Cosmopod

Cliff and Isaac join Jesse Olsavsky, author of The Most Absolute Abolition: Runaways, Vigilance Committees, and the Rise of Revolutionary Abolitionism, 1835–1861, for a discussion on his book on the early abolitionist movement. They discuss the textbook history of abolition, and how this masks the role of runaways and other radicals substituting them for a white middle-class leadership, what Vigilance Committees were and how they acted, the exchange of ideas between different social groups in the abolitionist movement, the role runaway interviews had on the movement and its parallels today. They also talk about the Fugitive Slave Act and its effect on the Committees, the international dimension of abolitionism, the abolitionist view of the U.S. republic and the links between abolitionism and other movements. Prof. Olsavsky recommended these texts as good primary sources on revolutionary abolitionism. Thomas Smallwood (https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/smallwood/smallwood.html) Harriet Jacobs (https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/jacobs.html) Phillip Foner's edited collection of speeches by Frederick Douglass (https://archive.org/details/DouglassSelectionsWritings) Frances Ellen Walker's poems (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/frances-ellen-watkins-harper) Martin Delany's novel Blake (https://archive.org/details/blakeorhutsofame00dela) Harriet Beecher Stowe's second novel Dred (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55012)

Isaac KD and Jack L defend their critique of DSA’s dominant strategic orientation towards reform campaigns in a response to Sam Lewis’ “In Defense of Campaigns“.  Read by: Allan Lanterman Intro Music: ворожное озеро Гроза vwqp remix Outro Music: We are Friends Forever performed by Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment.

James, Cliff, Chas and Rudy join for a discussion on the events that take place in Hungary in 1956. We discuss the origins of the revolt, talking about the short lived Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, the People's Democracy period under Rakosi, the New Course and the roots of discontent. We then discuss the events themselves, as well as the reactions of the USSR and the wider Eastern Bloc and those of the West. We also talk about the program of the uprising, and what possible consequences it could have had had it succeded, and how it reshaped Hungary after the Soviet intervention.  References: Csaba Békés - Hungary's Cold War: International Relations from the End of World War II to the Fall of the Soviet Union Peter Fryer - Hungarian Tragedy Charles Gati - Failed Illusions: Moscow, Washington, Budapest, and the 1956 Hungarian Revolt Bennett Kovrig - Communism in Hungary: From Kun to Kádár William Lomax - Hungary 1956 Mark Pittaway - From the Vanguard to the Margins: Workers in Hungary, 1939 to the Present

Alex James reviews Rodrigo Nunes’ latest book Neither Vertical nor Horizontal, finding a refreshing new vocabulary for talking about organization that raises difficult questions rather than providing simple answers. Narrated by Aliyah Intro Music: ворожное озеро Гроза vwqp remix Outro Music: We are Friends Forever performed by Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment.

Rudy joins Piero Gleijeses, author of Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington and Africa, 1959–1976 and Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1976–1991 for a short discussion on Cuba's internationalist efforts in Africa. We discuss the start of Piero's project, and how he was allowed access to the Cuban archives and his interactions with Cuban official Jorge Risquet during his research on Cuba in Algeria. We then talk about what moved Cubans to focus on solidarity work in Africa, why Cuba intervened in Angola, and what was the USSR's role in this. We discuss the significance of the Angolan struggle, as well as the end of the Cold War and Apartheid and how they were related. We finish by discussing the memory of Cubans in Africa. Further interviews: The Dig Radio Radio War Nerd EP #232 — Cuba in Angola Wars, with Piero Gleijeses Cadre Journal's Podcast Episode from 25 May 2022: Cuba's War Against Apartheid: The Heroic Cuban Operation in Angola, with Piero Gleijeses

Renato Flores discusses the privatization of scientific knowledge and examines efforts of revolutionary movements to democratize this knowledge to help develop a communist approach to science. Narrated By: Allen Lanterman Intro Music: ворожное озеро Гроза vwqp remix Outro Music: We are Friends Forever performed by Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment.

Rudy joins Ashok Kumar author of Monopsony Capitalism: Power and Production in the Twilight of the Sweatshop Age for a discussion on global sweatshops, labor and commodity chains. We start off by comparing the Triangle Shirtwaist fire of 1912 and the Rana Plaza disaster of 2013, and explaining what has changed and what has stayed the same. We talk about the particular role of the textile industry in capitalism, how it changed under globalization and what it reveals for the capitalist system focusing on the topic of monopsony, i.e. single buyer markets. We discuss the position of labor in the textile industry, how it has shaped global supply chains, and what types of organizing have won concessions from capital in the past and present.

With a focus on the recent organizing work of New York City Democratic Socialists of America, Comrades Isaac KD and Jack L critique the notion of a “policy feedback” loop as the guiding element of DSA’s legislative strategy, as well as provide an alternative socialist framework for how DSA can engage with reform campaigns. Narrated by: Aliyah Intro Music: ворожное озеро Гроза vwqp remix Outro Music: We are Friends Forever performed by Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment.

James and Harry join Phil Burton-Cartledge, author of Falling Down: The Conservative Party and the Decline of Tory Britain for a discussion on his book. They discuss the Tories' crisis of political reproduction, how the party set the grounds for this with the Thatcher reforms, the class basis of the Conservative party before turning to explaining why understanding the Conservative party is important for the left not only in the United Kingdom but in the world. They follow by talking about the Tory reinvention during the New Labour period of dominance, the class dynamics behind the Brexit votes and how that was reflected in the two following general elections, how Phil would extend the book to cover Boris Johnson's downfall, Liz Truss's short interregnum and Rishi Sunak's rise before reflecting on what the future holds for the Tories and the possible ways they could reinvent themselves.

How should socialists engage in coalitional politics? Jack L draws conclusions based on historical lessons and recent experiences in the housing struggle. Narrated by: Cliff Intro Music: ворожное озеро Гроза vwqp remix Outro Music: We are Friends Forever performed by Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment.