

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

May 28, 2021 • 60min
We Can't Cancel Our Way to a Better Future (Ben's Appearance on the Majority Report)
Ben and Forrest were both traveling this week, hence no new regular GTAA episode on Monday or patron ep on Thursday, but here's Ben's complete appearance on MR to talk about his new book and how the left should think about cancel culture.Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosny Lambre, a monthly Discord Movie Night, and "Discord Office Hours" (regularly scheduled group voice chats).Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAAVisit benburgis.com

May 20, 2021 • 10min
Season 2 Episode 6 Preview - Nick Manley on Soviet Chess
Chess teacher Nick Manley joins Ben to talk about the history of chess in the Soviet Union.Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want!Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosny Lambre, a monthly Discord Movie Night, and "Discord Office Hours" (regularly scheduled group voice chats).Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAAVisit benburgis.com

May 18, 2021 • 1h 30min
Season 2 Episode 5 - Julianna Forlano and Nora Barrows-Friedman
After a Palestine update with the Electronic Intifada's Nora Barrows-Friedman, act.tv host, comedian, and philosophy professor Julianna Forlano joins Ben to talk about philosophy, comedy, and the state of the left. Ben also talks about a big personal decision.Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosny Lambre, a monthly Discord Movie Night, and "Discord Office Hours" (regularly scheduled group voice chats).Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAAVisit benburgis.com

May 14, 2021 • 9min
Season 2 Episode 4 Preview - The Return of Freddie de Boer
For this week's patron bonus episode: Ben talked to Fredrik deBoer, author of "The Cult of Smart," about a bunch of his Substack essays. Two of these essays are "a bad partner is worse than rain" about Israel and Palestine and "Perhaps We Cannot Do Both" which talks about the George Floyd and BLM protests and Meghan Markle and the difference between symbolic fights and real big change.https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/...Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want!Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosny Lambre, a monthly Discord Movie Night, and "Discord Office Hours" (regularly scheduled group voice chats).Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAAVisit benburgis.com

May 12, 2021 • 1h 36min
Season 2 Episode 3 - Sam Seder vs. the Libertarians (ft. Touré Reed and Jason Myles)
Sorry for the delay in posting this one--but it's worth the wait! Majority Report host Sam Seder joins Ben to talk about some of the highlights and recurrent themes of his many, many debates with libertarians. In the second half (and going into the postgame), Touré Reed and Jason Myles come on to talk about capitalism, racial injustice, and some of the themes from Touré's excellent book "Toward Freedom."Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want!Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a Thursday bonus episode every week, access to the Discord server, a Sopranos Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosney Lambre, and regularly scheduled "Discord Office Hours" group voice chats.Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAA...Visit benburgis.com

May 5, 2021 • 38min
Book Launch: Canceling Comedians While the World Burns (Highlights)
"Canceling Comedians While the World Burns: A Critique of the Contemporary Left" is officially out now! In these clips from the online book launch, Ana Kasparian, Nando Vila, Ryan Lake, Daniel Bessner, and David Griscom stop by to chat--and to talk about the book. Ben reads a short extract from it at the end. If you (ahem) want to pick up a copy yourself, it's available at all the usual book places but here's a link to order it from the worker-owned bookstore Red Emmas:https://redemmas.org/titles/34877-canceling-comedians-while-the-world-burns--a-critique-of-the-contemporary-leftTo watch the full book launch: https://youtu.be/bgHwwWySfroIndependent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosny Lambre, a monthly Discord Movie Night, and "Discord Office Hours" (regularly scheduled group voice chats).Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAAVisit benburgis.com

May 4, 2021 • 1h 33min
GTAA Season Two Episode One: David Griscom on Jean-Paul Sartre (Also, Did I Mention I Wrote a Book?)
Left Reckoning's David Griscom talks about Jean-Paul Sartre. Ben and Producer Forrest debunk a video made by a YouTube tax-shelter guru who seems very upset about Ben's "Abolish Inherited Wealth" article. Joe Biden is up to various shenanigans (although we might not get to those until the postgame). Nando Vila plugs Ben's new book.Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want!Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a Thursday bonus episode every week, access to the Discord server, a Sopranos Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosney Lambre, and regularly scheduled "Discord Office Hours" group voice chats.Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAA...Visit benburgis.com

Apr 27, 2021 • 3h 12min
Bonus: Ben Debates Gene Epstein on Capitalism vs. Socialism (plus Post-Game Analysis w/Crew)
About a week ago, Ben debated Gene Epstein at the Soho Forum in Florida on capitalism vs. socialism.. Now that the video's out, Ben watched it with Producer Forrest and economics prof & Current Affairs House Economist Rob Larson and did a little postgame analysis at the end. Enjoy!Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosney Lambre, a monthly Discord Movie Night, and "Discord Office Hours" (regularly scheduled group voice chats).Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAAVisit benburgis.com

Apr 23, 2021 • 2h 29min
Bonus - The Derek Chauvin Verdict and the Struggle Ahead w/Jason Myles and Pascal Robert
Season 2 doesn't officially start for another week and a half, but we thought this was a worth popping back on to cover. Jason Myles and Pascal Robert from the This is Revolution podcast join Ben to talk about the Chauvin verdict, prospects for the continuing struggle to demilitarize policing and hold murderous cops to account, and more.Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want!Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosney Lambre, a monthly Discord Movie Night, and "Discord Office Hours" (regularly scheduled group voice chats).Follow Ben on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgisLike, subscribe, and get notifications on Ben’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAAVisit benburgis.com

Apr 13, 2021 • 1h 43min
Bonus Glenn Greenwald Interview: The Fight to Defend Democracy in Brazil
Ben talked to Glenn Greenwald over the weekend about Glenn's new book, "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro's Brazil." We were originally planning to play this as part of the first episode of Season 2, but it ended up going so long and being so interesting that we decided to release it as a standalone. Enjoy!Support Give Them An Argument by becoming a patron at patreon.com/benburgis to get an extra episode each week, access to the Discord server, monthly "Discord Office Hours" group voice chats, early access to the monthly Sopranos recap bonus episodes with Wosney Lambre, Nando Vila, and Mike Recine, and monthly Discord Movie Nights.