Left Anchor

In our holiday special, we delve into Judith Butler's Adorno Prize Lecture from September 11, 2012 entitled "Can One Lead a Good Life in a Bad Life?" as a framework for better understanding the significance and political function of social movements such as the Yellow Vests, #BlackLivesMatter, and Occupy.  

In this episode, we bring back world champion guest Jeff Spross to discuss Ross Douthat's argument against meritocracy, Bernard Yack's review of Bernard Manin's book The Principles of Representative Government, and finally Helen Andrews' case for aristocracy.

This time we interview the Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent, who has a new book out called An Uncivil War. We discuss how to save American democracy, the fecklessness of Democratic Party elites, and much more. [Also, check out Ryan's review of Greg's new book] 

Folks have been asking about this, and here it is: patreon.com/leftanchor. We'll be publishing two episodes per week, one for patrons and one for free. If you feel like that's worth $5 a month, or want to support ad-free lefty media in a dark time for journalism, we'd be much obliged if you could pitch in to support the show. The first Patreon episode is already here, so you can check it out right now! Also feel free to send us feedback at leftanchorpodcast @ gmail, or on Twitter or Facebook. Again, thanks to everyone for listening and for the support!

In the second part of our interview with University of Bath philosopher Brad Evans (don't miss part I!) we discuss the characteristics and functions of fascism, and how it may or may not apply to current political developments.

This is the first of a two-part interview of Brad Evans, a philosopher and critical theorist who specializes in violence at the University of Bath. We discuss the politics and the spectacle of violence, and how they have evolved under neoliberalism. Stay tuned for the second part, coming soon!

In this episode from the archive, we discuss dueling takes on whether the rise of democratic socialism in DSA and elsewhere is Taking Democracy Too Far (from friend of the pod Conor Friedersdorf) or is Actually, Harming Democracy (from other friend of the pod Sheri Berman). Apologies for the holiday break, but we've got another special interview coming up this weekend, keep your eyes peeled!

Today we have a very special episode! It's entirely dedicated to an interview with Franklin Bynum, the Judge-elect of Harris County Criminal Court #8, a Houston DSA member who walloped his Republican opponent in the 2018 midterms. We discuss how he came to run for the office, what it's like being a socialist in Houston, how leftists can use elected office to improve the country, and his tips for people considering following in his footsteps. This is probably our best episode to date, and even pretty funny, so please tune in and share! Find Franklin on his website, on Twitter @franklinbynum, and on Instagram @franklinforjudge.

In this episode, we discuss Immanuel Kant's views about the Enlightenment, how they have come down to us today in a bastardized form with Jonathan Haidt's atrocious book The Righteous Mind, and the ongoing relevance of Robert Frost's quote "A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel."

This time we bring back Jeff Spross to talk about immigration, why conservatives and capitalists whip up anti-immigrant paranoia, the value of open borders as a policy and as a utopian demand, and close up by discussing Hannah Arendt's ideas about the right to have rights. Image credit: Haskell Border Library