In the first episode of Left To Burn, Battleground editors John Foster and Josh White discuss the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and UK Labour's ongoing efforts to refashion itself a centre-right party.

Left To Burn 24 September

European airport sounds, mix recorded before the Coronavirus pandemic. Taken from Raz Mesinai's Sonic Hauntology: Subterranean Internationale, forthcoming from The Battleground Sounds.

Raz Mesinai - European Airportmosphere (Barcelona, Brussels, Amsterdam Mashup)

The Eurasian Climate Brief is a new podcast dedicated to climate news in the region stretching from Eastern Europe and Russia down to Caucasia and Central Asia. Join us in Glasgow for our special COP26 series. The talks have been billed as the last-chance summit to prevent catastrophic climate change. 

In this episode, we focus on Russia's reliance on coal, less than a day after G20 countries failed to reach an agreement to phase out the fuel.

The Eurasian Climate Brief: Own coal goal - Phasing out fossil fuel in Russia

Taken from Raz Mesinai's Sonic Hauntology: Subterranean Internationale, forthcoming from The Battleground Sounds.

Raz Mesinai - Casino Trance Montreal

In the fifth episode of their COP26 coverage, the Eurasian Climate Brief team interview Gilles Dufrasne, of Carbon Market Watch. Dufrasne explains what carbon offsetting is and highlights some of the pitfalls of the carbon market system.

Demystifying Carbon Offsets: Gilles Dufrasne at COP26

Developing countries have criticised the OECD definition of climate finance, which includes grants, loans, and export finance credits from both private and public sources. In the 6th episode of the Eurasian Climate Brief’s COP26 coverage, Team ECB interviews the head of the climate and energy programme at WWF Russia, Alexey Kokorin. We ask Kokorin, amongst other things, what exactly counts as climate finance.

Who's Going to Pay? WWF Russia's Alexey Kokorin at COP26

What are the take-aways of #COP26? In the Eurasian Climate Brief's wrap-up episode, the Climate Action Network's Olha Boiko is sceptical the summit has secured a 1.5C target but sees hope in rising climate activism in Central Asia and the region’s pledges to phase out coal.

COP26 Wrap-Up

In the latest Eurasian Climate Brief, Team ECB speaks to Georgian environmental researcher Mariam Devidze about the impacts of international climate projects in her country. Devidze is also critical of mega-dams in Georgia. Our own Angelina Davydova also tells us about the current proliferation of climate initiatives in Russia, including Russia's first environmental theatre festival in St. Petersburg.

Fighting Climate Change in Georgia

In the new episode of Left To Burn, Battleground editors John Foster and Josh White assess the likelihood of Russia invading Ukraine, the possible outcomes, and the potential consequences for European politics.

Endless War: The Ukrainian Crisis Future

In the latest episode of Left To Burn, Josh White and John Foster discuss the reception of the Ukraine invasion in the United States and Europe, as well as the odd love affair of the British and American right for Vladimir Putin.

The War for Everybody: Ukraine Abroad

Amazon warehouse workers win a union vote in Staten Island. Starbucks' crews are organising. The Battleground's Josh White and John Foster return with another episode of Left To Burn in which they talk about a revitalised labour movement and its place in the European Union and the United States.

Triumph Over Amazon

France is at a dead end. In two weeks' time, voters will either elect a far-right neoliberal, or a far-right populist, as president. Maxime Sattonay, in conversation with Joel Schalit, about the first round of the French election, and why the second will be even worse.

The Illusion of Choice: Macron Versus Le Pen

Recorded by Joel Schalit, 15 May 2022. Torino, Italy.

Free, Free Palestine

Nakba Speech

Recorded by Joel Schalit, 15 May 2022. Torino, Italy

Chant Medley

Boris Johnson is facing a crisis of confidence. Discontent in the UK over Partygate and the cost of living threatens his premiership. Johnson hopes he can divert attention by tearing up the Northern Ireland Protocol. Battleground editors Josh White and John Foster discuss the painful travails of Tory Britain and what the fallout may mean for Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Crisis: Brexit and Its Consequences

Few French politicians are as loathsome as Marine Le Pen. Patiently waiting her turn for the presidency, she's spent decades on the sidelines preparing to take over. Thanks to centre-right leaders like Emanuel Macron copping her nationalist politics and pushing France rightwards, Le Pen finally has her shot. Maxime Sattonay discusses the French election results, on The Battleground's Left To Burn podcast.

Elected by Macron

The overruling of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court has roiled American politics. Was this a foreseeable consequence of failing to defeat Donald Trump? Should leftists have held their nose and voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016? Battleground editors John Foster and Josh White take on the issue of tactical voting.  Can voting for a mainstream party be the right political strategy?

Lose Your Apathy

The Tory leadership contest is hotting up, with Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak failing to pitch themselves as Thatcher 2.0. Meanwhile, in the United States, the logjam in the Democratic Party holding back Joe Biden’s agenda is on the point of breaking. In this episode of Left to Burn, Battleground editors Josh White and John Foster parse the ins and outs of political developments in the US and the UK.

Conservatives in Crisis

In the latest episode of Left To Burn, Battleground editors Josh White and John Foster discuss the unfortunate synergies being created by the continued influence of far-right populism and climate change.

Climate Populism: The New Radical Chic

When is a change not a change? When one member of the moribund House of Windsor gives way to another but the inexorable decline of the United Kingdom continues apace. In this episode of the Left To Burn podcast, Battleground editors Josh White and John Foster look at events that masquerade as transformations.

Same As it Ever Was: Post-Elizabethan Britain

In the new edition of Left To Burn, Josh White and John Foster mull over the latest regressions in British politics and lament the European left’s tendency to appropriate the worst errors of populism. Join us for another informed chat by our intrepid Transatlantic editors, who this week discovered the threads linking UK Premier Liz Truss to left-wing German sociologist Wolfgang Streeck.

A Matter Of Truss

In part II of their talk about Georgia Meloni’s victory in the Italian election, Basilio Korman and Battleground editor Joel Schalit change their focus to the damage it inflicted on Italy’s far-right. Meloni both alienated Italian fascists, including members of her own party, and defeated her main far-right competitor, Matteo Salvini, and his older, historically larger, Lega party.

When Democracy Fails, Part II

In the new Left To Burn,  Battleground editors Josh White and John Foster devote some thought to the late historian Tony Judt’s liberal critique of the post-Cold War world. The problem facing the left is how to create solidarity in a world in which previously suppressed voices are freer than in the past, and political leaders like Rishi Sunak provide the false impression that multiculturalism works for everyone.

Solidarity After Neoliberalism

With UK politics in crisis, turmoil in Northern Ireland is the last thing anyone wanted. Yet that’s exactly what they’ve got. John Foster and Josh White on the Northern Ireland Protocol, and how the Democratic Unionist Party are using it to prevent Sinn Fein from assuming power - but uwittingly promoting unification instead.

Irish Reunification Strategy

On the new Left To Burn, Josh White and John Foster discuss the threat posed by Germany's Reichsbürger coup plotters. What do such crises signify for the social democratic left, which, from Italy to the UK, remains far too beholden to centrism and corruption to provide an alternative politics for Europe? It’s hard to imagine progressives leading the way, particularly given their lack of vision in the war in Ukraine.

2022 in Review: The Centre-Left in Crisis

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict overproduces journalism. With good reason. It's been one of the most politically significant crises since WWII. Whether broadcast news or newspaper articles, there's no shortage. Field recordings LPs are an exception. In December, Battleground editor Joel Schalit spoke to publisher Natalie Sarkic-Todd and communications director Max Sattonay about his new album, Everywhere But There: Everywhere But There: Gaza in Berlin and Brussels 2014-2021.

Israel-Palestine in Europe: The Joel Schalit Interview

Welcome to 2023. It’s not 1984, but we’re a lot closer to dystopia.  Automation is reconfiguring the world of work, and all too often, the left finds itself in the position of defending things nobody wants. In the latest episode of The Battleground’s Left To Burn podcast, John Foster and Josh White look at the challenges and opportunities created by automation.

Bullshit Jobs or Robots

We live in an era of excess. The main obstacle to eliminating poverty is distribution. In the latest episode of Left To Burn, Battleground editors Josh White and John Foster discuss strategies for addressing this conundrum. Some think that universal basic income is the answer. Others pin their hopes on universal basic services, using more expansive means to achieve a similar goal.

Universal Basic Everything: Excess for Everyone

From Everywhere But There: Gaza in Berlin and Brussels, 2014-2021 (The Battleground Sounds, 2023). Recorded in Berlin by Joel Schalit. Mastered and produced by Raz Mesinai.

Palästina Kurdistan, Kotbusser Tor

From Political Field Recordings Vol 01 (The Battleground Sounds, 2023.) Recorded in Tel Aviv by Joel Schalit. Mastered and produced by Raz Mesinai.

Drones For The Poor, New Tel Aviv Central Bus Station

Tendayi Vine: Pillars of Our Latex Room Opening, Watermans

The UK is on the brink of a new era: the end of Tory rule, a new Labour govt and an emboldened far-right party. Reprising his Brexit branding, Nigel Farage is pushing to make this an immigration election. Josh White, on why the July vote might be a dress rehearsal for the Reform Party.

The Immigration Election" It's All About Nigel

Women refugees protest. Brussels, March 2016. Recorded to iPhone by Joel Schalit.

Solidarité Chant. Brussels, March 2016.

Mixed by Oliver Sheppard/DJ Death Church, for Souciant. All rights, Killing Joke.

Popular tracks by The Battleground