Left Bloc w/ James Schneider

This week, Grace speaks to Aeron Davis, professor of political communication at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand and author of the new book Bankruptcy, Bubbles, and Bailouts: An Inside History of the Treasury Since 1976. They discuss the treasury and its role in promoting the financialisation of the UK economy, how it has contributed to various crises over the last 40 years, and its wider relationships with other state institutions. They also discuss the involvement of the treasury in recent governments, and how that might change under the new PM, Rishi Sunak.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week, Grace speaks to Milena Ansari, international advocacy officer at Addameer, the Palestinian prisoner support and human rights organization. They discuss the horrendous practice of administrative detention undertaken against Palestinians by the Israeli state. Palestinians who are suspected of posing a potential threat are detained through a military court without being given any information about the evidence that is held against them, contravening all sorts of human rights including the right to a fair trial.Read more about the recent nineteen-day hunger strike here. This episode was recorded before the strike was suspended on October 13th. Visit Adameer's website to learn more about their campaigns: https://www.addameer.org/You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week Grace speaks to historian David Broder about Italian fascism. They analyse about the recent elections in which the Italian far-right party led by Giorgia Meloni, the Brothers of Italy, came to power. And they discuss the longer-term background of the rise of fascism, which David will be covering in his forthcoming book, Mussolini's Grandchildren.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week, Grace speaks to Ben Tarnoff, author of Internet for the People. They talk about the web's origins, how it was enclosed and privatised, and ways we might work together to build a different model for the internet.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week, Grace speaks to Ruth Wilson Gilmore, prison abolitionist, scholar, and professor of geography at the City University of New York. She is the author of several books, including Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California and, most recently, Abolition Geography: Essays Toward Liberation. They discuss who is profiting from the criminal justice system, how existing institutions within the system serve to support and reinforce capitalist social relations, and what a socialist conception of justice looks like.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week, Grace talks to Natasha Josette and Olly Armstrong about their community organising project, Breathe. They discuss challenges and opportunities associated with community organising, how it can be linked up with other elements of political strategy like the labour movement and electoral politics, and how you can potentially begin this sort of grassroots work in your own area.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week, Grace is joined by Mareile Pfannebecker and James A. Smith to discuss their book Work Want Work: Labour and Desire at the End of Capitalism. They discuss why we are working so hard, what kind of work is valued, and what a post-work future might look like.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week, Grace talks to Andrew Murray, former chair of the Stop the War Coalition, former chief of staff at the Unite trade union, and former advisor to Jeremy Corbyn. We discuss his forthcoming book, Is Socialism Possible in Britain? Reflections on the Corbyn Years, which examines the Corbyn moment within the long history of the Labour Party.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week, Grace is joined by James Schneider, former Head of Strategic Communications for Jeremy Corbyn and the co-founder of Momentum, to talk about his book Our Bloc: How We Win. They discuss the challenges facing the left in the UK and around the world—and how we can bring together disparate parts of our movement into a coherent bloc to build power.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.

This week, Grace speaks to Adrienne Buller, author of The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism. They discuss what "green capitalism" actually is, how it is being embedded in international law, whether or not it is an inherently anti-democratic movement, and how it is linked to issues today like the cost-of-living crisis.You can support our work on the show by becoming a patron. Thanks to our producer Conor Gillies and to the Lipman-Miliband Trust for making this episode possible.