Dr Dermot Hudson returns to the programme to talk about the recent policy change made by the Supreme Peoples Assembly of the DPRK towards the occupied south.  

Outro Music is the DPRK Military Choir performing the song 'Reunification'

Matteo Capasso returns to discuss the war on Gaza. We also discuss how Palestine is at the heart of liberation movements against US imperialism.

An audio study guide for Engels often neglected 1847 work 'The Principles of Communism'.

The second part of our talk with climate change skeptic Ben Pile. We speak about the politics and economics of the hydrocarbon industry, and we ask Ben what we REALLY should be worrying about.

Find more of Ben's work here: https://www.climate-resistance.org/

Ben's Twitter: @clim8resistance

We talk with climate change skeptic Ben Pile to get his critical view on climate science and the politics undergirding it (Twitter: @clim8resistance). Part 2 will be coming out next week.

Find more of Ben's work here: https://www.climate-resistance.org/

We've unlocked the second part of our interview with James Smith, of The Popular Show, in which we look at the use and abuses of the term "fascism", the position of the petit bourgeoisie and the usefulness of the "left-right" distinction in today's politics.

Check out The Popular Show on twitter @thepopularpod

In the weekend edition we look at the history of plastic surgery, why it developed, which layers in society have embraced it the most and why it has become ever more popular.  The answer as to why it has become ever more popular are disturbing and afford us an insight into the atomised, alienated and constantly marketised nature of certain areas of life in the western world today.

Episode Image is from Brazil - Directed by Terry Gilliam (1985)

In this episode we start off by examining the P&O Ferries dispute before turning to look at the latest on inflation and the idea that we are in a "long depression" since 2008. You can find out more about the P&O workers dispute on the link below. https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/pando-crisis/

We are unlocking one of our regular 'Ask Us Anything' episodes from October last year where we take questions from subscribers and from twitter. If you like this content you may want to subscribe for a whole lot more of it over on our patreon page.

Is the "rules based" international order collapsing? Has the Russian action in Ukraine ended for good the period of the unipolar world? What are we to make of President Vladimir Putin adopting the rhetoric of "responsibility to protect" arguments previously so beloved of US and British politiacal leaders? 

All this and much more are subjects of our discussion with Tara McCormack who is a lecturer in international relations, sovereignty, security, intervention and the relationship between foreign policy and the structure of the state at the University of Leicester. 

Be sure to follow Tara on twitter - @McCormack_Tara 

We talk about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine with investigative journalist Kit Klarenburg, with an emphasis on the use of the media in shaping the stunning pro-war unanimity. We also touch on the weaponization of propaganda against the Canadian trucker protest movement. 

We speak with the founder and editor of The Bellows, Edwin Aponte, about his piece analyzing the Left's failure to support or even commend the worker resistance against Covid vaccine mandates and Covid protocols across the globe.

Find the article here: https://www.thebellows.org/as-workers-resist-the-left-recoils/

In which we speak to James Smith from @thepopularshow on everything from Covid to the Corbyn period. 

This is part one of the interview, part 2 will be out for patrons next week.  

Be sure to check out The Popular Show and their work 

In this episode, I examine the usage of the term "cultural Marxism" by classical liberals such as Ben Shapiro and Peter Hitchens. I argue that whilst the form of leftist politics the right denounces does exist it is as much of an expression of bourgeois politics as the right wingers themselves are.

We talk through some initial musings about the quickly-developing situation at the US-Canadian border with respect to the anti-mandate activists blockading the Ambassador Bridge, a key border crossing.

We have Canadian trucker and political commentator Gord Magill on to discuss the ongoing trucker protest in Canada. Check out Gord' latest piece in Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/elites-are-smearing-truckers-because-were-doing-their-job-representing-people-opinion-1675022

We speak with Canadian physicist and social theorist Denis Rancourt about the lack of critical thinking in the general population, what's up with COVID "modelling" and more!

You can find Denis Rancourt's writing and research here: https://denisrancourt.ca/

The full version of this episode is available for subscribers

In this episode we reflect on the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis.  To understand things further we look back over the period since the collapse of the USSR taking in the Kosovo war, the fall of Milosevic, the war on terror, the role of Yeltsin, the rise of Putin and why the US trying to make this into Cold War Part 2 is doomed to failure. 

We sit with military analyst Scott Ritter to understand the whys and hows of a possible Russian offensive into Ukraine, and to understand the role of US and NATO in this quickly-escalating situation.

*We're releasing this episode recorded for our monthly reading group due to the large amount of interest in the subject.*  

Klaus Schwab and Thierry Malleret have been accused of being globalists and supervillians . We investigate the charge by carefully reviewing their book "COVID-19: The Great Reset" (i.e. Exhibit A)

The truth will shock you...

In this, the final episode of the year, we take at this article from the Morning Star and ask whether it represents a reflection of Lenin's thought?  

Thanks to all listeners for supporting the show over the last year!  We'll back week beginning January 10th! 

We speak with sociologist and research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the largest basic research institute in Europe. Dr. Mucchielli has been critical of France's COVID authoritarianism since the start of the pandemic, and has written and co-signed numerous open letters denouncing the unnecessary and repressive nature of the COVID protocols in France and beyond. He also has co-authored an analysis of deaths as reported by various countries' drug surveillance organizations. This analysis, entitled "An Unprecedented Mortality" led him and his co-authors to call for a moratorium of the vaccination campaign. This article was censored, but you can find an archived version here (in French): https://archive.ph/qDAvp

We speak to him about his view of the pandemic, the French protest movement, his political analysis of the situation, and more.

We sat down with Tania and Anton from the Belarusian Marxist organisation Poligraf Red to discuss both historical and current events in their country and the former wider ex Soviet states.  Our discussion covers everything from the Gorbachev years, the role of the intellectuals in the counter revolution, the restoration of capitalism in Belarus, the nature of the Lukashenko regime and much more. 

You can find more details about Poligraf Red on their website and you can also find them on youtube

Full episode available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/end-of-year-q-1-59947648

We talk about the recent British vote to implement vaccine passes, the Trotsky vs Stalin debate, "patriotic socialism" and more.

Carlous Garrido, founder and editor of Midwestern Marx, joins us again.  

This time we are discussing his new book "The Purity Fetish and the Crisis of Western Marxism". 

Outro music is 'John Browns Body' as performed by Jim Knable

We sit with Jorge Martin of marxist.com to learn about the recent metalworkers' strike in Cadiz, and why it is a pivotal moment for the Spanish working class. 

An article with more information about this here: https://www.marxist.com/cadiz-metalworkers-strike-a-pivotal-struggle-for-the-spanish-working-class.htm

Another perspective: https://en.communia.blog/end-of-cadiz-strike-what-can-we-learn/

This week we spoke with Professor Norman Fenton of Queen Mary University, London, to discuss the use and misuse of statistics by governments during the last two years.  We cover the tricks governments have pulled over the presentation of data of infections, the farce regarding testing and vaccine efficacy.  It's a very interesting discussion and we encourage listeners to read the articles mentioned in the interview which are linked to below.

Episode image is from the 1985 film 'Brazil' Directed by Terry Gilliam

http://probabilityandlaw.blogspot.com/2021/12/possible-systematic-miscategorisation.html?m=1

http://probabilityandlaw.blogspot.com/2021/11/is-vaccine-efficacy-statistical-illusion.html?m=1

We look at a recent decision by a local of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (a high school teachers' union in Ontario, Canada) which implemented weighted voted system based on race categories. Some news coverage here: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-teachers-union-implements-controversial-weighted-voting-system-to-increase-minority-representation

In this second part of our climate change episode (now unocked for general release) we look at the dubious origins of "green" policy such as "cap  & trade", why so many Marxists have bought into the climate change  narrative and conclude by examining Marx & Engels views on humans  place within nature.

This is the part one of what will be a two part episode on the science, politics and political economy of climate change.  In this episode we look at the questions regarding the conventional narrative on climate change, the problems with "the science" and why this has come to be adopted by the advanced captialist nations.  

Part 2 will be released next week. 

Full episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/supply-chains-58821794

Supply chains are undergoing a well-publicized shock right now. But the root of the crisis goes much further than the current pandemic.

The structure and functioning of supply chains was *as a result of* a search for lower costs. This led capitalists to shift much of production to developing countries. The inevitable result is a complex and long supply chain system which is sensitive to sudden shocks. This does not mean, however, that the entire system will be brought down. In fact, even accounting for regular crisis like the current one, the way supply chains are structured have more advantages for capitalism than drawbacks.

We look at the bourgeois media circus surrounding the Rittenhouse trial and ask, why the concept of a fair trial is so alien to many these days? Why are liberals so keen to jettison universalist standards? And who bares responsibility for the riots last year? On side 2 we take a question of socially necessary labor from a listener and look at how the employers manipulate conscientious workers.

Is inflation back?  Is the solution spending more or less? Why are  leftist influencers invested in denying it? What are Hayek &  Friedman right about? What is the point of Kyle Kulinski? All of this  and more will be explained as we dive into the questions of inlfation,  what causes it and what can the Marxist method teach us about it?

Full episode available to patrons: https://www.patreon.com/posts/evergrande-old-58269048

We cover the drama happening around the Evergrande developer group in China, and give our two cents as to whether this spells the end of capitalism in China as we know it.

We're releasing the second part of our discussion with Angela Nagle from back in May of this year. 

In the second part of our interview with Angela we discuss the stunted development of Irish capitalism, the inter-imperialist rivalry between the USA and China as well as the impact of the Covid year on art and culture.

Be sure to subscribe to Angela's substack page:

https://angelanagle.substack.com/

Kit Klarenberg returns to the progreamme to talk about his recent article for Mint Press News which covers the collapse of the US trained and quipped Afghan army. 

We take in the levels of delusion within the government of Ashraf Ghani, the enormous fraud carried out by many "contractors" and the similarities to Ukraine. Along the way we also take in the Balkan wars and how the Bosnians were manipulated and then discarded by US imperialism.

Be sure to follow Kit on twitter 

Outro Music is 'The Banner of the Party' performed in the five languages of Socialist Yugoslavia

Performed by the Choir and Orchestra of Radio Novi Sad in 1977

Composer: Oskar Danon (1948)

Here's a preview of part 2 of our AMA episode.  In this one we go everywhere from how "cultural appropriation" is bull shit to the role of the petit bourgeoisie to our favourite tobacco.  Enjoy!

Following the recent Federal elections in Germany Michael Burkhardt returned to Red Star Radio to discuss the results.  We talk about the legacy of Merkel, the Greens, the fall of Die Linke, the German version of Tony Blair and the covid regime.  

This is a preview of Part 1 of our October AMA.  For the full episode subscribe at our patreon page

Nicolas Hausdorf, writer and resident of Melbourne, joins us to give us the inside scoop on Australia's COVID-19 response. Are things as bad as they seem? Listen to find out.

Mentioned in the show:

Nicolas' review of Benjamin Bratton's book, Revenge of the Unreal

Full episode available to Patrons: https://www.patreon.com/posts/postmodern-57364680

We use the sub-nationalisms of Quebec and Scotland to understand nationalism theory and nation-building in the postmodern era. We contend that nationalisms in our current postmodern period are predominantly led by the petite bourgeoisie, in contrast to the ones of the past led by the bourgeoisie.

We ask: Can a nation-building projects led by the petite bourgeoisie be successful? What value do they have to an internationalist socialist project?

Mentioned in the show:

Imagined Communities, book by Benedict Anderson

Show on Aufhebunga Bunga podcast on Scottish independence: https://aufhebungabunga.podbean.com/e/181-juche-in-north-britain-ft-cat-boyd-david-jamieson/ 

We attempt to analyse the unholy circus that is the party conference  season in Britain!  We ask if Boris has run out of slogans? Has Keir  Starmer run out of time? Does anyone in the cabint have a brain? What is  the mythical beast known as the "Socialist Campaign Group"? And what do  you call a reformist without reforms? All this and more!   

The article referenced regarding the governments NHS "reforms" can be found here

Full episode available for patrons: https://www.patreon.com/posts/slow-death-of-57099684

We investigate the reasons why the American labour movement is so disorganized, with a particular focus on the McCarthyist attacks on working class militants during the post-WWII period.

We sat down with George Hoare, co-host of the Aufhebunga bunga podcast, to look at Brexit and COVID-19 using Gramsci's concepts of historic bloc and hegemony as guides. 

Check out George's first book: An Introduction to Antonio Gramsci: His Life, Thought and Legacy

And his latest book: The End of the End of History: Politics in the Twenty-First Century

Mentioned in the show: The Full Brexit Blog

Leila and Alex review the 2021 re-election of a Canadian minority Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau and take a look at the broader political economy of Canada.

Access this episode and the previous two available to Patrons: https://www.patreon.com/posts/great-miners-of-56438229

Part 1

Part 2

In this final instalment, we speak about the strike itself, the events that surrounded it and the final fall of the Great Strike in 1985.

This is the first episode of what will be an ongoing series entitled 'Intrduction To Marxist Leninism'.

In this series I will be introudcing the key concepts of the Marxist-Leninist worldview by studying some classic texts from the great revolutionary thinkers of the last 200 years.

In this first episode I look at the 1913 work by Lenin 'The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism'. It is one of the best introductions to Marxism ever written and much can be learned from studying it.

Apologies for the sound quality on this reording as it was done whilst travelling and I had to use both phone and laptop to do so due to the laptop being rather deficient.

Outro Music is 'Glory to You, Great Soviet Union!' 

Performer: All-Union Radio Choir and Orchestra 

Composer: Alexander Kholminov 

Lyricist: Yuri Kamenetsky 

Episode Artwork is 'V.I.Lenin' by the Soviet Estonian Artist Elmar Yanovich Kits

We are unlocking this episode recently released to patrons as it contains a lot of useful information on the role regulatory bodies actually play under state monopoly capitalism.  

What role does a regulator like the Food & Drug Administration (FDA)  actually play?  In this episode we examine the FDA, it's capture and  control by the pharmaceutical industry and how this fits into US  state-monopoly capitalism.

Be sure to read the full article we are discussing

Episode image is taken from the Lindsay Anderson film "Britannia Hospital" (1982)

This is a preview of our latest patreon episode where we discuss the ethics around the latest Texas anti-abortion bill.  

Max Blumenthal, journalist and founder of The Grayzone, joins us to discuss war propaganda as used in Afghanistan, Syria, and beyond. The discussion is also includes analysis of the current wave of propaganda promoting the COVID-19 health protocols. Be sure to check out Max Blumenthals Rokfin channel https://rokfin.com/MaxBlumenthal Also check out Max's latest book, The Management of Savagery.