Jacobin Radio

Suzi talks to Arlene Inouye, UTLA Secretary and Bargaining Chair about the system-wide pressures facing teachers, support staff, students, and their families, all seeking safety and stability during the deadly and disruptive pandemic. A new NEA survey reveals anxiety, exhaustion, burnout, and an alarming number of educators leaving the profession they have loved. Arlene gives us a big picture of the crisis and the pre-existing problems made suddenly worse by COVID: teacher and staff shortages, declining enrollment, and irregular class attendance. We’ll hear how UTLA has addressed the health and safety concerns such as ventilation, masking, and other actions to make safer classrooms, and what ideas and programs they are trying to implement to address these issues in an unstable environment with ongoing funding issues. Georgia Flowers Lee brings her experiences and difficulties teaching preschoolers during the pandemic. The conditions of teacher and staff shortages—plus frequent shutdowns for two weeks whenever someone falls ill or tests positive with COVID—adds to burnout and hardship for educators, students, and their families. Hector Perez Roman, who teaches high school AP world history in Arleta in the northern San Fernando Valley, brings us news and stories from the classroom in an underserved and hard-hit area. Perez-Roman talks about how teachers and students are dealing with the trauma of COVID illness and loss, attendance uncertainty, lost time for learning, yet are still being bogged down with unnecessary standardized tests.  Belinda Barragan is a LAUSD PSA (Pupil Student Attendance) counselor working with students and their families, teachers, and staff on the mental health issues brought by pandemic stress. She sees more cases of depression and social anxiety daily, with parents coming in to ask how to deal with these issues with their child at home. She describes teachers who are frustrated, anxious, and fatigued from their own classrooms while also covering their peers because of the shortage of substitutes available. We hear their stories, and Arlene Inouye discusses the UTLA platform to address these issues with solutions that bring hope.

We discuss one of the least sentimental films about death and family, Ingmar Bergman's CRIES AND WHISPERS (1972), and provide a possible political reading of Sweden's most famous auteur. Michael and Us is a podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.

Olúfẹmi Táíwò guest hosts an interview with Daniela Gabor and Ndongo Samba Sylla on how financial power has shaped the global economic order from colonialism through Bretton Woods, the Washington Consensus, and today's Wall Street Consensus.  Read Daniela's work: people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/DanielaGabor Read Ndongo's work: rosalux.de/en/profile/es_detail/N8SVHTS8SA/ndongo-samba-sylla?cHash=ccf0c8d371bde0fecbac8337bbc6f832 Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Buy The Border Crossed Us by Justin Akers Chacón: haymarketbooks.org/books/1655-the-border-crossed-us

Jacobin contributor Leigh Phillips discusses how an NGO-dominated environmental movement ended up alienating unions, what constitutes a "just transition," and why organized labor must be at the center of any successful effort to fight climate change. Tony Wood assesses the escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict and liberals' conceptions of Putin. Jen Pan discusses how the pandemic led to yet more "socialism for the rich."The Jacobin Show, hosted by Jen Pan, offers 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. This is the podcast version of the show from February 2, 2022.Subscribe to Jacobin for just $10: https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=JACOBINYTMusic provided by Zonkey: https://linktr.ee/zonkey

This week, Grace talks to Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò about his two new books, Reconsidering Reparations and Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (and Everything Else). They discuss what "identity politics" actually means, why it's so often contrasted to "class politics," and what socialists need to do to create inclusive, sustainable social movements.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.

Suzi talks to professor Michael Cox about what is behind Putin’s bluster at the Ukrainian border and the hawkish, confrontational response from the US, UK, and NATO. Is the threat of war with Ukraine Putin’s way of pressing Russia’s case for revamping the post-Cold War order? What are the divisions within NATO and the European Union over how to deal with Russia, and to what extent does this current crisis reveal US weakness in terms of being in charge of European security? Hillel Ticktin also joins to continue the discussion about the escalating tensions on the Russian/Ukrainian border. Ticktin argues that the long downturn and economic stagnation are the backdrop to understanding both Russia and the US in this crisis.

Oliver Gloag returns to Long Reads for a conversation about Jean-Paul Sartre and the philosopher's stance against colonialism. Oliver is a professor of French and Francophone studies at the University of North Carolina, Asheville and author of Albert Camus: A Very Short Introduction.Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by Features Editor Daniel Finn.Read Oliver's article "Jean-Paul Sartre Took a Stand Against Empire" here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/08/jean-paul-sartre-anti-imperialism-colonialism-france-politicsProduced by Conor Gillies, music by Knxwledge.

Jacobin’s Micah Uetricht sat down with Nina Turner to discuss the launch of her candidacy for Congress in Ohio’s 11th District. Turner speaks about the need to prioritize bread-and-butter issues like good jobs and affordable healthcare in places like Cleveland, the need to challenge members of the Democratic party who block legislation meant to improve the material conditions of the most vulnerable, and the need to go directly to the people to build pressure for progressive change.Subscribe to Jacobin: https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=JACOBINYT

An in-depth interview on the historical and political-economic context of the Ukraine crisis with Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko.Read Volodymyr's work:truthout.org/articles/ukrainians-are-far-from-unified-on-nato-let-them-decide-for-themselves/ponarseurasia.org/how-maidan-revolutions-reproduce-and-intensify-the-post-soviet-crisis-of-political-representation/lefteast.org/ukraine-in-the-vicious-circle-of-the-post-soviet-crisis-of-hegemony/lefteast.org/contradictions-post-soviet-ukraine-failure-ukraine-new-left/Tony Wood on Russia: thedigradio.com/podcast/russia-beyond-putin-with-tony-wood/Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig

Jacobin contributor Anton Jäger explains the rise of "hyper-politics" and why everything these days is "political" but collective struggle remains elusive. Luke Savage analyzes the Democrats' recent failure to pass voting rights legislation. Jen Pan argues that the debate over affirmative action at elite universities overlooks larger inequalities.The Jacobin Show, hosted by Jen Pan, offers 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. This is the podcast version of the show from January 26, 2022.Read Anton Jäger's article in Tribune: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/01/from-post-politics-to-hyper-politicsSubscribe to Jacobin for just $10: https://jacobinmag.com/subscribe/?code=JACOBINYTMusic provided by Zonkey: https://linktr.ee/zonkey