Libsyn Directory

What Is Missing From Your Understanding of Revolutionary Democratic Centralism

Release Date: 10/06/2025

[ARCHIVE] The Border is a Mirror: Europe and the politics of migration with Iker Suarez

Cosmopod

In view of the political situation, we have reuploaded a podcast with Iker Suarez on the border situation in Spain. We hope to have an updated episode soon. ------ In this episode, Rudy joins , author of to delve into the politics of migration and borders in Europe, examining how imperialism, class, and race intersect in what our guest describes as a “genocide at sea.” We explore who the people migrating to Europe are, why they move, and how their journeys expose the contradictions at the heart of European liberalism. Our guest argues that immigration today represents the return of...

The Long Red Scare: Inside the FBI's Secret War on American Communism with Aaron Leonard

Cosmopod

Aaron Leonard and Donald Parkinson sit down for a conversation on Leonard's recent book 'Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism'. Relating this history to current events, Leonard and Parkinson discuss the various ways that the U.S. government, and in particular the FBI, subverted civil liberties and indulged in state repression according to the ebbs and flows of geopolitics while never abandoning its agenda of surveillance and subversion of the Communist Movement. From the early days of Criminal Syndicalism laws and the Palmer Raids to the rise of the New Left and the...

What Was Bolshevism? (Part I)

Cosmopod

Christian, Donald and Parker sit down to discuss Lars Lih's new book They situate the context of the book, and discuss what this new manuscripts adds to Lih's existing oeuvre. Topics discussed include Lih’s use of narrative to frame the continuities in Bolshevism from begging to end, the centrality of Vlast and sovereignty to Bolshevism, how Lih exposes the misunderstanding of past historians about war communism, the importance of Bukharin and Preobrazhensky’s ABCs of Communism and the nature of Bolshevik policies such as the grain monopoly, requisition, and sowing committees during the...

Corbynism vs Partyism: the rise and demise of Your Party

Cosmopod

Charlie and Bryce rejoin Donald and Jack for a recap on what has transpired since the Your Party founding conference. We discuss the recent local elections, which show massive losses for Labor and gains for Reform and Greens. Then we go into the challenges around the formation of Your Party, divided between a grassroots left and Corbynism. Was this project a complete failure? Is there any hope that it can be salvaged and the project of building a principled mass socialist party carried forward? Links: Please

Communism = Soviets + Electrification: The Electric Grid

Cosmopod

Matt and Rudy join RK to discuss several facets of the electric grid. We talk about the USSR's and China's attempts at electrification, how a modern grid looks like, the current US grid and its governing authorities, and a discussion on possible futures for electricity. References: RK's thoughts con rural cooperatives: Matt T. Huber & Fred Stafford's articles: Socialist Politics and the Electricity Grid, The Utility of Utilities and Won't Somebody Please Think of the Grid? Further recommendations, National: by Gretchen Bakke, 2016 by Leah Stokes, 2020 by Katherine Blunt, 2022 by...

The Marxist in Residence: an interview with David Harvey

Cosmopod

Ira and Rudy join renowned geographer David Harvey for a chat on his pedagogy and his theories of economics, neoliberalism and imperialism.

Interview: Oliver Larkin for Congress

Cosmopod

Aliyah and Cliff sit down with Oliver Larkin, who's running for US Congress from Florida's District 23 with revolutionary ambitions such as unseating Jared Moskowitz, abolishing the Electoral College, and Finishing Reconstruction.

The Last Soviet States? Scandinavian Social Democracy

Cosmopod

Brage, Mikael and Rudy sit down to talk about Scandinavian social democracy, with a focus on Norway and Sweden. We discuss the periodization of social democracy, starting from the 1905 independence of Norway, through the first World War period, the rise of social democracy in the interwar period, the golden years and the unraveling. We discuss why social democracy was able to take hold in Scandinavia through several historic compromises, what the economics of the countries were, the limits of the politics and how the parties tried to transcend these limits, before concluding with the...

An Arduous March: The Development of North Korea's Political Economy

Cosmopod

Amelia, Rudy and Matt sit down to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's political economy, with a focus on the distinct periods. We discuss the "information problem" and how it frames the discussion, before detailing the history of the DPRK's formation after Japanese colonialism and the Korean War. We then discuss the detailed planning period, its unraveling in the mid 80s, and the Arduous March period after the collapse of the USSR, before finishing off with the present periods of market reform and market elimination. References: Charles K. Armstrong - The North Korean...

Your Party Founding Conference: Fiasco or Triumph? [Stream audio]

Cosmopod

This is the audio of the Cosmostream of December 7th 2025 on Your Party with guests Bryce Bailey and Charlie Porter from the Democratic Socialists of Your Party. We cover the origins of Your Party, why the guests have chosen to intervene in YP and not the Greens and what kind of intervention they are performing and the kinds of politics they are looking towards. We also cover the contested process of formation of YP, the sects and factions involved, the intricacies of the founding conference and what kind of limitations it had as well as DYSP as a group and its principles. Core reading: ...

More Episodes

Steve Bloom ruminates on the meaning and practice of democratic centralism, arguing that respect for minority positions is key to building a truly disciplined revolutionary formation.

Reading: Felix Bauer

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