Emancipations Podcast

C. Derick Varn, host of the ‪Varn Vlog‬ is a Marxist theorist, poet and political commentator. Varn join our show to discuss the protests and riots against ICE in Los Angeles and across the country that popped off in late spring and early summer 2025. We examine the history of riots in the US, the role of the left in the context of a second Trump presidency, how Marxists have theorized the return of riots and uprisings in our time (with a focus on communization theory) and what we might expect moving forward. Please support our work by becoming a Patreon member https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations 

Analytic philosophy is the leading form of philosophy in the English-speaking world and most academic philosophy departments are analytic. But what explains this power and what is the history of analytic philosophy. Where did it begin and how did it rise to such prominence? I am joined by philosopher Christoph Schuringa to explore the social history of analytic philosophy. Analytic philosophy tends to think of itself as concerned with eternal questions, transcending the changing scenes of history. It thinks of itself as apolitical. This book, however, convincingly shows that the opposite is true. To this day, analytic philosophy is the ideology of the status quo. It may seem arcane and largely removed from the real world, but it is a crucial component in upholding liberalism, through its central role in elite educational institutions. Learn more about this book and acquire a copy here: https://bit.ly/4lhoHF5 SHOWNOTES: We discuss why Christoph wrote the book, the origin of the analytic/continental divide, the meaning of logical positivism, Wittgenstein's influence and the various schools in Cambridge and Vienna that formed analytic philosophy. The contradictions of the "linguistic turn" and the ways it failed to address social concerns. Whether there are exceptions within analytic philosophy, or philosophers whose methods might offer a more robust engagement with the social and with radical philosophy. The theory of the "colonization" of analytic philosophy in other disciplines, from ethics, to politics, to continental thinkers. Can analytic philosophy shake off liberalism and if not why. If so, how? #EmancipationsPodcast

My guest is Dr. Francesca Antonini, a historian and scholar of Antonio Gramsci. Dr. Antonini teaches at the Ca' Foscari University in Venice Italy. Her latest book is an exhaustive study of Gramsci's theory of Bonapartism, and it is entitled, Caesarism and Bonapartism in Gramsci: Hegemony and the Crisis of Modernity. In this discussion, we examine the Marxist view of Bonapartism and how it differs from liberal theories, the different periods of Gramsci's thinking on the concept, how Bonapartism relates to fascism in Gramsci's thought and why Gramsci retains the idea of Caesarism even though Marx rejected it. Please support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations

Ben Burgis joins us for a discussion on the analytic Marxism of G.A. Cohen and the implications of his reading of Marx for 21st century socialism. We discuss Burgis's essay in the new book Flowers for Marx available now with with Revol Press. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations 

My guest Clara Mattei has written about austerity’s dark intellectual origins in her important new book The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way for Fascism. We discuss the main ideas of this book and how the historical roots of austerity emerge as a response by the ruling class to the social democratic gains of the working class following the First World War in Europe. At the core of Dr. Mattei's book is a powerful lesson for the left, namely that conditions of economic austerity have the tendency to sap the political resolve of the working class. Austerity depoliticizes the working class and this is why liberal economists implement it. We discuss the history of how economists and technocratic policymakers invented austerity and how we can challenge it. Clara E. Mattei is a Professor of Economics and Director of the CHE, Center for Heterodox Economics, of The University of Tulsa Oklahoma, recently inaugurated in February 2025 (https://sites.utulsa.edu/chetu). Please support my efforts by becoming a Patreon member https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations 

My guest Sudip Bhattacharya studies and organizes the working class in New Jersey and he joins me to discuss the findings of his work. We explore some practical strategies for organizing the working class, the future of socialist politics and ways to overcome some of the main limitations to class politics in our time. This conversation is inspired by a new essay Sudip wrote for The Hampton Reader. Check out the book published with Iskra Press Sudip Bhattacharya is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at Rutgers University. You can find his work at outlets like Protean magazine, Jacobin, Current Affairs, Black Agenda Report, among others.

I am joined by Marxist historian Ian Szabo to discuss the revival of Karl Kautsky's revolutionary thought among contemporary Marxists. We discuss a recent article on Kautsky's theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and we address the predominant misreadings and misinterpretations that exist about Kautsky, and how his thought speaks to our present. Read Ian Szabo's article "The Adolescence of a Concept: Dictatorship of the Proletariat in Karl Kautsky’s Revolutionary Writings (https://bit.ly/4hHoOaW).  Please support our efforts on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations 

Welcome to The Archimedean Point, a new series on the current political situation from a Marxist perspective. In our second episode, Daniel Tutt and Conrad Hamilton discuss the inadequacies of left-liberal accounts of racism and bigotry and why only a Marxist analysis can address the ideology of the far right. We also discuss new work by Daniel on Michel Clouscard and his book Neo-Fascism and the Ideology of Desire and Conrad's new essay in the book After Speculative Realism. Episode One of The Archimedean Point can be found here (https://youtu.be/kTjaIm0XmZU?si=5cHD0k4gjnMsMGPT) The Archimedean Point is a reference to a concept from Lukács's History and Class Consciousness that refers to "the point from which the whole of reality can be overthrown." SHOWNOTES: The Social Formation of the Far Right https://bit.ly/3XSpR0B Neo-Fascism and the Ideology of Desire https://bit.ly/41jfkfL After Speculative Realism https://bit.ly/4ckRup4

Welcome to a special crossover podcast discussion on Michael Mann's first major feature film Thief (1981). While Michael Mann is best known for films like HEAT and Last of the Mohicans, Thief is by far his most political film. The film explores themes of labor, exploitation, class and the inner lives of criminals and convicts. We discuss the Marxist and Freudian undertones in this great masterpiece of cinema. This conversation is hosted by Mtume Gant, filmmaker, professor and host of Within Our Gates podcast and Daniel Tutt, philosopher and host of the Emancipations podcast.  Please support us at https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations Please support Within Our Gates at https://www.patreon.com/c/Tumes/home 

I am joined by K. Daniel Cho to discuss his provocative new book Genius After Psychoanalysis: Freud and Lacan which argues that genius is not exceptional talent or intelligence but is related to and illuminated by the psychological concept of sublimation. Beginning with a close examination of Freud's work on Leonardo da Vinci, Cho analyzes film, art, our relationship to nature, politics, group psychology, love, and philosophy to demonstrate that genius, far from an elitist notion, is universally available through a different approach to ideas of imperfection, disappointment, and failure. Learn more about the book. K. Daniel Cho is Professor of Education at Otterbein University in Columbus, USA. He works on psychoanalysis in a variety of disciplinary contexts. He is the author of Psychopedagogy: Freud, Lacan, and the Psychoanalytic Theory of Education and coeditor of Marcuse’s Challenge to Education.