The Socialist Program with Brian Becker

Shockwaves hit Wall Street banks and hedge funds in the face of a Reddit-based insurgency of day traders who targeted financial giants. Brian and Prof. Wolff examine the role played by speculation, the stock market and financial bubbles in capitalism. Richard Wolff is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work and the author of many books, the latest being “The System is the Sickness: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself”. You can check out his work at rdwolff.com.

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Nicole Roussell, Esther Iverem and Walter Smolarek discuss how politicians throughout U.S. history have incited racist mobs to carry out acts of violence, how this long standing trend manifested in the January 6 attack on the Capitol Building, and a roundup of national and international headlines.

After 45 Senate Republicans voted to declare his impeachment trial unconstitutional, Donald Trump is almost assured an acquittal. It marks a  stunning turnaround for a man who just a few weeks ago was completely  isolated and facing the prospect  of jail time for seditious conspiracy. How did the Democratic Party  fail so spectacularly? Will impeachment ironically be the thing that  paves the way for Trump’s reentry into the political spotlight? What  does this mean for the rising danger of fascism?

On  this week's episode of The Socialist Program's regular segment  "Capitalism in Crisis" with Prof. Richard Wolff, we discuss mounting  corporate debt and long term trends in capitalism,  including increasingly worse recession and capitalists' growing  dependency on government aid. Richard  Wolff is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work and the  author of many books, the latest being “The System is the Sickness: When  Capitalism Fails to Save Us from  Pandemics or Itself”. You can check out his work at rdwolff.com.

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Nicole Roussell, Esther Iverem and Walter Smolarek discuss the Democratic Party establishment’s blundering first week in power, Biden’s efforts to forge unity with the right wing, and how his administration’s foreign policy is playing out.

Under the cloud of a massive military occupation of Washington DC Joe  Biden was sworn in as the 46th president. In a highly polarized country  Biden announced 17 Executive Orders and started unveiling the policies  and objectives of the new administration. Hunger, unemployment and  homelessness is surging. More than 100,000 have died from Covid in just  the last four weeks. We take a look at the Biden's domestic and foreign  policy positions and talk about the imperative need for a new, massive  and militant working class movement without which the Biden White House  will enforce its number #1 promise to voters that "nothing will  fundamentally change."

On  this week's episode of The Socialist Program's regular segment  "Capitalism in Crisis" with Prof. Richard Wolff, we discuss the economic  stimulus bill proposed by President Biden  and how it falls short of the dramatic steps needed to address the  suffering caused by the pandemic. Richard  Wolff is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work and the  author of many books, the latest being “The System is the Sickness: When  Capitalism Fails to Save Us from  Pandemics or Itself”. You can check out his work at rdwolff.com.

On today's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Nicole Roussell,  Esther Iverem and Walter Smolarek continue our coverage of the aftermath  of the assault on the Capitol Building, with a focus on the different  components and motivations of the  fascist movement that led the attack.

Dr. Gerald Horne offers his insights and historical perspective on the fascist-led mob that seized temporary control of the Capitol Building and dispersed Congress for hours in an effort to alter the 2020 election outcome. Professor Gerald Horne originally sat down for a conversation with Brian about his latest book "The Bittersweet Science -- Racism,  Racketeering, the Political Economy of Boxing." This episode covers both topics and draws the connection between racism, fascism and capitalism.

Various ruling class factions, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have coalesced against Trump and the fascist-led insurrection against Congress. What comes next?