Explore every episode of the podcast The Regrettable Century
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patreon Preview -- Antagonizing and Provoking Russia: The US' Long Plan to Kneecap Russia and Escalate the New Cold War | 05 Nov 2025 | 00:15:33 | |
This week we did a close reading of a RAND corporation policy proposal paper called Overextending and Unbalancing Russia: Assessing the Impact of Cost-Imposing Options. It has been argued that this document is the root of America's disastrous foreign policy regarding Russia, which has plunged Ukraine and the Middle East into misery and death. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/RB10000/RB10014/RAND_RB10014.pdf | |||
| PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 11/01/2025 | 04 Nov 2025 | 00:13:38 | |
Trump's Fake Drug War Against Venezuela, Trump's Dumbass Diplomacy Nets Big L vs China, Trump's Protection Racket Only Works on US Allies, Genocide in Darfur Has UAE and Israeli Fingerprints, Kiev Won't Last till Spring?, The Ukrainian Nazi Cult of the Christchurch Shooter, Zelensky Threatens Journalists, The Collapse Speeds Up... | |||
| Years of Dread: Political Violence & The Spectacle of Tension | 17 Sep 2025 | 01:10:58 | |
Instances of stochastic violence in the United States are at an all-time high and the political violence of our era mirrors the political topography, disaggregated and rudderless. The boys got together this week to talk about Charlie Kirk and the newer/dumber "Years of Lead." A Stark Look at the Recent History of Political Violence in America https://time.com/6998406/political-violence-united-states-recent-history/ Our Own Worst Enemies https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/political-violence-our-own-worst-enemies-robert-pape A Brutal Decade: Dissecting the Causes of Violence in the 1970s https://brilliantio.com/why-were-the-1970s-so-violent/ ‘Days of Rage’ and the Forgotten Radicalism of the 70s https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/days-of-rage-and-the-forgotten-radicalism-of-the-70s/ | |||
| It Sucks Out There: Hyper-Individualization, Tiktok, and the Terminal Decline of American Society | 10 Jun 2024 | 01:17:05 | |
We invited podcast alumnus, Jess, back to talk about how terrible everything is. We touch on Tiktok houses, literature, and the death of the future. Why Is Our Culture So Obsessed With Individual Experience The Anxiety of Influencers | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Boundless and Bottomless Seas: Dugin's 4th Political Theory (Part V) | 06 Jun 2024 | 00:30:32 | |
Jason, Varn, and Sean KB continue the forced march through the Aleksander Dugin's Fourth Political Theory. Check out Varn Vlog here: | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Turns Out I Will Also Rule: An Addendum to our Fascism and Anarcho-Individualism Discussion | 02 Jun 2024 | 00:06:45 | |
This week we are tying up some loose ends we left unexplored in our last regular episode on Fascism and Anarcho-Individualism. Enjoy this bonus content! | |||
| Turns Out I Will Be Ruled: Anarcho-Individualism and Italian Fascism | 22 May 2024 | 01:25:55 | |
This week we discussed one of the many currents of thought that led to the creation of Italian Fascism, Anarcho-Individualism. It seems counterintuitive that anarchism would have made any contribution to the creation of fascism, until you think about it. | |||
| On Liberal Socialism: Results and Prospects | 13 May 2024 | 01:06:31 | |
This week Jason and Kevin discuss the Liberal Socialism; what it is, where it comes from, its impact on the development of the left, its prospects, and its limitations. | |||
| Patreon Preview -- The Question of Nationalities & Social Democracy by Otto Bauer (Episode I) | 09 May 2024 | 00:07:41 | |
We are back at it again covering Otto Bauer's unique Marxist take on the national question. | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Boundless and Bottomless Seas: Dugin's 4th Political Theory (Part IV) | 01 May 2024 | 00:30:48 | |
Jason, Varn, and Sean are back and talking Fourth Political Theory once again. | |||
| Ideology, Fetishism, Apophaticism: Marxist Criticism and Christianity with Daniel Saunders | 29 Apr 2024 | 01:40:03 | |
The Marxist/Christian dialogue continues! | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Patron Q&A | 18 Apr 2024 | 00:09:28 | |
This week we tried something new, we put out a call on our Patreon and Discord for questions and y'all responded with 10 pretty good questions. Questions about democracy, ethics, children, etc... | |||
| PATREON PREVIEW -- The Question of Nationalities & Social Democracy by Otto Bauer (Episode 0) | 11 Apr 2024 | 00:05:27 | |
They said it wasn't possible for a Marxist to break down the national question in a sophisticated and nuanced way, but Otto Bauer has done it. This book from 1907, which no one on the Anglophone Left has ever read, is quite possibly the best book on the subject. We are here to read it and let you know. A link to the PDF: | |||
| PATREON PREVIEW: Regrettable Geopolitics 09/14/2025 | 15 Sep 2025 | 00:18:26 | |
Newer Dumber Years of Lead, Newer Dumber Cold War Heats Up, Israel Kills Kids in Doha This Time, Europe Can't be Inconvenienced by Sanctions on India and China, Poland Shoots Down Three Slow Moving Unarmed Decoy Drones... | |||
| A Primer on Utopian Philosophy: An Intro to Ernst Bloch (with Jon Greenaway aka thelitcritguy) | 08 Apr 2024 | 01:11:21 | |
This week we are joined by Jon (thelitcritguy of HorrorVanguard fame) to discuss his new book A Primer on Utopian Philosophy: An Introduction to the Work of Ernst Bloch which was just released on Zero Books. We discuss nihilism, optimism, hope, and dialectical pessimism and the ever pertinent work of Ernst Bloch. | |||
| Internet Psychobabble and its Consequences (Have Been a Disaster for the Human Race) | 26 Mar 2024 | 01:24:27 | |
This week we sat down with our old comrade and actual Psychiatrist, Dr Byron, to talk about mental health, the left, and how TikTok is ruining everyones brains. | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Boundless & Bottomless Seas: Dugin's 4th Political Theory (Part III) | 21 Mar 2024 | 00:33:08 | |
Jason and Varn are joined again by Sean KB of Antifida and continue with their close reading of The Fourth Political Theory by Alexander Dugin. | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Disaster Nationalism | 13 Mar 2024 | 00:06:24 | |
This month we return to Richard Seymour's essay about the new forms of nationalism. At this point the essay is a few years old, so we were able to discuss how things have developed since it was written. We also did not know that a book by the same name by Seymour was coming out soon... | |||
| The Broken Bones of Belief: Why They Left the Left | 11 Mar 2024 | 01:42:32 | |
This week the boys got together to talk about political apostasy. From the old left, to the new left, to whatever the hell it is that we have now. We discuss the motivations and consequences of jumping ship. The Legacy of the Trotskyist Right | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Boundless & Bottomless Seas: The Nature of American Conservatism | 07 Mar 2024 | 00:33:01 | |
This week Jason and Varn sat down to have a primer discussion about the different types of American Conservatism. Don't worry, we will be back later this month with more Dugin. | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Revolution by Enzo Traverso: Regrettable Book Club (Part VII: FinaIe) | 26 Feb 2024 | 00:06:51 | |
Welcome to our seventh and FINAL reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. We had a lot of fun with this series and will be starting a new one soon. Head on over to the Discord if you would like to be involved. Special thanks to our comrade Connor at Autumn Brigade for our new intro music. Check his music out here: https://autumnbrigade.bandcamp.com/album/geist-ist-tot Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London ; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution | |||
| One Plus One Is Three: The Poverty of "Third Campism" | 20 Feb 2024 | 01:24:05 | |
As recovering Third Campists ourselves, we sit down to discuss the lingering problems that the third camp of Trotskyism has always had and how they are much dumber in their contemporary incarnation. The Third Camp, Socialism From Below, and the First Principle of Revolutionary Socialism https://newpol.org/issue_post/third-camp-socialism-below-and-first-principle-revolutionary-socialism/ | |||
| UNLOCKED -- Victorious February: Lessons from the Czechoslovak Revolution (Czechoslovak Socialism Part I of III) | 05 Feb 2024 | 01:12:58 | |
This is a Patreon episode that we recorded in April of 2022. We decided to post this on our main feed at the request of several of our patrons who said more people should hear it. Continuing in the spirit of our discussion about the synthesis of socialism from above and below, we decided to dive a bit deeper into a topic that we have referenced many times in passing. The liberal narrative about the revolution is that it was a coup carried out by the Soviet Union against the will of the Czechoslovak people, but a cursory glance at how the revolution unfolded reveals a much different tale.
The Czechoslovak Revolution- By Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart in Foreign Affairs Magazine Duchacek, Ivo. “The February Coup in Czechoslovakia.” World Politics2, no. 4 (1950): 511–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/2008933. Myant, Martin. Socialism and Democracy in Czechoslovakia: 1945 - 1948. Soviet and East European Studies 33. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1981. Music: Hej, slnko vychodí - (Hey, the sun is out) composed by Bartolomej Urbanec and sung in Slovak. | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Boundless & Bottomless Seas: Dugin's 4th Political Theory (Part II) | 01 Feb 2024 | 00:33:48 | |
Jason and Varn continue with their close reading of The Fourth Political Theory by Alexander Dugin. **This is a 30m preview of a 3 hour long episode** Check out Varn Vlog here: | |||
| A Cascading Series of New Lefts (Part I of II) | 09 Sep 2025 | 00:55:51 | |
This week the boys do a close reading of an interview with Terence Renaud wherein he discusses his new book New Lefts: The Making of a Radical Tradition. We weigh in on the positive and negative legacies of the multiple revisions to "leftism." https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/qa-terence-renaud-new-left/ | |||
| Preview -- From 78: Jason's Talk with Neil of Inform:Podcast | 25 Jan 2024 | 00:08:53 | |
This episode of InForm:Podcast is a re-release and cross-post of an older interview done with From78 (of Lost Horizons fame). It was originally posted several lifetimes ago, in 2020, but has been re-released by InForm so we decided to promote it here. | |||
| The Boys Solve the Israel-Palestine "Conflict" | 23 Jan 2024 | 01:16:43 | |
Not really, but we do talk about the history of Zionism as a settler colonial project. Zionism: False Messiah (1998) by Lance Selfa Zionism from the standpoint of Its Victims (1979) By Edward Said https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Edward-Said-Excerpt.pdf Sephardim in Israel: Zionism from the Standpoint of Its Jewish Victims Author(s): Ella Shohat https://palestinecollective.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/sephardim-in-israel_-zionism-from-the-standpoint-of-its-jewish-victims.pdf The long history of Zionist proposals to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/the-long-history-of-zionist-proposals-to-ethnically-cleanse-the-gaza-strip | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Boundless & Bottomless Seas (Episode 0) | 15 Jan 2024 | 00:14:34 | |
Varn and Jason discuss this new collaborative project "Boundless and Bottomless Seas" and discuss why talking about Dugin and his Fourth Political Theory is worth doing. This is episode was recorded before the first episode of the series and is meant to be a sort of primer and introduction to the project. | |||
| Wally B as a Vibe: Discussing Walter Benjamin with the Subjective Conditions Podcast | 08 Jan 2024 | 01:28:03 | |
This week we've got a podcast that we recorded with Subjective Conditions a few months ago. This podcast deals with Walter Benjamin as a vibe and, in true Regrettable Century fashion, the discussion is guided by the World Spirit. | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Boundless and Bottomless Seas: Dugin's 4th Political Theory (Part I) | 04 Jan 2024 | 00:30:29 | |
Sean KB from the Antifada joins Jason and Varn for a new series that examines the work of right wing thinkers. This week they are discussing the first chapter of Alexander Dugin's, 'The Fourth Political Theory' to break down and understand why people from all over the political spectrum are influenced by this seminal work of post-fascist thought. **This is a 30m preview of a 2.5 hour long episode** | |||
| Patreon Preview -- Revolution by Enzo Traverso: Regrettable Book Club (Part VI) | 01 Jan 2024 | 00:06:13 | |
This preview is from our sixth reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss different conceptions of freedom, liberation, and the liberation of time. This was supposed to be the final episode, but it looks like we will have to do one more... | |||
| No Royal Road: Class Conflict and The Crisis of Feudalism (Part III) | 18 Dec 2023 | 01:12:52 | |
This week we continue our series reading from Rodney Hilton's collection of essays about the Crisis of Feudalism. These are pretty short essays, but we will no doubt be talking about them forever. | |||
| PATREON PREVIEW- Bonapart III: The One Where We Talk About the Movie | 14 Dec 2023 | 00:07:52 | |
Head on over to our Patreon to hear us discuss the Napoleon movie with our comrade Matthew. | |||
| Upon the Completion of the First Five Year Plan: Year V in Review (Part II) | 05 Dec 2023 | 00:58:30 | |
Welcome to part two of our YEAR 5 in review episode. We make one big announcement and then talk about all the really cool stuff that happened this year and all the really cool stuff that is on the horizon. | |||
| Upon the Completion of the First Five Year Plan: Year V in Review (Part I) | 29 Nov 2023 | 00:45:49 | |
Welcome to our YEAR 5 in review episode. We make one big announcement and then talk about all the really cool stuff that happened this year and all the really cool stuff that is on the horizon. | |||
| Patreon Preview: Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? (Part II of II) | 04 Sep 2025 | 00:17:16 | |
Today we read the second half of an article titled Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? Theorizing the nature and implications of the global far-right resurgence by Prof. Dr. Alex Demirović, which was published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. | |||
| Patreon Preview: Revolution by Enzo Traverso (Part V) | 23 Nov 2023 | 00:05:34 | |
Welcome to our fifth reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss different conceptions of freedom, liberation, and the liberation of time. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London ; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution Music: The Strike-Shots Heard the World | |||
| Vive la révolution, Vive L'Empereur: The Mixed Legacy of Napoleon (Bonapart II) | 16 Nov 2023 | 01:04:43 | |
This week we continue our discussion of Napoleon Bonaparte with our comrade Matthew. We start out tying up some loose ends and then discuss the upcoming Ridley Scott movie and the many variations of Bonapartism. Music: Marche du Sacre de Napoléon | |||
| Vive la révolution, Vive L'Empereur: The Mixed Legacy of Napoleon (Part I) | 09 Nov 2023 | 00:57:57 | |
This week we had our long time comrade and resident France expert, Matthew, back on the show to talk about the mixed legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte. Was Napoleon a force for progress or the death of the revolution? | |||
| Patreon Preview -- William Morris: From Romantic to Revolutionary | 30 Oct 2023 | 00:05:32 | |
A little bonus episode for you this week. Here is the audio of a lecture that Kevin gave at the Cascadian Midsummer festival this summer about William Morris.
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| No Royal Road: Class Conflict and The Crisis of Feudalism (Part II) | 26 Oct 2023 | 01:05:06 | |
This week we continue our series reading from Rodney Hilton's collection of essays about the Crisis of Feudalism. These are pretty short essays, but we will no doubt be talking about them forever. | |||
| Patreon Preview -- The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union | 12 Oct 2023 | 00:03:16 | |
This week we discussed a book about the collapse of the Soviet Union and guess what, it wasn't the result of the United States' efforts to defeat the Evil Empire. It's much dumber and worse than that. Serhii Plokhy. 2015. The Last Empire : The Final Days of the Soviet Union. New York: Basic Books, A Member Of The Perseus Books Group. | |||
| Pessimism is an Optimism: A Return to Dialectical Pessimism | 03 Oct 2023 | 01:06:50 | |
The original dudes are back, with an original dudes topic revisiting our pessimism (because of intellect) and our optimism (because of will). No it's not just a doomer affectation that we can use to sound as cool as we look, its a critical method of engaging with the bleak reality that faces us.
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| No Royal Road: Class Conflict and The Crisis of Feudalism (Part I) | 18 Sep 2023 | 01:29:18 | |
This week we start a new series where we read from Rodney Hilton's collection of essays about the Crisis of Feudalism. These are pretty short essays, but we will no doubt be talking about them forever. | |||
| Patreon Preview: Revolution by Enzo Traverso (Part IV) | 14 Sep 2023 | 00:04:32 | |
Welcome to our fourth reading group episode on Revolution: An Intellectual History, by Enzo Traverso. This week we discuss the revolutionary intellectual. Traverso, Enzo. 2021. Revolution : An Intellectual History. London ; New York: Verso. https://www.versobooks.com/products/2783-revolution | |||
| The Dialectic of Degrowth: Socialists and the Burden of Ecological Disaster | 04 Sep 2023 | 01:23:18 | |
We think degrowth is going to be necessary, but we also think the debate about degrowth has been all wrong. We read the newest issue of Monthly Review and had a discussion about the politics of degrowth. https://monthlyreview.org/2023/07/01/planned-degrowth/ Nine Theses on Ecosocialist Degrowth https://monthlyreview.org/2023/07/01/nine-theses-on-ecosocialist-degrowth/ (Here’s the whole issue) https://monthlyreview.org/product/mr-075-03-2023-07/ | |||
| Patreon Preview: Anatomy of the Microsect (Patron Roundtable) | 27 Aug 2025 | 00:17:33 | |
We sat down with our patrons to read and discuss the 1973 Hal Draper Pamphlet, Anatomy of the Microsect. https://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1973/xx/microsect.htm | |||
| Patreon Preview: Replacing the Dead by Mie Nakachi | 28 Aug 2023 | 00:04:34 | |
Back with another book that Chris read in grad school, this time we are dealing with the problem of repopulating the Soviet Union after the Second World War. Mie Nakachi. Replacing the Dead : The Politics of Reproduction in the Postwar Soviet Union. New York, Ny: Oxford University Press, 2021. Head over to our Patreon and join for $2 a month to hear the whole episode and join the Discord to take part in the discussions. | |||
| Lumpenization and its Discontents: Disagreements About the Lumpen Classes | 22 Aug 2023 | 01:24:21 | |
This week the Law Boyz are back with a special guest, Kevin. We discuss the concept of the lumpenproletariat and their historical role as foot soldiers of reaction. Then we all argue about the police. Nicholas Thoburn (2002) Difference in Marx: the lumpenproletariat and the proletarian unnamable, Economy and Society, 31:3, 434-460 Robert L. Bussard (1987) The ‘dangerous class’ of Marx and Engels: The rise of the idea of the Lumpenproletariat, History of European Ideas, 8:6, 675-692 Music: Johnny Cash- This Side of the Law | |||
| Patreon Preview: Daddy Masaryk and Czechoslovakism | 17 Aug 2023 | 00:03:10 | |
I know we said we were done with our Czechoslovak Socialism series, but like George Lucas we just couldn't leave well enough alone and have made a prequel. It turns out there is an interesting pre-history to Czechoslovak Socialist Republic that is worth discussing. | |||