Jacobin Radio

On October 15th, 1969, over 100,000 people gathered on Boston Common for the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. It was a country-wide protest in which two million people took part in demonstrations, teach-ins, and other actions in over two hundred cities. For the event, Zinn delivered this speech, discussing the need for immediate withdrawal of US troops, the hypocrisy of American democracy, a longer history of foreign policy and intervention, and the necessity of political and social transformation. Zinn, who died in 2010, would have been 100 today.Read Michael Koncewicz’s article “Howard Zinn Carried Out an Act of Radical Diplomacy in the Middle of the Vietnam War” here: https://jacobin.com/2022/08/zinn-vietnam-war-antiwar-prisoners-trip

Grace is joined by James Schneider, former Head of Strategic Communications for Jeremy Corbyn and the co-founder of Momentum, to talk about his book Our Bloc: How We Win. They discuss challenges facing the left—and how we can bring together disparate parts of our movement into a coherent bloc to build power.A World to Win is a podcast from Grace Blakeley and Tribune bringing you a weekly dose of socialist news, theory, and action with guests from around the world. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

Featuring Adom Getachew on the story of how decolonization struggles across the Black Atlantic tried to not only cast off European rule but also to remake the entire world system. An October 2019 episode from the archives.Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad, two of the left's most brilliant critics of US empire, sit down with Jacobin Show's Ariella Thornhill to discuss their new book The Withdrawal. To Chomsky and Prashad, US global power acts much the same way a Godfather rules over a Mafia family, imposing its interests on all who stand in its way domestically or internationally. The wide-ranging discussion touches on American exceptionalism, Military Keynesianism, the roadblocks for a new Iran Nuclear Deal, and the implications of Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taiwan. We are also joined by Ben Fong to discuss how Big Pharma is licking its chops at the prospects of psychedelic legalization next year, and Jen and Cale try to make sense of the Gen-Z trend of quiet quitting at work.The Jacobin Show is a weekly YouTube show offering socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, the failures of liberalism, and the prospects of rebuilding a left labor movement in the US. Music by Zonkey. This is the podcast version of the episode from August 17, 2022.

Our Superdelegate patron tier was mad as hell that we hadn't yet discussed Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky's NETWORK (1976) and wasn't going to take it anymore. We watched an American classic and discovered that Howard Beale's famous speech isn't even the most important speech in the movie.Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Doug interviews Leigh Phillips on why nuclear power has to be part of any serious decarbonization program. Volodymyr Ishchenko discusses Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as part of a bid to consolidate power—and how the ruling classes of both countries are political capitalists of a sort unknown in the West.Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive here: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html

Suzi talks to economic historian Robert Brenner to get his understanding of this strange economic moment. What makes it strange? Inflation has dampened spending, the economy is shrinking, and many call it "shaky." Yet profits are strong and soaring, especially in the energy sector, in part because of Russia’s war on Ukraine. And job growth continues. Despite wage increases, workers’ wages overall are still lagging, but CEO pay is skyrocketing—and the Fed continues to raise interest rates to curb inflation. Are they trying to induce a “mild” recession, avoid one, or what? The moment is unique because of the pandemic, supply chain blockages and shortages, and Russia’s war wreaking havoc on the world economy. We get Robert Brenner’s analysis. Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, protest movements.

Dina Khoury, a historian specializing in the Middle East and author of 'Iraq in Wartime,' returns to discuss Iraq's tumultuous landscape post-US occupation. She delves into how instability paved the way for ISIS, critically examining the government's mishandling of Sunni grievances. Khoury highlights the 2019 youth protests demanding reform and the pandemic's toll on mobilization, healthcare, and education. Her insights shed light on Iraq's complex societal dynamics and the ongoing fight for change amid chaos.

Featuring Kojo Koram on his brilliant book Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire. How neoliberalism reorganized colonial capitalist plunder to survive the Third Worldist challenge, and then boomeranged back into the British metropole—a history obscured by rendering “decolonization” into a symbolic culture war battle.  Check out How to Sell a Poison: The Rise, Fall, and Toxic Return of DDT by Elena Conis hachettebookgroup.com/titles/elena-conis/how-to-sell-a-poison/9781645036753/ Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Cale Brooks and Jen Pan discuss what is in the Inflation Reduction Act, the dregs of Biden’s Build Back Better plan that corporate Democrats felt they could sign onto, Matthew Cunningham-Cook outlines how the Biden admin has quietly expanded many of the policies from Trump’s Medicare privatization schemes, Rachel Cohen of Vox covers some positive developments in public housing at the state level, and Deepankar Basu tells us why we all need to learn a little more Marxist economics.The Jacobin Show is a weekly YouTube show offering socialist perspectives on class and capitalism in the twenty-first century, the failures of liberalism, and the prospects of rebuilding a left labor movement in the US. Music provided by Zonkey. This is the podcast version of the episode from August 10, 2022.