Shows / Red Menace
Red Menace
Red Menace is a podcast that explains and analyzes revolutionary theory and then applies its lessons to our contemporary conditions. Hosted by Alyson Escalante and Breht O'Shea.
Episodes
- Red Menace
The Ethics of Ambiguity: Simone de Beauvoir, Existentialism, and Revolutionary Politics
Breht and Alyson explore Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity, a foundational work of existentialist ethics that asks a deceptively difficult question…
- Red Menace
An Inhuman Future: Nick Land, Techno-Accelerationism, and the Dark Enlightenment
In this episode Alyson and Breht enter the strange and unsettling world of Nick Land: Marx, Nietzsche, Delueze, cybernetics, accelerationism, and the…
Red MenaceChe's "New Socialist Man" and the Bodhisattva Revolutionary
Breht reads the speech he recently gave in-person at the 2026 Socialism Conference in Chicago. In the Speech, he analyzes the role of human subjectivity in…
- Red Menace
The New Red Scare: Trump's War on the American Left
In this episode, Alyson and Breht examine the Trump administration's emerging campaign against what it calls "far-left terrorism." We begin with NSPM-7, the…
- Red Menace
Socialism Conference '26: Labor Day Weekend in Chicago!
Breht gives details on his upcoming speech and Q and A at the Socialism Conference in Chicago this September, the listener meet-up afterwards, and the patreon…
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Substance, Spirit, Struggle: From Spinoza through Hegel to Marx (and Beyond)
In this unlocked patreon episode Breht traces and explains a subterranean philosophical lineage running from Spinoza through Hegel to Marx and Louis Althusser…
- Red Menace
Democratic Socialist Electoral Victories and the Implications for American Politics
Alyson and Breht reflect on recent Democratic Socialist electoral victories, the ongoing contradiction between the progressive left and the corporate center…
- Red Menace
Philosophy of Mind: Marxism, Materialism, and Dialectical Monism
In this episode, Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante join forces for a deep philosophical conversation on Marxism, consciousness, and the mind-body problem…
- Red Menace
Alyson and Breht Answer Your Questions
Alyson and Breht spend three hours answering your questions about politics, theory, socialist stragey and much more! Watch the video version on Youtube HERE…
- Red Menace
The Worldwide Family of Militant Women
In this episode, Breht and Alyson sit down with Arlene Eisen to discuss her new memoir, In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women. Eisen reflects on her…
- Red Menace
The Iran War: A Dialectical and Historical Materialist Analysis
Alyson and Breht apply dialectical and historical materialist analysis to the current war of aggression in Iran. Together they break down the Marxist…
- Red Menace
Iran Under Attack
On this YT livestream (3/1/26) Alyson and Breht discuss the illegal war of aggression launched by the US and Israel against Iran. Throughout the discussion…
- Red Menace
Guillotines for the Epstein Class
Alyson and Breht discuss a range of current events, including Cuba, the Epstein Files, Iran and much more. Make a donation to Socialist Night School via Venmo…
- Red Menace
Minneapolis on Fire
Breht discusses recent events in Minneapolis... --------------------------------------------------------------------- Outro Music: Haley Heynderickx & Max…
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Jesus Christ Beyond Belief: A Mystical Reading of the Gospels
In this Christmas special, Alyson and Breht reinterpret Jesus through Jewish mysticism, Christian contemplative traditions, and Buddhist conceptions of…
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(Teaser) The Anti-Human Nihilism of the Techno-Oligarchs
This is a small snippet from a much larger patreon exclusive episode, which you can sign up for (and support the show in the process) here…
- Red Menace
The Years of Lead in Italy: Strategy of Tension, Operation Gladio, & the Long 1970s
Most people, even on the Left, only know fragments of Italy's "Years of Lead." This episode pulls the whole picture into focus: the mass worker upsurge after…
- Red Menace
Ceasefire in Gaza, The Monroe Doctrine Under Trump, and a US Economy on the Brink of Collapse
Alyson and Breht analyze current events, including the ceasefire in Gaza and its implications, the newest round of US imperialist aggression against Venezuela…
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Discussing Popular Education (w/ Ultra-Red)
In this episode, Alyson joins members of the Ultra-Red collective to discuss their recent trip to Central America where they learned first hand about popular…
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On Technofeudalism: Rent Seeking in Late Stage Monopoly Capitalism
Alyson and Breht critically engage with the concept of "technofeudalism" from a Marxist (and thus historical materialist) perspective, analyzing its origin and…
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Red Star Ministry: Marxism, Theology, & The Human Condition
Alyson and Breht are guests on the Red Star Ministry Podcast, a Christian Communist outlet. Together with the host Christian, they discuss Alyson and Breht's…
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On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among The People
In this episode of Red Menace, Breht and Alyson dive into Mao Zedong's pivotal 1957 speech On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People. This…
- Red Menace
Uprising in LA: ICE, Mass Deportations, and American Fascism
Alyson and Breht record an emergency podcast on the current riots in LA, and resistance across the country, to mass deportations. Together they highlight…
- Red Menace
Dialectics of Nature: Engels on Dialectical Materialism as a Worldview
In this episode, Alyson and Breht explore Friedrich Engels' Dialectics of Nature, a bold and underappreciated attempt to apply dialectical materialism to the…
- Red Menace
Teaser: The Role of Labor in Human Evolution
This is small snippet from a much larger episode coming soon wherein Alyson and Breht cover Friedrich Engel's famous text "Dialectics of Nature", in which…
- Red Menace
Tenant Unions Under Attack by Landlord Lobby
In this episode, Breht welcomes on Seth from Omaha Tenants United for an in-studio discussion about OTU's slate of recent successes organizing several tenant…
- Red Menace
Farce, Finance & Fascism: Margaret Kimberley on Empire in Decay
In this powerful and wide-ranging conversation, Margaret Kimberley—senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and a leader in Black Alliance for Peace—joins Breht…
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Trotsky on Fascism (and Lessons for us Today)
In this episode, Alyson and Breht welcome Brendan to the show, a close comrade with a bit more sympathy toward Trotsky in order to be as fair as possible and…
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City of Ashes: The Los Angeles Wildfires
Alyson - a lifelong and current resident of Los Angeles - and Breht discuss the wildfires ravaging L.A. Together they discuss the acute and structural causes…
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New Years Reflection: Reviewing 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025 & Beyond
It's time for our annual Revolutionary Guerrilla Menace episode, where we crossover with Rev Left and the Red Menace in order to review the past year in world…
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Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (Upstream)
Alyson and Breht were invited to join Robbie on the Upstream podcast to talk about Lenin's "Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism". Capitalism…
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The German Revolution
Alyson and Breht finally dive into the German Revolution of 1918! Together they discuss this rather ambigious revolution, give a detailed overview of events…
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Shattering the Spectacle: Trump, Kamala, and the 2024 Election
Alyson and Breht analyze the results of the recent presidential election and explore its various meanings. Together they discuss the grotesque hollowness of…
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Yahya Sinwar: Living and Dying for National Liberation
Alyson and Breht reflect on the life and death of the Palestinian resistance leader Yahya Sinwar. Outro Song "Gaza Strip 2 Detroit" by Sammy Shiblaq
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War in West Asia: When A Dying Settler Colony Lashes Out
Alyson and Breht discuss the unfolding regional war between Israel and literally all of its neighbors, the restrained Iranian response to Israeli aggression…
- Red Menace
On Mysticism II: Enlightenment, Non-Duality, & Perennialism
Alyson and Breht return to do a follow up conversation to their well-received previous episode regarding this topic, "On Mysticism: Ego, Suffering, & Love". In…
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The Democrat's War on Democracy & Trump's Brush with Death
Trump gets shot. Biden drops out. Kamala is coronated. Alyson and Breht discuss and analyze it all. Omaha Tenants United…
- Red Menace
Empty Spectacles and Heightening Contradictions
Alyson and Breht reflect on the pathetic Presidential Debate, analyze the fallout from the debate, and then reflect on some major internal divisions within…
- Red Menace
Student Encampments for Palestine: An Interview with Student Organizers
Students and organizers Cheli and Phia join Alyson and Breht to discuss their different experiences on the front lines of student encampments at Cal State LA…
- Red Menace
Students Revolt: The Campus Uprisings for Palestine
Alyson and Breht discuss the student-led protests for Palestine sweeping across American universities, the reaction to them by the ruling class elite and their…
- Red Menace
Ghosts in the Machines: Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, & Capitalism
In this episode, Alyson and Breht wrestle with the possible rise of artificial general intelligence and its implications. Together they discuss the Silicon…
- Red Menace
"The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" by Karl Marx
Alyson and Breht explain and explore this famous text from Karl Marx, in the process they discuss French history, class conflict, the peasantry and…
- Red Menace
Man on Fire: Aaron Bushnell's Sacrifice for Palestine
Rest in Peace, Aaron. Free Palestine! "To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance. There is nothing more painful…
- Red Menace
On Mysticism: Ego, Suffering, & Love
On this episode of Red Menace, Alyson and Breht had some things come up such that they couldn't record their planned episode on Marx's 18th Brumaire (coming…
- Red Menace
Apartheid in South Africa: An Investigation
In this Rev Left Family Annual Collab (Rev Left+Red Menace+Guerrilla History), Alyson, Henry, Adnan, and Breht sit down for a deep dive on South African…
- Red Menace
Decolonizing Palestine: Toward National Liberation in the Levant
Alyson and Breht discuss the ongoing national liberation struggle in Palestine (recorded Oct. 30th 2023). Together, they discuss the incredible shift in public…
- Red Menace
What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante (Upstream Interview)
What Is To Be Done? This is the question so profoundly posed by the Russian Revolutionary and Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, in his landmark text of the…
- Red Menace
Toward Liberation: Palestine on Fire
Breht discusses the current situation in Palestine, helps listeners navigate and dismantle common Zionist talking points, and (hopefully) brings some much…
- Red Menace
[RE-UPLOAD] Decolonization is Not a Metaphor - Tuck & Yang
Originally Aired on Oct 31, 2021 On this episode of Red Menace Alyson and Breht teach, discuss, and apply the lessons of 'Decolonization is Not a Metaphor' by…
- Red Menace
"The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State" by Friedrich Engels (Pt. 3)
Alyson and Breht finish their 3-part series on Friedrich Engels' text "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State", and reflect on the text as a…
- Red Menace
American Rot: SCOTUS' War on the American People
Alyson and Breht discuss the recent rulings by the Supreme Court, a wildly anti-democratic, thoroughly corrupt, and staunchly reactionary institution that the…
- Red Menace
"The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State" by Friedrich Engels (Pt. 2)
In this second installment of our three-part series on Friedrich Engels' famous work "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State", Alyson and…
- Red Menace
"The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State" by Friedrich Engels (Pt. 1)
In this episode of Red Menace, Alyson and Breht summarize and discuss the first three chapters of Friedrich Engel's important work of historical materialism…
- Red Menace
Big Announcement: Tripling Our Patreon Output + More
Join the Rev Left Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/RevLeftRadio Join the Red Menace Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace Changes Starting…
- Red Menace
"Desert" by Anonymous (Anarchism)
Alyson and Breht summarize, discuss, and critique "Desert", an anarchist text by an anonymous author. Summary: start 7:20 Discussion & Critique: start 45:06
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"The Conquest of Bread" by Peter Kropotkin
Alyson and Breht summarize and reflect on the famous "Bread Book" by Peter Kropotkin: The Conquest of Bread. After summarizing the text and its main arguments…
- Red Menace
Lyndon LaRouche: A Warning & Lesson for the Communist Left
Donald Parkinson from Cosmonaut Magazine joins Breht to talk about the life, political theory, and legacy of Lyndon LaRouche. In our own time we see…
- Red Menace
MAGA Communism: Opportunism, Social Chauvinism, and Terminally Online Tailism
Alyson and Breht reflect on the recent online stir caused by "MAGA Communism" and analyze the ideas of some of its main represenatives and proponents. Together…
- Red Menace
Neither Liberalism nor Reaction: Centering the 3-Way Fight
In this episode, Alyson and Breht use Devin Zane Shaw's work (specifically his Philosophy of Antifascism) as a jumping off point for exploring the concept of…
- Red Menace
AMA July '22: Freedom & Responsibility (...and Dialectical Materialism)
Alyson and Breht respond to questions from our patrons. Topics discussed include: how to properly evaluate uprisings abroad, important virtues for communists…