Cosmopod

Imperialism in the 21st century with John Smith

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Donald and Rudy join John Smith, author of Imperialism in the 21st  Century: Globalization, Exploitation and Capitalism's Final Crisis for a discuss...

Ten Theses on the Gender Question

30 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Roxy Hall makes an intervention into debates around transgender issues, critiquing both trans liberalism and anti-trans radical feminism to stake out ...

Radical Approaches to Mental Health: Decolonial and Democratic Psychiatries with Sasha Durakov

27 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Matt and Rudy join Sasha Durakov Warren from An Unsound Mind for a discussion on the history of psychiatry reform movements and radical mental health...

Intro to Historical Materialism by Nikolai Bukharin

24 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Written by Bolshevik philosopher, economist, and statesmen Nikolai Bukharin in 1921, Historical Materialism: A System of Sociology was the standard pr...

[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter Two

23 Sep 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...

The Practice of Marxist Psychoanalysis with Daniel Tutt

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Donald and Rudy join Daniel Tutt for a discussion on the history and present of psychoanalysis and its relationship to Marxism. We discuss whether psy...

[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Chapter One

16 Sep 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...

Revisiting the Agrarian and National Questions with Paris Yeros

13 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy joins Paris Yeros editor of Reclaiming the Nation: The Return of the National Question in Africa, Asia and Latin America and Reclaiming the Land...

[Audiobook] Revolutionary Strategy - Preface & Introduction

09 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the introduction to Mike Macnair's groundbreaking book Revolutionary Strategy. We have also included a preface from Parker McQ...

Canadian Settler-Capitalism with Brendan and Tyler Shipley

06 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy and Brendan join Tyler Shipley, author of Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination,  for a discussion on the past, ...

Capitalism, Socialism and Subsistence in Laos with Boike Rehbein

30 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy joins Boike Rehbein, author of Globalization, Society and Culture in Laos and Society in Contemporary Laos for a discussion on the past, pres...

Communism and the Disabled with Maddie and Jess

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy joins Maddie and Jess from Philly Socialists to discuss the politics of disability and its relationship with organizing. We discuss different mo...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter Nine and Conclusion

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the ninth chapter and conclusion of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chap...

Lifting the Double Burden: The Women's Movement under State Socialism

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lydia, Agata, Anne and Rudy join for a discussion of Kristen Ghodsee's Second World, Second Sex: Socialist Women's Activism and Global Solidarity d...

The Procedural is Political

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Renato Flores argues for a culture shift around meeting procedures that takes into account differing backgrounds to make our organizing spaces more ac...

Communists and the Miners' Upsurge with Mike Ely

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy and Annie join Mike Ely, a veteran of the Revolutionary Union and the wildcat strike movement in the West Virginia coalfields of the 1970s. Draw...

Grenada: Volcanic Memories and Stone Legacies of Revolution with Shalini Puri

01 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Isaac and Rudy join Shalini Puri, author of The Grenada Revolution in the Caribbean Present: Operation Urgent Memory,and the companion website urgent...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter Eight

29 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the eighth chapter of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chapter, Lih exa...

Californian Dreams: Tech Utopia or Dystopia

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Donald has a chat with Richard Barbrook, author with Andy Cameron of The Californian Ideology and the book Imaginary Futures. The two discuss Silico...

The Founding of the Chinese Communist Party with Matt Rothwell

23 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Matt and Rudy join Matt Rothwell from the People's History of Ideas podcast for a discussion on the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on its 100...

Vietnam: From National Liberation to Liberalization

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy, Connor and Donald sit down to talk about Vietnamese political economy and the Vietnamese Communist Party with a particular focus on the period ...

Neither Intersectionality nor Economism: For a Genuine Class Politics

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Neither a politics of identity informed by theories of intersectionality nor reductive economistic readings of Marxism are adequate for a modern socia...

How Capitalism Produces Pandemics with Rob Wallace

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Djamil and Rudy join Rob Wallace, author of Big Farms Make Big Flu: Dispatches on Influenza, Agribusiness, and the Nature of Science, and Dead Epidem...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter Seven

08 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the seventh chapter of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chapter, Lih map...

From Cochabamba to a People's Green New Deal with Max Ajl

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy joins Max Ajl, author of A People's Green New Deal (Pluto Press, 2021), for a broad discussion on the themes of his book and on the agrarian que...

The Revolutionary Minimum-Maximum Program

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Parkinson explains and defends the format of the  minimum-maximum program using the model established in Marx and Guesde's Programme of the P...

Invisible Empire: The Global Power of Finance with Tony Norfield

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy joins Tony Norfield, author of The City: London and the Global Power of Finance (Verso Books) for a broad theoretical practical discussion on th...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter Six

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the sixth chapter of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chapter, Lih examine...

Constitution and Class Struggle in the Early American Republic with Matt Christman

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Parker and Christian join Matt Christman for a discussion on the class dynamics of the founding of the US, using Charles Beard's book An Economic Int...

A Twelve-Step Program for Democrat Addiction

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jonah Martell lays out a twelve-step program for the Democratic Socialists of America to pursue a path of independent working-class politics. Christia...

Cybersyn, Cybernetics and Allende's Chile with Raúl Espejo

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Amelia and Rudy join Raul Espejo, one of the top members of  the Cybersyn project in Allende's Chile, the founder of Syncho Research  and the presi...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter Five

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the fifth chapter of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chapter, Lih breaks ...

Dialectical Materialism, Marxist Realism and Quantum Mechanics

06 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Djamil and Rudy sit down for a hardcore episode on the interaction  between Soviet diamat philosophy and Quantum Mechanics.  We discuss the  analy...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter Four

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the fourth chapter of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chapter, Lih scrut...

Trade Unionism and Identity in the Israeli State with Ehud Ein-Gil

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lydia and Rudy join Matzpen member Ehud Ein-Gil for a  discussion on trade unionism within the Israeli state. We discuss Ehud's  experiences around...

On Winning and Losing

23 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ellie, Amelia, Matt and Rudy discuss the life and work of Col. John Boyd, one of the foremost military strategists of the last century. We discuss ho...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter Three

20 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the third chapter of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chapter, Lih explo...

Building a Mass Tenants Movement with Stomp Out Slumlords

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Annie and Rudy join Greg Afinogenov from Stomp Out Slumlords for a discussion on tenants unions, and how SoS has thought about the work of Cloward an...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter Two

13 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the second chapter of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chapter, Lih examin...

Cuba: Past, Present, and Future with Helen Yaffe

09 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Christian and Connor sit down with Helen Yaffe to discuss her book We Are Cuba. We talked about the history and political economy of revolutionary Cu...

A life in Marxist Economics and Education with Sam Bowles

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Amelia Davenport joins Samuel Bowles for a short discussion on his life-long research on global poverty and education. They discuss Bowles's history a...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Chapter One

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the first chapter of Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. In this chapter, Lih explai...

Organizing Amazon: AU's Shop Floor Alternative

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy joins Zama and Jonathan from Amazonians United to discuss their shop floor alternative which has organized walkouts in Chicago, and started a nat...

Cults of our Hegemony: An Inventory of Left-Wing Cults

22 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Destructive cults are usually considered the domain of religious movements. The Left, however, has its own track record of cults. Gus Breslauer sympat...

Strikes & Boycotts: The Two Souls of the United Farm Workers with Frank Bardacke

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Roger and Rudy join Frank Bardacke, author of Trampling out the Vintage: Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers for a discussion o...

[Audiobook] Lenin Rediscovered: Introduction

15 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a narration of the 37-page introduction to Lars Lih's excellent book Lenin Rediscovered: What Is to Be Done? In Context. Going against conven...

The Class Struggle in Contemporary China with Yueran Zhang

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Parker and Matthew sit down with sociologist and labor activist Yueran Zhang to discuss workers' struggles in contemporary China. Topics discussed in...

From Ruins to Ruins in East Germany

04 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Alex, Rudy and Christian sit down to discuss the history of the German Democratic Republic from its foundation atop the ruins of WW2 to the prelude o...

Fight the Constitution! Demand a New Republic!

01 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jonah Martell proposes a radical New Union Act to throw the antiquated US Constitution into the dustbin of history. Cliff Connolly reads the article o...

Ethiopia: From the '74 Revolution to the present with Ian Scott Horst

28 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sam and Rudy join Ian Scott Horst, author of Like Ho Chi Minh! Like Che Guevara! The Revolutionary Left in Ethiopia, 1969–1979 (Foreign Languages...

The Early Communist Women's Movement with Daria Dyakonova

21 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lydia and Anne sit down with Daria Dyakonova to discuss the often neglected history of the Communist Women's Movement (1920-22). They talk about the...

Organizing our Organizations

14 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Amelia, Jake, Steve and Rudy sit down for a discussion of what experiences in organizing brought them to be interested in Cybernetics and Beer's viabl...

Create a Mass Party!

11 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cliff Connolly critiques CounterPower's vision of the "party of autonomy" and offers an alternative vision of the mass party.  Cliff reads his articl...

Class and race in Israel/Palestine with Emmanuel Farjoun

07 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lydia, Isaac and Rudy join Emmanuel Farjoun from Matzpen for a discussion on his 1983  piece Class divisions in Israeli society and how the division...

Mission Statement of the Marxist Unity Slate

04 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Strupp reads aloud the a reprint of the mission statement of Marxist Unity Slate, a set of proposals for the 2021 DSA convention with the aim of ...

A Marxist Education with Wayne Au

28 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Donald and Rudy sit down with Wayne Au, author of A Marxist Education. They discuss his experiences on providing a critical education, how education ...

Beyond Work? The Shortcomings of Post-Work Politics

24 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mikael Lyngaas argues that post-work theorists ranging from Bob Black to Srnicek and Williams are utopian socialism for the current era. Sam Wiles re...

Reparations and Self-Determination: Loosening the Black-Belt

19 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Renato Flores argues for self-determination and reparations for Black Americans as a key part of the revolutionary struggle in the USA. Robert Fisher ...

Republicanism and Freedom in Marx with William Clare Roberts

15 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ian and Donald join William Clare Roberts (@MarxInHell), author of Marx's Inferno for a discussion on the wider themes of his book: republicanism,  n...

The origins of Matzpen: the Israeli Anti-Zionist New Left with Moshé Machover

07 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Isaac and Rudy join Moshé Machover, one of the four founding members of the Israeli Socialist Organization, better known as Matzpen after the name o...

The Revolutionary Karl Kautsky with Ben Lewis

31 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Parker and Alex have a conversation with the editor and translator of Karl Kautsky on Democracy and Republicanism  (Haymarket, 2020) on the legacy o...

The Family is Dead, Long Live the Family

29 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With family abolition a controversial topic in the current-day leftist discourse, Alyson Escalante argues for a more nuanced and sensitive approach to...

The Chinese Rural Commune with Zhun Xu

24 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Matt and Christian join Zhun Xu, author of From Commune to Capitalism: How China's Peasants Lost Collective Farming and Gained Urban Poverty for a dis...

Holocaust Capitalism

12 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Hunsinger argues that migrant concentration camps represent a descent into fascist barbarism and are related to the inherent tendencies of ca...

An X-Ray of the Yugoslav Experiment in Self-Management

02 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For the latest episode of our series on Actually Existing Socialism, Christian, Rudy, Donald and Connor join forces for a discussion on the Yugoslav s...

Radio Free Punjab

27 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy is joined by Jasdeep and Sangeet to talk about the recent farmers protests going on in Northern India, especially around the regions of Punjab an...

Attic Communists of the Netherlands

21 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Parker and Alex join Emil Jacobs of the Socialist Party of the Netherlands to discuss the factional struggle and expulsion of the Communist Platform g...

Driving in reverse: Prop 22 and AppBased Drivers' resistance with Boston Independent Drivers Guild

16 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy is joined by Jonathan, Henry and Felipe from the Boston Independent Drivers Guild for a discussion on how gig drivers are  resisting and organi...

Faith, Family and Folk: Against the Trad Left

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Parkinson takes issue with the calls for a "socially conservative leftism" that have increased in popularity since Jeremy Corbyn's defeat in th...

Revisiting the Lysenko Affair

05 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the second episode of our Soviet Science series, Donald, Djamil and Rudy sit down to contextualize an infamous episode of this story: The case of ...

Revolutionary Discipline and Sobriety

03 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Cliff Connolly argues for a culture of sobriety within our organizations, drawing from the example of Austrian Socialism.  

The Tragedy of American Science with Cliff Conner

28 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alex and Rudy welcome historian Cliff Conner for a discussion of his recent book The Tragedy of American Science: From Truman to Trump published by H...

An Accumulation of Affect

23 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This article's author, Richard Hunsinger, is currently being held without bail in an ICE detention facility and could use our support. Donations to th...

Pull the Plugs? Labor, Power, and the Rise of Fossil Capitalism

21 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Join the Cosmonaut Ecocrew as they discuss Andreas Malm's piercing 2016 text Fossil Capital and attempt to dispel the myriad of myths that have been ...

Without a Party, We Have Nothing

15 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Parkinson responds to Taylor B's Beginning's of Politics: DSA and the Uprising, arguing that a workers' party is necessary to advance an emanc...

Organizing the Oppressed with Mara & Janaya of Philly Socialists

08 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy and Annie join the two co-chairs of Philly Socialists, Mara and Janaya, for what starts as a conversation on the issues women and non-men comrade...

Was Mao a Bukharinist?: The "Three-Line Struggle" in Economic Debates Preceding the Great Leap Forward

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew Strupp examines economic debates in China during the leadup to the Great Leap Forward and assesses comparisons made between Mao and Bukharin. ...

Revolutionary Parliamentarism with August Nimtz

31 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Parker and Peter join August Nimtz, the author of Lenin's Electoral Strategy (now reprinted as The Ballot, The Streets-- or Both) to discuss how Lenin...

Knowledge Democratization, Bourgeois Specialists and the Organization of Science in the Early Soviet Union

25 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For the first instalment of our in-depth study of Soviet Science, Djamil, Donald and Rudy sit down to discuss the scientific institutions and the pra...

The Politics of Drugs and Harm Reduction with Michael Gilbert

18 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Annie and Cliff join Michael Gilbert, a public health technologist and a harm reduction organizer for a conversation on how communists should relate ...

Hold Your Fire!: A Warning to the Left

12 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Newman urges patience and caution in the face of current political turmoil. Cliff Connolly reads the article aloud.

The Zhenotdel and Women's Emancipation in the Central Asian Republics with Anne McShane

04 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Donald and Lydia join human rights lawyer and fellow Marxist Anne McShane to discuss her recent PhD thesis on the Zhenotdel, the women's department o...

Marxist Center Double Feature

25 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Two articles from the archive pertaining to MC.  The first is Building Revolution in the USA: Notes on Marxist Center Conference, 2018, by Parker McQ...

No Replacement For The Marxist Theory Of Revolution

18 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Gabriel Palcic argues that various attempts in academia to develop theories of revolution as alternatives to Marx's theory of revolution and historica...

Karl Marx's Ecosocialism: Capital, Nature and the Unfinished Critique of Political Economy with Red Library

13 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Remi and Niko join Comrade Adam from Red Library to discuss Kohei Saito's Capital, Nature, and the Unfinished Critique of Political Economy: Karl Marx...

The Practical Policy of Revolutionary Defeatism

09 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew Strupp lays out the politics of revolutionary defeatism in contrast to the approaches of third-campism and third-worldism. Cliff Connolly read...

Different Horizons of Science Fiction under Socialism with Virginia Conn

06 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Rudy and Medway are joined by recently graduated Dr. Virginia Conn to discuss about her research on science fiction in the USSR, the German Democrati...

From Trade-Union Consciousness to Socialist Consciousness with Chris Townsend

30 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Three of our writers are joined by veteran union organizer Chris Townsend to discuss labor organizing across history and in the present day. Chris, R...

Che Guevara and the Economics of Socialist Transition

23 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Christian, Donald and Rudy sit down to discuss Che Guevara's program for a socialist transition using Helen Yaffe's book Che Guevara: The Economics o...

Capitalism in the Web of Life

16 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Join us for the second installment in Cosmonaut's critically acclaimed ecology series to discuss Jason Moore's "Capitalism in the Web of Life". Niko,...

Unmasking Social Construction with Djamil Lakhdar

09 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Donald and Rudy are joined by Djamil Lakhdar to discuss Ian Hacking's book The Social Construction of What?. Written during the "science wars", Hacki...

Food, Capitalism and the Necessity of a Socialist Program

05 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Capitalist food production is based on ecological destruction, imperialism, inhumane labor practices, and the degradation of human health. A socialis...

Protests, Guerillas and Revolution in Iran with Yassamine Mather

02 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

  Donald and Lydia interview Yassamine Mather, former Fedayeen (minority) guerrilla fighter, chair of the Hands off the People of Iran coalition and...

Building Camaraderie in the CPUSA, 1930-1950

29 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this article, Josh Morris investigates how the Communist Party USA created a sense of camaraderie in its organizing efforts between members, lookin...

Spontaneous Philosophy in Science and Activism

26 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Cosmonaut crew sits down to discuss Althusser's Lectures on Spontaneous Philosophy of the Scientists. We historically situate the text and talk a...

DSA Double Feature

22 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

 Cliff Connolly reads two articles aloud. In the first article, What Do the Democratic Socialists of America Stand for Politically?, DT Seel propose...

Fascism Double Feature

18 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Cliff Connolly reads two articles aloud. In the first article, Why Define Fascism?: In Defence of Making Distinctions, Jacob Smith argues that if the...

Prefiguration and (Cosmic) Utopia with A. M. Gittlitz

15 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Remi and Rudy welcome A. M. Gittlitz, the author of "I Want to Believe: J. Posadas, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism" and The Antifada producer to discu...

Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature

08 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Cosmonaut team inaugurates the ecology series by discussing John Bellamy Foster's seminal book "Marx's ecology" on its twentieth anniversary. Join...

Why Have a Political Program?

04 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In one of our earliest articles, Parker McQueeney lays out the case for building a party around a minimum-maximum program. Cliff Connolly reads the a...