
Marx Engels Institute
News and analysis podcast from a Marxist perspective hosted by Alexander Mckay
Latest episodes

Jun 18, 2021 • 1h 5min
What is Imperialism? Part 1 of 2
In part 1 of a 2 part episode, we review the major theories of imperialism as derived by intellectuals including Hobson, Hilferding, Luxemburg, Bukharin, Lenin, Kautsky, Poulantzas and more. This episode is heavy on the theory, but we hope we've included enough humour and interesting historical tidbits to make it go down easier.
The second part will be available for Patrons here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/what-is-part-2-2-52762824

Jun 11, 2021 • 1h 39min
The Future of German Politics w/ Elena Lange and Michael Burkhart
German elections are on Sunday, September 26th, 2021. These will be the first election in 17 years without Angela Merkel at the fore, who is stepping down. This is shaping up to be an election with historic shifts in power amongst the German political parties, with large gains predicted for the German Green party. These shifts are significant given the importance of Germany as the imperialist pole in Europe, and perhaps serve as a harbinger for politics in the rest of the Western world.
To discuss, we are joined by Michael Burkhart, a writer based in Berlin, and Elena Lange, who is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer of Japanese Studies at the University of Zurich and author of the recently published book “Value without Fetish”
Check out Elena's book here: https://brill.com/view/title/31889, and find her on Twitter @ELLange6
You can follow Michael Burkhart on Twitter: @michiburkhardt

Jun 4, 2021 • 1h 44min
*Unlocked* - The Communist Manifesto (Part 1 of 2)
Part 2 available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/reading-group-2-51481687
Reading notes to follow along here: https://red519.substack.com/p/notes-for-communist-manifesto-chapters
Recorded as part of our two-part Reading Group for May, where we read the Communist Manifesto. We review the first two chapters of the Manifesto, exploring the major themes highlighted throughout, including historical materialism, class warfare, the advent of capitalism, the family, modernism, and more.

Jun 1, 2021 • 9min
*Preview* Police And Thieves
Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/police-and-51978611
In this episode Alex and Leila the emergence of the police under capitalism. From their beginning as a semi-military force to "manage" the industrial working class and how the role has evolved but also remained the same. They also look at the contradictions of policing and how the police are actually managers of crime.
Episode image is from the 1984-85 miners strike in Britain.

May 25, 2021 • 7min
*Preview* Interview With Angela Nagle - Part 2
Listen to the full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/interview-with-2-51677876
In the second part of our interview with Angela Nagle, we discuss the stunted development of Irish capitalism, the inter-imperialist rivalry between the USA and China as well as the impact of the Covid year on art and culture.

May 21, 2021 • 60min
Interview With Angela Nagle - Part 1
Part 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/interview-with-2-51677876
We sat down last week for an extensive discussion with Angela Nagle to discuss her latest writings on her new substack page, the Blair/third way phenomena, the death of academia and the virtues of going independent.
Be sure to check out Angela's writing on substack - https://angelanagle.substack.com/

May 19, 2021 • 8min
*Preview* Capitalism with "Chinese" Characteristics
Listen to the full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-only-with-51439398
We speak about China under Mao, and China's transition back into capitalism under Deng and subsequent leaders. We also speak about China's role as a rising imperialist leader.

May 14, 2021 • 1h 11min
Palestine and the Occupation
In this episode we look at the developing war between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli state, dive into the history of the region and explore how zionism has always been a tool of imperialism both British and American.
We start the episode though by examining the growing panic over inflation and the Biden administrations economic contradictions. A slight amendment to one detail in the episode, at one point we cite an inflation rate of 4.9% when the CPI rate for April was actually 4.2%

May 12, 2021 • 16min
*Preview* The Fall of the Labour Party
Subscribe to our Patreon to get access to the full episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fall-of-labour-51169851
Can Labour be saved? Is it worth saving? The Labour Party's recent loss in Hartlepool has reignited the debate about whether the Labour Party can still be understood as the UK's workers' party. We talk about why the Labour party lost its recent by-election in Hartlepool, the class composition of Labour politicians, Labour's uneven and contradictory history, and the pressure-group called 'Blue Labour'.

May 7, 2021 • 1h 11min
Conspiracies & Class Plus Interview with Dr Martin Kulldorff
In this episode we speak to Dr Martin Kulldorff of Harvard Medical School on the dubious nature of lockdowns as public health policy. We begin the episode by reflecting on the nature of conspiracy theories and why Marxists reject them as a way of understanding the world.
Read Dr Kulldorff's article in the Daily Telegraph
Music in this episode is taken from the track "Red Square" by The Durutti Column which can be found on the album "Vini Reilly"