

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

Jun 15, 2024 • 2h 35min
Season 6 Episode 21: Jeet Heer on Marty Peretz
The Nation's Jeet Heer joins Ben Burgis to discuss his article "Friends and Enemies: Marty Peretz and the Travails of American Liberalism." You might not know who Marty Peretz is but you've unfortunately seen his handiwork--Anthony Blinken, for example, is a Peretz protege. So is Jim Cramer. The man's got a lot to answer for, and Jeet gets into all of it.Before that, the great RM Brown joins us for a freewheeling discussion of Dave Rubin, Jimmy Dore and much more. And in the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew watch a very different Jeet Heer interview--Jeet's appearance on the Jesse Lee Peterson show. Don't miss that.Follow Jeet on Twitter: @HeerJeetFollow RM on Twitter: @xrmbrownx2Follow 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

Jun 8, 2024 • 2h 9min
Season 6 Episode 20: Exiting the Vampire's Castle (ft. Daniel Tutt)
Daniel Tutt discusses Mark Fisher's 'Exiting the Vampire's Castle' essay. Ben Burgis talks about NYU's reeducation program for Palestine protesters. The postgame features a debate review on Israel, Palestine & Iran with Cenk Uygur and Dave Smith.

Jun 1, 2024 • 2h 29min
Season 6 Episode 19: Tucker Carlson & Dugin (ft. Matt McManus & C. Derrick Varn)
This time we bring on the big guns--political science professor Matt McManus and Varn Vlog host C. Derrick Varn--to help Ben Burgis watch Tucker Carlson's interview with Russian fascist intellectual Aleksandr Dugin. This interview is basically GTAA catnip. Before that, we introduce new GTAA intern Aidan, talking about the protests at UCLA, and we do a quick wellness checks on Dennis Prager. Last but definitely not least, Varn and Jason Myles hang out in the postgame for patrons.Watch Varn Vlog:https://www.youtube.com/@VarnVlogFollow Varn on Twitter: @VarnVlogFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Jason on Twitter: @J_Myles_TiRFollow 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

May 25, 2024 • 2h 36min
Season 6 Episode 18: Ben's Munk Debate w/Jamie Kirchick (ft. David Griscom & Matthew Whalan)
David Griscom and Matthew Whalan join Ben Burgis to listen to Ben's debate on the Munk Debates podcast with neoconservative commentator Jamie Kirchick on, "Be it resolved, the campus protesters are on the right side of history."Before that, Ben and the crew talk about Biden's reception by anti-war students at Morehouse (where Ben used to teach) and Ben's Jacobin review of Mark Robert Rank's interesting but flawed book "The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us." Rank stops short of realizing that, if wealth and poverty have as much to do with the luck of the draw as he says, capitalism is indefensible.Finally, and on the subject of capitalism and the alternative to it, in the postgame for patrons, we take a look at some one-star reviews of the Communist Manifesto.Read the "Random Factor" review:https://jacobin.com/2024/05/random-factor-inequality-capitalism-reviewFollow David on Twitter: @DavidGriscomFollow Matthew on Twitter: @VernonWhalanFollow 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

May 17, 2024 • 2h 10min
Season 6 Episode 17: Bill Maher & Morning Joe are Full of Sh*t on Palestine/Jordan Chariton on Flint
Jordan Chariton comes on GTAA for the first time to chat about his new documentary "Flint Fatigue." Before that, RM Brown comes by to watch some Bill Maher and Morning Joe. Last but not least, we watch Ben's keynote speech at last week's convention of the Green Party of New Jersey. (No postgame this week, sorry!)Watch the documentary:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skA8m33jJMYSign up for Ben's Capital class starting next Sunday:patreon.com/benburgis/joinMore info on the class:https://benburgis.substack.com/p/marx-class-starting-on-may-12thFollow Jordan on Twitter: @JordanCharitonFollow 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

May 11, 2024 • 2h 2min
Season 6 Episode 16: Friendly Marxism Debate w/Spencer Case & Talking NJ Palestine Organizing
Ben Burgis is freshly back from New Jersey where among other things he did a Palestine teach-in at the Princeton encampment. He also recently sat down for a friendly debate with goodhearted but right-leaning philosophy podcaster Spencer Case. We watch most of that and then bring on Rutgers professor and New Jersey Uncommitted organizer Elektra Kostopoulou to talk about her Palestine activism and (a little bit) about her related academic work. Eleketra also sticks around for the postgame for GTAA patrons.Watch the full interview on Spencer's podcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ57COJSIIUCheck out the Uncommitted campaign in NJ:https://uncommittednj.org/Here's some coverage of the Rutgers-Newark encampment:https://www.pbs.org/video/rutgers-protest-1714597214/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

May 9, 2024 • 1h 54min
Season 6 Episode 15: Fascism is When Austrian Painter (ft. Daniel Bessner & Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins)
Two of our favorite Daniels--Bessner and Steinmetz-Jenkins--join Ben Burgis to talk about the Daniels' Jacobin article "Liberals’ Heated Fascism Rhetoric Sidesteps Self-Reflection" and the broader debate on the relationship between Trumpism and Fascism.Read the article:https://jacobin.com/2024/04/liberals-fascism-rhetoric-democrats-electionFollow Daniel (Bessner) on Twitter: @dbessnerFollow Daniel (Steinmetz-Jenkins) on Twitter: @daniel_dsj2110Follow 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

May 7, 2024 • 2h 18min
Season 6 Episode 13: Who's Afraid of Collectivism?/Ben on MSNBC & SiriusXM
[Scheduling: Sorry to be releasing these slightly out of order--things got messed up with traveling and etc. but Ep. 15 should be coming out in a couple days, then Ep. 16 on Saturday and we'll be caught up!]Friend of the show Jordan Peterson recently referred to Luke Savage as an "idiot socialist." This week we talk to Luke himself (as well as actual-friend-of-show Matt McManus) about the article that got Dr. Peterson's attention--"Don't Fear Collectivism":https://jacobin.com/2024/04/collectivism-individualism-socialismWe're also watching GTAA host Ben Burgis's clips from the MSNBC documentary XCLD: The Story of Cancel Culture, as well as listening to Ben's recent appearance with Laura Coates on SiriusXM.Follow Luke on Twitter: @LukewSavageFollow 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.comVisit benburgis.com

Apr 26, 2024 • 2h 10min
Season 6 Episode 14: Alexander Herbert on Lenin/Ben on WABC/Watching Tucker in the Postgame
Alexander Herbert, a historian of the Soviet Union, joins us to chat about his Substack essay "Do We Really Need Lenin Today?" Before that, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew listen to some of Ben's recent appearance on the WABC show "The Other Side of Midnight" where he answers some questions from host Frank Marano about objections to his views on Gaza. In the postgame for patrons, we watch Tucker Carlson's deeply strange appearance on the Joe Rogan ExperienceRead Alex's essay:https://alexherbert.substack.com/p/do-we-really-need-lenin-todayFollow Alex on Twitter: @alextherbertFollow 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

Apr 12, 2024 • 1h 53min
Season 6 Episode 12: Jay Ponti on QAnon, Trump, and "Neo-Fascism"
Jay Ponti, the author of "Be The Revolution: How Occupy Wall Street and the Bernie Sanders Movement Reshaped American Politics" joins Ben Burgis to talk about the chapter on QAnon, Trump, and "neo-fascism"--including some surprising personal connections. Before that, Ben and the crew will be joined joined by the great RM Brown to watch, among other things, Charlie Kirk lose his mind on the subject of Haitian voodo.Order Jay's book:https://www.amazon.com/Be-Revolution-Movement-Reshaped-American/dp/B0CLJXZ5Q5Follow him on Twitter: @jaypontiFollow 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


