Explore every episode of the podcast Give Them An Argument
Dive into the complete episode list for Give Them An Argument. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Title
Pub. Date
Duration
Breaking Down Zohran on The View
03 Oct 2025
00:52:00
It's Friday! Let's end the week with something fun and watch Zohran sparring with the ladies on The View about Palestine, electability, and more.
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Is Analytic Philosophy a Dead End for the Left?
02 Oct 2025
01:20:47
That's the claim made by Neil Vallelly in a shockingly poorly-informed article for Jacobin (reviewing Christopher Schuringa's book "A Social History of Analytical Philosophy"). Jacobin editor Nick French defended analytic philosophy in a counterpoint review of the same book ("Is Analytic Philosophy a Class Ideology?") published the same day. In this episode, Ben Burgis argues in this episode that French is correct but that the whole exchange suffers from ignoring the overlap between analytic philosophy and Marxism. Jacobin readers should be hearing about the (considerable!) contributions of analytical Marxist thinkers.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Trump Classifies "Anti-Capitalism" as Political Violence Pre-Crime
01 Oct 2025
00:56:00
Trump's new national security directive classifies all of the following as indicators of incipient political violence that need to be investigated and disrupted before they come to fruition:
• anti-Americanism, • anti-capitalism, • anti-Christianity, • support for the overthrow of the United States Government, • extremism on migration, • extremism on race, • extremism on gender • hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, • hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, and • hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality.
Beyond making the obvious point that this is almost cartoonishly authoritarian, Ben discusses the way this exactly reverses the real relationship between political violence and structural analysis.
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Missing the Point About Charlie Kirk
30 Sep 2025
01:01:37
Ben Burgis addresses the controversy about the article he and Meagan Day wrote about political violence and free speech after the Charlie Kirk assassination, all of the ways the most tedious and unhelpful people on the Left found to miss the point, and the broader perils of this moment.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Richard Wolff and Ben Burgis Address a Socialist Conference in Mexico City
29 Sep 2025
00:53:45
We're back! This last weekend, Ben Burgis was at an international conference of socialist, communist, and labor parties in Mexico City hosted by the Partido del Trabajo (the smallest but furthest left of the three parties in Claudia Sheinbaum's coalition). He introduced Richard Wolff to the assembled delegates, and Wolff have a barn burner of a talk outlining just what's happened to American society in the last few decades. We share the video + Ben gives some background on the conference and gets into what the new season of GTAA this kicks off is going to look like.
Follow Richard Wolff on Twitter: @profwolff
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Season 7 Episode 25: Jake Departure/Season Finale/Fun Shit
16 Aug 2025
01:54:47
After a four-year run on the show, Producer Jake is saying goodbye. (Although presumably he'll be saying "hello" again on some future episodes as a guest.) One of his predecessors, Producer Cale, joins us to see the lad off. Jay Zeroni, who's never been a GTAA producer but is still a good guy, joins us in the postgame for patrons. We're having some fun with our Season 7 finale before we take a break (at least from full episodes) for a couple weeks, and then we'll be back with some big format changes. Maybe we'll talk about some of that tonight!
Meanwhile, if you live in or near Los Angeles, come out this Saturday to see Ben Burgis and Meagan Day chat with Danish parliamentarian (and leader of the Red-Green Alliance party) Pelle Dragsted about his book "Nordic Socialism." That's going to be Saturday, August 16th at 6 PM at the Village Well bookstore in Culver City, followed by drinks nearby afterward.
Finally, not one but TWO new Capital classes will be starting on Labor Day weekend on the GTAA patreon. A new Capital Vol. 1 class (this time much slower, only a section a week instead of full chapters) will be starting on Saturday, August 30th and the long-promised Capital Vol. 2 class will be starting on Sunday, August 31st. Head over to patreon.com/benburgis if you want to sign up for either of those (or for the "GTAA University" tier where you get both at once).
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Season 7 Episode 24: Meagan Day vs. the Tradwives
09 Aug 2025
01:23:27
Jacobin writer and editor Meagan Day joins us to talk about what reactionary "tradwife" influencers are latching onto, and how social democracy can actually help families in a way that ugly anti-feminist culture war can't. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on what the Epstein scandal says about our late capitalist hellscape. (No postgame tonight, sorry!)
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.co
Season 7 Episode 23: Norm Finkelstein & Matt McManus on John Stuart Mill
01 Aug 2025
02:24:28
The crossover event the world has eagerly awaited is here (OK, well, some of us are excited)--Matt McManus and Stormin' Norman Finkelstein on the same podcast episode. As it turns out, they share an interest in John Stuart Mill, so we thought it might be interesting to explore that. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on Bret Stephens's absurd genocide denialism.
Watch Norm deliver a lecture on Mill to the Communist Party of Great Britain:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.co
Season 7 Episode 22: Exploitation and Analytical Marxism (ft. Nicholas Vrousalis)
25 Jul 2025
01:59:35
Nicholas Vrousalis, author of "Exploitation as Domination: What Makes Capitalism Unjust" joins Ben Burgis to talk about his book, how to rigorously think about capitalist exploitation, what it was like to work with G.A. Cohen in grad school, and more. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument about the bizarro arguments of pro-Trump libertarians. In the postgame for patrons, Ryan Zickgraf joins us for a dramatic reading of Sophie Lewis's thoughts about the sex with octopuses.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Season 7 Episode 21: How Capitalism Ends (Bastille Day Special w/Steve Paxton)
20 Jul 2025
01:49:48
Steve Paxton studied with the great Marxist philosopher G.A. Cohen as a graduate student at Oxford. Since then, he's had blue-collar jobs, white collar jobs, and been unemployed, but he's never stopped writing and thinking about socialism and Marxism. For this special Bastille Day episode, Ben Burgis talks with Steve about his book "How Capitalism Ends." Oh, and it's graphic designer Andy's birthday, so we'll raise a toast to our Bastille Day Boy. In the postgame for patrons, believe it or not, we actually finish our long march through Jordan Peterson vs. 20 Atheists.
Order Steve's book:
https://stevepaxton.co.uk/buyNowHCE.php
Follow Steve on Twitter: @Steve__Paxton
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Season 7 Episode 20: We Have Always Had a Union (ft. Shaun Richman)
18 Jul 2025
02:06:11
Labor scholar Shaun Richman joins us to talk to Ben Burgis about his book "We Always Had a Union: The New York Hotel Workers’ Union, 1912-1953." Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on the absurd attacks on Zohran that have been made everywhere from National Review to Reason to...Matt Taibbi's Substack. (Goddamnit, Matt.) In the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew get heart-breakingly close to finally being done with "Jordan Peterson vs. 20 Atheists."
Read Ben's MSNBC article on the hysteria about city-owned grocery stores:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Season 7 Episode 19: Flowers for Marx
16 Jul 2025
02:02:04
Two authors from the new anthology "Flowers for Marx" (returning guests Matt McManus & Conrad Hamilton) join Ben Burgis to chat about the book. Before that, Ben and the crew debunk more smears of Zohran. In the postgame for patrons, Matt puts in a shift joining us on our long march through Jordan Peterson vs. 20 atheists.
Order Flowers for Marx:
https://www.revolpress.com/flowers
Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf
Follow Conrad on Twitter: @BongardConrad
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Season 7 Episode 18: Michael O'Neill Burns & Matt McManus on Marx & Ideology
14 Jul 2025
01:50:41
Philosophical and comedic YouTube person Michael O'Neill Burns comes on GTAA for the first time and political science professor Matt McManus comes on for the billionth time (rough approximation) so they can discuss Marx and ideology. Before that, Ben and the crew break down some of the worst pro-war talking points wrt Iran. In the postgame, we continue our long march through Jordan Peterson vs. 20 Atheists.
Watch Michael's channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelOBurns
Follow him on Twitter: @michaeloburns
Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Season 7 Episode 17: Another World is Possible (ft. Natasha Zapata)
20 Jun 2025
02:18:10
Natasha Hakimi Zapata joins us to chat w/Ben about her important new book "Another World is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe." From Britain's NHS to Singapore's publicly-leased housing system to New Zealand's egalitarian pensions to Norway's family policies, her book documents the way that countries around the world have proven that social problems that seem intractable in America are in fact perfectly fucking tractable given the political will. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on the ongoing insanity in Los Angeles and how to think about the class politics of ICE raids and resistance to them. In the postgame for patrons, we continue to watch Jordan Peterson vs. atheists.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Season 7 Episode 16: Citizen Marx
15 Jun 2025
02:05:30
Bruno Leipold joins Ben Burgis to talk about his excellent book "Citizen Marx: Republicanism and the Formation of Karl Marx's Social and Political Thought." Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument responding to Jodi Dean on "neofeudalism." In the postgame for patrons, RM Brown joins Ben and the crew to break down some more of Jordan Peterson's bizarro debate with 20 atheists. And, oh yeah, scattered around all this there's some discussion of the spiraling insanity and authoritarianism going on outside our windows in Los Angeles.
Read Ben's review of "Citizen Marx" and Jodi Dean's "Capital's Grave":
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 15: Nathan Robinson on His Book w/Noam Chomsky (+ Jordan Peterson's Jubilee)
12 Jun 2025
02:17:33
Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson joins Ben Burgis to talk about his and Noam Chomsky's new book "The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World." In the postgame for patrons, Ben and the cre watch some of Jordan Peterson's Jubilee debate, in which Peterson realizes he can brilliantly defend his position by the 5D chess strategy of angrily taking exception to every background assumption and every turn of phrase and never actually committing himself to anything.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 14: Karl Marx in America (ft. Andrew Hartman)
16 May 2025
01:57:26
Andrew Hartman joins Ben Burgis to talk about his fascinating book "Karl Marx in America," where he traces interest in Marx's ideas by American commentators from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression to the Vietnam-era New Left to the present. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument responding to Ro Khanna on socialism. In the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew watch a slightly less serious discussion about Marx by Tim Pool and Sargon of Akkad and some other person who's name none of us can be bothered to remember (+ Donald Trump telling a story about how his fat billionaire friend in London).
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 13: Eric Blanc on the Way Forward for Labor
09 May 2025
01:06:31
Eric Blanc joins Ben Burgis to talk about his new book "How Worker-to-Worker Organizing Is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big." Then in the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew will watch a bit of Ethan Klein vs. Hassan Piker for some reason.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 12: Congressman Ro Khanna Gives Us An Argument
02 May 2025
01:32:17
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) comes on to talk about the swirling chaos of Trump 2.0 and where Dems are falling short in response. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument about why the Left should trumpet the fact that social democratic policies are objectively pro-natalist. Pressuring people to have kids is obviously illiberal and bad, but we should take the W on the fact that the economic policies we want would make things a lot easier for people who want to make that choice (and the fact that this would be good for our society). Musician and commentator José Ayerve joins us in the postgame for patrons..
Follow Ro Khanna on Twitter: @RepRoKhanna
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 11: Talking Hegel w/Borna Radnik & Matt McManus
25 Apr 2025
02:08:59
First-time GTAA guest Borna Radnik and frequent GTAA guest Matt McManus join Ben Burgis to chat about Borna's book "Freedom, in Context:Time, History, and Necessity in Hegel." Before that, in lieu of an Opening Argument and for the first time on YouTube, we'll play a talk Ben gave a while back called "Karl Marx Deserves Better Critics."
...and, last but not least, Jason Myles hangs out in the postgame for patrons!
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 10: Matt Bruenig & Luke Savage on "Abundance"
18 Apr 2025
02:14:42
Matt Bruenig and Luke Savage join Ben Burgis to talk about their reviews of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's book, "Abundance," and what it all signifies about the drift of contemporary liberalism. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument about why we should reject the false dichotomy of having to either support Donald Trump's "liberation day" insanity or neoliberal free-trade absolutism. Last but definitely not least, Victor Bruzzone and Ethan from Confronting Capital join for the postgame for patrons.
Ticket link for the San Francisco live show on April 17th:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 9: Songs to Revolt To
14 Apr 2025
02:19:14
Jake and Andy are joined by Teen Driver’s Mark Gurarie to talk about protest music. Ben shows up for a bit at the beginning but then disappears because he has bad priorities and chose to spend his birthday with his "literal" family instead of his podcasting family. We're not sure what's wrong with him.
Ticket link for the San Francisco live show on April 17th:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 8: Debating Socialism w/the Libertarian Institute's Keith Knight
04 Apr 2025
01:31:22
Ben Burgis faces off with the Libertarian Institute's managing editor Keith Knight in a wide-ranging debate about capitalism, socialism, coercion, authoritarianim, exploitation, and more.
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 7: Debating Palestine w/Philosopher Spencer Case
29 Mar 2025
02:05:15
Ben Burgis and philosophy professor and "Micro-Digressions" host Spencer Case hash out their disagreement on Zionism. Before that, Ben and the crew watch a fascinatingly strange AI video and Ben gives an Opening Argument on the Trump administration's authoritarianism, whether it's fascism, and why that even matters. Mean Djene Bajalan joins us for the postgame for GTAA patrons to break down GroupChatGate.
Tickets to the live show in San Francisco on April 17th:
Spencer’s book recommendations on the Israel-Palestine Conflict:
Israel/Palestine by Alan Dowty
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman
The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of The Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace by Einat Wilf and Adi Schwartz
Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict 1881-2001 by Benny Morris
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 6: Watching Dugin & Glenn Greenwald w/Deep State Kuba
14 Mar 2025
02:09:41
Far-right Russian thinker Aleksandr Dugin just sat down with Glenn Greenwald for an extensive interview, and we can't look away. Deep State Kuba joins Ben Burgis to watch some of it and discuss. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on the issues raised by the outrageous assault on free speech at Columbia. At the end of the main show, we play some of Daniel Tutt's guest appearance on Ben Burgis's Sunday afternoon Zoom Capital class to talk about the lumpenproletariat and tease Richard Wolff's guest lecture next Sunday. (Anyone who wants can join the class at patreon.com/benburgis and get instant access to all 25 class recordings so far, and of course join live for the approximately one trillion Sundays we've got left in the class (eight more chapters left in Vol. I, plus the entirety of Vols. II + III). Last but very far from least, in the postgame for patrons Ben and the crew chat with Yuri Rashkin, who actually did a Russian-language debate with Dugin a couple of years ago. Ben is accused of spreading "Kremlin propaganda" but somehow everyone parts as friends.
Buy tickets for Ben's live show with Jason Myles on April 17th in San Francisco:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 5: Conversations with Platypi (Ben & Jason at UC-Irvine)
07 Mar 2025
04:36:52
A couple weeks ago, Ben Burgis and Jason Myles went to UC-Irvine to speak at a panel on neoliberalism at the West coast conference of the Platypus Affiliated Society. It was a pretty interesting conversation, and we're excited to finally be able to share it.
Before that, Ben gives us an Opening Argument about Jeff Bezos's diktat the Washington Post will no longer publish anything critical of "free markets" and look back at a moment from Ben's debate with Curtis Yarvin where Yarvin claimed that the Washington Post was so autonomous that Bezos was more like its "sponsor" than its owner. Last but definitely not least, Jason joins us for a debrief at the end of the episode.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 4: Walter Block Calls for Legalizing Sexual Harassment & Privatizing Roads
21 Feb 2025
02:30:58
Last week, Ben Burgis debated libertarian economist Walter Block. Tonight, we're playing you the recording. (The debate was hosted by the magazine Merion West, which will be simultaneously releasing it on their podcast.) This was a continuation of a written debate that started with Ben's article "The Case for Democratic Socialism":
Before the debate, Ben does an Opening Argument on why libertarianism has nothing to do with freedom, and in the postgame for patrons Jason Myles comes by to hang out and talk shit. A good time is had by all.
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 3: Vivek Chibber is Done with Your Nonsense
18 Feb 2025
01:55:10
Vivek Chibber is an sociology professor at NYU, the editor the socialist journal Catalyst, and the host of Jacobin's new podcast "Confronting Capitalism." He's written a few books, including "The Class Matrix." Recently, a lot of the most unhinged people on Left Twitter got very mad at him for a "Confronting Capitalism" episode he did trying to analyze the historical origins, material dynamics, and counterproductive consequences for the Left of the phenomenon generally referred to by the imperfect name of "wokeness." He joins Ben Burgis to discuss the controversy, and how socialists can be more effective. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on Trump and Gaza. Last but definitely not least, in the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew chat w/Chris Kerrigan, the creator of "Alan Dershowitz vs. Norman Finkelstein: The Musical" and many other delightful videos.
Read a transcript of Chibber's controversial Confronting Capitalism episode at Jacobin:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 2: Debating Abortion Rights w/Spencer Case
11 Feb 2025
02:12:30
Philosophy professor and "Micro-Digressions" host Spencer Case joins Ben Burgis for a friendly debate on abortion rights. Before that, Ben talks about RFK's insane critique of Medicare for All. No postgame, sorry, but we'll make it up to our loyal patrons with a particularly awesome one next time!
Check out Micro-Digressions:
https://www.youtube.com/@Micro-Digressions
Follow Spencer on Twitter: @ADigressions
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 7 Episode 1: The Gulf of Liberal Socialism (ft. Matt McManus)
08 Feb 2025
02:08:46
A lot has happened since the last episode of GTAA. Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America (thus ending our long national nightmare of having to accept an "of Mexico" body of water touching our sacred American soil), and Matt McManus came to L.A., where he and Ben Burgis did a live event to discuss Matt's book on liberal socialism. Ben's talks about the former (and other possibly more consequential aspects of Trump 2.0) in the Opening Argument, and then we play the full video of the latter. In the postgame for GTAA patrons, Ben and the crew chat with Mark Gurarie, the front man for Teen Driver, a post-punk band with songs like "Rest in Pissinger" and "Debate Me."
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 6 FINALE: Jordan Peterson Wrestles with God/Ben at MSNBC (ft. Matt McManus & Robert Myles)
27 Dec 2024
02:24:52
In our last episode before this year's season break, Matt McManus & Robert Myles join Ben Burgis to break down Jordan Peterson's new book "We Who Wrestle with God." (He doesn't seem to have read any more Marx since 2019.) Before that, Ben and the crew take a look at Ben's article at MSNBC about Obama and the various responses it's provoked--a disdainful sniff from uber-popular historian Heather Cox Richardson on her Substack, what can only be described as a right-populist haiku from Steve Bannon, and a whole lot of unhinged reactions from grassroots libs. In the postgame we're joined by Deep State Kuba for a last bit of non-"We Who Wrestle..." JBP-bashing before we hit the road.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 6 Episode 43: The World is on Fire But Mean Djene & Deep State Kuba Can Talk Us Through It
24 Dec 2024
02:15:58
[Many apologies about the delay! Lots going on lately. The other delayed ep will be posted by the end of the week.]
Jihadists are taking over Aleppo, US missiles are striking deep into Russia, and the atrocities in Gaza have reached the point that a *former Israeli Defense Minister* (and Likud Party member!) recently accused Netanyahu of "ethnic cleansing." This seems like a good time to bring in the foreign policy duo of Mean Djene Bajalan and Deep State Kuba to help Ben Burgis make sense of what the hell is going on around the world.
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Season 6 Episode 42: Matt McManus Talks Liberal Socialism
01 Dec 2024
02:04:06
Ben Burgis welcomes back major friend of the pod Matt to talk his new book: "The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism," in which he "presents a comprehensive guide to the liberal socialist tradition, stretching from Mary Wollstonecraft and Thomas Paine through John Stuart Mill to Irving Howe, John Rawls, and Charles Mills."
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Season 6 Episode 41: Vanessa Wills on Marx's Ethical Vision/Juan David Rojas on Kamala vs. Claudia
23 Nov 2024
02:16:08
Juan David Rojas joins Ben Burgis at the top of the show to discuss the reasons Claudia Sheinbaum romped to victory as an economic populist in Mexico's presidential election a few months before Kamala Harris crashed and burned. (Some liberals would prefer to blame sexism for the latter, but the contrast makes that...a bit implausible!) After that Vanessa, Wills joins us to talk about her fascinating new book "Marx's Ethical Vision."
Season 6 Episode 40: One of Us is the Killer (+ Preview of "Four Essays on Palestine" Launch Film)
16 Nov 2024
00:56:05
Season 6 Episode 39: From Plato to Marx w/David Lay Williams
02 Nov 2024
01:58:50
David Lay Williams comes on to talk about his excellent new book, "The Greatest of All Plagues: How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx."
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Season 6 Episode 38: Talking Palestine w/Deep State Kuba
01 Nov 2024
02:35:06
Deep State Kuba joins Ben Burgis for a deep dive into the ongoing atrocities in Palestine--both debunking Zionist apologetics and pushing back against the dumb and counterproductive things leftists sometimes say in the name of Palestine solidarity and crafting a better and more effective message.
Order Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" from Everyday Analysis:
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Season 6 Episode 37: The Catholic Left (and Also Some Protestants)
18 Oct 2024
01:49:57
First-time guest Tony Annett and Matt "I Brought My Own Mic" McManus return for an in-depth look at thinkers like Alasdair McIntyre and Paul Tillich, the relationship between left-wing economic ideas and Catholic social teaching, and more. (Turns out that, while an adamant atheist when "in the streets" arguing about philosophy, Ben is "in the sheets" of political practice extremely friendly to this kind of thing.)
The launch event for Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" is going to be in October 22nd at 7:30 PM in Los Angeles (at Lawless Brewing Co. in North Hollywood) w/a panel in the beer garden with Ben, Jason Myles and Ana Kasparian. Tickets come with a copy of the book:
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Season 6 Episode 36: Debunking the Many Bad Arguments Made By Israel’s Apologists in the West
12 Oct 2024
01:46:12
On the one-year anniversary of Hamas's atrocities on October 7th, which have been used as a pretext for unfathomably worse atrocities for the last year, Ben Burgis does an on-air version of his lecture "Debunking the Many Bad Arguments Made By Israel’s Apologists in the West" which he gave as a teach-in at the encampment at Princeton last April, and before that as a presentation to Metro Detroit DSA & Wayne State University YDSA. (Sadly, we couldn't line up anyone to record either of those!) Before that, Ben and the crew talk about the VP debate, the successful strike that shut down ports across the East Coast last week (and the shameful failure of many liberals to support it), and a petition to posthumously exonerate Ethel Rosenberg. In the postgame for patrons, they watch Ta-Nehesi Coates being grilled on CBS.
The launch event for Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" is going to be in October 22nd at 7:30 PM in Los Angeles (at Lawless Brewing Co. in North Hollywood) w/a panel in the beer garden with Ben, Jason Myles and Ana Kasparian. Tickets come with a copy of the book:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
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Season 6 Episode 35: Ukraine War Update w/Danny & Derek from American Prestige
12 Oct 2024
01:39:58
We talk some Marxism, and then Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison of the American Prestige podcast join us to talk about their article "America Must Grapple With the Limits of Ukraine's Kursk Offensive":
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Season 6 Episode 34: Inequality Debate w/Will Cooper/Anti-Haitian Racism from Yarvin to Trump
20 Sep 2024
01:55:15
Will Cooper, op-ed columnist and author of "How America Works ... And Why It Doesn't," joins Ben Burgis for a friendly debate on how much economic inequality is too much. In an article for Newsweek, Cooper argued that America is much too unequal but he also said that:
"And, importantly, there's nothing necessarily wrong with some people getting rich. A relatively large amount of inequality should even be encouraged. Hard work and ingenuity should be rewarded, as wealth first needs to be created before it can be redistributed. And business success stories motivate others to innovate and take risks that improve society at large. Innovation would plummet if entrepreneurs had severe caps on their income."
As a socialist, Ben has a different perspective! So, lots to talk about.
Before that, Ben and the crew look at the spiraling insanity coming out of Trump and Vance signal-boosting insane racist urban legends about Haitian refugees, and look back at the taste of the virulent anti-Haitian racism on the contemporary Right that Ben got two years ago when he debated Curtis Yarvin. Finally, Mean Djene Bajalan joins for the postgame for patrons. A good time all around.
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Season 6 Episode 33: Norm Finkelstein on Robin DiAngelo/Matt McManus on Charlie Kirk
13 Sep 2024
02:03:50
Stormin' Norman Finkelstein joins us in the first half of the show to talk to Ben Burgis about the rise and fall of Robin DiAngelo. Then for the second half we switch to examining the other side of the aisle with a conversation with Matt McManus about his very funny review of Charlie Kirk's latest....let's just say "book," "Right-Wing Revolution: How to Beat the Woke and Save the West." Last but not least, Matt's sticks around the postgame for patrons, where we may look into Matt Walsh's thoughts about movies.
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Season 6 Episode 32: Debating Palestine w/Walter Block
06 Sep 2024
02:19:21
Do Palestinians have the same rights as everyone else, or have they collectively forfeited these rights by being "criminals"? In an article for Merion West, libertarian economist Walter Block argued the latter:
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Season 6 Episode 31: Mastering the Universe w/Rob Larson
30 Aug 2024
02:24:01
The people's econ prof, Rob Larson, joins us to talk about his new book, "Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do With Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More." Before that, Ben and the crew talk about the highlights and the (sadly more numerous) lowlights of the DNC. In the postgame for patrons, they watch Tim Pool be very confused about labor unions.
Contribute to Andy's GoFundMe so he can continue making great art for this show, for his own show, the Substack, etc.:
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Season 6 Episode 30: Is Kamala a Kammunist? Is Vance a Populist? (ft. Nathan J. Robinson)
26 Aug 2024
01:56:37
Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson joins us once again to talk about Peter Thiel's favorite "populist," J.D. Vance, the (sadly inaccurate) hysteria from Trump, Musk and the New York Post about Kamala Harris being to the left of Bernie and possibly even a revolutionary communist, and his "anti-socialist bingo" card. Before that, Ben and the crew take a moment to remember Michael Brooks, whose 41st birthday would have been last Tuesday. No postgame this week--sorry about that, it's Ben's neighbor on Podcast Street Jason's birthday today so Ben promised to wrap things up by 7 West Coast time--but we'll make the main show worthwhile.
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Season 6 Episode 29: Lukacs and the Destruction of Reason
16 Aug 2024
02:07:26
Matt McManus and Daniel Tutt join Ben Burgis to talk about Marxist theoretician Georg Lukács's analysis of right-wing thought in his book, "The Destruction of Reason."
Preorder Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" from Everyday Analysis:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
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Season 6 Episode 28: We Have Bernie at Home (ft. Jason Myles)
09 Aug 2024
02:37:00
This is Revolution host Jason Myles joined Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew to chat about his new essay "This is What You Want, This is What You Get," which uses the classic Eddie Murphy "We've got McDonalds at home" bit to talk about the election and the overall state of American politics at a moment when hope for anything substantially better than what we've got is rapidly leeching away.
Preorder Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" from Everyday Analysis:
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
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Season 6 Episode 27: Understanding Capitalism w/Prof. Richard Wolff (+ RM Brown on the Election)
02 Aug 2024
02:13:59
Prof. Richard Wolff came back on the show after a too-long absence to talk about his (as you'll see, apparently quite dangerous) new book "Understanding Capitalism." We talked with him him in the first hour and then our friend RM Brown came by to chat about the election in the second hour and into the postgame for patrons.
Follow Prof. Wolff on Twitter: @profwolff
Follow RM Brown on Twitter: @xrmbrownx2
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
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Season 6 Episode 26: It's Good that Biden Dropped Out. But He Should Be on Trial at the Hague.
26 Jul 2024
01:55:00
In the first half hour of the show, the GTAA crew takes a look at the insanity at the RNC and Biden dropping out. Then director Kavitha Chekuru chats with Ben about her very good but extremely disturbing Al Jazeera documentary, "The Night Won't End: Biden's War on Gaza."
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Season 6 Episode 25: Fine. You Win. We'll Do an Election-News Episode.
23 Jul 2024
01:48:32
[Note: This episode was recorded before the coconut dropped on Biden actually dropping out.]
We had something else planned but between the assassination attempt, the JD Vance pick, the RNC, and Biden continuing to do his best impression of an extra from Night of the Living Dead, it seems like the universe really wanted us to just talk about the election tonight. So fine. You win this one. Guest is the one and only Deep State Kuba.
Follow Kuba on Twitter: @DrKuba2
Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf
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Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: