1Dime Radio

A sharp critique of Gabriel Rockhill’s “Compatible Left” theory, from Cold War funding and the Frankfurt School to McCarthyism, deindustrialization, and the collapse of Soviet legitimacy. The discussion challenges claims about controlled opposition, examines Marxism-Leninism’s role in anti-colonial politics, and contrasts destabilization with genuine mass legitimacy, organization, and transformative power.

Harper O’Connor, a socialist YouTuber and DSA organizer, joins political theorist David McKerracher of Theory Underground for a lively debate on the post-left. They unpack political identity, personality, working-class support, labor power, immigration, DEI, and cultural integration. Is the left in need of reform, or should politics move beyond its old categories? A sharp discussion of pluralism, coalition-building, and life after the left-right binary.

A sweeping challenge to revolutionary politics examines why upheaval so often sparks an even harsher backlash. The discussion moves from Hungary, Bavaria, and Bolshevik internationalism to unions, mass parties, and the achievements of social democracy. It concludes with a critique of contemporary Western revolutionary communism, its dependence on liberal freedoms, and its effect on practical left-wing organizing.

Benjamin Studebaker, political theorist and author of *Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies*, joins a wide-ranging discussion on Canada’s trade war with the US and Mark Carney’s rise. They examine Trump’s power and dysfunction, foreign enemies, Europe’s right-wing shifts, Fukuyama’s “end of history,” the Iran war’s fallout, and what military AI reveals about the technology’s real capabilities.

David McKerracher, founder of Theory Underground, author of Timenergy, and co-author of Post-Left Theory, joins a wide-ranging conversation on thinking beyond left-right labels. They explore ideological blind spots, wokeism, Marxism, anarchism, gender politics, masculinity, and intellectual conformity. They also discuss CanonFest, family-friendly theory spaces, and David’s philosophy trading card game, Canon: TCG.

An exploration of nationalism’s shifting role in history, from democracy and national liberation to exclusion and domination. The discussion contrasts civic and ethnic nationalism, patriotism and political action, and examines why national belonging persists in a globalized world. It also asks whether socialism can build class solidarity without a homeland, and whether genuine internationalism must begin with sovereign nations.

Haz Al-Din, Chairman of the American Communist Party and creator of Infrared, joins a spirited discussion on MAGA Communism, patriotic socialism, China, and the limits of liberal democracy. They debate socialism with American characteristics, Soviet history, markets versus planning, and whether AI and cybernetics could reshape the economy. A provocative clash over Marxism, nationalism, and the future of revolutionary politics.

A sharp critique of AI and the society that created it. The discussion explores repetitive work, standardized education, algorithmic desire, and the loss of time for thinking and self-cultivation. It contrasts genuine creativity with formulaic cultural production, revisits Marx’s hopes for technology, and asks whether AI can liberate human potential or deepen our dependence and intellectual outsourcing.

Christian Parenti, an economics professor and author of Radical Hamilton and Lockdown America, joins a provocative discussion of the left’s COVID-era turn. They examine lockdowns, school closures, mandates, censorship, class privilege, the trucker convoy, Big Pharma and Big Tech, vaccine policy, gain-of-function research, and civil liberties. The conversation ends with a surprising pairing: classical Marxism and classical liberalism.

A lively debate takes aim at the “Lizard Left,” woke politics, and the status games hiding behind egalitarian language. The conversation explores socialism beyond the Soviet model, why left organizations alienate ordinary people, and how dating apps, social clubs, technology, and community could rebuild solidarity. It also tackles tribalism, democracy, civilization, falling birth rates, immigration, and the future of collective life.