Cosmopod

Isaac and Rudy join Chad Montrie, author of numerous books on the intersection of workers' movements and the environment for a discussion on the often ignored facets of working class environmentalism. We begin by discussing Chad's earlier work To Save the Land and People, on the worker and farmer opposition to strip mining in Appalachia in the 1970s, and how that movement interfaced with the United Mine Workers of America and the Sierra Club. We continue by reflecting on what the definition of environmentalism should be, and how the workers' changing relationship to nature has been reflected in workers' movements from the Lowell Mill Girls to the United Auto Workers' outdoor camps that led to Earth Day. We also discuss Wilbur Thomas's organizing of black workers for drinking water and the Civilian Conservation Corps before finishing with a reflection on the false jobs vs nature dichotomy.

Sam Thomas argues that Machiavelli can help us understand the bourgeois nature of fascism, and how anti-fascism must empower the proletariat.

Topics discussed in the podcast include Stalin's ascension to power, the Agrarian Question, the First Five Year plan, the adventures of a young Stalin, the Russian Civil War, the logic of the purges, democratization efforts, the Ukrainian famine, repression and paranoia in the Soviet Union, the impact of fear and suicide, brutal charges and accusations in the trials, ethnic cleansing, and the lasting impacts of the purges in the Soviet Union.

Eric, Rob and Rudy join to discuss Afghanistan, focusing on its socialist period from 1979 to 1992. We discuss the history of the Afghan state from its beginnings as the Durrani empire, its interactions with Russia and the British empire, the Zahir Shah monarchy and the Daoud period all the way up to the Saur revolution, including a discussion of the communist and Islamist factions in the country. We talk about the initial reforms the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) tried to make, and why this caused uprisings that would eventually lead to the long Soviet intervention in the 80s. We discuss the war, including the radical changes of policies of the government, which slowly abandoned the idea of socialism in the late 80s. We end by discussing the Soviet withdrawal and the ultimate causes for the collapse of the government of Najibullah. Main References: Niamatullah Ibrahimi - The Hazaras and the Afghan State: Rebellion, Exclusion and the Struggle for Recognition Antonio Giustozzi - War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan, 1978-1992 Gilles Dorronsoro - Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present Rodric Braithwaite - Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89  Jonathan Neal - Remembering the Saur Revolution

This is a narration of chapters 4-8 of Karl Kautsky's Parliamentarism and Democracy (1893-1911), from Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism by Ben Lewis. The full audiobook is currently in production by the team at Cosmonaut Magazine. A copy of the book itself can be purchased at Haymarket Books. Narration and editing by Myk Labas. Music: 'Class War', the Dils 'Aired Out', blackchai   

Djamil and Donald join Helena Sheehan, author of Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History for a deep dive on the interactions between these two fields. They start off with Sheehan’s intellectual history, before discussing what Marxism is and how it relates to other philosophies of science. They talk about Marx & Engels’ relationship to science, in particular to Darwinism, Engels’ much maligned Dialectics of Nature, its relationship to Hegel, and the laws of dialectics. They continue with the Austromarxists and Neokantianism, its influence on Bogdanov and the Bolshevik Machists, and Lenin’s reply in Materialism and Empirio-criticism. They also discuss the criterium of practice, Bukharin’s philosophy of science and his influence via Science at the Crossroads on a generation of British Marxists including Bernal, Haldane and Caudwell. They finish with discussing the cold & warm split in Marxism.

Jean Allen and Marisa Miale discuss the political crisis within DSA caused by Congressman Jamal Bowman's vote on Israeli military funding. They explore the implications for political strategy, internationalism, and the need for resolution within DSA. The podcast addresses the controversy surrounding the Bowman affair, the challenges of internal forums, and the importance of unity and merging the socialist and workers movements.

Lydia and Rudy join Imogen Woods from Prometheus Journal to discuss her articles on organizing social care workers and houseworkers. We talk about the concept of social care factory, and how the mass privatization has resulted in declining care standards as well as working standards. We talk about how democratically run care system can look like, how to organize social care workers and how "love" is used as a currency. We then switch to a discussion of the International Feminist Collective and the Wages for Housework movement, and contrast it to Maria Macciocchi's political work with the housewives of Naples. We briefly discuss the use/exchange value debate of housework, and what the role of a housewife or women's strike can be, and finish off by discussing how women should address sexism in the left. Aside from Imogen's two articles, we mention Louise Toupin's history of the Wages for Housework movement.  

This is a narration of the two prefaces, introduction, and chapters 1-3 of Karl Kautsky's Parliamentarism and Democracy (1893-1911), from Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism by Ben Lewis. The full audiobook is currently in production by the team at Cosmonaut Magazine. A copy of the book itself can be purchased at Haymarket Books. Narration and editing by Myk Labas.

Charlie and Rudy join Carolyn Eichner, author of The Paris Commune: A Brief History and Surmounting the Barricades: Women in the Paris Commune for a discussion on the Paris Commune, its origins, its place as a  transitional state in a civil war, its tragic end as well as its  legacies. We talk about the situation of Paris in 1871, the forming of  the Commune, the meaning of "social republic" and how women had to fight  for a place in it, the political tendencies in the Commune, the  cooperatives and their contradictions, and the grassroots movements in  the form of political clubs. We discuss the Union des Femmes  (Women's Union), the struggle against patriarchy and the Catholic church, how public space was reclaimed and how education and culture  were re-imagined. We continue with the end of the commune in the Bloody  Week, how women were particularly demonized through the myth of the pétroleuses, and the mass executions. We end by discussing the legacies  of the Commune in feminisms and political thought, as well as the more negative episodes with the deportation of communards to New Caledonia  and their role in upholding settler-colonialism.