The Regrettable Century (Chris, Kevin, Jason, & Ben)
Explorez tous les épisodes de The Regrettable Century
| Date | Titre | Durée | |
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| 07 Feb 2022 | The Death of the Left? | 01:09:02 | |
This week the guys discuss the rotting whale carcass that is the American left. Gone are the days of mass organizations, the workers movement, and even the microsect. We discuss atomization, idealism, and our prospects moving forward. The U.S. left at a strategic impasse Music: Tha Crossroads- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony | |||
| 25 Mar 2019 | The Open Road to the Stars: A Discussion With Donald Parkinson of Cosmonaut Magazine | 01:05:48 | |
This week Chris and Jason sit down with Donald Parkinson-- the managing editor of Cosmonaut Magazine-- to discuss post apocalyptic eco-war communism, rekindling the Utopian imagination, the need for a post-tradition socialist movement, The DSA, The Marxist Center, Mike McNair, and some of the reasons Donald thinks we shouldn't be so pessimistic. | |||
| 23 Feb 2022 | No Royal Road- As Old Worlds End and New Ones Begin: Part IV (With C. Derick Varn) | 00:57:18 | |
Welcome to the fourth and final episode of our discussion on Chris Wickham's essay The Other Transition, about the transition from the classical to the feudal mode production. This is the last in this particular reading series, but not the last for this collaboration. We will be back soon with another series on a similar topic. | |||
| 27 Feb 2022 | Patreon Preview: Weimar German Communism & National Bolshevism (Part II of II) | 00:05:00 | |
Some Real Nerd Hours covering the emergence of a conscious German "National Bolshevism" during the Weimar Era between the World Wars... Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) | |||
| 07 Mar 2022 | Neither "Neither Washington nor Moscow" nor Washington nor Moscow | 00:55:39 | |
The American left's response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is as depressing as its prospects. We at the Regrettable Century are against invasions and World War 3 and think you should be too. We talk about what orientation if any, it would be useful for Marxists to take in response to the unfolding tragedy in Eastern Europe. The Ugly, Embarrassing Spectacle of ‘Milling’ Around Onlinehttps://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/03/russia-ukraine-invasion-twitter/624168/ Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukrainehttps://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-john-mearsheimer-blames-the-us-for-the-crisis-in-ukraine Armed Nationalists in Ukraine Pose a Threat Not Just to Russiahttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/world/europe/ukraine-nationalism-russia-invasion.html Україна і Росія - Ukraine and Russia by The State Choir of the Ukrainian SSR "Dumka" (Державна капела УРСР «Думка») | |||
| 03 Apr 2019 | The Right to the City: Changing the City, to Change Ourselves | 01:12:04 | |
As a concept, as a slogan, as an expression of intent The Right to The City contains within it an opportunity for this generation to conceive of new methods of class struggle, of new models of class organization, and of the return of class power. It’s but one of many opportunities we have right now to advance a constructive, utopian, and revolutionary vision of the future. It’s about demystifying social relations where they are presently abstracted. It’s about no longer viewing political activity as either pressuring politicians or becoming them. It’s about identifying what are presently hidden means of exerting our power as class to confront the class enemy, not just at work, but everywhere.
PDF of Henri Lefebevre's Urban Revolution Writings on Cities -- Lefebvre Critique of Urban Geography -- Debord Why Psychogeography?
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| 21 Mar 2022 | The One Where We Talk About Everything That Is Wrong | 01:22:05 | |
Here is about an hour's worth of bonus content recorded before our last episode of No Royal Road. We were just riffing about neoliberalism, left delusions, anti-imperialism, paleo-cons, liberals, conservatism, inflation, Volcker Shock, internet tankies, and a bunch of other things we thought might be worth recording. So, we hit record. | |||
| 28 Mar 2022 | Patreon Preview: The Left In Purgatory (I of II) | 00:05:38 | |
Wherein a group of us get together to read and discuss the latest issue of Jacobin magazine, its analysis of the current political situation, and what to do about it... and the extent to which it actually does those things. Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) | |||
| 06 Apr 2022 | Marxism in Dialogue With Christianity | 01:17:45 | |
Once again, we continue our unending project of reuniting the cold and the warm streams of Marxism. This time we are joined by our comrade Ben to talk about the need for a dialogue between Marxism and Christianity. | |||
| 19 Apr 2022 | Patreon Preview: Victorious February (Lessons From The Czechoslovak Revolution) | 00:05:01 | |
Continuing in the spirit of our discussions about the relationship between "Socialism From Below" and "Socialism From Above," we've decided to dive in a bit deeper into a topic we've referenced many times in passing... Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) | |||
| 20 Apr 2022 | No Royal Road -- The Feudal Revolution Debate (With C. Derick Varn) | 01:11:46 | |
In this episode, we discuss another Chris Wickham article about feudalism. This is a stand-alone episode, but it is in spiritual continuity with our previous series discussing Chris Wickham's The Other Transition. We will be back soon with another series on a similar topic. | |||
| 22 Apr 2019 | The Death of the Micro-Sect | 01:09:46 | |
We are currently witnessing what appears to be the death of the micro sect form of political organization, a bastard form of the Leninist party that has all but dominated the minuscule and embattled American radical left for the past half century. The political landscape has changed in a way that has rendered these groups obsolete, removing the sectarian left's monopoly on socialist politics in the US, but what will replace it?
Part Two
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| 02 May 2022 | Red Theology (Part I): Christian Communism as Political Myth | 00:51:34 | |
Welcome to the first part of our reading series on Roland Boer's Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition. We are joined by our Comrades in Christ, Mir and Ben for the first two chapters, which mostly deal with Karl Kautsky's writings about early Christianity and how it informs the communist tradition. | |||
| 16 May 2022 | The Dharma of Emancipation: Marxism in Dialogue with Buddhism (With Adam from Subjective Conditions) | 01:25:00 | |
This week we are joined by Comrade Adam, a Lost Horizons alumnus of Red Library fame, to discuss what sort of dialogue can be had between Marxism and Buddhism. We decided to branch out, and cover a non-Christian faith in this continuation of our series on Marxism and religion. We hope to continue touching on other faiths and their interaction and overlap with the emancipatory project. | |||
| 29 Apr 2019 | Zizek v. Peterson: The "Debate of the Century" that We Deserve | 00:42:33 | |
The Gang Gets Underwhelmed by Zizek v. Peterson. | |||
| 24 May 2022 | Patreon Preview: Socialism With A Human Face -- The Prague Spring of 1968 | 00:04:02 | |
Continuing what has become a series on Czechoslovak Socialism, we discuss the attempt to reform the ČSSR in 1968. Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) | |||
| 31 May 2022 | Red Theology (Part II): Omnia Sunt Communia | 01:20:49 | |
Welcome to the second part of our reading series on Roland Boer's Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition. We are joined by our Comrades in Christ, Mir and Ben, for the second set of chapters dealing with the contradictory legacies of St, Paul, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. | |||
| 13 Jul 2022 | PODCAST UPDATE | 00:01:09 | |
It's been about a month since we posted anything, here is why. | |||
| 19 Jul 2022 | Red Theology (Part III): Heilsgeschichte, History, and Marxism | 01:32:39 | |
Welcome to the third part of our reading series on Roland Boer's Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition. We are joined by our Comrades in Christ, Mir and Ben, for the third set of chapters dealing with the contradictory legacy of Martin Luther and Marx's secular eschaton. | |||
| 23 Aug 2022 | Red Theology (Part IV): The Possibility of Religious Revolution | 02:20:21 | |
Welcome to the fourth part of our reading series on Roland Boer's Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition. We are joined by our Comrades in Christ, Mir and Ben, for a set of chapters dealing with Althusser's Christianity, Farnham Maynard, and the God-building Project of Anatoly Lunacharsky. | |||
| 13 May 2019 | A Time of Monsters: Towards a Working Definition of Fascism | 01:07:50 | |
This is part one of a series in which we will chart the history of fascism and attempt to dissect and discuss it in greater detail than we have previously been able to. Our goal is to analyze some of the scholarship done by mainstream and Marxist scholars alike, in order to better understand the phenomenon. | |||
| 09 Sep 2022 | Patreon Preview: Neither Vertical Nor Horizontal: Book Club (Part I) | 00:08:05 | |
Book Clubs are back, back in a temporarily diminished capacity, but back. This week we read the Introduction and Chapter 1 of Rodrigo Nunes' new book on Verso. This book rhymes with concepts we have been discussing on the podcast for quite some time, so we were excited to dive in. Nunes, Rodrigo. Neither Vertical nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organisation. Verso, 2021. | |||
| 12 Sep 2022 | Red Theology (Part V- Final): Revolutionary Christianity With East Asian Characteristics | 02:19:17 | |
Welcome to the fifth and final part of our reading series on Roland Boer's Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition. We are joined by our Comrades in Christ, Mir and Ben, for a set of chapters dealing with the Taiping Revolution, Chinese Christian Marxism, and Christianity in the DPRK. | |||
| 21 Sep 2022 | Patreon Preview: Hangin' Out With Jason | 00:02:57 | |
Jason is out of the rehab facility and convalescing with our sister, so we decided to do a little test recording to see how it felt to be podcasting again after a coma and traumatic brain injury. We decided it went pretty alright and will be back soon with some episodes. This isn't a real episode, but we have part two of our reading group coming soon and Jason and I will be recording part three of our Czechoslovak socialism series this month as well. | |||
| 03 Oct 2022 | Fear of Evil, Dread of Death (Liquid Fear Part 1) -- Featuring the Return of Jason | 01:59:03 | |
Happy October! Its what they call spooky season so it is only fitting that we dive into a book about Fear. This is a work of left sociology by heavyweight Polish intellectual and dissident Marxist, Zygmunt Bauman who is a harsh critic of late capitalist modernity. | |||
| 14 Oct 2022 | The Dialectics of Madness- With Adam from Subjective Conditions | 01:21:42 | |
The Lost Horizons gang is back together. We welcome Comrade Adam back to the Lost Horizons network and discuss a couple of articles about Hegel, Foucault, and MADNESS. | |||
| 01 Nov 2022 | The Labor Theory of Apocalypse (I of II) | 01:15:24 | |
This week we read The Tragedy of the Worker by the Salvage Collective and discussed the implications of looming climate collapse. Once again we ask: what kind of world do you want to build in the post-apocalyptic wasteland? | |||
| 06 Nov 2022 | Meming Prometheus and the Continuing Tragedy of the Worker (II of II) | 01:17:34 | |
This week we continued our discussion of The Tragedy of the Worker by the Salvage Collective and discussed the implications of looming climate collapse. Once again we ask: what kind of world do you want to build in the post-apocalyptic wasteland? | |||
| 22 Nov 2022 | Four Regrettable Years | 01:19:59 | |
We just turned four! | |||
| 30 Nov 2022 | Patreon Preview: Neither Vertical nor Horizontal (Part III) | 00:06:15 | |
We are back with part three of our discussion of Rodrigo Nunes' new book on Verso. This week we talk about chapters three and four. Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) | |||
| 19 Dec 2022 | Unimaginable Horrors and the Terrors of the Global (Liquid Fear Part II) | 01:37:33 | |
Happy December, I just finished my semester and finally got around to mastering this episode that we recorded a couple months ago. We are revisiting this masterwork of left sociology by heavyweight Polish intellectual and dissident Marxist, Zygmunt Bauman who is a harsh critic of late capitalist modernity. | |||
| 27 May 2019 | Neither Socialism From Above, Nor Below... but definitely Socialism | 01:00:56 | |
From Babeuf and Blanqui to Bakunin; from Karl Marx and Kautsky to Kropotkin, an ideological battle rages over the true nature of socialism! Marxism, Anarchism, & the Genealogy of “Socialism From Below” Music: Back in the USSR by Crisis | |||
| 16 Jan 2023 | The Boys Win the Culture War- With Matthew from A Fine Old Conflict | 01:17:19 | |
We got together with our old friend and comrade from the Trot sect days to talk about why it is that the nominally socialist left is so obsessed with liberal culture war discourse. | |||
| 24 Jan 2023 | Patreon Preview: Laboratory of Socialist Development | 00:03:14 | |
Happy New Year and welcome to a new series where Chris talks about books he read in grad school. This week we are reading and discussing Laboratory of Socialist Development: Cold War Politics and Decolonization in Soviet Tajikistan by Artemy Kalinovsky. Kalinovsky, Artemy M. 2018. Laboratory of Socialist Development : Cold War Politics and Decolonization in Soviet Tajikistan. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury) | |||
| 29 Jan 2023 | The Dialectics of Wood Law: Marxism and Natural Law with Steven | 01:19:27 | |
Steven from Supreme Leap Forward is back and this time he's bringing his thoughts on natural law. For this weeks episode we read from Olúfémi Táíwò's Legal Naturalism and an article by Anna Lukina to prepare for this discussion. | |||
| 06 Feb 2023 | No Royal Road: Neo-Feudalism, or the Fuzzy Edges of Capitalism -- Part I | 01:49:24 | |
No Royal Road is back! | |||
| 13 Feb 2023 | Patreon Preview: A Failed Empire | 00:03:12 | |
This week we're discussing A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev which is a not very good book that advances a thesis that doesn't need to exist. Enjoy! Zubok, V M. 2009. A Failed Empire : The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev. Chapel Hill: University Of North Carolina Press. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. | |||
| 22 Feb 2023 | No Republic is Safe That Tolerates a Privileged Class: On Marxist Republicanism | 01:29:49 | |
We return to the concept of the republic, this time with our comrade Brad who is a member of the CPUSA, a union activist, and first class republic respecter. Brad is here to make a pitch for the continuation of a revolutionary tradition that is steeped in revolutionary republicanism. | |||
| 03 Jun 2019 | PATREON TEASER: Many Roads To Socialism? The Early Comintern Debates On "Workers Governments" | 00:03:32 | |
After our Socialism From Below episode, Jason and Chris thought they could have used more time to talk about the 4th Comintern congress and the question of "Workers' Governments." | |||
| 12 Mar 2023 | Setting Fears Afloat (Liquid Fear: Part III -- Finale) | 00:57:15 | |
The boys are back and we are finally finishing this masterwork of left sociology by heavyweight Polish intellectual and dissident Marxist, Zygmunt Bauman. | |||
| 19 Mar 2023 | No Royal Road: Neo-Feudalism, or the Fuzzy Edges of Capitalism (Part II) | 02:21:14 | |
No Royal Road is back! | |||
| 27 Mar 2023 | Patreon Preview: Neither Vertical nor Horizontal (Part IV -- Finale) | 00:06:33 | |
We are finally back with part four of our discussion of Rodrigo Nunes' new book on Verso. This week we actually finish the book. | |||
| 10 Jun 2019 | Marxism & Religion & Everything Else & Religion, With C. Derick Varn | 01:12:08 | |
We sat down with C. Derick Varn and solved all the problems that are currently ailing the left. We reconciled the divergent currents of Marxism and wove together the materialist and idealist dichotomy with resounding success, but then lost an hour and a half of audio and were forced to restart the recording; what resulted was a meandering, but entertaining, discussion about just about everything... and religion.
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| 05 Apr 2023 | Patreon Preview -- The Things of Life: Materiality in Late Soviet Russia | 00:04:16 | |
We are back with another book that Chris read in grad school. This one is an interesting read about the impact of material culture on the lives of late Soviet citizens called "The Things of Life: Materiality in Late Soviet Russia" by Alexy Golulbev. | |||
| 03 Apr 2023 | Les Aristocrates à la Lanterne: The French Pension Reforms (With Matthew from A Fine Old Conflict) | 01:09:16 | |
We are once again joined by our old friend and comrade Matthew, who is currently residing in Paris. Matthew gives us the rundown of the French pension reforms and we talk about the prospects for the labor and socialist movements.
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| 17 Apr 2023 | You're Not Making Liberals Socialist, You're Just Making Socialists More Liberal! | 01:05:41 | |
This week we discuss why the left allows the liberals to set the tone for its politics. https://www.counterfire.org/article/liberalisms-hegemony-over-the-left/ Death Sentence For The American Left? https://damagemag.com/2023/01/25/a-death-sentence-for-the-american-left/ Debord and the Postmodern Turn: New Stages of the Spectacle https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/Illumina%20Folder/kell17.htm Nothing is Any Longer the Opposite of Anything: Guy Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle Today | |||
| 30 Apr 2023 | Patreon Preview -- Empire of Friends: Soviet Power and Socialist Internationalism in Cold War Czechoslovakia | 00:03:47 | |
We are back with more books Chris read in grad school. This one is written by Rachel Applebaum (no relation to Anne) and discusses the Soviet Friendship programs, their successes, and failures. | |||
| 08 May 2023 | No Royal Road: Neo-Feudalism, or the Fuzzy Edges of Capitalism (Part III) | 01:46:47 | |
No Royal Road is back with part three of our discussion of Evegny Morozov's "Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason." | |||
| 22 May 2023 | Patreon Preview: Revolution by Enzo Traverso, Part I (Regrettable Book Club) | 00:05:04 | |
Welcome to the first of our reading group episodes on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss TRAINS. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution
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| 29 May 2023 | The French Conundrum (RE-UPLOAD): The Continuing Struggle Over Pension Reforms | 01:16:05 | |
We are joined by Matthew and Julia for a continuation of our discussion about the French pension reforms. Matthew is our old comrade and friend from the days of Trot hyperactivism and Julia is an actually existing French person. Together they provide us their impressions of the struggle against Macron's pension reforms. | |||
| 31 May 2023 | Patreon Preview: Stalinism at War | 00:06:09 | |
Back again with another one, this time we are throwing one out to the middle aged men in the audience by talking about World War Two. Edele, Mark. Stalinism at War : The Soviet Union in World War II. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. | |||
| 05 Jun 2023 | The Dialectic of Apotheosis: Lunacharsky and the Godbuilders | 01:08:59 | |
This week we discuss a couple of articles by Roland Boer about Lunacharsky, Lenin, and the project of godbuilding. This is our final episode with Mir before he goes off to Austria and Germany to learn all the sneakiest Jesuit tricks. | |||
| 15 Jun 2023 | Patreon Preview: Velvet Counterrevolution & Divorce | 00:04:09 | |
Just like the Prague Spring, it seems clear that the intentions of its participants were the opposite. The vast majority of Czechoslovaks who participated in the movements that brought down the republic were attempting to reform the socialist system, not destroy it. Scott Brown. “Prelude to a Divorce? The Prague Spring as Dress Rehearsal for Czechoslovakia’s ‘Velvet Divorce.’” Europe-Asia Studies 60, no. 10 (2008): 1783–1804. Krishan Kumar (1992). The Revolutions of 1989: Socialism, Capitalism, and Democracy. Theory and Society, 21(3), 309–356. Paal Sigurd Hilde (1999). Slovak Nationalism and the Break-Up of Czechoslovakia. Europe-Asia Studies, 51(4), 647–665. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. | |||
| 19 Jun 2023 | No Royal Road: Neo-Feudalism, or the Fuzzy Edges of Capitalism (Part IV) | 01:15:09 | |
No Royal Road is back with part four of our discussion of Evegny Morozov's | |||
| 28 Jun 2023 | Patreon Preview: Revolution by Enzo Traverso, Part II (Regrettable Book Club) | 00:04:58 | |
Welcome to our second reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss BODIES. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London ; New York: Verso. | |||
| 03 Jul 2023 | Much Ado About PATSOCS: Finding a Better Way to Talk About Working Class Patriotism | 00:59:51 | |
The Patsocs are coming, the Patsocs are coming! | |||
| 24 Jun 2019 | Scattered Thoughts on Melancholia and the Organization of Pessimism | 00:50:32 | |
We read a bunch of stuff about Walter Benjamin and Enzo Traverso and tried to have a conversation about it. Traverso, Enzo. Left-wing melancholia : Marxism, history, and memory. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. Print. Against Revolutionary Pessimism and Optimism: Revolutionary Realism by J. Moufawad Paul
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| 13 Jul 2023 | Patreon Preview: Third Worldism, but Make it Racist | 00:03:55 | |
Ukrainian Nationalism and Third Worldism in the Cold War This week we read and discussed Congo on the Dnipro: Third Worldism and the Nationalization of Soviet Internationalism in Ukraine by Thom Lloyd. The author discusses attempts by Ukrainian nationalists to appropriate the language of third world liberation struggles, but with a twist (spoiler alert, its a racist one). Loyd, Thom. "Congo on the Dnipro: Third Worldism and the Nationalization of Soviet Internationalism in Ukraine." Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 22, no. 4 (2021): 787-811. doi:10.1353/kri.2021.0053. | |||
| 16 Jul 2023 | Bathing in the Warm Stream: The Romantic and Gothic Strain of Marxism with Jon (TheLitCritGuy) of Horror Vanguard | 01:04:04 | |
This week we return to an old favorite topic of ours, the warm stream, romantic, or gothic in Marxism. This time we are joined by an accredited expert in all things gothic, Jon from the Horror Vanguard. | |||
| 25 Jul 2023 | Podcasts From Nowhere: William Morris' Romantic Marxism | 00:58:20 | |
Kevin recently gave a talk about William Morris' transition from romantic anti-capitalism to Marxism and is thus well suited to school us on the subject. We decided to record it and share it with all of you. How I Became a Socialist (William Morris) | |||
| 31 Jul 2023 | Patreon Preview: Revolution by Enzo Traverso, Part III (Regrettable Book Club) | 00:04:48 | |
Our third reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss Concepts, Symbols, and Realms of Memory. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London ; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution | |||
| 07 Aug 2023 | No Royal Road: Neo-Feudalism, or the Fuzzy Edges of Capitalism: The End of Techno-Feudal Reason (Part V of V) | 01:00:08 | |
No Royal Road is back with part four of our discussion of Evegny Morozov's | |||
| 17 Aug 2023 | Patreon Preview: Daddy Masaryk and Czechoslovakism | 00:03:10 | |
I know we said we were done with our Czechoslovak Socialism series, but like George Lucas we just couldn't leave well enough alone and have made a prequel. It turns out there is an interesting pre-history to Czechoslovak Socialist Republic that is worth discussing. | |||
| 22 Aug 2023 | Lumpenization and its Discontents: Disagreements About the Lumpen Classes | 01:24:21 | |
This week the Law Boyz are back with a special guest, Kevin. We discuss the concept of the lumpenproletariat and their historical role as foot soldiers of reaction. Then we all argue about the police. Nicholas Thoburn (2002) Difference in Marx: the lumpenproletariat and the proletarian unnamable, Economy and Society, 31:3, 434-460 Robert L. Bussard (1987) The ‘dangerous class’ of Marx and Engels: The rise of the idea of the Lumpenproletariat, History of European Ideas, 8:6, 675-692 Music: Johnny Cash- This Side of the Law | |||
| 28 Aug 2023 | Patreon Preview: Replacing the Dead by Mie Nakachi | 00:04:34 | |
Back with another book that Chris read in grad school, this time we are dealing with the problem of repopulating the Soviet Union after the Second World War. Mie Nakachi. Replacing the Dead : The Politics of Reproduction in the Postwar Soviet Union. New York, Ny: Oxford University Press, 2021. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. | |||
| 04 Sep 2023 | The Dialectic of Degrowth: Socialists and the Burden of Ecological Disaster | 01:23:18 | |
We think degrowth is going to be necessary, but we also think the debate about degrowth has been all wrong. We read the newest issue of Monthly Review and had a discussion about the politics of degrowth. https://monthlyreview.org/2023/07/01/planned-degrowth/ Nine Theses on Ecosocialist Degrowth https://monthlyreview.org/2023/07/01/nine-theses-on-ecosocialist-degrowth/ (Here’s the whole issue) https://monthlyreview.org/product/mr-075-03-2023-07/ | |||
| 14 Sep 2023 | Patreon Preview: Revolution by Enzo Traverso (Part IV) | 00:04:32 | |
Welcome to our fourth reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss the revolutionary intellectual. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London ; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution | |||
| 18 Sep 2023 | No Royal Road: Class Conflict and The Crisis of Feudalism (Part I) | 01:29:18 | |
This week we start a new series where we read from Rodney Hilton's collection of essays about the Crisis of Feudalism. These are pretty short essays, but we will no doubt be talking about them forever. | |||
| 03 Oct 2023 | Pessimism is an Optimism: A Return to Dialectical Pessimism | 01:06:50 | |
The original dudes are back, with an original dudes topic revisiting our pessimism (because of intellect) and our optimism (because of will). No it's not just a doomer affectation that we can use to sound as cool as we look, its a critical method of engaging with the bleak reality that faces us.
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| 12 Oct 2023 | Patreon Preview -- The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union | 00:03:16 | |
This week we discussed a book about the collapse of the Soviet Union and guess what, it wasn't the result of the United States' efforts to defeat the Evil Empire. It's much dumbe rand worse than that. Serhii Plokhy. 2015. The Last Empire : The Final Days of the Soviet Union. New York: Basic Books, A Member Of The Perseus Books Group. | |||
| 26 Oct 2023 | No Royal Road: Class Conflict and The Crisis of Feudalism (Part II) | 01:05:06 | |
This week we continue our series reading from Rodney Hilton's collection of essays about the Crisis of Feudalism. These are pretty short essays, but we will no doubt be talking about them forever. | |||
| 30 Oct 2023 | Patreon Preview -- William Morris: From Romantic to Revolutionary | 00:05:32 | |
A little bonus episode for you this week. Here is the audio of a lecture that Kevin gave at the Cascadian Midsummer festival this summer about William Morris.
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| 09 Nov 2023 | Vive la révolution, Vive L'Empereur: The Mixed Legacy of Napoleon (Part I) | 00:57:57 | |
This week we had our long time comrade and resident France expert, Matthew, back on the show to talk about the mixed legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte. Was Napoleon a force for progress or the death of the revolution? | |||
| 16 Nov 2023 | Vive la révolution, Vive L'Empereur: The Mixed Legacy of Napoleon (Bonapart II) | 01:04:43 | |
This week we continue our discussion of Napoleon Bonaparte with our comrade Matthew. We start out tying up some loose ends and then discuss the upcoming Ridley Scott movie and the many variations of Bonapartism. Music: Marche du Sacre de Napoléon | |||
| 23 Nov 2023 | Patreon Preview: Revolution by Enzo Traverso (Part V) | 00:05:34 | |
Welcome to our fifth reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss different conceptions of freedom, liberation, and the liberation of time. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London ; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution Music: The Strike-Shots Heard the World | |||
| 29 Nov 2023 | Upon the Completion of the First Five Year Plan: Year V in Review (Part I) | 00:45:49 | |
Welcome to our YEAR 5 in review episode. We make one big announcement and then talk about all the really cool stuff that happened this year and all the really cool stuff that is on the horizon. | |||
| 05 Dec 2023 | Upon the Completion of the First Five Year Plan: Year V in Review (Part II) | 00:58:30 | |
Welcome to part two of our YEAR 5 in review episode. We make one big announcement and then talk about all the really cool stuff that happened this year and all the really cool stuff that is on the horizon. | |||
| 15 Jul 2019 | The Proper Amount of Bumming People Out: Pessimisms and Optimisms of Intellect and Will | 00:45:11 | |
We received a really thoughtful and challenging question/comment from one of our Patrons and we decided to give it the attention it deserves, in the form of a full episode. | |||
| 14 Dec 2023 | PATREON PREVIEW- Bonapart III: The One Where We Talk About the Movie | 00:07:52 | |
Head on over to our Patreon to hear us discuss the Napoleon movie with our comrade Matthew. | |||
| 18 Dec 2023 | No Royal Road: Class Conflict and The Crisis of Feudalism (Part III) | 01:12:52 | |
This week we continue our series reading from Rodney Hilton's collection of essays about the Crisis of Feudalism. These are pretty short essays, but we will no doubt be talking about them forever. | |||
| 01 Jan 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Revolution by Enzo Traverso: Regrettable Book Club (Part VI) | 00:06:13 | |
This preview is from our sixth reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss different conceptions of freedom, liberation, and the liberation of time. This was supposed to be the final episode, but it looks like we will have to do one more... | |||
| 04 Jan 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Boundless and Bottomless Seas: Dugin's 4th Political Theory (Part I) | 00:30:29 | |
Sean KB from the Antifada joins Jason and Varn for a new series that examines the work of right wing thinkers. This week they are discussing the first chapter of Alexander Dugin's, 'The Fourth Political Theory' to break down and understand why people from all over the political spectrum are influenced by this seminal work of post-fascist thought. **This is a 30m preview of a 2.5 hour long episode** | |||
| 08 Jan 2024 | Wally B as a Vibe: Discussing Walter Benjamin with the Subjective Conditions Podcast | 01:28:03 | |
This week we've got a podcast that we recorded with Subjective Conditions a few months ago. This podcast deals with Walter Benjamin as a vibe and, in true Regrettable Century fashion, the discussion is guided by the World Spirit. | |||
| 15 Jan 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Boundless & Bottomless Seas (Episode 0) | 00:14:34 | |
Varn and Jason discuss this new collaborative project "Boundless and Bottomless Seas" and discuss why talking about Dugin and his Fourth Political Theory is worth doing. This is episode was recorded before the first episode of the series and is meant to be a sort of primer and introduction to the project. | |||
| 23 Jan 2024 | The Boys Solve the Israel-Palestine "Conflict" | 01:16:44 | |
Not really, but we do talk about the history of Zionism as a settler colonial project. Zionism: False Messiah (1998) by Lance Selfa Zionism from the standpoint of Its Victims (1979) By Edward Said https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Edward-Said-Excerpt.pdf Sephardim in Israel: Zionism from the Standpoint of Its Jewish Victims Author(s): Ella Shohat https://palestinecollective.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/sephardim-in-israel_-zionism-from-the-standpoint-of-its-jewish-victims.pdf The long history of Zionist proposals to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/the-long-history-of-zionist-proposals-to-ethnically-cleanse-the-gaza-strip | |||
| 25 Jan 2024 | Preview -- From 78: Jason's Talk with Neil of Inform:Podcast | 00:08:53 | |
This episode of InForm:Podcast is a re-release and cross-post of an older interview done with From78 (of Lost Horizons fame). It was originally posted several lifetimes ago, in 2020, but has been re-released by InForm so we decided to promote it here. | |||
| 01 Feb 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Boundless & Bottomless Seas: Dugin's 4th Political Theory (Part II) | 00:33:48 | |
Jason and Varn continue with their close reading of The Fourth Political Theory by Alexander Dugin. **This is a 30m preview of a 3 hour long episode** Check out Varn Vlog here: | |||
| 05 Feb 2024 | UNLOCKED -- Victorious February: Lessons from the Czechoslovak Revolution (Czechoslovak Socialism Part I of III) | 01:12:58 | |
This is a Patreon episode that we recorded in April of 2022. We decided to post this on our main feed at the request of several of our patrons who said more people should hear it. Continuing in the spirit of our discussion about the synthesis of socialism from above and below, we decided to dive a bit deeper into a topic that we have referenced many times in passing. The liberal narrative about the revolution is that it was a coup carried out by the Soviet Union against the will of the Czechoslovak people, but a cursory glance at how the revolution unfolded reveals a much different tale.
The Czechoslovak Revolution- By Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart in Foreign Affairs Magazine Duchacek, Ivo. “The February Coup in Czechoslovakia.” World Politics2, no. 4 (1950): 511–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/2008933. Myant, Martin. Socialism and Democracy in Czechoslovakia: 1945 - 1948. Soviet and East European Studies 33. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1981. Music: Hej, slnko vychodí - (Hey, the sun is out) composed by Bartolomej Urbanec and sung in Slovak. | |||
| 20 Feb 2024 | One Plus One Is Three: The Poverty of "Third Campism" | 01:24:05 | |
As recovering Third Campists ourselves, we sit down to discuss the lingering problems that the third camp of Trotskyism has always had and how they are much dumber in their contemporary incarnation. The Third Camp, Socialism From Below, and the First Principle of Revolutionary Socialism https://newpol.org/issue_post/third-camp-socialism-below-and-first-principle-revolutionary-socialism/ | |||
| 26 Feb 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Revolution by Enzo Traverso: Regrettable Book Club (Part VII: FinaIe) | 00:06:51 | |
Welcome to our seventh and FINAL reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. We had a lot of fun with this series and will be starting a new one soon. Head on over to the Discord if you would like to be involved. Special thanks to our comrade Connor at Autumn Brigade for our new intro music. Check his music out here: https://autumnbrigade.bandcamp.com/album/geist-ist-tot Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London ; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution | |||
| 07 Mar 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Boundless & Bottomless Seas: The Nature of American Conservatism | 00:33:01 | |
This week Jason and Varn sat down to have a primer discussion about the different types of American Conservatism. Don't worry, we will be back later this month with more Dugin. | |||
| 11 Mar 2024 | The Broken Bones of Belief: Why They Left the Left | 01:42:32 | |
This week the boys got together to talk about political apostasy. From the old left, to the new left, to whatever the hell it is that we have now. We discuss the motivations and consequences of jumping ship. The Legacy of the Trotskyist Right | |||
| 13 Mar 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Disaster Nationalism | 00:06:24 | |
This month we return to Richard Seymour's essay about the new forms of nationalism. At this point the essay is a few years old, so we were able to discuss how things have developed since it was written. We also did not know that a book by the same name by Seymour was coming out soon... | |||
| 21 Mar 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Boundless & Bottomless Seas: Dugin's 4th Political Theory (Part III) | 00:33:08 | |
Jason and Varn are joined again by Sean KB of Antifida and continue with their close reading of The Fourth Political Theory by Alexander Dugin. | |||
| 26 Mar 2024 | Internet Psychobabble and its Consequences (Have Been a Disaster for the Human Race) | 01:24:27 | |
This week we sat down with our old comrade and actual Psychiatrist, Dr Byron, to talk about mental health, the left, and how TikTok is ruining everyones brains. | |||
| 30 Jul 2019 | Children of the Counterrevolution | 01:11:37 | |
When we were kids: history ended, the Christian right launched an all out assault on the gains of the 1960s/70s, the liberals launched an all out assault on the gains of the New Deal/labor movement, and the left launched an all out assault on each others shopping choices. It sucked.
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| 08 Apr 2024 | A Primer on Utopian Philosophy: An Intro to Ernst Bloch (with Jon Greenaway aka thelitcritguy) | 01:11:21 | |
This week we are joined by Jon (thelitcritguy of HorrorVanguard fame) to discuss his new book A Primer on Utopian Philosophy: An Introduction to the Work of Ernst Bloch which was just released on Zero Books. We discuss nihilism, optimism, hope, and dialectical pessimism and the ever pertinent work of Ernst Bloch. | |||
| 11 Apr 2024 | PATREON PREVIEW -- The Question of Nationalities & Social Democracy by Otto Bauer (Episode 0) | 00:05:27 | |
They said it wasn't possible for a Marxist to break down the national question in a sophisticated and nuanced way, but Otto Bauer has done it. This book from 1907, which no one on the Anglophone Left has ever read, is quite possibly the best book on the subject. We are here to read it and let you know. A link to the PDF: | |||
| 18 Apr 2024 | Patreon Preview -- Patron Q&A | 00:09:28 | |
This week we tried something new, we put out a call on our Patreon and Discord for questions and y'all responded with 10 pretty good questions. Questions about democracy, ethics, children, etc... | |||
| 02 Aug 2019 | PATREON TEASER: Goodbye Lenin: Melancholic Thoughts | 00:03:47 | |
We decided that a good companion to our episode about Melancholia and Organized Pessimism would be a rare recording with all of us (except Kevin) in the same room, talking about a pretty cool movie that we saw over a decade ago. | |||