Dead Pundits Society

We're coming in hot with this "Classic" DPS interview -- which is as controversial today as it was when we released it. Enjoy. And remember: you don't always have to agree 100% with someone in order to learn something. -------------------- On this week’s episode, Freddie deBoer and I analyze the hyper-woke, virtue-signaling sect of the left, which has claimed an insignificant segment of cyberspace as its sovereign territory in absence of any real power in society. We also share our thoughts about campus activism, the “No Platform” technique and left censorship. Resist the allure of LARP culture and learn how to win a real socialist platform. Tune in to find out how. Freddie’s article, “Why We Should Fear University Inc” can be found here: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/magazine/why-we-should-fear-university-inc.html?mcubz=1 Become a member of the Society. Check out our Patreon page and smash that subscribe button: www.patreon.com/deadpundits

As promised yesterday, I'll be re-posting several older DPS episodes in the coming days. This one is still as relevant as ever. Enjoy my chat with Christian and look forward to fresh content next week when I'm no longer bed-ridden with the plague. ----------------- Joining me this week to lay down some diss tracks concerning free speech and left tactics is Christian Parenti. We discuss his latest article in Jacobin Magazine, as well as an older article he co-authored with Doug Henwood and Liza Featherstone on "Activistism". We take on the "No Platform" tactic, discuss the leftwing origins of free speech, and talk about how to develop the kind of material power needed to change the world. Don't miss it. https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/04/free-speech-charles-murray-campus-protest/ Here is the article on "Activistism" that we discuss near the end: www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Action.html If you like the show, please consider joining my Patreon: www.Patreon.com/deadpundits

I've come down with the Bubonic Plague this week, and I'm unable to speak. I'll be posting four of my greatest hits in between fits of fever and chills, starting with this classic interview with Angela Nagle. ------------------------ In this week's episode, I talk with Angela Nagle about the alt-right and how to exit the dead end of culture warrior politics. Angela's book, Kill All Normies: The Online Culture Wars from Tumblr and 4chan to the Alt-right and Trump, will be out from Zero Books in May. We talk about the alt-right, alt-light, and the white nationalist elements of the movement. We discuss their tactics of baiting the left into street fights, and we finish with the desperate need for the left to develop better arguments for our complex times. This interview is an abbreviated version. To hear the full version, subscribe to the Dead Pundits Society Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits See Angela's recent writings: -"The New Man of 4-Chan," thebaffler.com/salvos/new-man-4chan-nagle -"Paleocons fo

Joining me this week is Phoebe Maltz Bovy to talk about her book, The Perils of Privilege: Why Injustice Can't Be Solved by Accusing Others of Advantage. We talk about privilege theory and call out culture, the invisible knapsack, taylor swift, and the toxic soup that is social media and privilege checking. Also, we solve the privilege problem for all time -- no big deal. Better tune in, folks. Phoebe's book can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Perils-Privilege-Injustice-Accusing-Advantage/dp/1250091209 ----------------- iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1212081214 Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpunditssociety Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits

Pokemon, Candy Crush, PlayStation -- Oh my! With 50% of the world's population now involved in some form of gaming, we can no longer relegate this form of entertainment to the nerdy, subcultural backwaters. Joining me for my first installment of Hot Takes & Field Notes is Alfie Bown, Co-Editor of Hong Kong Review of Books, and the author of ENJOYING IT: CANDY CRUSH AND CAPITALISM (2015) and the forthcoming THE PLAYSTATION DREAMWORLD (2017). We talk about the politics of enjoyments, whether or not I should feel guilty about playing Pokemon, and so much more. ****This is a free teaser of the full episode. Head over to www.patreon.com.deadpundits, smash that subscribe button, and hear the full version along with many hours of bonus content **** ---------------------- Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpunditssociety iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1212081214

Joining me this week to continue our "Anti-Essentialism Series, Summer 2017" is Walter Benn Michaels. We talk about the transformation of race science to cultural essentialism, and why we love diversity and hate inequality. Walter is a distinguished literary and social critic, and one of the leading theorists of anti-essentialism, so you won't want to miss this interview. Walter's most relevant book, The Trouble with Diversity, can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Diversity-Learned-Identity-Inequality/dp/0805083316 ****This is the free version of this week's interview. To get the full 1hr45min version, head over to www.patreon.com/deadpundits and smash that subscribe button**** -------------------- Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpunditssociety iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1212081214

Joining me to talk about the debates surrounding Universal Basic Income (UBI) is David Bush, a labor organizer, and writer from Toronto, Canada. He talks about the pilot project for Basic Income being tried out by the Ontario government, as well as other real world cases of UBI that have fallen far short of achieving social gains for poor and working class people. Does the future consist of cool robots and UBI for all? Probably not. Tune in to hear all about the political impasses of UBI for the left. We discuss types of Basic Income, real world pilot projects and policy proposals, automation, the future of work and union strategy, the nature of the capitalist state, and much more. We mention several articles in the show. Most of them can be found in David's excellent collection of articles related to UBI: "Basic Income: A Critical Reader": https://hammerhearts.wordpress.com/2017/04/29/basic-income-a-critical-reader/ Much of what we discuss, along with cited sources, can be found in David's article, "B

**This is the shortened, free version of the interview. To hear Bhaskar's take on Jacobin's Syria and Venezuela coverage, head over to www.patreon.com/deadpundits and smash that subscribe button.** Joining me this week to talk about the road to socialism in the 21st Century is founding editor and publisher of Jacobin Magazine, Bhaskar Sunkara. We talk about Jacobin's new Catalyst Journal and the role that it plays in the enterprise; we move to the debates around neoliberalism; then, we discuss the legacy of left social democracy and why social democracy failed in the 20th Century, as well as how to move forward in the 21st. ------------- Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpunditssociety Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits

Joining me to discuss race, class and the Democratic Socialists of America is Adolph Reed, Jr. He's a prolific commentator on black politics and has been on the socialist left for 50 years, so he's just the man to talk to about the upcoming DSA convention. In particular, we'll be addressing the proposal to establish an autonomous "Afro-socialist and Socialists of Color Caucus." The full resolution can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5P0FbY9YTM-UlVwTzRSTGhQRG8/view ***This is a shortened version of my interview with Adolph Reed, Jr. To get access to the full 2+ hours, subscribe to my patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits*** Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpunditssociety

Joining me this week to expand on my recent episodes on race and class is author and political commentator, Pascal Robert. We talk about a whole range of issues: the Haitian Revolution, black nationalism, racial uplift politics, whiteness studies, race management, racial disparity statistics, and, finally, Pascal rips into Ta-Nahesi Coates. Robert is *fire* on the mic, so you’re not going to want to miss this episode! Check out Pascal’s work for the Black Agenda Report: https://www.blackagendareport.com/blog/1898 His article, “Pascal Robert: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Essentialism, and the Threat of the Black Cultural Tour Guide” can be found here: https://washingtonspectator.org/pascal-robert-ta-nehisi-coates-and-the-threat-of-the-black-tour-guide/
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Joining me this week to talk about woke, neoliberal feminism and gender essentialism is Katie Halper (@KTHalps), host of the Katie Halper Show. We go *in* on many un-dead pundits, from Sally Albright, Sady Doyle, Imani Gandy, Neera Tanden, and many more. Katie levels an interesting defense of caring about what happens on Twitter. Don't miss it. Her article, "A Millennial Feminist Explains the New Feminism to a Boomer Feminist Philosopher," can be found here: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/04/a-feminist-millennial-explains-feminism-to-a-femin.html ------------------ To get the full version of this episode and support the show, join the Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpunditssociety

At long last, I am posting a 2-hour interview with the GODFATHER, Adolph Reed. The original audio was corrupted and it took a lot of work to string together. But I've managed to get it into a form that you should be able to follow. We talk about a whole host of issues, but it's really a MASTER CLASS in Adolph's thought, and I'm really glad that I can offer it as a token of my appreciation. Topics include: -Organizing in the 1960's -Black Power -Adolph's critique of brokerage politics and representationalism -Adolph's hot take on Black Lives Matter -His beef with Paul Heideman and Jonah Birch (Their article can be found here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/10/adolph-reed-blm-racism-capitalism-labor -- Adolph's brilliant response is here: http://nonsite.org/editorial/splendors-and-miseries-of-the-antiracist-left-2) -And, lastly, Adolph's favorite dirty joke that he weaves perfectly into a great political argument. ----------------------- Subscribe for the full episode at: www.patreon.com/deadpundits

Joining me this week to talk about the encounter between Marxism and postcolonial theory is Nivedita Majumdar, a professor of English at John Jay College in New York and author of "Silencing the Subaltern: Resistance & Gender in Postcolonial Theory" just out in Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy. You can find her article here: http://catalyst-journal.com/vol1/no1/silencing-subaltern-nivedita-majumdar.html The music played at the end of the show is by Ann Driscoll (aka Stunt Casting). You can find her on Twitter @stuntcasting and her website is: https://stuntcastingmusic.com/ ----------------- If you like the show, consider supporting us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpundits

Journalist Emmett Rensin joins me to talk about his essay, “The Blathering Superego at the End of History” just out from LA Review of Books. We talk about the flailing center-left and how it has become wedded to small ideas and technocratic solutions. 

 Liberalism is dead. Long Live Liberalism! 
You can find Emmett’s essay here: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-blathering-superego-at-the-end-of-history/ 

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Tune in to learn why socialists are obsessed with "Class" and why it makes no sense to position class *against* forms of oppression like racism and sexism in capitalist society. Vivek Chibber, professor of sociology at NYU and co-editor of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, joins me to break down these matters and much more. Check out Vivek's article, "Rescuing Class From the Cultural Turn" here: http://catalyst-journal.com/vol1/no1/cultural-turn-vivek-chibber.html The outro music was "Shapes" by Mount Defiance, a band based in Melbourne, Australia (and friends of the show). Check out their website at: https://mountdefiancemusic.bandcamp.com ----------- If you like the show, please consider becoming a member of the Dead Pundits Society on Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpundits

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, the topic of "race and class" has been widely debated amongst socialists and progressives. Joining me this week to build on this discussion is Cedric Johnson, Associate Professor of African American Studies at University of Illinois-Chicago. He has an article in the first issue of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy called "The Panthers Can't Save us now: Anti-Policing Struggle & The Limits of Black Power." We discuss the current fad of romanticizing the Black Power moment, and highlight the limitations of this era in terms of forging a political strategy for today. Find out more about Catalyst here: https://jacobinmag.com/2017/05/announcing-catalyst Cedric's book, Revolutionaries to Race Leaders can be found here: https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/revolutionaries-to-race-leaders -------------------- Support the Dead Pundits Society on Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpundits

Joining me this week to contextualize the terrorist attack in Manchester is Max Blumenthal. He reveals that the so-called "War on Terror" is paradoxically spawning a far-right, reactionary form of Islamism that is being wielded by foreign intelligence services to spawn proxy armies to be used in the service of destabilizing enemy regimes. The left must wrap its head around the imperial roots of the latest wave of Islamic extremism in order to change our disastrous foreign policy and effectively face down the inevitable Islamaphobia and xenophobia coming from the right. Max Blumenthal is senior editor of the Grayzone Project at Alternet. His latest article is titled "The Manchester Bombing Is Blowback from the West’s Disastrous Interventions and Covert Proxy Wars": http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/manchester-bombing-covert-proxy-wars Max mentions a couple book during the interview: -Ahmed Rashid, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia -John Cooley, Unholy Wars: Afghanistan,

Joining me this week to talk about the disastrous effects of neoliberalism on education policy are Megan Erickson Kilpatrick and Kenzo Shibata. Megan is on the editorial board at Jacobin Magazine, an educator in NYC and author of “Class War: The Privatization of Childhood.” Kenzo is a former educator in Chicago and current education and labor activist. We discuss the damage being done to children, parents and teachers under the neoliberal education regime, and what kinds of policies we need to reverse these trends. Megan Erickson Kilpatrick’s book, Class War: The Privatization of Childghood was published under a joint venture by Verso Books and Jacobin Magazine in 2015 and can be found here: https://www.versobooks.com/books/1954-class-war ----------- If you like the show and want to support it, consider joining our Patreon page at: www.patreon.com/deadpundits Twitter: @deadpundits Facebook: www.facebook.com/deadpundits

Joining me, once again, on this week's show is jack-of-all-trades, Christian Parenti. We talk about his work on climate change and the need to distinguish global warming as a subset of the broader ecological crisis. As he argues, we have the existing technology, policy platform, legal apparatus and economic system to address climate change today. We must tackle this impending crisis right now, rather than give in to cynicism or believe that we must wait until after we've defeated capitalism, altogether. It's a really important re-framing, and you're not going to want to miss it. In this episode, we discuss a couple of Christian's publications: -"A Radical Approach to the Climate Crisis" - https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/a-radical-approach-to-the-climate-crisis -Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence - http://www.christianparenti.com/tropic-of-chaos/ ----------------- If you like the show, consider becoming a Patreon subscriber at: www.patreon.com/deadpundits Find me on Tw

Joining me this week is Matt Bruenig, who writes on the politics and policy of welfare programs. I talk with Matt about his newly launched, crowd-funded, left-wing thinktank, as well as what kind of policies we need to shore up our welfare state in order to help folks who need it the most. We discuss the racial wealth gap, reparations vs. universal social programs, Universal Basic Income, child poverty alleviation, and the overhaul necessary to reboot our welfare state for the 21st century. Tune in and learn about Matt's thinktank and how you can support this important project. ------------------------------------ As always, you can follow the Dead Pundits Society on twitter @DeadPundits Subscribe on Soundcloud and/or iTunes. Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits