Jacobin Radio

Suzi Weissman switches seats with Robert Brenner: she is the guest and he does the interviewing. The program begins with a talk Suzi gave recently in Berkeley: "One Hundred Years Since October: When the Russian Working Class Opened the Possibilities For Humanity." Robert and Suzi then discuss the significance of October 1917, when workers took power with profoundly democratic institutions of popular control from below in the Russian empire, creating the Soviet Union.

Isabel Hilton, editor of ChinaDialogue.net, discusses recent developments at the Chinese Communist Party Congress. Then, Doug is joined by Alex Vitale, author The End of Policing, who addresses how we cure ourselves of the cop sickness.

Since Bernie Sanders's success in the 2016 Democratic primary, much of the Left, from progressive Democrats to socialists, has had its sights set on something we had long at least implicitly assumed was impossible: state power and governing. The question now is how to take power, and the Left is consumed by debates over how and whether to engage with the Democratic Party or, in a more limited fashion, with the Democratic Party's ballot line. Joe Dinkin of the Working Families Party talks to Dan about the promise and pitfalls of fighting within the Democratic Party. Support us at Patreon.com/thedig.

In his new book The End of Policing Brooklyn College sociologist @avitale makes the case that technocratic reforms won't fix American policing. In reality, we can only fix policing by ending the carceral state and defeating neoliberalism. Thanks to Verso Books for their support. Check out Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump by David Neiwert versobooks.com/<wbr />books/2535-alt-america Support us with your $$ at patreon.com/thedig

An extended interview with former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis on his new book, Adults in the Room, the story of his surreal negotiations with Greece’s creditors

Chapo went on The Dig. Dan talks to@cushbombabout optimism, pessimism, Manitowoc, reptilians, why the internet might be mostly bad, and Dan’s personal connection to the PizzaGate coverup. Toss us some cash love atPatreon.com/thedigand check outThe End of Policing by Alex Vitale, from our sponsors at Verso Books.

<font size="4">Suzi Weissman talks to</font><font size="4">Einde O’Callaghan, a teacher and member of Die Linke, about Germany’s recent election, in which the far-right AfD gained 94 seats in Parliament, making it larger and more influential than the left-wing Die Linke. Then, Richard Lichtman joins us to discuss the notion (and failures) of democracy in the current period. How do we characterize a system that has the form of democracy but not the substance? Has this always been the case or is there something new in the era of Trump?</font> <img src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif" />

Former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner talks about being horrified by Trump, why single-payer is suddenly hot among likely 2020 Democratic contenders, and the work that Our Revolution is doing nationwide to fight the Democratic Party's neoliberal leadership. Thanks to our supporters at Verso Books, who just published Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis by George Monbiot. Also, catch me in Atlanta at the International Drug Policy Reform conference on October 14.

Prevailing debate obscures the fact that we already have a form of gun control in the United States. As legal scholar Ben Levin explains, the problem is that it’s a form of gun control that is mostly about locking up poor black men in huge numbers. The Left should demand a society without readily available weapons of war on the streets and a society without mass incarceration. Thanks to our supporters at University of California Press. Check out their new title Race and America's Long War from Nikhil Pal Singh. And check out Dan's Jacobin article on carceral gun control here. Also, catch Dan in Atlanta at the International Drug Policy Reform conference on October 14.

First, author Joel Schalit explores the rise of the right in Germany. Then, Professor Marisol LeBrón talks about the role of debt and austerity in impairing Puerto Rico's hurricane recovery. And finally, Shawna Potter of the band War on Women, on being a feminist punk rocker.