Shows / Jacobin Radio
Jacobin Radio
News, politics, history and more from Jacobin. Featuring The Dig, Long Reads, Confronting Capitalism, Behind the News, Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman, and occasional specials.
Episodes
Jacobin RadioJacobin Radio: WGA Strike w/ Alex O'Keefe & Howard Rodman
Barry Eidlin guest hosts today, talking to WGA leader-activists Alex O’Keefe, organizer and award-winning writer for The Bear, and Howard Rodman, writer and…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: The Niger Coup w/ Samar Al-Bulushi
Samar Al-Bulushi examines the coup in Niger, political unrest in France’s former colonies in Africa, and the US-led “war on terror” on that continent. Joanna…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: Long Land War w/ Jo Guldi
Featuring Jo Guldi on the global history of the long land war—a war over everything from agrarian reform to tenant rights, from India and China to England and…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: How Sick Is Capitalism?
Aaron Benanav, sociologist and frequent contributor to New Left Review, and Seth Ackerman, an editor at Jacobin, discuss the long-term health of capitalism: Is…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: Jewellbilly Elegy
In 2019, Clint Eastwood's RICHARD JEWELL took aim at two institutions — the FBI and the media — that were supposed to save America from Trumpism. We discuss…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: Organizing and Socialist Strategy
Featuring Alex Han, Astra Taylor, and Rachel Gilmer on how we build powerful organizations that win both short-term fights and the long-term struggle for…
Jacobin RadioJacobin Radio: Strike at the Big Three w/ Nelson Lichtenstein
Suzi talks to historian and labor expert Nelson Lichtenstein about the historic, first-ever simultaneous strike against the Big Three automakers. Thirteen…
Jacobin RadioLong Reads: Crypto Capitalism w/ Ramaa Vasudevan
For its boosters, crypto finance is a modern-day version of the California gold rush, with fortunes to be made. And it seems to have attracted as many crooks…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: Postliberalism w/ Jodi Dean
Jodi Dean, author of a recent article for the Los Angeles Review of Books, takes on the postliberalism of Ahmari, Vermeule, Deneen, et al. Then Sarang Shidore…
Jacobin RadioJacobin Radio: The Chilean Coup, 50 Years Later (Part 2)
Suzi talks to journalist Marc Cooper, Salvador Allende's former translator, for part two of our commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the September 11, 1973…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig Presents: Alien Jerky Sold Here
If you look, you'll see. Most people don't look. Produced by Stephen Cassidy Jones and Liza Yeager. Edited by Mitchell Johnson, with editorial oversight from…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: Cold War Liberalism w/ Samuel Moyn
Sam Gindin, writer and activist on labor issues, outlines the shortcomings of the UPS-Teamster deal (read his article, and a follow-up, on The Bullet website)…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: Seizing Labor's Moment w/ Alex Press & Eric Blanc
Featuring Alex Press and Eric Blanc on surging labor militancy and why US unions must seize this historic moment. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig and ask…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: Airport Paperback
Widely described as "Hollywood's response to the Lewinsky scandal," THE CONTENDER (2000) imagines a Vice Presidential confirmation process derailed by sexism…
Jacobin RadioJacobin Radio: The Chilean Coup, 50 Years Later (Part 1)
Suzi talks to Oscar Mendoza about the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende that came to an abrupt and bloody end 50 years ago on September 11, 1973…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: AOC on US Hegemony and Latin American Sovereignty
Featuring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the Latin American left and the long history of US intervention in the region. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Buy…
Jacobin RadioLong Reads: The Hidden Rosa Luxemburg w/ Peter Hudis
More than a century after her death in 1919, Rosa Luxemburg is unquestionably one of the most celebrated Marxist thinkers. But until very recently, most of her…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: A Social History of the Internet w/ Taylor Lorenz
Lisa Corrigan, author of a recent Nation article, explains what the savage cuts at West Virginia University mean for higher ed. Taylor Lorenz, author of…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: Emergent Terrain w/ Akbar, Winant, & Riofrancos
Featuring Amna Akbar, Gabriel Winant, and Thea Riofrancos on the emerging terrain of struggle. Is American liberalism exhausted or revitalized? What are the…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: Arrested Development
We've been talking about a lot of soulless, big-budget IP movies that represent a rot in our culture... so how about a how about a hand-crafted, achingly…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: The State of Trans Politics w/ Erin Reed
Sohrab Ahmari, author of Tyranny, Inc., talks about the dictatorship of capital. Erin Reed, aka Erin in the Morning, discusses the state of trans politics…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: Long Live the New Flesh
After years of hearing from censors that violent media images cause harm, David Cronenberg made a movie... in which violent media images cause harm. We discuss…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: US Interests in Niger w/ Caitlin Chandler
Francisco Pérez of the University of Utah talks about the CFA franc. Caitlin Chandler, author of a 2022 Harper's article about "the next frontier in the war on…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: Conjuncture w/ Akbar, Winant, & Riofrancos
Featuring Amna Akbar, Gabriel Winant, and Thea Riofrancos on the American conjuncture. Did an era that began with Occupy and Ferguson—marked by teachers…
Jacobin RadioLong Reads: Simone de Beauvoir's Socialist Feminism w/ Emma McNicol
When Simone de Beauvoir died in 1986, French TV news described her as a “symbol of women’s liberation,” but they couldn’t resist bracketing her name with that…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: The Sound of Freedom Episode
Unfortunately, there was no avoiding it. We finally went to see the right-wing human-trafficking blockbuster SOUND OF FREEDOM (2023) and had one of our more…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: Student Hunger & Insecurity w/ Sara Goldrick-Rab
Sara Goldrick-Rab talks about rampant food and housing insecurity among undergrad and grad students. David Broder, author of Mussolini's Grandchildren and a…
Jacobin RadioJacobin Radio: Update on the UPS Contract Fight
Barry Eidlin returns to guest host, talking to San Diego Teamster Justin Alo, Detroit Teamster Emily Butt, and San Francisco Teamster John Elward about the…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig Presents: Power Struggle
Reporter Dharna Noor learns about the Tennessee Valley Authority: the good, the bad, the past, and the future. This is the 5th episode of The Dig Presents…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: The Korean Armistice w/ Tim Shorrock
Tim Shorrock marks the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean war as tensions mount across the region. Christopher Morten discusses how the…
Jacobin RadioLong Reads: Portugal's Revolution w/ Raquel Varela
For almost fifty years, Portugal was ruled by a right-wing dictatorship. There was a military coup against Portuguese democracy in 1926. Antonio Salazar became…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: Le Petite Mort w/ Adam Nayman
So, why do they call it "the little death"? Will is joined by film critic Adam Nayman to discuss Claire Denis's transgressive masterpiece TROUBLE EVERY DAY…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: Democracy in Bolivia and Venezuela w/ Gabriel Hetland
Gabriel Hetland, author of Democracy on the Ground, talks about contrasts in popular participation between Bolivia and Venezuela. Then Doug speaks with Leigh…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: Bidenomics w/ Daniela Gabor, Ted Fertik, & Tim Sahay
Featuring Daniela Gabor, Ted Fertik, and Tim Sahay on Bidenomics. We define and debate the new American industrial policy, the energy transition, the New Cold…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: He's Surely Alive w/ Alex Shephard
Reports of God's death remain greatly exaggerated in GOD'S NOT DEAD 2 (2016), in which Evangelical Christianity is put literally on trial. We welcome back Alex…
Jacobin RadioJacobin Radio: Struggle at UPS
Barry Eidlin sits in for Suzi Weissman, talking to longtime UPS Teamsters Carlos Silva, Carthy Boston and Greg Kerwood, who are mobilizing around the…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: Riots in France w/ Harrison Stetler
Harrison Stetler discusses recent riots in France. Peter Turchin, complexity theorist and author of End Times, explains why the US is heading for a smashup…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: The Futility Thesis
We return to a TV show that is one of the prime relics of mid-2000s libertarian culture. We watch episodes of PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT! on topics as disparate…
Jacobin RadioLong Reads: Japan's Socialist Tradition w/ Kenji Hasegawa
Japan may be a powerhouse of global capitalism. But it also developed a powerful socialist movement in the twentieth century. During the Cold War, the…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: How Austerity Spawns Fascism w/ Clara Mattei
Clara Mattei, author of The Capital Order, explores the links among neoclassical economics, austerity, and fascism. Edwin Ackerman, author of a recent article…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: The Manifesto w/ China Miéville
Featuring China Miéville on The Communist Manifesto. Miéville is the author of A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto. Support The Dig at…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: Deaths of Cinema
Quentin Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019) hit the zeitgeist by consciously going against the 2019-era cultural grain. Tarantino looks back on…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: The Confederate Diaspora
Anatol Lieven, Eurasia director of the Quincy Institute, discusses Prigozhin’s aborted uprising in Russia and Putin’s status. Samuel Bazzi, co-author of a…
Jacobin RadioLong Reads: William Morris, Romantic Revolutionary w/ Matthew Beaumont
William Morris is renowned for his work as an artist and designer. But he was also one of Britain's greatest socialist thinkers. Morris combined his opposition…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: In Soviet Russia, Game Plays You
Did Tetris bring down the USSR? That's the implication of TETRIS (2023), a highly fictionalized account of the beloved video game's journey from the Soviet…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: Abolish the Family w/ M. E. O'Brien
Behind the News is slaying sacred cows this week. M. E. O’Brien, author of Family Abolition, discusses doing that and “communizing care." Then Jane Chung…
Jacobin RadioJacobin Radio: Tribute to Daniel Ellsberg
Jacobin Radio pays tribute to the late Daniel Ellsberg, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year and passed away on June 16 at age 92 . A…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: AI Hype Machine w/ Meredith Whittaker, Ed Ongweso, and Sarah West
Featuring Meredith Whittaker, Edward Ongweso Jr., and Sarah Myers West on the mundane dystopia concealed beneath the AI hype machine. Support The Dig at…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: Let's See What's On Netflix...
Our sacred quest to tackle every political comedy inevitably reaches the Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis vehicle THE CAMPAIGN (2012). We discuss what a…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: On Clarence Thomas w/ Corey Robin
While other shows are getting applause for interviewing Corey Robin about his excellent book on Clarence Thomas (who is very much in the headlines these days)…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: The Fall of OPEC w/ Giuliano Garavini
Featuring Giuliano Garavini on his book The Rise and Fall of OPEC in the Twentieth Century. The second in a two-part series on the 20th-century history of…
Jacobin RadioLong Reads: Mussolini to Meloni w/ David Broder (Part 2)
Italy’s current prime minister Giorgia Meloni can trace her political roots all the way back to Mussolini. But what exactly does the Italian far right of today…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: If Movies Tire You, What Will Podcasts Do?
Hell is real, and it's really bad, and it's really important that you repent. That's the thesis of THE BURNING HELL (1974), a crackpot Evangelical oddity from…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: The US Role in Ukraine w/ Christopher Layne
Christopher Layne discusses his Harper’s magazine article, “Why are we in Ukraine?” Plus: Marcus Brown talks about his augmented reality exhibit that evokes…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: The Rise of OPEC w/ Giuliano Garavini
Featuring Giuliano Garavini on his book The Rise and Fall of OPEC in the Twentieth Century. The first of a two-part series on the 20th-century history of…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: America Would Never
A ragtag gang of Beltway misfits discover how to start a proxy war in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (2007), a lighthearted look at American intervention from the…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: Probation and Parole w/ Wanda Bertram
Wanda Bertram of the Prison Policy Initiative talks about some under-appreciated aspects of the carceral state: probation, parole, and civil commitment…
Jacobin RadioThe Dig: Colonial Lives of Property w/ Brenna Bhandar
Featuring Brenna Bhandar on Colonial Lives of Property: Law, Land and Racial Regimes of Ownership. The centuries-long history of how dominant conceptions of…
Jacobin RadioMichael and Us: Motern and Us
For over two decades, a pair of New England-based independent filmmakers have created a cinematic universe out with their friends, family, and as little money…
Jacobin RadioBehind the News: Sea Change w/ Tina Gerhardt
Tina Gerhardt, author of Sea Change, talks about the effects rising oceans are having on small island nations. Quinn Slobodian, author of Crack-Up Capitalism…