Red Flags: A Reckoning with Communism for the Future of the Left, w/ David Camfield
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Host as guest! Guest host Saima Desai interviews David about his new book, Red Flags.
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If you listen to the end of the episode, there's a discount code you can use to order the book
anywhere in the world from Fernwood Publishing either before or after it's published. The code
will be valid until mid-September 2025.
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The book's page on the Fernwood site: Red Flags: A Reckoning with Communism for the Future of the Left  https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/red-flags
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People based in the US may wish to order the book from its US distributor, Columbia 
University Press: Red Flags | Columbia University Press  https://cup.columbia.edu/book/red-flags/9781773637327
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People in the UK and EU countries may wish to order the book from Central Books:
https://www.centralbooks.com/red-flags-a-reckoning-with-communism-for-the-future-of-the.html 
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David's website is Welcome to Prairie Red - Home  https://www.prairiered.ca

#51: Red Flags: A Reckoning with Communism for the Future of the Left, w/ David Camfield

Workplace Organizing for Radicals
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Why should workplace organizing matter for the radical left? What kind of unionism should radicals try to foster? How should we go about doing it? How should people who want to do workplace organizing think about where to work for pay? An interview with two experienced activists, retired New York transit worker Steve Downs and Ontario public sector worker Katherine Grezjszczak, about these and related questions.
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If you listen to the end of the episode, there's a discount code you can use to order David’s book Red Flags anywhere in the world from Fernwood Publishing. The code will be valid until mid-September 2025
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To learn more:
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Secrets of a Successful Organizer, from Labor Notes
https://labornotes.org/secrets
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Tim Goulet, Unions and the rank and file strategy
https://tempestmag.org/2023/07/unions-and-the-rank-and-file-strategy/
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Steve Downs, Hell On Wheel Pamphlet
https://archive.org/details/hellonwheelpamphlet
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Steve Downs, Socialist Strategies in Unions:Twenty Years in Transport Workers Union Local 100
https://solidarity-us.org/transit_working_paper/
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Follow Victor's Children on Instagram for info on episodes, events, and more

#52: Workplace Organizing for Radicals

Todd Gordon and Jeff Webber join David on a deep dive into understanding the far right, including fascism, as a phenomenon of capitalist society. The interview was recorded on April 13, 2025.
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In this episode, Todd and Jeff discuss ideas they develop in a book they're writing. If you have access to the print edition or subscriber-only online access to the journal Spectre, you can read their article in issue 8 (2023), “The Authoritarian Disposition: Capitalism, Liberalism, Fascism." If not, they've also published this brief piece: Todd Gordon and Jeffery R. Webber: The Return of Fascism? https://www.focaalblog.com/2024/01/29/todd-gordon-and-jeffery-r-webber-the-return-of-fascism/
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Mentioned in the episode:
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Thomas Hummel, "For revolutionaries, the period must be defined by the international fight against the far right"
https://tempestmag.org/2025/03/for-revolutionaries-the-period-must-be-defined-by-the-international-fight-against-the-far-right/
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Topics covered (times are approximate):
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capitalism and liberalism 0:06:13
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democracy 0:20:24
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the Right 0:35:36
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fascism 0:45:15
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"populism," popular front anti-fascism, and the casualization of "fascism" 1:00:10
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left strategy against the far right 1:09:32
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Brazil and Argentina 1:15:07
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Trump's second administration 1:20:50
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Canada 1:37:01

#53: Capitalism, Democracy, Fascism, Trump w/ Gordon & Webber -- and a few words about Mark Carney

The Right, Unions and the Working Class
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Right-wing politics are gaining support in the working class and within unions in so-called Canada. 
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What's happening and how can we fight it more effectively? Steven Tufts and a CUPE member 
discuss.
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An article worth reading:
Martin Lukacs, How Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives seduced working-class voters
https://breachmedia.ca/how-pierre-poilievres-conservatives-seduced-working-class-voters/ 
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If you listen to the end of the episode, there's a discount code you can use to order David's book Red Flags
anywhere in the world from Fernwood Publishing. The code will be valid until mid-September 2025.
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instagram @ victors_children

#54: The Right, Unions and the Working Class

Anti-Racism, Class and History w/ David Roediger
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Historian David Roediger discusses some of the people who've influenced him, 
white workers and Black struggles in the U.S., and some aspects of anti-racist 
theory and politics today.
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David Roediger's new memoir An Ordinary White: My Antiracist Education 
https://www.fordhampress.com/9781531509583/an-ordinary-white/
An adapted excerpt from the book is available here: 
https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/blogs/news/critical-studies-of-whiteness-an-autobiographical-defence
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In the episode David Camfield mentions this article: Kim Moody, "Cedric Johnson and the Other Sixties Nostalgia" 
https://newpol.org/cedric-johnson-and-the-other-sixties-nostalgia/
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Related to an issue that comes up in the interview: David Camfield, "The PMC Does Not Exist and Why It Matters 
for Socialists"
https://newpol.org/the-pmc-does-not-exist-and-why-it-matters-for-socialists/

#55: Anti-Racism, Class and History w/ David Roediger

Taiwan: What the Left Needs to Know
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Taiwan is a flashpoint for US-China rivalry so radicals internationally need to be able to see
through the misleading views about Taiwan spread by both Western and Chinese rulers to
develop a consistently internationalist anti-imperialist approach. Ralf Ruckus, who discussed 
China today on episode 11 of this podcast, returns with an introduction to Taiwanese society 
and politics.
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To learn more:
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Ralf Ruckus, "What Everyone on the Left Should Know about Taiwan (at the Minimum)
https://spectrejournal.com/what-everyone-on-the-left-should-know-about-taiwan-at-the-minimum/
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An interview with Taiwanese leftist Brian Hioe
https://therealnews.com/taiwans-future-will-shape-the-whole-global-economy-will-taiwanese-people-have-a-say-in-that-future
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Some Taiwanese sources:
https://tiwa.org.tw
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https://www.spa.org.tw
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https://newbloommag.net
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https://eventsinfocus.org
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https://sites.google.com/site/peaceforthesea/home

#56: Taiwan: What the Left Needs to Know

Defying the Law: The Air Canada Strike & How Labour Law Restricts Strikes and What Workers Can Do About It, w/ A King and D Camfield
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The historic law-defying strike by Air Canada flight attendants August 16-19 caught the attention of many people in the Canadian state and beyond. In the first part of this episode, David interviews Adam King about the strike and questions it raises. This is followed by a public talk (planned before the flight attendants' strike) David gave in Winnipeg on August 26, presented by the 1919 Workers' Collective, about the history of state restrictions on workers' freedom to strike, their impact, workers' defiance of these restrictions, and what conclusions people who want a powerful working-class movement should draw from this history. The talk was entitled "Against the Law? How Labour Law Restricts Strikes and What Workers Can Do About It."
David's talk begins at 59:23.
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Adam King's article on the AC strike: Air Canada Flight Attendants Have Made Labour History
https://www.readthemaple.com/air-canada-flight-attendants-have-made-labour-history
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Article by former flight attendant Ann Hui in the Globe And Mail mentioned in this episode (paywalled): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-air-canada-flight-attendant-job-experience-labour-unpaid-work/
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Use Promo code "RF15" until Oct. 19, 2025 to receive a 15% discount when ordering David's book, Red Flags, here: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/red-flags

#57: The Air Canada Strike, How Labour Law Restricts Strikes & What Workers Can Do About It

McCarthyism and its lessons for the left today
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The Trump administration's repressive moves have sparked talk of a "new McCarthyism" so this episode presents an interview with Alan Wald about McCarthyism -- the "Second Red Scare" in the US in the late 1940s and 1950s -- and its lessons for the left in our time.
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UPDATE - Helpful clarification from one of our listeners on information mentioned in this episode's intro: "Of the two recent faculty firings in Texas, only one of them (Tom Alter’s case) was at Texas State. The other was at Texas A&M. And, of course, there have been numerous other cases around the country."
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Readings and Resources
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Ashley Smith, Against the New McCarthyism
https://tempestmag.org/2025/09/against-the-new-mccarthyism/
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United States: Texas State Terminates Alter, National Campaign Fights Back
https://lis-isl.org/en/2025/10/united-states-texas-state-terminates-alter-national-campaign-fight-back/
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Alan Wald Homepage
https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/alan-wald-homepage/
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Bill Keach, Rehabilitating McCarthyism
https://tempestmag.org/2025/10/rehabilitating-mccarthyism/

#58: McCarthyism and its lessons for the left today

The Philippines and its Left: What the Global Left Needs to Know
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The Philippines has one of the largest populations in the world, there are large diasporic Filipino communities in North America, and there's a sizeable left that's also present in the diaspora. This episode is an interview with a guest in the Philippines who's active in the anti-Stalinist radical left.
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If you're unfamiliar with the history of the Philippines, this timeline is useful:
Philippines profile - Timeline
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15581450
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To learn more:
Alex de Jong, After decades, an insurgency falters
https://tempestmag.org/2025/01/after-decades-an-insurgency-falters/
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Rasti Delizo, Priming the Philippines for a “globalized NATO”
https://tempestmag.org/2024/01/priming-the-philippines-for-a-globalized-nato/
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Hunting Specters: A Political History of the Purges in the Communist Party of the Philippines
https://libcom.org/article/hunting-specters-political-history-purges-communist-party-philippines
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Two Filipino anti-Stalinist socialist political organizations:
Partido Sosyalista
https://sosyalista.ph/
» About the RPM-M
https://www.grenzeloos.org/jl/?page_id=2

#59: The Philippines and its Left: What the Global Left Needs to Know

A podcast from so-called Canada talking socialism from below

#53: Capitalism, Democracy, Fascism, Trump w/ Gordon & Webber -- and a few words about Mark Carney

Victor's Children

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