Eric Blanc joins us to talk about a recent essay he wrote assessing the break that founded the UK Labour Party, of which there are tremendous resonances with the socialist movement in the U.S., today. 

***Support this podcast by becoming a patron today: http://www.patreon.com/deadpundits ***

Tune in for this wide-ranging and informative discussion.

You can find the essay here: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/labour-party-uk-lessons-socialists

Thanks, Patrons!

Taking Lessons from the Break That Founded the Labour Party w/ Eric Blanc

A gay communist atheist directing the most reverential film ever made about Jesus Christ? It happened! Pier Paolo Pasolini's THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW (1964) uses neorealist aesthetics to emphasize the material side of Jesus's life over the divine, and foregrounds His politics over his miracles. PLUS: the pleasures and perils of being extremely online during a pandemic, and what conservatives say about democracy behind closed doors.

"A Cinema of Poetry" by Patrick Rumble - https://www.artforum.com/film/patrick-rumble-on-pier-paolo-pasolini-38175

"Behind Closed Doors, Republican Plutocrats Conspiring Against Democracy Let the Mask Slip" by Luke Savage - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/04/voting-rights-hr1-bill-republicans-antidemocratic

"Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century" by Jane Mayer - https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-century

Check out our Patreon for exclusive bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/michaelandus

Michael and Us

#226 - The Gospel According to Pasolini

And introducing WE POD ECONO: an Our Band Could Be Your Life miniseries! We are taking a journey through Michael Azerrad’s chronicle of the 1980’s American underground rock scene, continuing today with Chapter Ten: Dinosaur Jr.! We’re joined by Time Crisis and Mountain Brews’ Jake Longstreth to take a look at Dinosaur Jr., the band that pushes volume, epic guitarmanship, and toxic interpersonal relationships to the absolute limit.

GET TIX TO THE FRQNCY1 FEST HERE: https://frqncy.live/frqncy1
Check out Jake’s band Moutain Brews here: https://mountainbrews.bandcamp.com/

SONGS IN ORDER:
Deep Wound - I Saw It
Dinosaur Jr. - The Leper
Dinosaur Jr. - Poledo
Dinosaur Jr. - Sludgefest
Dinosaur Jr. - The Lung
Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene
Dinosaur Jr. - I Ran Away
Dinosaur Jr. - Crumble
Dinosaur Jr. - Show Me The Way

And Introducing

#95 DINOSAUR JR. (feat. Jake Longstreth)

Writer Fabian Scheidler examines the collapse of a 500-year system at (or already beyond) its social and ecological limits, and calls for an urgent un-coupling of both political power from corporate hands, and our way of life from capitalism's constant demands for expansion and growth.

Fabian is author of "The End of the Megamachine: A Brief History of a Failing Civilization" from Zero Books.

https://www.megamaschine.org/en/

Death and choice at the megamachine's end.

Chris and Molly read Infinite Jest, Part 6. Pages 42-49: Orin Incandenza starts his day. Discussion starts at 22:33.

Infinite Cast

Part 6

Writer Thomas Frank on his book "The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism" from Metropolitan Books.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250220110

1243: On populism and anti-populism / Thomas Frank

Philosopher Teppo Eskelinen on "The Revival of Political Imagination: Utopia as Methodology" from Zed Books.

https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/the-revival-of-political-imagination/

1266: On utopia / Teppo Eskelinen

Ward Anseeuw on the International Land Coalition report "Uneven Ground: Land inequalities at the heart of unequal societies.

"https://www.landcoalition.org/en/uneven-ground/report-and-papers/

1269: Land inequality, social inequality / Ward Anseeuw

The harrowing story of a VA long-term care facility where veterans watched friends die of Covid, then sentenced to a solitary-confinement lockdown. Special guest Spencer Ackerman joins to discuss this story, his new book Reign Of Terror, and more.

The VA Covid Prison & The Reign of Terror

After 45 Senate Republicans voted to declare his impeachment trial unconstitutional, Donald Trump is almost assured an acquittal. It marks a stunning turnaround for a man who just a few weeks ago was completely isolated and facing the prospect of jail time for seditious conspiracy. How did the Democratic Party fail so spectacularly? Will impeachment ironically be the thing that paves the way for Trump’s reentry into the political spotlight? What does this mean for the rising danger of fascism?

The Real Story: Why Impeachment Helps Trump

Peter Bloom and Carl Rhodes on their article "Beware Corporate ‘Democracy Washing’: Twitter, Trump, and the Danger of Privatizing the Fight Against Fascism" for Common Dreams.


https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/01/23/beware-corporate-democracy-washing-twitter-trump-and-danger-privatizing-fight

1266: On utopia / Teppo Eskelinen

This Is Hell!

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