Give Them An Argument

Matt McManus joins to discuss the complicated legacy of philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who died last Saturday.Read Matt's article "Jürgen Habermas Showed What Philosophy Could Be" in Jacobin:https://jacobin.com/2026/03/habermas-obituary-critical-theory-philosophyFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwetBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Returning champ Matt McManus joins us once again, this time to explore a reactionary weirdo who somehow hasn't been the subject of a GTAA episode yet!Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwetBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

We're back, baby!Ben Burgis breaks down the idiotic arguments made by the MAGA faithful in defense of Trump's decision to wage an unprovoked, illegal, open-ended war against a country with far more capacity to defend itself than Afghanistan had in 2001 or Iraq in 2003, and makes the case that opposing it isn't just a question of anti-imperialism or harm-minimization (though it certainly is all that) but that there's a basic question of American democracy at stake.Read Ben's article in Jacobin:https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinionRead Branko Marcetic's too while you're at it:https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinionConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://gofund.me/f8ec78c56Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Ben Burgis and Matt McManus chat with Laura K. Field about her excellent new book "Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right."Order the book::https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691255262/furious-mindsFollow Laura on Twitter: @lkatfieldFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Cynthia Cook, a commentator known for her analysis of political figures, and Deep State Kuba, a critical political analyst, join to dissect Curtis Yarvin's provocative new essay. They delve into Yarvin's extreme vision of regime change, unpacking his peculiar ideas about centralized governance and the removal of the old guard. The discussion highlights Yarvin's use of dense jargon as a tool for elitism, critiques his historical simplifications regarding Haiti, and warns of the potential implications of his authoritarian rhetoric. They explore the psychological underpinnings of his dominance fantasies in politics.

Marxist Twitter has been fighting about Vivek Chibber lately. Ben Burgis takes the opportunity to address the immediate controversy but also the much broader value of Chibber's work.Read the Jacobin Chibber interview on the origins of capitalism that everyone is freaking out about:https://jacobin.com/2025/12/colonialism-transition-feudalism-capitalism-history-economyRead Ben's essay "Taking the Red Pill: William Clare Roberts vs. Vivek Chibber on the Class Matrix":https://benburgis.substack.com/p/taking-the-red-pill-william-clareFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Ben Burgis talks about why he doesn't buy Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò's defense of identity politics in Táíwò's book "Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)."Check out the book:https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1867-elite-captureRead Ben's review:https://damagemag.com/2025/06/11/uncaptured-identity-politics-is-no-substitute-for-a-politics-of-class/Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Are service workers part of the "productive" part of the working class? And what does that mean? How about public sector employees--if they're not productive workers, does that mean that their interests don't align with productive workers and socialists shouldn't support the welfare state after all?Ben Burgis talks about what the Trotskyist leader and Marxist economist Ernest Mandel gets right and wrong in his introduction to Capital Vol. 2.Read Ben's essay:benburgis.substack.com/p/are-service-workers-and-public-sectorWatch the Erik Olin Wright "Understanding Class" lecture:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmiiSSMZPnERead his review of Jodi Dean's book:https://unherd.com/2025/05/the-21st-century-belongs-to-marx/Read Dean's response to Ben:https://www.sublationmag.com/post/analogies-and-tendencies-a-response-to-ben-burgisRead Ben's response to Dean's response:https://www.sublationmag.com/post/service-workers-aren-t-servants-a-response-to-jodi-deanFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Many-time GTAA guest Ana Kasparian went on Bill Maher's podcast Club Random. Ben Burgis watches the part where they argue about Gaza and breaks it down.Read Ben's article "The “Human Shields” Defense of Bombing Gaza’s Civilians Is Morally Bankrupt":https://jacobin.com/2023/11/human-shields-bombing-gaza-palestine-israel-defense-forces-morally-bankruptFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Nick Fuentes is comically vile.So, why is it so hard to exile him to whatever dark corner of the discourse he deserves to go back to?One problem is that, when the whole landscape is soaking in ethnic essentialism, it's hard to draw the line at one particular version.Read Ben's essay:https://benburgis.substack.com/p/fuentes-is-a-symptomLink for Andy's show:https://www.facebook.com/events/s/meat-for-tea-presents-le-cirqu/1201459995272451/Link for the Tallywacker one:https://brendanboogie.substack.com/p/tallywacker-the-band-live-in-laFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com