The Antifada

Trashifada continues with a deep dive on the origin of the Koch-funded British anti-PC-hysteria-hysteria blog Sp!ked. We go through their origins in seventies Trotskyism to the bizarre posh ultraleftism in the eighties until they emerged as the magazine Living Marxism, famous for satirizing the nanny state and denying the genocide of Bosnian Muslims. From there they formed the Institute of Ideas, a collection of tiny front groups that have helped them along to mainstream media prominence. But to what ends? We offer a range of theories. Listen this Friday for a Bonus Real Sp!ked hours to hear some hot takes on goths, Karen-bashing, and Jimmy Saville. Support the show at http://patreon.com/theantifada Follow us on Twitch! Follow Alice and Riley and Trash Future Jenny Turner's fantastic essay on Institute of Ideas: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v32/n13/jenny-turner/who-are-they Account of RCP's political shift in the eighties: https://hatfulofhistory.wordpress.com/2019/05/21/the-revolutionary-communist-party-living-marxism-and-the-road-to-free-speech-absolutism/ Brendan on Dave Rubin calling himself a Marxist Libertarian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHUjZd63z9U Songs: Whistling in the Dark and Come out Fighting by Easterhouse

It's a Trash-a-Fada crossover extravaganza! We had a delightful discussion with Alice, Riley and Milo of TrashFuture about labour organising at the end of the world, and then we venture back into the mind of Toby Young as he weighs the lives of the British public against a feather and decides if they live or die to appease the great and powerful Economy. Listen to TF: https://trashfuturepodcast.podbean.com/ Follow TF: @trashfuturepod

Jacobin columnist and Four Futures: Life after Capitalism author Peter Frase indulges us in some speculation about the world of tomorrow--which will be anything but a return to "normal." Those changes will be dependent on type of class and ideological struggles that emerge in the next several months. With exterminationism looming around the ideology of "scarcity and hierarchy," it is up to us to imagine what kind of better reality might come out of this dark moment. Frase's article from Jacobin, the Party of Death: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/03/coronavirus-economy-public-health-exterminism Please support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/theantifada Closing song: Gun Club - Death Party

Amanda from Twitter Dot Com (@catcontentonly) was kind enough to break quarantine to sit down with Sean and discuss the politics of pandemic. How has the COVID-19 virus affected life in NYC? How seriously are people taking it compared to how seriously they should? How come our president is calling it The Chinese Virus? How is anti-Chinese xenophobia attached to the larger dynamic of power politics in a globalized capitalist world? Follow Amanda: @catcontentonly Outro: Bob Dylan - Shelter From The Storm

Teen Vogue politics editor Lucy Diavolo joins us to discuss what will hopefully be the story of this crisis: neighbors organizing themselves into mutual aid networks to support each other against the virus and the capitalist system's attempts to profit from the disorder. We talk about the concept of mutual aid historically, how it's emerged in the last 15 years in the front lines of disaster relief, and some of the new ways its emerging in these early days of the pandemic. There's a lot to cover, but we talk about grocery funds and distribution, food pantries, rent strikes, squatting, childcare, self-care, and much more. Then we talk a bit about the philosophy of mutual aid: does it provide an image of a better world, or just help us survive through the collapse of civilization? Find Lucy's work @SatansJacuzzi or on Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/contributor/lucy-diavolo Her article we discuss: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/people-fighting-coronavirus-mutual-aid-efforts-help-each-other Also see: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ and their Mutual Aid Safety Guide https://gothamist.com/news/neighbors-mobilize-help-each-other-during-coronavirus-pandemic Article in Commune about Rent Strike and disaster relief: https://communemag.com/rent-and-its-discontents/ Vacant homes seized in LA: https://itsgoingdown.org/a-dozen-vacant-homes-reclaimed-by-unhoused-tenants-in-la-as-calls-for-rent-strike-grow-across-us/ IGD round-up of mutual aid initiatives: https://itsgoingdown.org/autonomous-groups-are-mobilizing-mutual-aid-initiatives-to-combat-the-coronavirus/ LA Tenants Union demands: https://medium.com/@LATenantsUnion/declaraci%C3%B3n-sobre-el-covid-19-demands-in-response-to-the-covid-19-crisis-f7353925d298 Sex Worker Organizing Project mutual aid fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/z6w8v5 -Black and Pink penpal signup: https://www.blackandpink.org/penpal-sign-up Anarchist Black Cross guide to letter writing: https://nycabc.wordpress.com/write-a-letter/ DSA grocery fund: bit.ly/covid19aid Unity and Separation from Endnotes 4: https://endnotes.org.uk/issues/4/en/endnotes-preface Closing song: Devendra Banhart and Beck - Life During Wartime

A wave of wildcat strikes, blockades, and general militant organizing is spreading the University of California system based on the demand that academic workers be paid a living wage. We're joined by three union members of UC Santa Cruz who were fired for refusing to turn in grades until their demands are met. We discuss the history of UC strikes starting with the 2009 occupations that were a precursor to Occupy Wall Street, how this struggle began, the meaning of Bernie's support, its broader political vision, and what lessons the broader working class can draw. Support their strike fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-fund-for-striking-workers-at-ucsc The roots of the strike: https://thefilemag.org/the-roots-of-the-santa-cruz-wildcat-strike/ Letter to UC President Napolitano: https://thefilemag.org/dear-president-napolitano/ The strike spreads: https://www.kqed.org/news/11805470/uc-berkeley-graduate-students-stage-walkout-push-for-strike-authorization?fbclid=IwAR2Z2XKKgHX-rzs6HtwFBfGnLIFbYNgNfH_guZVBC0fX55xBq6_R7NER0us Another essay from a striker: https://communemag.com/become-unreasonable/ Closing song: Lost Kids - Cola Freaks

The gang delves into some of the discourse around Bernie, Warren and "intersectionality" to figure out just what liberal pundits mean when they say that word. Closing song: Kayla Nicole - Move Like A Snake Become a member at patreon.com/theantifada to unlock this and all other bonus content!

The gang is back with special guest Shuja Haider, @shujaxhaider, writer-at-large for Outline Magazine and contributing editor of Viewpoint. We begin with an analysis of the political economy of coronavirus, then continue with a lengthy discussion of the Bernie Sanders campaign. (You know we had to talk electoral politics eventually!) What kind of social forces are being brought together? What potentials might the campaign bring? What are the limits of electoralism and how does a robust anti-capitalist movement relate to politics-at-large? Coronavirus article: http://chuangcn.org/2020/02/social-contagion/ Shuja's superdelegates article: https://theoutline.com/post/8721/democratic-debaste-superdelegates-dnc-convention Outro: Chumbawumba - The Wasteland To support our work and access bonus content, become a patron today at www.patreon.com/theantifada

Jamie is joined by writer, musician, and leftist shitposter Hether Fortune (@hetherrfortune), formerly of the band Wax Idols, for a recap of their canvassing trip to New Hampshire, which involved seeing Bernie open for the Strokes and starting a riot! Also: the state of the music biz, a bit of girl talk, and Hether spills the tea on why she quit White Lung. Check out Hether's music at https://hetherfortune.bandcamp.com/ Closing song: Lydia Lunch - St. Marks Place

Jamie speaks with Faye Ecklar (@FayeEcklar), co-founder and VP of the Socialist Rifle Association, about gun control, mutual aid, and why it's a good idea to have an armed left. Find your local SRA chapter at https://socialistra.org! Closing song: Nouvelle Vague - Guns of Brixton