a new coalition between the latter two has shifted politics to the right.In this week's Capitalisn't episode, Luigi and Bethany invite Williams to discuss whether our society indeed breaks down so neatly. If it does, how does her breakdown help us understand recent electoral shifts and trends in populism and why the left is on the losing end of both? As she writes in her book and discusses in the episode, “[the Brahmin] left's anger is coded as righteous. Why is non-elite anger discounted as “grievance?” Together, their conversation sheds light on how the left can win back voters without compromising on progressive values.Over the last four years, Capitalisn't has interviewed conservative thinkers like Oren Cass, Patrick Deneen, and Sohrab Ahmari to understand how the political right developed a new platform after President Joe Biden's victory in 2020. With this episode, we begin the same project with the left by asking: What could be the economic basis for a new progressive platform?Show Notes:Read an excerpt from Joan Williams' new book, “Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back,” out now at St. Martin's PressQuiz: “Are You in a Class Bubble?”What So Many People Don't Get About the U.S. Working Class, by Joan Williams, Harvard Business Review, November 10, 2016

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Oct 23, 2023 UPSTREAM INTERVIEW W/ BREHT AND ALYSON:  What Is To Be Done? This is the question so profoundly posed by the Russian Revolutionary and Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, in his landmark text of the same name. Although it was written well over a century ago, this text, the questions it asked, and the paths forward that it provided, are just as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. And just as urgent. What roles do spontaneity and disciplined organization have in leftist movements? Can we focus simply on economic reform, or do our actions need a larger political framework to structure, guide, and propel them?  Why does it feel like even though so many of us are motivated to work towards structural change, that things continue to get worse? Why does it seem like potential revolutionary struggles in the West always seem to stall and fail to move from a singular moment to a protracted movement?  These are old and familiar questions — a lot of ink has been spilled and speeches made exploring them — and in this Conversation, we've brought on two guests who've not only thought about these questions in depth, but who have some pretty compelling answers that draw from revolutionary theory and practice in both their personal lives and from the deep well of wisdom bequeathed by theorists Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Mao.  Breht O'Shea is the host of the podcast Revolutionary Left Radio and a co-host of Guerrilla History. He's been on the show multiple times so you may already be familiar with his voice. Alyson Escalate, who has also been on the show, is the co-host, along with Breht, of Red Menace, a podcast that explains and analyzes revolutionary theory and then applies its lessons to our contemporary conditions.  Further Resources: Red Menace – What Is To Be Done? - V.I. Lenin  Revolutionary Left Radio – Politics in Command: Analyzing the Error of Economism  Red Menace – The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon: On Violence and Spontaneity Red Menace – Understanding Settler Colonialism in Israel and the United States Revolutionary Left Radio on Instagram Upstream – Buddhism and Marxism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation) Upstream – Trans Liberation and Solidarity with Alyson Escalante (In Conversation) Upstream – Revolutionary Leftism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation)  

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Mar 19, 2024 Alyson and Breht explain and explore Karl Marx's classic work "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte." Together, they discuss Marx's incisive analysis of Louis Bonaparte's rise to power, the complex interplay between historical events and class struggle, and the profound insights into how revolutions unfold and regress. In the process, they delve into French history, the peasantry and lumpenproletariat, Bonapartism's relationship to modern Fascism, the role of the State under capitalism, and how all of this helps us to make sense of our contemporary moment of crisis in the US and around the world.  ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE  

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Oct 11, 2018 In this episode, Alyson joins Breht to do a dive deep into Vladimir Lenin's State and Revolution, one of the most important texts in Marxist political theory. We break down Lenin's core arguments about the state as an instrument of class rule, the necessity of smashing the bourgeois state rather than reforming it, and the vision of a transitional workers' state on the path to communism. We also discuss the historical context of 1917, how Lenin draws from Marx and Engels, and why this work remains essential for understanding the nature of power, revolution, and socialist strategy today. This episode offers an accessible yet rigorous guide to one of Lenin's most influential works. ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio https://revleftradio.com/  

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Mar 10, 2023 In this episode of Guerrilla History, we bring on two fantastic guests, Prof. Charisse Burden-Stelly and Prof. Jodi Dean. We discuss their co-edited collection, Organize, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women's Political Writing, which is an absolutely indispensable resource for those of us serious about achieving liberation!  This collection includes writings focused on the period from 1919-1956, which argue that racial and economic equality can only be achieved by overthrowing capitalism.  Pick up the book! Dr. CBS is an Associate Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University.  She is an organizer with Black Alliance for Peace and a Co-Author of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History alongside our mutual friend Gerald Horne.  She can be followed on twitter @blackleftaf or on her website https://www.charisseburdenstelly.com/. Dr. Jodi Dean is a Professor of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.  She is the author of numerous books including Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging, Crowds and Party, and The Communist Horizon.  She can be followed on twitter @jodi7768. ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Apr 26, 2023 In this episode, Matthew Furlong and Breht dive into Mao Zedong's seminal 1957 speech-turned-text "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" - a critical text for any revolutionary serious about navigating the complexities of socialist construction. We break down Mao's dialectical method, his distinction between antagonistic and non-antagonistic contradictions, and how this framework helps us understand internal struggle within a revolutionary movement versus conflict with class enemies. From mass line to ideological struggle, from unity-struggle-unity to combating dogmatism and liberalism - we unpack Mao's sharp insights with a focus on applying them to today's political terrain. This is Marxism in motion. Theory as a weapon. Revolution as a science.   Further Resources:   - Mao Zedong - Five Essays on Philosophy (1957)   - Ai Siqi - "Antagonistic and Non-Antagonistic Contradictions" (1957)   - Jones Manoel - "Western Marxism Loves Purity and Martyrdom, But Not Real Revolution" (2020)   - Radhika Desai & Michael Hudson: Geopolitical Economy Hour (2023 -)   - World Association for Political Economy   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Mi'kmaw learning resources: Atlantic First Nations Tech Services - Mi'kmaw Learning The Language of this Land, Mi'kma'ki (2012) ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Apr 20, 2019 What is to be Done? is a classic work on the role and organisation of the revolutionary party in the communist movement. Lenin criticises economism, revisionism and spontaneity, and argues persuasively for a centralised and professional vanguard of the proletariat. On this episode of Red Menace Alyson and Breht explain and reflect on the text, and then extract the core lessons for revolutionaries today.  What Is To Be Done? by V.I. Lenin Full text here: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/ ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE

In this lecture, Breht provides an accessible but rigorous introduction to the Marxist theory of history: historical materialism. Breht explains how historical materialism is dialectical materialism applied to the evolution of human societies over time, the role that the base-superstructure model has in understanding culture and ideology, the long march from hunter-gatherer communal societies to slave empires to feudal monarchies to capitalist republics and beyond - to socialist democracy and ultimately to the communist transcendence of class society altogether, marking humanities maturation beyond its predatory phase and into history proper. Throughout the lecture, Breht provides examples, explores nuances, and highlights the pitfalls of attempts to change the system without the theoretical and practical tools of Marxism.  This lecture is part of the Omaha-based political education program Socialist Night School Support 3 families in Gaza HERE ------------------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood