Left Anchor

Today we've got Professor Jedediah Purdy on to discuss his new book This Land Is Our Land: The Struggle for a New Commonwealth. We talk about how he distinguishes a socialist society from a commonwealth, the advanced case of political rot in the United States, what is to be done about climate change, and more. Enjoy!

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Here's a little excerpt from a story by Ryan's father about running the Little Colorado during a flood. Find the whole thing here!

If a Democrat wins the White House next year, they will almost certainly not have 60 votes in the Senate, or perhaps even a majority. New bold legislation like a Green New Deal will face a near-impossible uphill struggle. But hang on -- it turns out there are gigantic reams of statutory authority just waiting to be picked up. We've got David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, on to talk about his fresh magazine issue laying out just some of these tools. The Prospect has Marcia Brown on how the next president can unilaterally cancel almost all student debt, Graham Steele on how they could put chains on Wall Street, Gabrielle Gurley on how they could decriminalize pot, Sandeep Vaheesan on how they could turn an antitrust blowtorch on corporate oligopolies, and much more! Without exaggeration, what the next president will do with his or her statutory authority is probably the single most important issue in the 2020 primary. A sizable presidency's worth of accomplishments is theoretically possible just by enforcing existing laws. We (and the candidates) should pay close attention!

In this excerpt we discuss how Republican electoral cheating reveals their lack of power in an Arendtian sense. Subscribe now to hear the full episode!

Today we've got on Liza Featherstone to chat about her article on the families of 2020 candidates. From there we move onto a broader discussion of the merits of Bernie vs. Warren, how FDR became a class traitor, whether Lincoln was any good, and more! Also links to her books: Divining Desire and Selling Women Short.

We've got writer David Klion on to discuss the freshly updated magazine Jewish Currents, Center for American Progress chief Neera Tanden's decision to bust the ThinkProgress union, the prospects for imperial rollback after 2020, how far the new Koch- and Soros-funded Quincy Institute should be trusted, and the evolution of Bernie Sanders' foreign policy thinking. Here are his Nation articles: on Matt Duss, lefty foreign policy, and the Quincy Institute.

We bring on Dr. Jamaal Green -- otherwise known as the Surly Urbanist -- to talk about the ongoing debate about the role of slavery in early capitalism. Was it necessary to get capitalist development started, or did it actually slow down economic growth? Moreover, why is this an important question, and what does the gruesome history of slavery tell us about the nature of capitalist institutions? Tune in to find out!

Listen to Ryan's petty rant about how Bret Stephens has the easiest job on the planet, but can't even enjoy it. Subscribe here to hear the full episode!

We've got a gen-u-ine lefty preacher, Rev. John Thornton Jr., on the podcast to talk about what it's like participating in organized leftist Christianity in 2019. We discuss "The Class Struggle and Christian Love," by Herbert McCabe, plus two of John's articles on the failure of "compassionate conservatism" and why there has so far been no appearance of a serious religious left.