Diet Soap - a podcast

Episode 664: Chris Cutrone on Jared Kushner and Gaza

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses the recent peace deal in Gaza and how it came about. Doug and Chris discuss a recent 60 Minutes interview with Kushner and Wit...

Episode 663: Spencer Leonard on Trump's Attacks on the Left

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Spencer Leonard hour Professor Leonard discusses the new executive orders from the Trump administration, orders that specifical...

Episode 662: Did Marxism Die With Charlie Kirk?

18 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this Spencer Leonard Hour, we discuss how Marxism rose up in the last fifteen years only to fall away again. What destroyed the burgeoning neo-Marx...

Episode 661: Why We Can't Think About Charlie Kirk

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the aftermath. Is America entering into a rerun of the Years of Lea...

Episode 660: After Charlie Kirk: a Strategy of Tension?

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sublation Magazine editor Wyatt Verlen discusses who Charlie Kirk was and why he is beloved on the right. Wyatt left socialism to join the right a few...

Episode 659: Forming a Socialist Cult, Forming a Socialist Strategy

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses how socialists should create a movement and party in the United States that will resemble, and potentially even be, a religiou...

Episode 658: How to Debate a Zoomer "Liberal"

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the first half of a podcast Doug recorded with Dillon of the Untrodden podcast. It includes comments from Doug along the way. Dillon defines ...

Episode 657: Leftist Theory in Crisis: Wallerstein’s Unfulfilled Transition

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the CutroneZone, Chris and Doug revisit "The Age of Transition: Trajectories in the World-System" by Immanuel Wallerstein. They wal...

Episode 656: Finkelstein, Burgis & McManus Misunderstand Marx

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Spencer Leonard responds to a recent episode of Give Them an Argument. Norman Finkelstein, Matt McManus, and Ben Burgis all attempted to defend J.S. M...

Episode 655: Why International Law Won't Help Gaza

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Douglas Lain speaks with writer and artist Arturo Desimone, who recently attended the Emergency Conference of the Hague Group on Palestine, held in Bo...

Episode 654: A Call for Socialist Unity

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses his recent essay in Sublation Magazine entitled "Socialist unity!"Excerpt:The current framework of politics and law in capital...

Episode 653: The Left is Stuck in a Time Loop with Zohran

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dan Davison discusses his essay for Sublation Magazine entitled "Stuck in a time loop? Mamdani and the Left’s Amnesia" on this episode of Diet Soap....

Episode 652: What Musk and Trump Still Have in Common

19 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses his recent essay for Compact entitled "What Musk and Trump Still Have in Common." Why did Musk and Trump break up? What can we...

Episode 651: Are We Still Living After the End of History?

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stanley Sharpey joins Douglas Lain to discuss Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book "The End of History and the Last Man," as well as Fukuyama's attempt to def...

Episode 650: What is History?

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Spencer Leonard discusses Walter Benjamin's "On the Concept of History" with Douglas Lain. He raises the question, "Can a Marxist be an historian?"Sup...

Episode 649: Big Beautiful Politics (Same as it Ever Was?)

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss Elon Musk's new political party, Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, and Walter Benjamin's On the Concept of Hist...

Episode 648: The Last Marxist Explains the conflict with IRAN

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone describes how the left's history of supporting right-wing reaction in the Middle East has led to this moment of conflict, whether Trump ...

Episode 647: How Socialists Should Understand American Conservatism

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is American conservatism, and how should socialists understand it? In this interview, Wyatt Verlen offers a historical overview of conservatism i...

Episode 646: Bonapartism is not Bonaparte

06 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone explains why the left needs to abandon the liberal conception of "Bonapartism" and take up a Marxist understanding instead. Bonapartism...

Episode 645: The Discreet Charm of the PMC

05 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stanley Sharpey is a writer and a socialist living in London. His essay for Sublation Magazine, "The Discreet Charm of the PMC" explains the history o...

Episode 644: History, Matter, Marx

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Spencer Leonard discusses the meaning of the term "Historical Materialism," and how it emerged through the historical struggle for socialism. Support...

Episode 643: When Critical Theory is Confirmed

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss Adorno's essay "Commitment" and the failure of leftist politics over the last decade. What level of regre...

Episode 642: Chris Cutrone is Always Right, and Always Depressed

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the CutroneZone, we dive deep into Chris Cutrone’s essay "On Philosophy and Marxism: Response to Suther and Velissaris"—a chara...

Episode 641: Trump Wins Again and Again?

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Philip Cunliffe discusses his recent essay at COMPACT entitled "How Trump Won the Canadian Election." He explains what constitutes sovereignty, why so...

Episode 640: Neither the US nor China

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fabio Vighi returns to throw cold water on the notion that capitalism can be saved. The crisis is terminal. The financialization will continue. In thi...

Episode 639: How Society Got a Sex Change

15 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ashley Frawley is senior editor of Compact. She is the author of two books, Semiotics of Happiness: Rhetorical Beginnings of a Public Problem and Sign...

Episode 638: Studebaker Says Democracies Can Cry

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss Benjamin Studebaker's latest essay for Sublation Magazine in this week's Sublation Magazine podcast. Are ...

Episode 637: Tariffs and Thought Taboos

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Cutronezone, the Last Marxist discusses his latest essay for Sublation Magazine and speculates on why COMPACT magazine rejected...

Episode 636: The Prophecy of Walter Kirn

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist and journalist Walter Kirn discusses his 2006 novel "The Unbinding" and answers questions like:Was Holden Caulfield a revolutionary?What is t...

Episode 635: Can We Critique Rather than Complain?

02 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wyatt Verlen's essay in Sublation Magazine instructs the left to quit complaining and start critiquing. History gave Trump a right. As of the moment ...

Episode 634: Shibboleths, Customs, and Lies

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thomas Peermohamed Lambert discusses his novel, Shibboleth, with Nina Power and Douglas Lain in the Culture Corner.  What does it mean to go to Oxfor...

Episode 633: What did Marx think about the American Civil War?

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's Spencer Leonard Hour, he discusses the meaning of the Civil War in relation to the struggle for socialism.Support Sublation Media on Pa...

Episode 632: Trump's Tariffs Are Smart?

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses just what the aim of Trump's Tariffs might be. Will there be a new global order with the US still at the center? What does it ...

Episode 631: Tariffs, First Amendement, and Due Process

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss Trump's Tariffs, the attacks of law firms such as Perkins Coie, and how the deportations of MS-13 gang me...

Episode 630: Understanding the Marxist Revisionism Dispute

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

William Stratford discusses the dialectics and the revisionism dispute. What lessons can we learn from it today, after the long defeat of the 20th cen...

Episode 629: Do Young Americans Have a Manifest Destiny?

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hamilton Craig is a Compact columnist and a doctoral student at CUNY researching farmers’ movements in the United States. In this episode of Diet So...

Episode 628: Trump is ENDING Neoliberalism as the Left WATCHES

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone and Douglas Lain discuss the meaning of the term "neoliberalism" and the ignominious end of the previous regime of accumulation. Cutrone...

Episode 627: Experiencing the Symptoms of the Left

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss the Platypus Affiliated Society convention and a few of the questions raised on our panels:  What was n...

Episode 626: Horkheimer on Reason, Egoism, and Freedom

03 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Spencer Leonard discusses the Frankfurt School's Marxism, how these Marxists are still relevant to us today, and explains Horkheimer's "Egoism and Fre...

Episode 625: From FAKE NEWS to a FAKE WORLD

21 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

David Shields, author of "How We Got Here," returns to discuss how Trump has destroyed our reality and how our sensemaking institutions are in crisis....

Episode 624: A New World Order or a New Chaos?

14 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone assuages Douglas Lain's fears as they survey the wreckage of Trump's first 50 days in office. Is Trump an amateur just throwing spaghett...

Episode 623: Unpacking Anti-Imperialism and the Labor Aristocracy

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The historian Spencer Leonard joins Doug to discuss the history of the term "labor aristocracy" and unpack the meaning of anti-imperialism today.

Episode 622: Arturo Vs. Grok 3- Fact Checking Redux!

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's Diet Soap podcast, Arturo Desimone returns to set the record straight about the Monroe Doctrine and the character of American power whi...

Episode 621: Should the Democrats Cooperate with RFK Jr?

20 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Zaid Jilani joins Douglas Lain to discuss his two recent articles for Compact: The Democrats’ RFK Dilemmahttps://www.compactmag.com/article/the-dem...

Episode 620: Information Overload and Demagoguery

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of the Sublation Magazine show will attempt to sort through the questions and narratives that are bombarding those of us who are trying t...

Episode 619: On Trump's Plan for Gaza

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone returns to discuss his recent essay for COMPACT entitled "Mar-a-Gaza." How should socialists understand Trump's proposal? How should the...

Episode 618: A Marxist Platypus?

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Erin Hagood is the president of the Platypus Affiliated Society and in this episode she explains how this growing Marxist group is intervening on the ...

Episode 617: Elon Musk and His Lost Boys Take Over the World

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week's Sublaton Magazine stream will include a discussion with Benjamin Studebaker about Elon Musk's takeover of the Federal Government. Are we n...

Episode 616: On Marx's Critique of Political Economy

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following up on Reid Kane's podcast discussing the Marxist Value Critics, Spencer Leonard discusses Marx's critique of political economy and its relev...

Episode 615: Trump, Tariffs, and Executive Orders

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Douglas Lain and Benjamin Studebaker discuss the prospects for the US and Canada. Who will win the coming trade war? What is the point of blaming Cana...

Episode 614: Quentin S Crisp Remembers Hamsters

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nina Power and Douglas Lain discuss Quentin S. Crisp's novel "Hamster Dam," Neo-Decadence, and the life of the writer in the 21st century. Questions a...

Episode 613: Why Are Conservatives so WOKE for Israel?

23 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Joseph (Jake) Klein explains the history of DEI and how riots in the 60s led to redefinitions of racism. A conservative libertarian, Klein also critic...

Episode 612: Curtis Yarvin, JD Vance, and the New Trump Era

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss the meaning of the "left's" fear of a Yarvinized America. Will Trump realize "neo-feudalism?" Is this the...

Episode 611: Did Chris Cutrone Jump the Shark?

18 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amid renewed calls for his cancellation, Chris Cutrone addresses his critics about an essay that was to be entitled "Why Not Greenland?" Also discusse...

Episode 610: Jacob Shell talks Geography and Trump

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Shell is a professor of geography and urban studies at Temple University. He is also addicted to X (Twitter) and a critic of the left and the De...

Episode 609: Greenland, Canada, Panama and the MAGA Monroe Doctrine

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Sublation Magazine, we discuss Trump's intention to expand America. Is he trolling? Is he serious? How seriously should we take Chr...

Episode 608: What is "Bonapartism"?

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Spencer Leonard joins Douglas Lain for the first "Spencer Leonard Hour." Spencer will be appearing on the channel monthly going forward in order to ed...

Episode 607: Reid Kane on Marx and the followers of Postone

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reid Kane and Douglas Lain discuss the Wertkritik or "value critics" of contemporary Marxism in this episode of the Diet Soap podcast.Support Sublatio...

Episode 606: Recapping 2024 with Derick Varn

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Doug's old co-host joins him to think over the last year and the prospects for a new new left in 2025. Support Sublation Mediahttps://patreon.com/die...

Episode 605: Leaving Woke, Finding Peace

25 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Umut Özkýrýmlý reveals how the Left has been sucked into a spiral of toxic hatred and outrage-mongering, retreating from the democratic ideals of ...

Episode 604: Lukács, Literature, and Cutrone

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Douglas Lain and Chris Cutrone discuss György Lukács' "The Theory of the Novel: A Historico-philosophical Essay on the Forms of Great Epic Literatur...

Episode 603: Drones, Assassins, and Pseudo-Events

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker takes on the co-host role in this first of the new Sublation Magazine streams. In this episode, we'll discuss the idea of the pseu...

Episode 602: Is Transgender a Sexual Orientation?

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Phil Illy is the author of the book "Autoheterosexual: Attracted to Being the Other Sex" and in this week's podcast, he discusses the theory that the ...

Episode 601: Spencer Leonard asks "Is Capitalism Ending Itself?"

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Sublation Magazine Show will be moving to Mondays starting on the 16th of December as we transition from the era of Ashley Frawley and welcome Ben...

Episode 600: Chris Cutrone on Chris Cutrone

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Cutrone Zone Chris discusses how he came to be a target on the left. Why was he pre-canceled in 2013? What is it about him that...

Episode 599: Daniel Tutt, Anti-Imperialism, and the Frankfurt School (Horkheimer vs. Losurdo)

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Tutt and Douglas Lain discuss Losurdo's Western Marxism and Postpone's critique of "Anti-Imperialism" in this special edition of Diet Soap. Wha...

Episode 598: Leaving the Left to Find God?

30 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mir Bal is a former socialist podcaster from Sweden, a former social worker, and a Jesuit. This episode of Diet Soap is from the unpublished archive, ...

Episode 597: The Penultimate Ashley Frawley Episode

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this next to last Ashley Frawley episode of the Sublation Magazine Show we'll discuss Compact Magazine, my recent debate with Ashley's next co-host...

Episode 596: The Mass Psychology of Capitalist Politics

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses his essay from Marxism and Politics entitled "The mass psychology of capitalist politics" as well as his essay "Critical autho...

Episode 595: Is There a Censorship Industrial Complex?

21 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Compact editor Geoff Shullenberger debates Douglas Lain about what Michael Shellenberger calls "The Censorship Industrial Complex." How bad was it and...

Episode 594: Trump Won (What now?)

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses the meaning of the Trump victory, how politics really works, and what is coming for the Campaign for the Socialist Party.Suppo...

Episode 593: Will There Be A Trumptastic Censorship Industrial Complex?

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ashley Frawley and Douglas Lain evaluate the chances for a rollback of the censorship apparatus and point to a few major threats that are flying under...

Episode 592: Avoiding Hysteria in These Final Days

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In seven days, America will choose between Fascism and Joy, but how do we know which is which? David Shields joins Douglas Lain and Ashley Frawley to ...

Episode 591: The SECRET Meaning of the 2024 Election

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone explains the post-neoliberal era and the meaning of Trump as America approaches the conclusion of the 2024 election. Would a second Trum...

Episode 590: Elon Musk: How Oligarchs are Controlling America

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Doug and Ashley discuss the meaning of Elon Musk in the context of the American empire and consider going to PA in order to register to vote and win a...

Episode 589: Do We NEED A PARANOID Politics?

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fabio Vighi is a professor of Italian and Critical Theory at Cardiff University and the author of the upcoming book "Emergency Capitalism" coming from...

Episode 588: Can we ESCAPE the Society of the SPECTACLE?

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Douglas Lain will present a series of clips this week as Ashley Frawley is at the Battle of Ideas in London and unavailable. He'll be asking the quest...

Episode 587: Rethinking the Millennial COMMUNIST Moment

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone and Douglas Lain discuss an essay from Cutrone's book "Marxism and Politics." The article is entitled "Chinoiserie: A Critique of the Re...

Episode 586: Where is there HOPE for Socialism?

10 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

KJ Noh and Douglas Lain discuss the prospects for socialism. Is the Chinese state leading the way? Can there be any prospect for socialism without an ...

Episode 585: The Pro-Palestinian Movement is Dead

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ashley Frawley and Douglas Lain discuss the notion of "radical rest" and ask whether, given the recent defeats of the pro-Palestinian movement, it's t...

Episode 584: Evaluating the Empty Gestures of the 2024 Election

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean that JD Vance did or did not make love to a couch? Is Kamala Harris mentally impaired? Will Donald Trump be an American dictator? Ar...

Episode 583: The Campaign for Socialism through Audiobooks

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eric Russell is the editor and reader in charge of Sublation's new Historical Socialism audiobook line. In September, we released the first title: "Fr...

Episode 582: Žižek and Emergency Capitalism

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Douglas Lain and Fabio Vighi explore Slavoj Žižek's influence on the left, the concept of emergency politics, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Fabio ...

Episode 581: Understanding the Russian Revolution

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this Cutronezone, Chris Cutrone to explores the Russian Revolution and the broader concept of revolution in Marxist thought. Cutrone breaks down th...

Episode 580: The Cultural Logic of Late Clintonism

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ashley and Doug discuss the self-destruction of the Democrats, the crisis around Keir Starmer, and the legacy of Fredric Jameson. What is the cultural...

Episode 579: Assassinations in the Spectacle

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Douglas Lain and Ashley Frawley discuss the meaning of political assassinations in the 21st century. Is the Deep State trying to kill Trump or are we ...

Episode 578: Cutrone Adresses Doug's Zizekian Objection

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses Hegel and Marx's philosophical import. Does abstract labor time create a historical ontology? Does the working class need anot...

Episode 577: Debating Mask Mandates with Dr. Eric Feel So Good

12 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Eric Osgood is a hospitalist and liberal advocate for the contemporary medical establishment on twitter. Doug debates the Cochrane study on mask m...

Episode 576: Why Do the Capitalists NEED War?

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fabio Vighi discusses how the current proxy wars are being used by the capitalist class to prop up a dying capitalist world order. He also discusses h...

Episode 575: Rethinking the 2024 Election

05 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone and Jack Ross join Douglas Lain to discuss the political realignment occurring through the 2024 election. Chris Cutrone is the author of...

Episode 574: Weird Politics in 2024

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ashley Frawley and Douglas Lain discuss what it means to be "weird" and what counts as "weird politics" in the US and around the world.

Episode 573: Chris Cutrone's DNC DeBrief

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses the meaning of the 2024 election and his feelings after attending the DNC. In the second half Doug and Chris continue to explo...

Episode 572: After the DNC - a debrief with Benjamin Studebaker

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What should socialists understand about the 2024 election? Benjamin Studebaker and Douglas Lain discuss their experiences at the DNC, the upcoming doc...

Episode 571: How Kamala's Coconuts Represent the Defeat of the Left

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The defeat of the anti-imperialist Free Palestine Left and the rise of MAGA Communism is the topic for this week's Sublation Magazine Show. We will al...

Episode 570: Matt Taibbi, Herbert Marcuse, and the Need for a New Socialist Party

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker discusses an appearance he made on the Katie Halper show, Matt Taibbi's critique of Herbert Marcuse, and Sublation's new effort to...

Episode 569: Is Cutrone Coconut Pilled?

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Cutrone discusses the US election with Douglas Lain. Who is Kamala Harris? Is she Gen-X? Was Trump even shot? What is the deep state?Support Sub...

Episode 568: Making Sense of the US Election

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Douglas Lain and Ashley Frawley discuss the dysfunctional US Election. How are we to sort through this and decide? Could it all be a Psyop?Join Us for...

Episode 567: Cutrone Responds to Studebaker

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the Cutronezone, the last Marxist responds to Benjamin Studebaker's essay, "Beyond Bonapartism: Breaking statephobic thought taboos...

Episode 566: Is Politics Impossible if Everyone is a Narcissist?

06 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Studebaker discusses his essay for the Platypus Review entitled: "Beyond Bonapartism: Breaking statephobic thought taboos." Doug was triggere...

Episode 565: Degrowth "Communism" is Middle Class Anti-Politics

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Leigh Phillips and Matt Huber join Douglas Lain to discuss their essay "Kohei Saito’s “Start From Scratch” Degrowth Communism."  How has the ec...