The Regrettable Century

This week the gang talks about the radical liberatory programs of the Bolsheviks, the failure of these programs, the conservative reaction of Stalin, and the renewed blossoming of these ideas in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. We ultimately conclude the Warsaw Pact countries leave much to be desired in the way of workers' democracy, but also provide us with an example of what is possible when a society's resources are devoted to liberation instead of hoarded by the bourgeoisie. The USSR’s Founding Mother https://cosmonaut.blog/2018/10/08/the-ussrs-founding-mother/ Liberation in the early days of the USSR https://isreview.org/issue/86/legacy-october Bad Romance https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/11/women-better-sex-under-socialism-review Why Women Had Better Sex Under Socialism https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/opinion/why-women-had-better-sex-under-socialism.amp.html Ghodsee, Kristen R. Why women have better sex under socialism : and other arguments for economic independence. New York: Nation Books, 2018. Music:  Ina Martell- Ich war allein Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

Kevin and Chris sat down with our old friend Steven; an attorney, Marxist and host of the defunct(ish?) Supreme Leap Forward Podcast to discuss Marxist criminology, prison, cops, and Soviet jurisprudence. We ultimately conclude that cops suck, prisons suck, the law is dumb, and the concept of the lumpenproletariat is something that we need to keep arguing about. Hal Draper essay mentioned in the episode: The concept of the Lumpenproletariat in Marx and Engels- Hal Draper Kevin and Steven's Marxist Law Podcast featuring Chris Supreme Leap Forward Episode 12 - Game Of Owns and Feudal Law Steven's essay mentioned in the episode: Understanding Crime Under Capitalism: A Critique of American Criminal Justice and Introduction to Marxist Jurisprudence- Steven Gilmore The Works of Evegny Pshukanis: https://www.marxists.org/archive/pashukanis/index.htm Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

This week Jenny makes the case that there are "good" and bad types of identity politics and we discuss the redeemable and irredeemable aspects of them. Ultimately, we come to conclusions that are sure to get us canceled by workerists and idpol-libs alike. Which... doesn't matter because will have all been boiled alive by rising oceans of acidic seawater long before we ever figure any of this out.  Combahee River Collective Statement : http://circuitous.org/scraps/combahee.html Asad Haider: 'Eight Theses on Identity' http://salvage.zone/ Haider, Asad. Mistaken identity : race and class in the age of Trump. London Brooklyn, NY: Verso, 2018. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

In part two of our discussion we finally get around to talking about horror movies, Jenny talks about Caliban and the Witch a lot more, and Chris brings that conversation back to fascism... again. The outro music is Lords of the New Church- Open Your Eyes Towards A Gothic Marxism I – On Monsters https://thelitcritguy.com/2018/02/05/towards-a-gothic-marxism-i-on-monsters/ Towards A Gothic Marxism Part Two: Monsters For Socialism https://thelitcritguy.com/2018/02/05/towards-a-gothic-marxism-part-two-monsters-for-socialism/  A Thousand Lost Worlds: Notes on Gothic Marxism by Adam Turl http://www.redwedgemagazine.com/evicted-art-blog/a-thousand-lost-worlds-notes-on-gothic-marxism  Socialists Must Reclaim Halloween https://jacobinmag.com/2018/10/halloween-socialism-china-mieville  Michael Lowy on Benjamin’s Gothic Marxism https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/walter-benjamin-and-surrealism The Horror of the Real: Zizek as Modern Gothic http://zizekstudies.org/index.php/IJZS/article/view/356/356 Adam Tooze on Surrealism and Gothic Marxism https://blindfieldjournal.com/2016/12/01/of-surrealism-marxism/ McNally, David. Monsters of the Market : Zombies, Vampires and Global Capitalism. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books, 2012. Cohen, Margaret. Profane Illumination : Walter Benjamin and the Paris of Surrealist Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993 Federici, Silvia. Caliban and the Witch. New York London: Autonomedia Pluto, distributor, 2004. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

In this episode we talk about Marxist romanticism and the gothic strain in Marxism, or "gothic Marxism." We attempt to salvage the detritus of bourgeois society and the broken dreams of generations of the defeated to piece together a vision of world worth fighting for. Marx often used Gothic imagery in his writings and held a strong romantic streak that we think has been ignored by "vulgar" Marxists who cling to the mechanistic Protestantism and scientism of the enlightenment. This is only part one of a two part episode and we promise you we talk about horror movies eventually, just keep your shorts on. The intro is a paraphrasing of Adam Turl from a piece he wrote for Red Wedge Magazine, linked below: The outro music is Bauhaus- The Passion of Lovers Towards A Gothic Marxism I – On Monsters https://thelitcritguy.com/2018/02/05/towards-a-gothic-marxism-i-on-monsters/ Towards A Gothic Marxism Part Two: Monsters For Socialism https://thelitcritguy.com/2018/02/05/towards-a-gothic-marxism-part-two-monsters-for-socialism/  A Thousand Lost Worlds: Notes on Gothic Marxism by Adam Turl http://www.redwedgemagazine.com/evicted-art-blog/a-thousand-lost-worlds-notes-on-gothic-marxism  Socialists Must Reclaim Halloween https://jacobinmag.com/2018/10/halloween-socialism-china-mieville  Michael Lowy on Benjamin’s Gothic Marxism https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/walter-benjamin-and-surrealism The Horror of the Real: Zizek as Modern Gothic http://zizekstudies.org/index.php/IJZS/article/view/356/356 Adam Tooze on Surrealism and Gothic Marxism https://blindfieldjournal.com/2016/12/01/of-surrealism-marxism/ McNally, David. Monsters of the Market : Zombies, Vampires and Global Capitalism. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books, 2012. Cohen, Margaret. Profane Illumination : Walter Benjamin and the Paris of Surrealist Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993 Siegel, Paul N. The Meek and the Militant : Religion and Power Across the World. Chicago, Ill: Haymarket Books, 2005.   Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

This week we dive deep into eco-terrorism / green anarchy / primitivism, and discuss why we think the Unambomber had some good points while also disagreeing with him, a lot.  Anti-Civ folks would tell you that the problems that plague humanity begin with the industrial revolution and that we need to go back to hunter/gatherer societies. We at The Regrettable Century, however, enjoy the fact that we survived past childbirth and can wear corrective lenses to read books safely inside of our warm homes this winter. We bet you can figure out what we think the real problem is. Also, we talk about eco-fascism. A short list of resources we mined for this episode: Children of Ted http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/the-unabomber-ted-kaczynski-new-generation-of-acolytes.html  The Unabomber's Manifesto as originally published by WaPo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm?noredirect=on Interview with John Zerzan on NPR https://www.spreaker.com/user/oregonpublicbroadcasting/anarchy-and-civilization “No Way Out?” By John Zerzan  https://www.johnzerzan.net/articles/no-way-out.html “The Problem of Civilization” from Deep Green Resistance, Derrick Jensen’s group,  https://www.commondreams.org/views/2011/05/05/deep-green-resistance-strategy-save-planet 20 min ELF propaganda video: https://youtu.be/MO2pA5We34A Watch full length documentary “If a Tree Falls: a Story of the Earth Liberation Front” https://youtu.be/UmZkNNJqr1I “Whatever Happened to Ecoterrorism?” https://psmag.com/environment/whatever-happened-to-eco-terrorism Review/summary of “Ecological Rift,” by John Bellamy Foster http://links.org.au/node/2293 Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

We pick up where we left off last week; discussing Russian Nazbols, American Third Positionism, and the re-emphasizing the need to speak with clarity about this topic of dire importance. Listen to Part II of a II part series, in which we think out loud about the history and politics of fascist anti-capitalism. https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecentury A short list of some of the  material referenced for the show: Payne, Stanley G. A History of Fascism, 1914-1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. Lee, Martin A. The Beast Reawakens. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1997. Coogan, Kevin. Dreamer of the Day : Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International. Brooklyn, N.Y: Autonomedia, 1999. A scholarly article about The National Question and the Communists in Weimar Germany. https://libcom.org/files/NATIONAL%20BOLSHEVISM%20IN%20WEIMAR%20GERMANY.pdf The (Now Defunct) Traditionalist Workers Party: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/traditionalist-worker-party An undercover expose of the Traditionalist Workers Party: https://unicornriot.ninja/2018/leaked-a-year-inside-the-failed-neo-nazi-traditionalist-worker-party/ Article about a alt-righters adopting “anti-capitalism” https://www.thenation.com/article/the-racist-right-looks-left/ Music: Holocaust by Crisis off of No Town Hall Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

Yes there is an anti-capitalist right and leftists need to stop being so confused when rightists are opposed to, or critical of, capitalism.  Listen to Part I of a II part series, in which we think out loud about the history and politics of the Strasserites, Nazbols, European New Right, and Third Positionists. https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecentury A short list of some of the  material referenced for the show: Payne, Stanley G. A History of Fascism, 1914-1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. Lee, Martin A. The Beast Reawakens. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1997. Coogan, Kevin. Dreamer of the Day : Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International. Brooklyn, N.Y: Autonomedia, 1999.  The National Question and the Communists in Weimar Germany.  https://libcom.org/files/NATIONAL%20BOLSHEVISM%20IN%20WEIMAR%20GERMANY.pdf The (Now Defunct) Traditionalist Workers Party: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/traditionalist-worker-party An undercover expose of the Traditionalist Workers Party: https://unicornriot.ninja/2018/leaked-a-year-inside-the-failed-neo-nazi-traditionalist-worker-party/ Article about a alt-righters adopting “anti-capitalism” https://www.thenation.com/article/the-racist-right-looks-left/  Music: Auf, auf zum Kampf by Commandantes off of Lieder Für Die Arbeiterklasse Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

Behold, our original intro episode! Jason and Chris talk about their motivations for creating the podcast and dive into Mark Fisher's book "Capitalist Realism." Fisher argues that after 1989 capitalism was able to present itself as the only option and warped our reality to fit that claim. We talk about how he was right. https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecentury Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop

In the years since Guy Debord wrote "The Society of the Spectacle" we have witnessed the utter triumph of said spectacle and have been thoroughly crushed under the jackboot of its mediocrity. We think that some of the ideas of the Situationists are even more relevant now than they were in 68 and are worth having a conservation about, so we did. https://www.patreon.com/theregrettablecentury A Short List of Some of the Readings For this Episode: Society of the Spectacle (full text) https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.htm Revenge of the Spectacle http://www.redwedgemagazine.com/online-issue/revenge-of-the-spectacle-this-time-its-personal Bringing Fuel to The Flames: Anselme Jappe's Guy Debord http://www.redwedgemagazine.com/online-issue/bringing-fuel Notes on the Spectacle of Opposition https://www.sayitwithpavingstones.org/news/2018/6/29/some-notes-on-the-spectacle-of-opposition Why Psychogeography? https://www.sayitwithpavingstones.org/news/2018/8/14/derive-0-why-psychogeography Background on 1968 https://jacobinmag.com/2018/05/how-beautiful-it-was/  Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show Visit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop