Ripping Rubber Bands

Ahmet #4

Ahmet #1

Muzikawa Silt

Brendan Cooney reflects on his political-theoretical evolution in this two-part interview, conducted by his RFH co-host, Andrew Kliman. They discuss the founding of his educational blog, Kapitalism101; Brendan’s initial attraction to thinkers such as David Harvey; his eventual disillusionment; and his journey to Marxist-Humanism. Part 1 of the interview focuses especially on what Brendan has called “That 70’s Show”––the intellectual climate in which the work of Harvey and others is rooted, in which “[a] false-dichotomy between ‘open-minded reinterpretations’ and ‘deterministic orthodoxy’ is too-often erected as a substitute for a real argument.” In Part 2 (which will be the main segment of Episode 6 of RFH) the interview turns mainly to Brendan’s critique of Harvey’s theory of capitalist economic crisis.

In the current-events segment, Brendan and Andrew discuss whether Ambassador Gordon Sondland’s bombshell testimony before the House Intelligence Committee has made Trump’s removal from office more likely. 

The pamphlet mentioned in this podcast, “Capitalism’s Crises: A Debate”, is available at marxisthumanistinitiative.org/literature .


* ~ * ~ * ~ *


Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI), but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.

We welcome and encourage listeners’ comments, posted on this episode’s page of the MHI website.

Please visit MHI’s website for information on philosophy & organization, Marxist-Humanist archives, and its online publication, “With Sober Senses”: https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/

A Long Journey From Marxists to Marx Part 1 -- Ep. 5

The co-hosts interview Jade Saab, a Lebanese-Canadian Ph.D. student and author of “Uprising in Lebanon Aims to Replace Entire Political System,” published last month in With Sober Senses. Saab provides us with an update on the state of revolt since his article was published and engages in additional reflections on the uprising and its trajectory. 

Some of the issues discussed in the interview are: the roots and causes of the continuing uprising in Lebanon; the movement’s demands; the social composition of and differences within the movement; and the directions in which Lebanon might go if the revolt succeeds in overturning Lebanon’s current political system, based on power-sharing among religious sects. Is an emancipatory direction possible? 

In the current-events segment, the co-hosts discuss Sacha Baron Cohen’s forceful and viral critique of the “ideological imperialism” practiced by Mark Zuckerberg and the other “high-tech robber barons” who control social media. 

To follow events in Lebanon, Jade Saab recommends the following English-language electronic sources: 

The Daily Star (daily newspaper); 
Al-Nahar (daily newspaper with an English-language site); 
Executive-magazine (focuses on economic and business issues); 
English-language Instagram page of Megaphone (independent news outlet; provides daily updates on the uprising); 
The Lebanese Politics Podcast (a weekly podcast).


* ~ * ~ * ~ *


Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI), but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.

We welcome and encourage listeners’ comments, posted on this episode’s page of the MHI website.

Please visit MHI’s website for information on philosophy & organization, Marxist-Humanist archives, and its online publication, “With Sober Senses”: https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/

The Uprising in Lebanon -- Ep. 6

Why was the Labour Party trounced so decisively in the December 12 parliamentary elections? What lessons should the pro-Corbyn left take away from the elections? Given that the strategy of much of the US left—including heavy emphasis on economic populism—is similar in striking ways to Labour’s, do the election results contain lessons for it as well? And how has the election affected the likelihood of the UK’s exit from the European Union? 

The co-hosts discuss these and other issues with Ravi Bali, a London-based housing activist and Marxist-Humanist. Their three-way dialogue is part of MHI’s effort to develop a Marxist-Humanist perspective on the political situation in the UK. Because development of that perspective is so important, this episode of Radio Free Humanity is devoted entirely to the three-way dialogue; there is no distinct short segment.

Previous work by Ravi Bali relevant to this episode’s dialogue:

Reflections on the Case for Brexit, and Another View, With Sober Senses, June 19, 2016

How Can Marxist Theory Inform and Learn from Anti-Racist Struggles? (video presentation in With Sober Senses, July 2, 2018

The Imaginative Leap–Considering all Matters from the Vantage Point of a Future Free Society (video presentation in With Sober Senses, July 2, 2018.

A Tale of Two London Protests, With Sober Senses, July 29, 2018

* ~ * ~ * ~ *


Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI), but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.

We welcome and encourage listeners’ comments, posted on this episode’s page of the MHI website.

Please visit MHI’s website for information on philosophy & organization, Marxist-Humanist archives, and its online publication, “With Sober Senses”: https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/

Implications of the UK Elections -- Ep. 7

This is the long-promised second part of Brendan Cooney’s reflections on his political-theoretical evolution, in an interview conducted by his RFH co-host, Andrew Kliman. The discussion now turns mainly to Brendan’s critique of David Harvey’s theory of capitalist economic crisis.


This concluding part of the interview should be listened to in conjunction with Part 1 (Episode 5) (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/episode-5-a-long-journey-from-marxists-to-marx-part-1), which mapped Brendan’s initial attraction to thinkers such as Harvey, his eventual disillusionment, and his journey to Marxist-Humanism. It focused especially on what Brendan has called “That 70’s Show”––the intellectual climate in which the work of such thinkers is rooted, in which “[a] false-dichotomy between ‘open-minded reinterpretations’ and ‘deterministic orthodoxy’ is too-often erected as a substitute for a real argument.”


During the interview, reference is made to Andrew’s 2007 book, Reclaiming Marx’s “Capital” (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/product/reclaiming-marxs-capital), and to his contributions in his debate with Harvey,  which is available in the MHI pamphlet, “Capitalism’s Crises: A Debate” (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/product/capitalisms-crises-a-debate), and also on our website as “Harvey versus Marx on Capitalism’s Crises” (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/economic-crisis/harvey-versus-marx-on-capitalisms-crises.html and https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/economic-crisis/harvey-vs-marx-on-crisis-klimans-rejoinder.html).



In this episode’s current-events segment, Brendan and Andrew discuss the post-impeachment fight for a fair trial of Donald J. Trump in the Senate, and whether widening divisions among evangelical Christians indicate a weakening of support for Trump within his “base.”


* ~ * ~ * ~ *


Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI), but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.


We welcome and encourage listeners’ comments, posted on this episode’s page of the MHI website.  


Please visit MHI’s website for information on philosophy & organization, Marxist-Humanist archives, and its online publication, “With Sober Senses”: 
https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/

A Long Journey From Marxists to Marx, Part 2 -- Ep. 8

Black Beam

The co-hosts interview Adam Plante, a young New York City education activist and Marxist-Humanist thinker, about his work on liberal democracy. With respect to the current moment, they discuss such topics as Plante’s view that the rise of Trump and other authoritarian strongmen is a threat specifically to socialist values; why the threat of Trumpism has been minimized; Plante’s contention that the actions of “leftists” who remain silent and or encourage Trump are literally suicidal; his thoughts on efforts by anti-neoliberal “leftists” to appeal to Trump’s base; and why Plante himself didn’t get swept up in soft-on-Trump “leftism.” Taking a more theoretical turn, the discussion then focuses on his argument that it is important that socialists both defend liberal democracy *and* fight to transcend it, and on his exploration of how Marx and Lenin theorized this issue.

During the interview, Plante and the co-hosts refer to his presentations on liberal democracy at a 2019 conference sponsored by Historical Materialism and Jacobin (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/philosophy-organization/video-mhi-panel-at-jacobin-historical-materialism-conference-fighting-trumpism-and-left-accommodation.html) and last year’s Left Forum (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/philosophy-organization/video-mhi-panels-at-left-forum-conference-confronting-right-left-authoritarianism-confronting-trumpism.html).

Also in this episode: The state of the Democratic Party’s primary campaigns after the elections in Iowa and New Hampshire.


* ~ * ~ * ~ *


Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI), but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.


We welcome and encourage listeners’ comments, posted on this episode’s page of the MHI website.


Please visit MHI’s website for information on philosophy & organization, Marxist-Humanist archives, and its online publication, “With Sober Senses”: https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/

Defending, and Transcending, Liberal Democracy -- Ep. 11

Brendan interviews Andrew about his recent study “Wealth Inequality in the U.S.: Its Level, Trend, and Significance” (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/economics/wealth-inequality-in-the-u-s-its-level-trend-and-significance.html). They discuss differences between what the wealthy own and what working people own––the massive difference in the amount, but also how the “wealth” of the working class differs in kind from the capital owned by the wealthy. They also discuss why Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman (associates of Thomas Piketty) claim that inequality of wealth has skyrocketed while other researchers dispute this, and how and why politicians like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are making use of the Saez-Zucman data. Finally, they discuss Andrew’s view that no definitive conclusion can be drawn about the trend in wealth inequality, and what we should focus on in light of that. 


Also in this episode: Brendan and Andrew discuss “Is America Going Fascist?” (https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-fascist-parallels-unhelpful-by-daron-acemoglu-2020-01), a recent article published by Daron Acemoglu, the well-known social-democratic economist at MIT.


* ~ * ~ * ~ *


Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI), but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.

We welcome and encourage listeners’ comments, posted on this episode’s page of the MHI website.

Please visit MHI’s website for information on philosophy & organization, Marxist-Humanist archives, and its online publication, “With Sober Senses”: https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/

Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by MHI, but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.

Ripping Rubber Bands

DJ RJ

Recent comments

Aaron Benjamin 2

Tiffaney Olenick

User 760823704

Related tracks