Jacobin Radio

Vivek Chibber, sociology professor and editor of Catalyst, provides historical and structural analysis of revolutions and political crises. He contrasts Iran’s 1979 upheaval with today’s protests. He explains why large mobilizations often fail, analyzes state capacity and military cohesion, and outlines scenarios from repression to possible long-term transformation.

Laura Field, researcher of Trump-era ideas and author of Furious Minds. David Austin Walsh, historian of conservative movements and author of Taking America Back. They trace how respectable conservatives and fringe radicals interlock. They explore Buckley’s role, how crackpots catalyze mass movements, intellectual apocalypticism, national conservatism, and the culture-war networks reshaping politics.

JaNaé Bates Imari, faith organizer who mobilizes congregations for racial and economic justice. Greg Nammacher, longtime labor leader for janitorial and service workers. Emilia González Avalos, immigrant-rights organizer and voter mobilizer. They recount how long-term organizing, faith-based tactics, union power, mutual aid, and disciplined mass mobilization combined to confront a federal occupation and pull off a citywide shutdown.

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, lecturer on Middle East international politics and author on Iranian reform, provides expert analysis. He discusses the aftermath of June strikes, sanctions and economic collapse, how protests began and spread, casualty verification during internet blackouts, competing political currents, US hesitation to escalate, and possible futures for Iran.

Aurélie Daher, political scientist who studies Hezbollah and Lebanese politics, explains Israel’s ongoing strikes on Lebanon, civilian tolls, and limits of airpower against guerrilla tactics. David Bier, immigration policy analyst, digs into ICE data, expanded arrests, low violent-conviction rates among detainees, and how enforcement shifted toward broad sweeps and politicized nativism.

Nick Srnicek, academic and author on the digital economy and technology politics. He maps the AI stack from chips to apps. He explores business models chasing AGI and how cloud providers exert control. He compares U.S. and China tech strategies and the rise of techno‑nationalism. He discusses automation’s uneven effects on work and the political stakes of AI’s militarization.

Dylan Riley, a UC Berkeley sociologist who studies class formation, and Robert Brenner, an economic historian of capitalism, discuss Trumpism as a coherent counterrevolutionary project. They trace its roots to long economic stagnation and a split between credentialed and non‑credentialed workers. They focus on attacks on universities, expansion of the security state as jobs policy, AI displacing credentialed labor, and the unraveling of the international order.

Forrest Hylton, a historian and writer focused on Latin America and a contributor to the London Review of Books, dives into the complexities of Venezuela's political landscape. He discusses the enduring influence of the military under Maduro and the historical roots of Venezuelan nationalism. Hylton highlights how oil dependence has shaped the economy, the impact of the Caracazo riots on political systems, and the challenges facing progressive movements post-Chávez. He also critiques the U.S. stance in the region and its implications for Venezuelan sovereignty.

Vivek Chibber, a political theorist and editor at Catalyst, discusses the unique challenges faced by the American labor movement. He delves into how American exceptionalism stunted the growth of a labor party, the role of craft unionism versus industrial unionism, and the violent repression that unions faced. Chibber explains how racial tensions and mass immigration complicated solidarity among workers, and he highlights the pivotal changes brought by the New Deal, while questioning its adequacy as a social democratic solution.

Joining the discussion are Kevan Harris, a UCLA historian focused on Iran's political economy, and Yassamine Mather, an Iranian scholar and activist. They explore the recent protests in Iran, sparked by economic grievances related to a phone tax. Mather highlights the dangers of foreign intervention and media distortions, while Harris discusses the brutal state repression and the challenges of elite paralysis. Both guests stress that the ongoing struggle reflects deep-rooted discontent, with calls for international solidarity from the working class.