Jacobin Radio Folgen

Suzi talks to Robert Brenner about the political-economic dimension of the 2020 election, the country, and the pandemic – and what it means for the battles ahead. The corrupt and hated President Trump was defeated, yet millions more people voted for him in 2020 than in 2016. He was undone by the raging pandemic that he tried to minimize. COVID 19 wreaked havoc with an already weak economy, creating widespread economic hardship. Because Trump failed to deal with the pandemic or extend economic relief, the economic crisis threatens to get much worse. Had Trump handled it with decisive measures, we'd just be dealing with the regular features of a declining capitalism, instead of far more catastrophic ones. The Biden/Harris ticket ultimately prevailed because it meant an end to Trumpian chaos and destruction -- and represented genuine hope for compassion and decency. There's much to unpack, and we get Brenner's analysis and perspectives.

Host Doug Henwood covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Doug interviews Vijay Prashad and Jodi Dean (separately) on the election’s long-term meaning: where Trump(ism), came from and why it’s probably here to stay, especially if weaklings like Biden are the opposition.

A podcast about political cinema and our crumbling world. Hosted by Will Sloan and Luke Savage.With Biden's victory all but confirmed, we discuss the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election: the narratives being spun to explain the results, Trump's response, why four years of Biden/McConnell will almost certainly be bad, and why there still may be cause of optimism. Then we discuss a movie for times like this: Charlie Chaplin's career-destroying anti-capitalist black MONSIEUR VERDOUX (1947), a film that told America, "Things are bad, and have always been bad."