

The Regrettable Century
Chris, Kevin, Jason, & Ben
The old forms of the Left are moribund and the new forms are stupid. We're making a podcast that discusses the need to organize a Dialectical Pessimism and develop a salvage project capable of sparking a new workers' movement for socialism. A clean, honest, and unsentimental melancholy is required; we are cultivating one and would like to share it with you. “The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned. I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” -- Antonio Gramsci
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 7, 2025 • 11min
Patreon Preview: Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? (Part I of II)
Today we read an article titled Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? Theorizing the nature and implications of the global far-right resurgence by Prof. Dr. Alex Demirović, which was published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. This is an excellent article that we think misses the mark in a few places and provides much fodder for discussion.Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? by Alex DemirovićSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 28, 2025 • 1h 2min
The Luddites Were Right, Actually
Marxist, as well as conservative and liberal bourgeois historians alike, have always had a fundamental misunderstanding about the Luddites. It turns out they weren't just reactionary peasants who feared technology and wanted to keep the world mired in an economy based on stacking sticks and mud. The Luddites weren’t resisting technology itself—they were fighting the economic systems that exploited them through it. This week, the boys dive into a conversation about Luddism's past, present, and future.The Luddites Were Right https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2021/06/the-luddites-were-right What the Luddites Really Fought Against https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/ Rethinking the Luddites in the Age of AI https://www.theinteldrop.org/2023/10/02/rethinking-the-luddites-in-the-age-of-a-i/ Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 24, 2025 • 11min
Patreon Preview: Towards the Founding of Something New
This week Chris, Jason, and Ben read over the founding document of a now-defunct group to which Jason and Ben used to belong. While much has changed in the years since Jason wrote this document, the fundamental arguments remain the same. It is time for new working-class organizations that seek to build power from the ground up, abandoning any association with liberal NGOs, the democratic party, the microsect form, and internet-based culture war.----We've including the document that we're reading below as a PDF.Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 21, 2025 • 14min
PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 07/18/2025
Ultra-Orthodox Abandon Bibi, Israel Kills More Christians, Israel Kills a US Citizen, SBU Chief Merc'd in Broad Daylight, The West Slowly Begins to Abandon Ukraine, Zelensky's Authoritarianism, Pokrovsk in Peril, Russia's Methodical Advance is Unchecked...Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 15, 2025 • 1h 6min
On Care For Our Common Home: Laudato Si and Christian Anti-Capitalism (Part II)
This week the gang tackles Chapter I of Laudato Si, but the late Pope Francis. You can follow along by grabbing the PDF from Verso or from the Vatican website. This Papal Encyclical calls for urgent action to address the global environmental crisis, critiques consumerism, blind developmentalism, inequality, and profit seeking. The document calls for global political solidarity to transition to a sustainable economy and for protection of the worlds most vulnerable populations. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 12, 2025 • 10min
PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 07/11/2025
Deep State Don's Pedophile Coverup Extravaganza, More Tariff Idiocy, Israel's Relentless War Crimes Perpetration, Yermak's Power Grab in Kiev, Azerbaijan Mafia/NATO State, Russian Gains, Ukrainian Systemic Breakdown...Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 7, 2025 • 13min
PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 07/04/2025
Israel failed to assassinate Khamenei, US lifts some sanctions on Hungary/Russia, Russia controls 100% Luhansk, US cuts off military aid to Ukraine, Azov civil war, the collapse continues...Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 2, 2025 • 1h 2min
The Pinnacle of Spectacle: Trump, War, and Opposition in Late Spectacular Capitalism
This week Chris and Jason signed on to give an update on the status of the spectacular nature of American Capitalism. Trump's useless strikes on Iran and false declaration of victory prompted us to revisit Guy Debord's concept of the spectacle in relation to contemporary American politics. Revenge of the Spectacle: This Time It's Personalhttp://www.redwedgemagazine.com/online-issue/revenge-of-the-spectacle-this-time-its-personal The Game of War. Guy Debord and the Society of the Spectacle.https://www.threemonkeysonline.com/the-game-of-war-guy-debord-and-the-society-of-the-spectacle/ Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jun 30, 2025 • 23min
PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 6/28/2025
US Attacks Iran... Did It Work?, Iran Tosses out the IAEA, NATO Potemkin Summit, The Inexorable Russian Lava Flow Pushes On, Ukraine Keeps Collapsing...How to Pronounce Schadenfreudehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3_DjiLLDfoSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jun 25, 2025 • 1h 7min
On Care For Our Common Home: Laudato Si and Christian Anti-Capitalism (Part I)
Real romantic anti-capitalism hours are back, and this week the boys brought in Mir and Daniel to read Laudato Si by the late Pope Francis, as published by Verso Books (you can read it on the Vatican website or in book form, but we got the free ebook from Verso). This Papal Encyclical calls for urgent action to address the global environmental crisis, critiques consumerism, blind developmentalism, inequality, and profit seeking. The document calls for global political solidarity to transition to a sustainable economy and for protection of the worlds most vulnerable populations. Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show