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
May 19, 2025 • 11min
PATREON PREVIEW: Regrettable Geopolitics 05/17/2025
Hungary vs Ukraine, Iran Nuke Proposal, Why Trump Declared Victory Over the Houthis, Chinese Jets Better than Euro's?, Istanbul Clown Show, Ukraine's Lost War of Attrition Continues...Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
May 12, 2025 • 1h 14min
The Ever Present Present: The Long Now and the Cancellation of the Future
This week we return to an always prescient question: What happened to the future? What Lies Ahead?https://jacobin.com/2023/01/slavoj-zizek-time-future-history-catastrophe-emancipation Mark Fisher’s Specters of Scarcityhttps://jacobin.com/2025/01/mark-fisher-neoliberalism-acid-communism ‘Culture has lost the ability to grasp the present’https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/mark-fisher-ghosts-retromania/How the pandemic messed with our perception of timehttps://www.vox.com/science/23823507/pandemic-memory-time-perception-lockdown Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
May 11, 2025 • 10min
PATREON PREVIEW: Regrettable Geopolitics 05/09/2025
Habemus Papam, Al Qaeda 🤝France, Trump Owned by Xi, Trump Owned by Houthis, Trump Owned by Bibi, Pakistan vs India, China 🤝 Russia, Ukraine's Very Bleak Strategic Assessment...Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
May 5, 2025 • 12min
PATREON PREVIEW: Regrettable Geopolitics 05/02/2025
Trump/Zelensky Meeting, Minerals Deal, US Arms Sales to Ukraine, Superhornet Down!, North Korean Troops in Kursk, Russian Gains in AprilSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
Apr 30, 2025 • 1h 30min
The Stumbling God Emperor (or the 100 Days of Gomorrah)
The boys got together to take a look at the first 100 days of Trump's presidency. We talk about inept bumbling, cruelty, misery, war, and how it's still not fascism. Jacobin: This Is America by Daniel Bessner The Nation: The New McCarthyism Was Started by Liberals by Jeet HeerSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
Apr 28, 2025 • 10min
PATREON PREVIEW: Regrettable Geopolitics 04/24/2025
Trump Talks Truce, Iran Nuclear Deal, What's the Point of the EU?, Don't Bluff China, Sumy Missile Strike, Russia Rolls OnSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
Apr 27, 2025 • 13min
Patreon Preview -- For What We Will: A Brief History of American Socialism (For the New Zealand Federation of Socialist Societies)
A couple of weeks ago, Jason gave a talk to the New Zealand Federation of Socialist Societies about the history of American Socialism. Here is the audio of that talk...Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
Apr 21, 2025 • 1h 13min
Freedom Stumbles On: Hegel and the Slaughter-Bench of History (PART II)
The boys (featuring the return of Mir) return to the slaughter-bench to finish discussing Terry Pinkard's article "The Spirit of History."The Spirit of History by Terry Pinkard https://aeon.co/essays/what-is-history-nobody-gave-a-deeper-answer-than-hegel Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
Apr 15, 2025 • 11min
PATREON PREVIEW: Regrettable Geopolitics 04/12/2025
Kursk Losses Breakdown, China China China, Israel Executes UN Worker and Paramedics, Ansar Allah Reaps Reaper Drones, Renewed Russian Offensive?And so on...Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
Apr 11, 2025 • 11min
Patreon Preview -- The Question of Nationalities and Social Democracy by Otto Bauer: Regrettable Book Club (Episode X)
The gang tackles Chapter 06 of Bauer's analysis of the concept of the nation.The Transformation of the Principle of Nationality (pg. 355)National Autonomy and the Principle of NationalityThe Roots of Capitalist ExpansionismThe Working Class and Capitalist ExpansionismImperialism and the Principle of NationalitySocialism and the Principle of NationalityRead along with us:https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauerSend us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the showVisit the Regrettable Century Merch Shop
