

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 17, 2020 • 2h 3min
The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity - Part III (With Red Library)
This week we are joined once again by Adam and Don from Red Library, we even had a brief appearance by Kevin.We continue our multi part series tackling the monster tome by Eugene McCarraher, The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity.McCarraher believes that capitalism displaced religion and disenchanted the world and that Capitalism then became a religion itself, replacing the sacramental enchantment of the pre-capitalist world with a pecuniary enchantment that he calls Mammonism.In our third installment we deal with the Robber Barons, corporate personhood, and the birth of American Imperialism. McCarraher, Eugene. The enchantments of Mammon : how capitalism became the religion of modernity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019. Print.MUSIC: Satyricon- Mother NorthThe Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network PodcastWell... Here we are still, after all.https://well.transistor.fm/Red Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Aug 9, 2020 • 1h 30min
Aut Caesar, Aut Christus: Christian Marxism, Liberation Theology, and Catholic Communism (With Mir Bal)
This week we are joined by Swedish podcaster, activist, social worker, and Christian communist, Mir Bal to talk about Christianity and Marxism. We continue with our unending project of reuniting the cold and the warm streams of Marxism, by talking about the draw of Christians to the liberatory message of Marxism and what Marxists may be able to take away for the liberatory message of radical Christianity. Horn. Western European liberation theology : the first wave (1924-1959. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.Catholic Case for Communism- Dean Detloffhttps://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/07/23/catholic-case-communismCatholicism and Marx an Introduction- Chase Padusniakhttps://www.patheos.com/blogs/jappersandjanglers/2017/06/catholicism-marx-introduction/Marxism and Liberation Theology- Michael Lowyhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1Va-4lh8qfXtv-YEDt2VuAGABdPEhBYs7/view?fbclid=IwAR2TMM9Q3FZQpWuyPBGGMvPBP0CgHmQ-LJqRvT8mIXtcEnVG5YLB8zgrqpoMUSIC: Pete Seeger- God Bless the GrassThe Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network PodcastWell... Here we are still, after all.https://well.transistor.fm/Red Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Aug 4, 2020 • 8min
PATREON TEASER: Science Impregnated With History PART II
Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear part two of our conversation with Chris! Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 27, 2020 • 2h 6min
The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity - Part II (With Red Library)
This week we are joined once again by Adam from Red Library, but also by fellow Red Librarian Don, who was kind enough to edit the podcast.We continue our multi part series tackling the monster tome by Eugene McCarraher, The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity.McCarraher believes that capitalism displaced religion and disenchanted the world and that Capitalism then became a religion itself, replacing the sacramental enchantment of the pre-capitalist world with a pecuniary enchantment that he calls Mammonism. In our second installment we deal with with a real who's who list of Mammon worshiping malefactors as well as Puritan covenant theology, Mormonism, and slavery.McCarraher, Eugene. The enchantments of Mammon : how capitalism became the religion of modernity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019. Print.MUSIC: Satyricon- Mother NorthThe Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network PodcastWell... Here we are still, after all.https://well.transistor.fm/Red Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 22, 2020 • 1h 17min
Science Impregnated With History: Marxism and Reason (With Chris Manno)
We had philosophy Phd Candidate Chris Manno join us for a discussion on Marxism and Reason. We discussed the differences between objective, subjective, and instrumental reason and how philosophers have moved through these three in stages culminating in the mercenary use of instrumental reason for the justification of the status quo. Modern philosophy has focused on the latter forms of reason to the point of rejecting any objective understanding on the world, a situation that is tailor made for exploitation of people and the planet under capitalism. Horkheimer, Max. Eclipse of reason. Mansfield Centre, CT: Martino Publishing, 2013. Print.Marcuse, Herbert. One-dimensional man : studies in the ideology of advanced industrial society. Boston: Beacon Press, 1991. Print.Music: Wolves In the Throne Room- Born From the Serpent's EyeThe Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network PodcastWell... Here we are still, after all.https://well.transistor.fm/Red Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jul 6, 2020 • 1h 55min
The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity - Part I (with Red Library)
This week we are joined by Adam from the Red Library podcast, who was nice enough to record and edit the episode for us. We start our multi part series tackling the monster tome by Eugene McCarraher, The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity. McCarraher believes, much like Max Weber, that capitalism displaced religion and disenchanted the world, but unlike Weber, he believes that Capitalism then became a religion itself. He argues that capitalism is full of religious thinking that grew up in the fields and factories of England, was transported to America by the Puritans, and perfected by evangelicals. We think this topic is right up our alley and have had a blast reading and talking about it. McCarraher, Eugene. The enchantments of Mammon : how capitalism became the religion of modernity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2019. Print.The Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network Podcast Well... Here we are still, after all. https://well.transistor.fm/Red Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jun 30, 2020 • 1h 34min
We Never Learned Anything About Lacan (with Neil of From 78)
Lacanian psychoanalysis has left an indelible mark on the left, with prominent philosophers like Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou keeping a Marxist Lacanianism relevant... and we don't really know anything about it. As the only non Lacanian podcast on the Lost Horizons network, we had to look to our network comrade Neil to get a little bit of an understanding. Turin Theory of the Subject of the Schoolhttp://www.amp-nls.org/page/gb/60/the-turin-theory-of-the-subject-of-the-schoolMusic: ROME- We who fell in love with the seaThe Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network Podcast Well... Here we are still, after all. https://well.transistor.fm/Red Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jun 22, 2020 • 1h 19min
The End of Policing?
Last week, we read and discussed The End of Policing by Alex Vitale in order to get a better grasp on the history of the police, over-policing, the failure of technocratic reforms, and some of the ideas for the uses of funds after police defunding (be it partial or wholesale). Whether or not the revolt against the police will produce lasting systematic reform reform remains to be seen, but we have to admit that the conversation about how to fix the problem of policing has begun on favorable footing. Vitale, Alex S. The end of policing. London Brooklyn, NY: Verso, 2017.The Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network Podcast:https://share.transistor.fm/s/c3bf81ddRed Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

Jun 11, 2020 • 58min
We Are All Unclean: On Covid Vigilantism and Burning Cop Cars
While we were reading about Covid 19 in Salvage last week, an uprising against police brutality began in Minneapolis. We didn't (don't) know what to make of it yet, but it sure did take over a discussion that was supposed to be about pestilence and the left's role in troll vigilantism. Listen to our uninformed and incomplete takes from day one of the unrest. We have a much more complete and thought out take coming for you in a few days. We Are All Unclean- Salvage Editorial Collectivehttps://salvage.zone/articles/we-are-all-unclean-dispatch-two-from-a-changing-world/The Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network Podcast:https://share.transistor.fm/s/c3bf81ddRed Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

May 26, 2020 • 1h 18min
Tragedy, Farce, and Apocalypse: The Shambling Corpse of Bonapartism- With C. Derick Varn
We are joined by veteran of the podcast wars, C. Derick Varn, for his third appearance on the show, to talk a little about historical Bonapartism and a little more about contemporary Bonapartism. We talked about the contemporary left's perceived need to seek out a Bonapartist savior and drift further and further from the utopian horizons we once sought. The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire/Music: Cro Mags- Hard Times Pop the Left- With Douglas Lain and C. Derick Varnhttps://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/dietsoap/episodes/2019-11-25T07_11_58-08_00The Emancipation Networkhttp://emancipation.network/The Lost Horizons Networkhttps://losthorizonsnetwork.com/The Lost Horizons Network Podcast:https://share.transistor.fm/s/c3bf81ddRed Library Podcast:https://www.patreon.com/redlibrary/postsFrom78 Podcasthttps://www.patreon.com/from78Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show