

Varn Vlog
C. Derick Varn
Abandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Varn Vlog is the pod of C. Derick Varn. We combine the conversation on philosophy, political economy, art, history, culture, anthropology, and geopolitics from a left-wing and culturally informed perspective. We approach the world from a historical lens with an eye for hard truths and structural analysis.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 23, 2022 • 1h 20min
Dr. Victor Devinatz on Communism and American Labor Unions from 1920s to 1940s
Please support our Patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.Dr. Victor Devinatz is a Distinguished Professor in the College of Business since 1991at Illinois State. . He is nationally recognized for his expertise in qualitative research in a wide variety of labor relations and employment relations topics where he utilizes ethnographic, oral history and archival research methodologies. We discuss the history of the TUEL, TUUL, and the early CIO in labor history from the early 1920s into the 1940s. Towards the end, we discuss the implications for today's labor movement. You can find another interview with Dr. Devinatz at Cosmopod. Abandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

Jun 20, 2022 • 1h 19min
Ben Lewis from Marxism Translated on Second International Marxist Texts
Please support our Patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.I talk to Ben Lewis from Marxism Translated on the Second International materials that remain untranslated and why it is important. You can find Ben's work here: Marxism Translated – First-time translations, analysis, and discussion of classical German-language Marxist textsAbandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

Jun 16, 2022 • 1h 46min
John and Shannon on the Dual Power Gathering and Mutual Aid
Please support our Patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.John and Shannon are both organizers of the Dual Power Gathering. You can find out more and support the event here. Abandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

Jun 13, 2022 • 49min
Jeff from Morning Comrade on Education Crisis and Unions, Part 1
Please support our Patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.Jeff is a teacher in Jefferson Parish, a Union member, and the host of Morning Comrade. We discuss the history of Unions in New Orleans, challenges to education, and the current situation. Jeff will be coming back to expand on this conversation in the future.Abandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

Jun 9, 2022 • 2h 32min
Sudip Bhattacharya on Solidarity, Intellectuals, and Activism
Please support our patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.Sudip Bhattacharya is a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University, an activist, and a writer. He researches the history of organizing and labor movement. We reference two of his articles: Intellectuals and Activism and Striving for Solidarity.IF you would like to help support his mutual aid work with the New Jersey DSA, you can donate at Venmo @ CNJ-DSA-MAAbandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

Jun 7, 2022 • 2h 8min
Jules Taylor of No Easy Answers on the Left after Biden
Please support our patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.Jules Taylor of No Easy Answers comes on to talk to me about what it means to be Communist in this time where nothing seems certain, the "Democratic socialist" revival seems to be beached on the sands of the Democratic party, geopolitical complications are everywhere, and many people have lost the narrativeAbandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

May 30, 2022 • 1h 30min
Patrick Toole From the Lefty Book Club On Political Education
Please support our patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.In today's episode, we talk to Patrick Toole. Patrick Toole is a cofounder of the Lefty Book Club. We discuss the horizon of opportunity and limits of leftist education and educational projects.Abandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

May 23, 2022 • 3h 10min
Steve Mann and John Michael Colon on FOREX and the Legal History of Money
Please support our patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.John Michael Colon and Steve Mann are editors of Strange Matters magazine. We discuss the limits of the popular versions of Modern Monetary Theory, the deep history of money, and the theories of FOREX, focusing on more modern history and the transition to the current fiscal situation. This is a continuation of this discussion. Abandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

May 19, 2022 • 1h 46min
Dr. Clyde Barrow on the Dangerous Classes
Please support our patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.In today's episode, we talk to Dr. Clyde Barrow on lumpenproletariat and other groupings that result from finance capital. Dr. Clyde W. Barrow is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is the author of Toward a Critical Theory of States: The Poulantzas-Miliband Debate After Globalization (SUNY Press, 2016), The Entrepreneurial Intellectual in the Corporate University (Palgrave MacMillian, 2018), and his newest book is The Dangerous Class: The Concept of the Lumpenproletariat (University of Michigan Press, 2020). We will discuss the centrality of the lumpenproletariat to finance capital, the new social groupings that have emerged with deindustrialization, and the history of the lumpen question.Abandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic

May 16, 2022 • 2h 18min
Dr. Rebecca Karl on China's Revolutions
Please support our patreon. For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.Rebecca E. Karl teaches History at New York University. She is the author of China's Revolutions in the Modern World: A Brief Interpretive History, Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A Concise History (Duke 2010) and Staging the World: Chinese Nationalism at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (Duke 2002).Abandon all hope ye who subscribe here. Crew:Host: C. Derick VarnAudio Producer: Paul Channel Strip ( @aufhebenkultur )Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesLinks and Social Media:twitter: @skepoetFacebookYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeSend us a text Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic