Gene Bruskin: A Life in the Labor Movement

Jackson and Donald are joined by Christian Noakes author of Do It Yourself, Brother: Cultural Autonomy and the New Thing to discuss jazz music and musicians during the Cold War. We cover the U.S. state department's attempts to weaponize Jazz for imperial cultural diplomacy and how artists in the Jazz avant-garde of the 1950s-60s resisted the exploitation of their music by both the U.S. government and the capitalist music industry.

We join Gabriel Kuhn, author of books like Soccer vs. the State and Antifascism, Sports, Sobriety: Forging a militant working-class culture for a discussion on sports, sobriety and also the ways Austromarxism applied these principles during the interwar period. We discuss Gabriel's attraction to the Straight Edge movement as well as its contemporary transformations, as well as sports and left-wing interventions. We then focus on his study on Austromarxism, Red Vienna, and working-class culture, discussing key figures like Julius Deutsch and the Schutzbund and examining their historical impact and relevance today. We conclude with reflections on the legacy of the Schutzbund, the Worker’s Olympics, and the applicability of these historical lessons to contemporary health and sports interventions.

Rudy, Andrew and Eric sit down to discuss Egypt from its origins as an independent polity under Mehmed Ali up to the Sadat years, with a focus on the Nasserist revolutionary period. We discuss the origins and aims of the 1952 coup and revolution, the relationship between communists and Nasser(ism), the three periods of Nasserism, the national and international character of the government periods, the (lack of) institutionalization of Arab Socialism and the Arab Socialist Union, the unraveling of Arab Socialism under Sadat and much more! References: A. Abdel-Malek - Egypt: Military society: The Army Regime, the Left, and Social Change under Nasser S. Aburish - Nasser: The Last Arab: A Biography K. J. Beattie - Egypt During the Sadat Years M. Hussein - Class Conflict in Egypt: 1945-1970 E. Kienle - Egypt: A Fragile Power

Donald and Luke talk with Aziz Rana about his latest book, The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them. Rana discusses why constitutional veneration has remained (for now) "a naturalized, unremarked-upon feature” of American life despite the Constitution's flagrantly undemocratic nature. Along the way, he touches on the Socialist Party of America's constitutional skepticism, the impact of war and foreign revolutions on constitutional ideology, and the risks and rewards of our current moment. Rana integrates the lives of several important people, including Crystal Eastman, W.E.B DuBois, Eugene Debs, Afemi Shakur, and Charles Beard.

We sit down with Jerome Scott, former Detroit Auto worker and founding member of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers to learn about Black working-class radicalizing during the Vietnam War and Detroit uprisings and to get advice on directions for the revolutionary movement today.

Ian, Nico, Matt, Chas and Rudy join for a general discussion on artificial intelligence. They cover the early origins of AI as a field, with the debates of the time, all the way up to the present state. They then discuss what to expect from AI in the near future, and give aspects where the prospects may be optimistic, pessimistic or neutral. They finish with a discussion on how Marxists should relate to AI in the present, trying to avoid overly pessimistic or uncritical attitudes.

Exir, Toby and Jackson join for a discussion on the (in)famous Frankfurt School. They discuss the history of the Institute for Social Research from its founding as a think tank for the study of the workers’ movement, through the turn to critical theory and empirical social research in the 1930s, its flight to America in the wake of the Nazis’ rise to power, and its return to Germany after the Second World War. Focusing in on Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse, they use the trajectory of these thinkers and the Institute to consider questions of how intellectuals should relate to political movements, the relationship between theory and empirical research, and the possibility and desirability of intellectual independence. They also discuss some of the key ideas of the Frankfurt School, including the critique of instrumental reason, the concept of the totally administered society, and Marcuse’s development of psychoanalytic ideas.

Rudy joins Martín Lallana for an introductory discussion on mining. We talk about the importance of mining to capitalism, the ecological impacts of different kind of mining, the way that the materials extracted have changed along history focusing on the materials needed for an energy transition and the way the Ukranian war has changed the needs of European countries before discussing the possibilities to have more just forms of mining and the potentialities of "urban mining"

Rob joins Alexander Thurston for a discussion on his work on the Sahel region, focusing on the interplay between radical Islamic groups, the civilian governments/military juntas of the regions and international players like the US and France. They discuss the social basis of the groups, the role of different countries and different armies, the reasons behind the military coups and their possible future paths as well as how much is not really known about these groups.

Steven, James and Rudy sit down for a long discussion on the French Communist Party from its inception all the way to its present state. We cover all the periods in its history: the Pre-WW2 Popular Front, the post WW2 entrance into government, its isolation, and its coming back into government with Mitterrand in the 80s, before discussing its decline and the reasons for it. References: M. Adereth - The French Communist party: A Critical History (1920-1984), from Comintern to "the colours of France" J. Friend -  The Long Presidency: France in the Mitterrand Years J. T. Jackson - The Popular Front in France: Defending Democracy, 1934-38  D. Joly - The French Communist Party and the Algerian War R. Martelli, J. Vigreux, S. Wolikow - One Hundred Years of History of the French Communist Party: The Red Party