Cosmopod
Episodes
Cuba in Africa with Piero Gleijeses
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Piero Gleijeses, author of Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington and Africa, 1959–1976 and Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington,...
Knowledge: Power and Emancipation
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Renato Flores discusses the privatization of scientific knowledge and examines efforts of revolutionary movements to democratize this knowledge to he...
The Twilight of the Sweatshop Age: Labor, Monopsony and Supply Chains with Ashok Kumar
21 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Ashok Kumar author of Monopsony Capitalism: Power and Production in the Twilight of the Sweatshop Age for a discussion on global sweats...
Legislative Campaigns and Policy Feedback
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With a focus on the recent organizing work of New York City Democratic Socialists of America, Comrades Isaac KD and Jack L critique the notion of a "...
The Conservative Party and the Decline of Tory Britain with Phil Burton-Cartledge
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
James and Harry join Phil Burton-Cartledge, author of Falling Down: The Conservative Party and the Decline of Tory Britain for a discussion on his boo...
Coalitions of the Liberal and Socialist Left
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How should socialists engage in coalitional politics? Jack L draws conclusions based on historical lessons and recent experiences in the housing strug...
Soviet Cybernetics and the Promise of Big Computer Socialism
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Amelia, Djamil, Christian, and Rudy join for a discussion on the history of Soviet Cybernetics and the use of computers for socialist planning. We ...
Probabilistic Approaches to Political Economy and Labor with Machover, Farjoun & Zachariah
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Emmanuel Farjoun, Moshé Machover and David Zachariah for a discussion on their two books Laws of Chaos: A Probabilistic Approach to Pol...
The Workers' Opposition in the Russian Communist Party with Barbara C. Allen
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Annie and Lucas join Barbara C. Allen, editor of the recent collection of documents The Workers' Opposition in the Russian Communist Party: Documents,...
New York City Food Worker Organizing, 1912-37 with Kevin Bruce
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, over 100 Starbucks stores went on strike, the latest step in the astonishing growth of organizing in the restaurant industry. Astonishin...
Twilight of World Trotskyism with John Kelly
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Warning: Sexual abuse is discussed in this episode. Brendan and James join John Kelly, author of Contemporary Trotskyism and The Twilight of World ...
From Guerrilla Mime to Brecht & Ecology: An Interview with Ron G. Davis
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Dr. Ron G. Davis, founder of the San Francisco Mime Troupe in 1959, for a reflection of a life in art and politics. We discuss the SFMT'...
Addiction is not a Crime
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Beyond failing at preventing the ills of addiction, the War of Drugs has served as a war on those dispossessed by capitalism. Billy Anania argues tha...
The Goal: Scientific Management, Lean and Safe Organizations
07 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Matt, Rudy, and Amelia sit down for a critical discussion about contemporary scientific management practices and frameworks, ranging from Lean, the Th...
Larouche: a Warning for us All
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Parkinson argues the seeds of what Lyndon LaRouche would become were present from the very beginnings of his organization in this analysis of ...
Ecological Leninism with Kai Heron
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Kai Heron for a discussion on ecological political strategy. We discuss his political background, how to develop an ecological program out ...
State, Democracy, and Transition: Is There a "Democratic Road" to Socialism?
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Maxi Nieto critiques the perspectives of the "new democratic socialism" and argues they are based on a misunderstanding of capitalism as a structural...
Stalin pt. 2: the Second World War, Reconstruction, and the Making of High Stalinism
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Donald, Christian, and Connor return to the subject of Stalin and Stalinism. Picking up from the Great Purge, the episode covers the Second World War...
Women, Life, Freedom: The Iranian Protests with Slingers Collective
09 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Annie and Matthew sit down with Foroogh, Niloo, and Ida from the Slingers Collective, an Iranian leftist media project, to discuss the ongoing protes...
From Petrograd to Shanghai: The Party and Mass Democracy in Lenin and Mao
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
James, Matthew and Rudy join for a followup on From Paris to Petrograd: State and Revolution in Practice to discuss how the ideas of the party, the...
Leon Trotsky and Cultural Revolution
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Doug Enaa Greene argues that in Trotsky's work a theory of cultural revolution can be found, one which differs from Mao Zedong's that was developed in...
A New Jihad: Afghanistan from 1992 to the Present
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Eric, Rob and Rudy join for the second part of the Afghanistan podcast, which covers the start of the Afghan civil war, the birth of the Taliban and t...
Communists and the National Question in the 21st Century
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Stani Bjegunac takes a look at different approaches to the national question by historical communists and how we may approach issues of national oppr...
Science Fiction, Emancipation and Yugoslavia with Darko Suvin
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Darko Suvin, author of many books and pieces on science-fiction and also, an Splendour, Missery and Possibilities: An X-Ray of Socialist Y...
Long, Queer Revolution
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Revolution won't follow a neat and clean schema, fitting easily into one stage or another, argues Tom Frome. Instead, revolution will be a long proces...
Disculpe, No Entiendo: Language Justice with Esme and Lizette
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Esme and Lizette, from the LA Tenants Union for an introductory discussion on language justice. We discuss what language justice and lingui...
Under the Socialist Banner with Mike Taber
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Parkinson sits down with Mike Taber, editor of 'Under the Socialist Banner', a collection of resolutions from the Congresses of the Second Inte...
The Platform is the Message
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Amelia Davenport and Renato Flores argue that social media cannot be ignored despite its negative effects on modern culture. Instead, the left needs ...
The Tortoise and the Hare: Cybernetics, Evolution, and Socialism
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Amelia Davenport argues for the relevance of cybernetics to the project of developing a communism that transcends the modernist project. Read by Wi...
Ireland: Colonialism and the Unfinished Revolution with Robbie McVeigh and Bill Rolston
24 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Robbie McVeigh and Bill Rolston, authors of Anois ar theacht an tSamhraidh: Ireland, Colonialism and the Unfinished Revolution for a discus...
No End in Sight: On the War in Ukraine
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alexander Gallus pushes against the haze of propaganda to assess the current course of the war between Ukraine and Russia. Article read aloud by John ...
Constructive Criticism: The Dialectics of Unity & Struggle
17 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jean, Jess, Annie and Rudy sit down to discuss Gracie Lyons' Constructive Criticism: A Handbook based on their organizing experiences. They discuss t...
Christianity and the Revolutionary Origins of the Jesus Movement
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lydia Apolinar, Alexander Gallus, and Ryan Tool pay tribute to the revolutionary and plebeian origins of Christianity. Read by William (Note: Origin...
Passing the Torch: The Art of Communist Mentorship
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dillon, Rudy, Amelia and Lucas sit down to discuss the art and practice of mentorship. We talk about how to assert yourself as a mentor without being...
From Paris to Petrograd: State and Revolution in Practice
26 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Parker, James, Rudy and Cliff join for a discussion on the context of Lenin's State and Revolution, and how those ideas were applied in the early year...
Roots of the Rank and File Strategy with Kim Moody
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Annie and Paul join Kim Moody, a socialist and labor movement theorist and author of The Rank and File Strategy and Breaking the Impasse. We discuss ...
Value Chains, Supply Chains and Economic Imperialism with Intan Suwandi
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Intan Suwandi, author of Value Chains: The New Economic Imperialism and co-author of Covid-19 and Catastrophe Capitalism: Commodity Chains...
[Audiobook] Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism: Part IV
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of chapters 9-13 of Karl Kautsky's Parliamentarism and Democracy (1893-1911), from Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism by Be...
Redefining Environmentalism: Unions, Workers and Nature with Chad Montrie
28 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Isaac and Rudy join Chad Montrie, author of numerous books on the intersection of workers' movements and the environment for a discussion on the often...
The Machiavellian State, Fascism, and the Tribune of the Proletariat
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Thomas argues that Machiavelli can help us understand the bourgeois nature of fascism, and how anti-fascism must empower the proletariat.
Stalin pt. 1: The Long Road to the Red Inquisition
21 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Donald, Christian, and Connor sit down and discuss the man of steel: Joseph Stalin. Less of a focused biography, we put Stalin in his historical cont...
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan: Origins to Collapse
14 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Eric, Rob and Rudy join to discuss Afghanistan, focusing on its socialist period from 1979 to 1992. We discuss the history of the Afghan state from it...
[Audiobook] Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism: Part III
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of chapters 4-8 of Karl Kautsky's Parliamentarism and Democracy (1893-1911), from Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism by Ben...
Marxism and the Philosophy of Science with Helena Sheehan
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Djamil and Donald join Helena Sheehan, author of Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History for a deep dive on the interactions betwee...
Socialism of the Oppressed: The Stakes of the Bowman Affair
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jean Allen and Marisa Miale, authors of For An Internationalist DSA, sketch out a strategy for building a left opposition committed to electoral disc...
Organizing The Social Care Factory: Careworkers, Houseworkers and the Women's Strike with Imogen Woods
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Lydia and Rudy join Imogen Woods from Prometheus Journal to discuss her articles on organizing social care workers and houseworkers. We talk about th...
[Audiobook] Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism: Part II
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of the two prefaces, introduction, and chapters 1-3 of Karl Kautsky's Parliamentarism and Democracy (1893-1911), from Karl Kautsky...
A Brief History of The Paris Commune with Carolyn Eichner
15 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Charlie and Rudy join Carolyn Eichner, author of The Paris Commune: A Brief History and Surmounting the Barricades: Women in the Paris Commune for a ...
[Audiobook] Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism: Part I
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of the preface and introduction for Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism by Ben Lewis, who has also provided a preface to the...
Dissolving the People and Electing Another
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Drawing from the experience of the Democratic Socialists of America and Marxist Center, Marisa Miale examines the everyday, interpersonal level of par...
Western Sahara: Colonialism, Settler-Colonialism and Resistance with Garazi Hach Embarek
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Spanish government has just sided with the Moroccan government on the issue of the Western Sahara. Djamil and Rudy join Garazi Hach Embarek for an...
Disarming the Magic Bullet
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Renato Flores responds to Cam W's argument for Maoism and the mass line. Gabriel Palcic reads aloud.
American Communist Labor Strategy during the Third Period (1929-34) with Victor Devinatz
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Annie and Cliff join Victor Devinatz, a management theorist and labor historian, to discuss the formation of the Trade Union Unity League (TUUL),...
Which Way Forward for the Marxist Left?
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In light of the liquidation of DSA's BDS working group, Charlie Frank argues that Marxists must continue the political fight rather than turn towards...
The Farthest Promised Land: An Introduction to New Zealand's Political Economy
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Giacomo Bianchino and Rudy join Amal for an introductory discussion on New Zealand's (Aotearoa in the Maori language) political economy, with a focu...
Beyond Son Nica: Revolutionary Popular Music in Sandinista Nicaragua with T.M. Scruggs
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jackson joins ethnomusicologist and anthropologist T.M. Scruggs to discuss Nicaraguan popular music in the decades leading up to the 1979 Sandinista ...
Why Machines Don't Create Value
11 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Wright defends Marx's theory of surplus-value and its claim that human labor is the ultimate cause of economic profit. Gabriel Palcic reads aloud...
The Historic Defeat of the Female Sex: Revisiting Engels' The Origin of the Family
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Agata, Anne, Lydia and Rudy join to talk about the historic context of Engels' The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, and how we ...
Five Letters On Russia/Ukraine
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Myk Labas reads five letters in dialogue with each other around the topic of Alexander Gallus' recent article "The Russian "Threat to Freedom and Dem...
The Eco-Centrist Movement: The Sierra Club & Earth First! with Keith Makoto Woodhouse
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Keith, author of The Ecocentrists: A History of Radical Environmentalism for a discussion on the history of the mainstream environmental...
The Russian "Threat to Freedom & Democracy"
27 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gabriel Palcic reads The Russian "Threat to Freedom & Democracy", wherein comrade Alexander Gallus takes a closer look at the developments leading ...
Understanding & Learning with the Working Class: Workers' Inquiry and Social Investigation
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
AJ, Annie, Ira and Rudy discuss the methods of workers' inquiry and social investigation and how they have applied it to their organizing. They talk ...
The Genesis of the Transformation Problem
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The infamous Transformation Problem has long stood as a supposed example of the failure of Marx's economic theories. Ian Wright gives an explanation ...
From the Fields to the Stars!: Sputnik, Spaceflight and the Soviet Imagination
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For our 100th episode, we go back to our roots. Djamil, Virginia and Rudy sit down to discuss the launch of Sputnik, using Asif A. Siddiqi's The Red ...
Profits Beyond Reason and Reason Beyond Profit
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is the economic calculation problem a valid argument against planned economies? Max Black argues that this so-called problem is based on flawed reaso...
Modes of Production and the Transition to Capitalism with Jairus Banaji
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Donald and Rudy join Jairus Banaji, author of Theory as History and A Brief History of Commercial Capitalism to discuss his theoretical contributio...
On the Stalin Question
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Parker McQueeney introduces two of Paul Costello's essays on the topic of Stalin and Stalinism: Stalin and Historical Reality and Stalin and the Pr...
The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Life and Change in a Chinese Village with Dongping Han
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Matt and Rudy join Dongping Han, author of The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Life and Change in a Chinese Village for a discussion on his experiences ...
Historiography Wars: The French Revolution
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Historiographical debates around the French Revolution are ultimately political debates, not just debates about the facts. Donald Parkinson argues for...
The Colony Hates its Own Black People: Australian Indigenous Struggles with Boe & Kieran
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy and Giacomo Bianchino join Boe Spearim, host of Frontier Wars and Kieran from the Australian Communist Party and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council...
Workers and Writers: The Communist Novel in Britain
21 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The history of the British communist novel is ultimately the story of the political degeneration of the Communist Party of Great Britain. By Lawrence ...
End of an Era: 30 Years After the Soviet Collapse
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Connor, Christian and Donald sit down to discuss the collapse of the Soviet Union. They begin by situating the economic and political problems of the...
Bismarck, Browder, Biden: Joe's Hegemony versus Ours
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Miller polemicizes against the delusions of the left in the Biden administration and proclaims the necessity for a class independent approach to p...
The Dialectic of Assimilation
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How have Jews in the US have gone from an unwelcome immigrant group prone to left-wing radicalism to Zionists and beneficiaries of whiteness? Lane Sil...
On the Giving of Orders: Power and Freedom in Democratic Organizations
04 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dillon, Jake, Rudy and Amelia discuss the work of management consultant Mary Follett and how to use her ideas to enable democratic problem-solving ...
Plowed Under: Communist Folk-Revival and Mid-Century Suppression with Aaron J. Leonard
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Donald and Jackson are joined by historian Aaron J. Leonard, author of The Folk Singers and the Bureau: The FBI, The Folk Artists and the Suppression ...
The Counterinsurgency State
24 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To commemorate the anniversary of Salvador Allende's death and the fall of Chile's Popular Unity government, we present this analysis of reactionary m...
The History of Palestine Solidarity in the US with Michael Fischbach
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Josh and Rudy join Michael Fischbach, author of Black Power and Palestine: Transnational Communities of Color and The Movement and the Middle East: H...
[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter Nine
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of Chapter Nine of Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. The free m...
Voices from the Bolivarian Revolution: Communes and the Transition to Socialism with Chris and Cira
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Christian and Rudy join Chris Gilbert and Cira Pascual Marquina, authors of Venezuela, The Present as Struggle: Voices from the Bolivarian Revolution...
Class Struggle in the Carpenters Union with Art Francisco
06 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Annie talks with Art Francisco, a rank-and-file carpenter in the Seattle area and leader of the Peter J McGuire Group, a caucus in the United Brotherh...
[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter Eight
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of the eighth chapter of Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. The ...
Zapatismo through Women's Eyes: Democracy, Autonomy and Liberation with Hilary Klein
29 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Hilary Klein, author of Compañeras: Zapatista Women Stories for a discussion on the history of the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacio...
[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter Seven
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of the introduction to Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. The fr...
Socialist States and the Environment with Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro
22 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy sits down with Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro, author of Socialist States and the Environment, for a discussion on environmental history of socialist s...
[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter Six
18 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of the introduction to Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. ...
Cambodia 1975-89: From Year Zero to Capitalism
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Donald, Connor, Christian and Rudy sit down for a discussion on Cambodia throughout the Democratic Kampuchea period under Pol Pot (75-79) and the Peop...
The Worker and the Hydra: A Reply to Partisan Mag
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The development of working-class consciousness requires more than struggles against the employer on the shopfloor, argues Marisa Miale. Mick Labas rea...
Indigenous Flows of Resistance with Mike Gouldhawke
08 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jackson and Rudy join Mike Gouldhawke, a Métis and Cree writer whose family is from kistahpinanihk (City of Prince Albert) and nêwo-nâkîwin (...
The Fight for a Marxist Program in the DSA
05 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Parkinson assesses the 2021 DSA Convention and imagines a path forward beyond its current political and strategic deadlock. Cliff Connolly read...
[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter Five
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of the introduction to Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. T...
Untold Stories of the United Electrical Workers with Chris Townsend
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Annie joins Chris Townsend, longtime organizer with both the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) and the Amalgamated Transit Union for ...
To Hell With The American Gentry
29 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nicolas D Villarreal argues against populist appeals for a common front between the working-class and small business owners. Mick Labas reads the arti...
The Value of Law: The Judiciary and the State with Mike Macnair
25 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Anton and Donald join Mike Macnair for a discussion on law in history and in Marxist thought. They discuss the purpose of law, the different schools o...
Trans-cending the Market: How Socialist Planning Can Meet the Needs of Transgender People
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Stani Bjegunac lays out the ways a planned economy could contribute to the project of transgender liberation, focusing on the issues of bathrooms and ...
[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter Four
20 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of the introduction to Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. T...
Class Struggle and Corporatism: A Brief History of Australian Colonialism
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rudy joins Roxy Hall and Giacomo Bianchino for a discussion on the past, present and future of the Australian state. We talk about the history of Aus...
The Class Struggle in Afghanistan and its Future
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In light of the Taliban's consolidation of power in response to U.S. withdrawal from the region, Rob Ashlar predicts not the foreclosure of class stru...
The World-Ecology: Capitalism and Nature with Jason Moore
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Niko and Rudy sit down with Jason Moore, author of Capitalism in the Web of Life and The Capitalocene (Part I, II) for a discussion on his approach...
[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter Three
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is a narration of the introduction to Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. Narration and editing by Lydia Apolinar. T...