

Give Them An Argument
Ben Burgis
Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday nights with an exclusive postgame for GTAA patrons after the main show. (To become a patron, go to patreon.com/benburgis and sign up for the monthly cost of a milkshake at a 50s nostalgia diner in 1994.) Past guests have included Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, David Pizarro, Gregory Sadler, Glenn Greenwald, Krystal Ball, Bhaskar Sunkara, Sam Seder, Ana Kasparian, Emma Vigeland, Matt Christman, and Amber Frost. The show has also featured debates between host Ben Burgis and opponents ranging from Walter Block to Charlie Kirk.Ben is a philosophy professor, Jacobin columnist, and frequent debater. He did a regular "Debunk" segment on the Michael Brooks Show until 2020. He's appeared on the Debate Night with Charlie Kirk, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, Rising, Krystal, Kyle & Friends, the Majority Report w/Sam Seder & the Joe Rogan Experience.benburgis.compatreon.com/benburgis
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 16, 2026 • 1h 36min
Talking MAGA’s Intellectuals with Laura Field and Matt McManus
Ben Burgis and Matt McManus chat with Laura K. Field about her excellent new book "Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right."Order the book::https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691255262/furious-mindsFollow Laura on Twitter: @lkatfieldFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Jan 14, 2026 • 2h 26min
Curtis Yarvin Stops Being Coy About Fascism
Cynthia Cook, a commentator known for her analysis of political figures, and Deep State Kuba, a critical political analyst, join to dissect Curtis Yarvin's provocative new essay. They delve into Yarvin's extreme vision of regime change, unpacking his peculiar ideas about centralized governance and the removal of the old guard. The discussion highlights Yarvin's use of dense jargon as a tool for elitism, critiques his historical simplifications regarding Haiti, and warns of the potential implications of his authoritarian rhetoric. They explore the psychological underpinnings of his dominance fantasies in politics.

Dec 22, 2025 • 2h
Why Everyone Should Read Vivek Chibber
Marxist Twitter has been fighting about Vivek Chibber lately. Ben Burgis takes the opportunity to address the immediate controversy but also the much broader value of Chibber's work.Read the Jacobin Chibber interview on the origins of capitalism that everyone is freaking out about:https://jacobin.com/2025/12/colonialism-transition-feudalism-capitalism-history-economyRead Ben's essay "Taking the Red Pill: William Clare Roberts vs. Vivek Chibber on the Class Matrix":https://benburgis.substack.com/p/taking-the-red-pill-william-clareFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Dec 19, 2025 • 1h 14min
Is "Elite Capture" the Problem with Identity Politics?
Ben Burgis talks about why he doesn't buy Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò's defense of identity politics in Táíwò's book "Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)."Check out the book:https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1867-elite-captureRead Ben's review:https://damagemag.com/2025/06/11/uncaptured-identity-politics-is-no-substitute-for-a-politics-of-class/Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Dec 17, 2025 • 1h 25min
Are Service Workers and Public Sector Employees Part of the Proletariat?
Are service workers part of the "productive" part of the working class? And what does that mean? How about public sector employees--if they're not productive workers, does that mean that their interests don't align with productive workers and socialists shouldn't support the welfare state after all?Ben Burgis talks about what the Trotskyist leader and Marxist economist Ernest Mandel gets right and wrong in his introduction to Capital Vol. 2.Read Ben's essay:benburgis.substack.com/p/are-service-workers-and-public-sectorWatch the Erik Olin Wright "Understanding Class" lecture:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmiiSSMZPnERead his review of Jodi Dean's book:https://unherd.com/2025/05/the-21st-century-belongs-to-marx/Read Dean's response to Ben:https://www.sublationmag.com/post/analogies-and-tendencies-a-response-to-ben-burgisRead Ben's response to Dean's response:https://www.sublationmag.com/post/service-workers-aren-t-servants-a-response-to-jodi-deanFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Dec 15, 2025 • 1h 24min
Ana Kasparian Tries to Teach Bill Maher Basic Things About Palestine
Many-time GTAA guest Ana Kasparian went on Bill Maher's podcast Club Random. Ben Burgis watches the part where they argue about Gaza and breaks it down.Read Ben's article "The “Human Shields” Defense of Bombing Gaza’s Civilians Is Morally Bankrupt":https://jacobin.com/2023/11/human-shields-bombing-gaza-palestine-israel-defense-forces-morally-bankruptFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Dec 12, 2025 • 54min
Fuentes is a Symptom
Nick Fuentes is comically vile.So, why is it so hard to exile him to whatever dark corner of the discourse he deserves to go back to?One problem is that, when the whole landscape is soaking in ethnic essentialism, it's hard to draw the line at one particular version.Read Ben's essay:https://benburgis.substack.com/p/fuentes-is-a-symptomLink for Andy's show:https://www.facebook.com/events/s/meat-for-tea-presents-le-cirqu/1201459995272451/Link for the Tallywacker one:https://brendanboogie.substack.com/p/tallywacker-the-band-live-in-laFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Dec 10, 2025 • 1h 20min
The Penguin Edition of Marx's Capital is So Much Better Than the Princeton
The latest translation of Marx's Capital sparks heated debate. Ben Burgis passionately critiques the Princeton edition, pointing out problematic choices like edition selection and dense endnotes. He argues that the Penguin version is far superior in clarity and style. Key themes include the significance of accurate translation, the impact of Marx's revisions, and the importance of maintaining literary rhythm. Prepare for a lively discussion on why some translations fail to capture the original's impact!

Dec 8, 2025 • 1h 16min
Zohran is Right and the Online Left is Wrong
Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani's critics on the Left think he's a sell-out for not backing a primary challenge against Hakeem Jeffries or firing Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Some of them are about ready to denounce him as a fascist collaborator for sitting down with Donald Trump. Do any of these arguments add up?Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com

Oct 21, 2025 • 1h
Trump: We Lost Vietnam and Iraq Because of Woke
Donald Trump, who we keep hearing is a peacemaker, said his speech for the 250th anniversary of the founding of Navy that the U.S. only lost the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan because we got too "woke" about war tactics. Ben Burgis breaks it down.Get tickets to the election night show in NYC:https://www.barfreda.com/#/events/156966Read Ben's article in Jacobin:https://jacobin.com/2025/10/trump-vietnam-afghanistan-war-wokeFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.comVisit benburgis.com


