3307 - "Technofeudalism": What Killed Capitalism w/ Yanis Varoufakis
The Majority Report with Sam Seder
Release Date: 04/01/2024
The Majority Report with Sam Seder
It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! Emma speaks with , Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at Ohio State University, to discuss his recent book Then, she speaks with , writer and fact checker based in Brooklyn, to discuss her recent piece in The Baffler entitled First, Emma runs through updates on the violent crackdown by police (and Zionist mobs) on UCLA’s anti-war encampment, Blinken’s visit to Israel ahead of a likely invasion of Rafah, Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian aid, the House’s bogus antisemitism bill, South Dakota abortion rights, Trump’s response to...
info_outline 3329 - Mail Carrier Rebellion; The War Over The FTC & The Republican House Fissure w/ Tyler Vasseur, David DayenThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
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info_outline 3328 - Trump Immunity, Abortion Rights Assault, NLRB AttackThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
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info_outline 3327 - "Minority Rule": The Right-Wing Attack On The Will Of The People w/ Ari BermanThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
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info_outline 3326 - Casual Friday! w/ Owen Jones & Kate WillettThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
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info_outline 3325 - Power Dynamics Of Adoption; Defying The Supreme Court w/ Gretchen Sisson, Ryan DoerflerThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
It’s an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with , sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco, to discuss her recent book . Then, she speaks with , law professor at Harvard University, to discuss his recent piece in Dissent Magazine entitled , co-authored with . First, Emma runs through updates on Trump’s immunity and hush money cases, the US’ new foreign aid package, Israel’s impending invasion of Rafah, continuing crackdowns on anti-war student protests in the US, Arizona politics, Harvey Weinstein, the TikTok ban, the resignation of Ariel Henry, and...
info_outline 3324 - “Liberal” Companies Union Bust; Saving Rent Stabilization w/ Jeremy Gantz, Leah GoodridgeThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
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info_outline 3323 - Trump’s Ongoing Trial & Other Legal Quagmires, Explained w/ Randall D. EliasonThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
It's News Day Tuesday! But first, Emma speaks with , white collar crime professor at George Washington University Law School and author of the newsletter, to discuss the recent developments in all of Trump's criminal cases. First, Emma runs through updates on today’s Pennsylvania primaries, Trump’s ongoing hush money case, primary polling, growing backlash to Zionist repression on college campuses, Israel’s bombardment on Rafah, Senate legislation, solar subsidies, FTC policy, Starbucks v. NLRB, Tennessee’s charter voucher bill, and the UK’s new migrant deportation program,...
info_outline 3322 - Environmentalism From Below; Tennessee VW Workers Make History w/ Ashley Dawson, Mike ElkThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
Happy Monday! Emma speaks with , English professor and founder of the at the City University of New York (CUNY), to discuss his recent book Then she’s joined by of the to discuss the recent by workers at the Volkswagen Chattanooga plant in Tennessee to unionize with the United Auto Workers (UAW). Check out Ashley's book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2101-environmentalism-from-below Check out the Payday Report here: https://paydayreport.com/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Check out Seder's Seeds...
info_outline 3321 - Avoiding Israel's Regional War; GOP House Slow Motion Meltdown & More w/ Jeet HeerThe Majority Report with Sam Seder
It's Casual Friday! Sam and Emma speak with , national affairs correspondent for , to round up the week in news. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Israel’s retaliation against Iran, the US veto of UN Membership for Palestine, Trump’s legal woes, the State Department’s internal reports of Israel’s human rights violations, Mike Johnson’s foreign aid failures, Columbia University’s crackdown on student protesters, FISA, and RFK’s candidacy, before watching Kevin O’Leary continue his campaign as Trump’s PR Rep for New York-based legal battles. Jeet Heer then...
info_outlineHappy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Yanis Varoufakis, economics professor and former Finance Minister of Greece, to discuss his recent book Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on continuing US arms sales to Israel, infrastructure regulation, Florida’s Medicaid dump, New Jersey’s ballot design, and new reports on racial biases in medicine, also watching Christiane Amanpour talk with Zahiro-Shahar Mor about Israel’s failing genocide. Professor Yanis Varoufakis then joins, first walking through the evolution from Feudalism’s formula of land ownership and rent extraction to Capitalism’s formula of the ownership of the means of production and profit extraction, before diving into his concept of “Technofeudalism,” a rising system of digital fiefdoms – Amazon a primary example – where products not produced by the owner of the platforms are sold with a massive rent extraction. Expanding on this, Professor Varoufakis explores the role of these platforms’ ownership of the means of behavioral modification (via the extraction of data, once again, not produced by them) as an example of what he calls “cloud capital,” which takes up massive proportions of the global GDP and siphons it off from the labor market, before stepping back to analyze the role of the 2008 financial crisis and the commitment to the neoliberal dynamic of austerity for the people, socialism for the banks, in allowing the private world to funnel massive amounts of investment into cloud capital and allow existing companies (Meta, Google, Amazon, etc) to establish these digital fiefdoms. Wrapping up, Professor Yanis Varoufakis tackles the role that various fiscal and anti-trust policies, the idea of a bill of digital rights, and workplace democratization could play in helping to reclaim and reshape these technofeudalist fiefdoms.
And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma watch Ramy Youssef say ‘Free Palestine’ to rapturous applause on SNL, Rep. Tim Walberg gets caught on camera calling for the genocide of Gaza, and Donald Trump Jr. talks hunting. They also watch Olayemi Olurin school Eric Adams on the Breakfast Club as they tackle the insane fear-mongering around crime in NYC, like “selling fruit” and “smoking weed,” plus, your IMs!
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