Give Them An Argument

Natasha Hakimi Zapata joins us to chat w/Ben about her important new book "Another World is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe." From Britain's NHS to Singapore's publicly-leased housing system to New Zealand's egalitarian pensions to Norway's family policies, her book documents the way that countries around the world have proven that social problems that seem intractable in America are in fact perfectly fucking tractable given the political will. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on the ongoing insanity in Los Angeles and how to think about the class politics of ICE raids and resistance to them. In the postgame for patrons, we continue to watch Jordan Peterson vs. atheists.Read Ben's article on the ICE raids:https://jacobin.com/2025/06/la-unions-immigration-huerta-trumpBuy Natasha's book:https://thenewpress.org/books/another-world-is-possible/Follow Natasha on Twitter: @natashakimizFollow 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

Bruno Leipold joins Ben Burgis to talk about his excellent book "Citizen Marx: Republicanism and the Formation of Karl Marx's Social and Political Thought." Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument responding to Jodi Dean on "neofeudalism." In the postgame for patrons, RM Brown joins Ben and the crew to break down some more of Jordan Peterson's bizarro debate with 20 atheists. And, oh yeah, scattered around all this there's some discussion of the spiraling insanity and authoritarianism going on outside our windows in Los Angeles.Read Ben's review of "Citizen Marx" and Jodi Dean's "Capital's Grave":https://unherd.com/2025/05/the-21st-century-belongs-to-marx/?us=1Read Dean's response to Ben:https://www.sublationmag.com/post/analogies-and-tendencies-a-response-to-ben-burgisRead Ben's response to Dean:https://www.sublationmag.com/post/service-workers-aren-t-servants-a-response-to-jodi-deanOrder "Citizen Marx":https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691205236/citizen-marxFollow Bruno on Twitter: @BrunoLeipoldFollow 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.com

Nathan J. Robinson, editor of Current Affairs and co-author with Noam Chomsky, dives deep into their book 'The Myth of American Idealism.' They dissect the moral implications of U.S. foreign policy, particularly during the Vietnam War, challenging conventional narratives and revealing the darker undercurrents of military interventions. The discussion also touches on the complexities of the Israel-Palestine conflict and critiques surrounding democracy. With humor interspersed, they navigate the ethical dilemmas of warfare and the importance of free speech in political discourse.

Andrew Hartman joins Ben Burgis to talk about his fascinating book "Karl Marx in America," where he traces interest in Marx's ideas by American commentators from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression to the Vietnam-era New Left to the present. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument responding to Ro Khanna on socialism. In the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew watch a slightly less serious discussion about Marx by Tim Pool and Sargon of Akkad and some other person who's name none of us can be bothered to remember (+ Donald Trump telling a story about how his fat billionaire friend in London).Sign up for the Capital Vol. 2 class:patreon.com/benburgisBuy Andrew's book:https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/K/bo245100866.htmlFollow Andrew on Twitter: @HartmanAndrewFollow 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.com

Eric Blanc joins Ben Burgis to talk about his new book "How Worker-to-Worker Organizing Is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big." Then in the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew will watch a bit of Ethan Klein vs. Hassan Piker for some reason.Buy Eric's book:https://www.ucpress.edu/books/we-are-the-union/paperRead Eric's Substack:https://www.laborpolitics.com/Follow Eric on Twitter: @_ericblancFollow 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.com

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) comes on to talk about the swirling chaos of Trump 2.0 and where Dems are falling short in response. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument about why the Left should trumpet the fact that social democratic policies are objectively pro-natalist. Pressuring people to have kids is obviously illiberal and bad, but we should take the W on the fact that the economic policies we want would make things a lot easier for people who want to make that choice (and the fact that this would be good for our society). Musician and commentator José Ayerve joins us in the postgame for patrons..Follow Ro Khanna on Twitter: @RepRoKhannaFollow 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.com

First-time GTAA guest Borna Radnik and frequent GTAA guest Matt McManus join Ben Burgis to chat about Borna's book "Freedom, in Context:Time, History, and Necessity in Hegel." Before that, in lieu of an Opening Argument and for the first time on YouTube, we'll play a talk Ben gave a while back called "Karl Marx Deserves Better Critics."...and, last but not least, Jason Myles hangs out in the postgame for patrons!Check out Borna's book:https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Context-History-Necessity-Hegel/dp/1350430048Follow Borna on Twitter: @BornaRadnikFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow 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.com

Matt Bruenig and Luke Savage join Ben Burgis to talk about their reviews of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's book, "Abundance," and what it all signifies about the drift of contemporary liberalism. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument about why we should reject the false dichotomy of having to either support Donald Trump's "liberation day" insanity or neoliberal free-trade absolutism. Last but definitely not least, Victor Bruzzone and Ethan from Confronting Capital join for the postgame for patrons.Ticket link for the San Francisco live show on April 17th:https://www.universe.com/events/is-trump-the-end-of-history-tickets-J30WT9Read Luke's review of "Abundance":https://www.lukewsavage.com/p/the-paucity-of-abundance...and Matt's:https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2025/03/24/the-abundance-agenda/Follow Luke on Twitter: @lukewsavageFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattBruenigFollow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzoneFollow Ethan on Twitter: @Mouthy_InfidelFollow 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.com

Jake and Andy are joined by Teen Driver’s Mark Gurarie to talk about protest music. Ben shows up for a bit at the beginning but then disappears because he has bad priorities and chose to spend his birthday with his "literal" family instead of his podcasting family. We're not sure what's wrong with him.Ticket link for the San Francisco live show on April 17th:https://www.universe.com/events/is-trump-the-end-of-history-tickets-J30WT9Check out Teen Driver:https://teendriver.bandcamp.comFollow 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.com

Ben Burgis faces off with the Libertarian Institute's managing editor Keith Knight in a wide-ranging debate about capitalism, socialism, coercion, authoritarianim, exploitation, and more.Follow 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.com