Varn Vlog

Please support our patreon.  For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.Steve Mann, a member of the Strange Matters coops, will discuss the limits of our understanding of inflation and his article, "Notes Towards a Theory of Inflation."  We will talk about classical theories of inflation, MMT, and the limitations of all the current models. 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

Please support our patreon.  For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.In honor of May Day,  Chapo Trap House's and CushVlog's Matt Christman comes on today to speak about the situation of the US left and how we got here.   Labor has had some major victories in the past few weeks, but the trends are in general still negative.  How did we get here and what can we do about it?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

Please support our patreon.  For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.Professor Dongping Han was born and raised in rural Shandong, China. His mother was a farmer and his father was a blue-collar worker in a state-owned factory. Dongping started working after school on a collective farm when he was only nine. After he graduated from high school, he worked in the village factory, first as a lathe operator and then as a machinist. He served as the factory manager for four years before he went to college in 1978 when China reintroduced the college entrance examination again.  He studied English Literature as an undergraduate, and then went on to work on an MA in Translation. He taught at Zhengzhou University for three years before continuing his studies at the National University of Singapore for a diploma in Education. Dongping next traveled to the USA for his MA in History from the University of Vermont where he also taught Chinese Language and Chinese History. He continued his studies at Brandeis University, earning his Ph.D. in Politics there in 1998. While working on this degree at Brandeis, he also taught American students Chinese, Chinese students English, and courses on Chinese Politics and International Politics of the Pacific.Dongping taught at Warren Wilson College in 2000. In the last twenty-one years, he has taught International Politics, Comparative Politics, Chinese History, Environmental Politics, and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. He has led more than a dozen study abroad trips to China. He also won five outside grants to take four students each time to study in rural China. Dongping believes that in order to understand China, students need to learn about the Chinese rural areas. He is the author of "The Unknown Cultural Revolution: Life and Change in a Chinese Village."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

Please support our patreon.  For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.Daniel is the host of "What Is Politics"   and we discuss the problems of institutional drift, over-complexity in the systems, educational issues and the social problems they create, and classes attracted to left-wing thinking. 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

While the introduction music is that of Varn Vlog on this podcaster, this series will be simultaneously released on both the Varn Vlog podcast feed and the Regrettable Century podcast feed.   This is a long-running series we are doing on understanding social technologies, relationships of production, and how we get here:  i.e. what is the social and class history of the past.   In this episode, in this episode, we return to Chris Wickham's discussion of Neo-feudal revolutions and contextualize it.  This finishes our "As Old World End..." series, a new series will begin soon on other ways of understanding medieval historigraphy. Please support our patreon.  For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more.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 YoutubeSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog)Send 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

Please support our patreon.  For early and ad-free episodes, members-only content, and more. Jared is the author of Cyber Dandy. We talk about anti-communism and anti-radicalism in the US from the 1790s to the 1940s.  This is part one of a series. 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

Kim Panagos is a doctoral candidate finishing his dissertation on the concept of the "Fog of War" and Graete is a streamer and political theorist interested in building a more pragmatic and successful left.  We talk about the uses and misuses of military strategy, understanding emergent system dynamics, the limitations of left-wing political trends and thinking, and building a more resilient left. Links:https://www.twitch.tv/graetehttps://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Ethics-of-Weapons-Research-A-Framework-for-and-Arrigo/ce91cc45d63f5892fc55ab6dbd9d158d4bcc2386https://publish.obsidian.md/turbulence/The+Mind+at+War+-+Conflict+and+Cognition+in+Frank+Herbert%E2%80%99s+DuneCrew: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

Sam Kangarloo is an MMT Subject Matter Expert, Future Systems Designer, and Program/Project Management Consultant based in Massachusetts.  We discuss MMT as spelled by Warren Mosler, various theories of inflation, and its affects on politics. 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

Mir Bal is a social worker and leftist in Sweden.  He was a co-host of "For a Lost Cause," a Swedish Marxist podcast.    We discuss the history of the Swedish Social Democrats, the actual politics of the Sweden Democrats,  and many misconceptions North Americans may have about Nordic countries in general and Sweden in particular.Corrections: There is an error when we talk about economic scale.  While both are often listed as the 11th world economy in scale the indicators for determination must have been different, the GDP comparison was way off.  Russia's is around 1.4 trillion USD, Sweden about 600+ billion. Even this is confusing for relative wealth though: GDP per capita in Sweden is significantly higher 50K per person vs 20K per person.I also said Noriega and meant Daniel Ortega.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

Greg Belvedere is a writer and sometimes YouTuber who is very interested in the problems of ecology and net-energy expenditure. We discuss how much more technology, co-ops, and other ways for the working class to express their own power and autonomy. 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