Cosmonaut Magazine Podcasts

Eric, Rob and Rudy join to discuss Afghanistan, focusing on its socialist period from 1979 to 1992. We discuss the history of the Afghan state from its beginnings as the Durrani empire, its interactions with Russia and the British empire, the Zahir Shah monarchy and the Daoud period all the way up to the Saur revolution, including a discussion of t…

This is a narration of chapters 4-8 of Karl Kautsky's Parliamentarism and Democracy (1893-1911), from Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism by Ben Lewis. The full audiobook is currently in production by the team at Cosmonaut Magazine. A copy of the book itself can be purchased at Haymarket Books. Narration and editing by Myk Labas.…

Djamil and Donald join Helena Sheehan, author of Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History for a deep dive on the interactions between these two fields. They start off with Sheehan’s intellectual history, before discussing what Marxism is and how it relates to other philosophies of science. They talk about Marx & Engels’ relationshi…

Jean Allen and Marisa Miale, authors of For An Internationalist DSA, sketch out a strategy for building a left opposition committed to electoral discipline and unity between socialism and the international working-class. Read by LC

Lydia and Rudy join Imogen Woods from Prometheus Journal to discuss her articles on organizing social care workers and houseworkers. We talk about the concept of social care factory, and how the mass privatization has resulted in declining care standards as well as working standards. We talk about how democratically run care system can look like, h…

This is a narration of the two prefaces, introduction, and chapters 1-3 of Karl Kautsky's Parliamentarism and Democracy (1893-1911), from Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism by Ben Lewis. The full audiobook is currently in production by the team at Cosmonaut Magazine. A copy of the book itself can be purchased at Haymarket Books. Narration an…

Charlie and Rudy join Carolyn Eichner, author of The Paris Commune: A Brief History and Surmounting the Barricades: Women in the Paris Commune for a discussion on the Paris Commune, its origins, its place as a transitional state in a civil war, its tragic end as well as its legacies. We talk about the situation of Paris in 1871, the forming of the …

This is a narration of the preface and introduction for Karl Kautsky on Democracy & Republicanism by Ben Lewis, who has also provided a preface to the audiobook. The full audiobook is currently in production by the team at Cosmonaut Magazine. A copy of the book itself can be purchased at Haymarket Books. Narration and editing by Myk Labas.…

Drawing from the experience of the Democratic Socialists of America and Marxist Center, Marisa Miale examines the everyday, interpersonal level of party-building and argues for a revolutionary strategy that can weave together cultural intervention, base-building and political unity. Comrade Lacus reads aloud.…

The Spanish government has just sided with the Moroccan government on the issue of the Western Sahara. Djamil and Rudy join Garazi Hach Embarek for an introductory discussion on the history and present of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of the Western Sahara. We discuss the pre-colonial and Spanish colonial history, the context and formation o…

Renato Flores responds to Cam W’s argument for Maoism and the mass line. Gabriel Palcic reads aloud.

Annie and Cliff join Victor Devinatz, a management theorist and labor historian, to discuss the formation of the Trade Union Unity League (TUUL), its successes and failures, and the role it played in the development of the labor movement. We focus on its emergence from the end of the Trade Union Education League (TUEL), its relationship between bot…

In light of the liquidation of DSA’s BDS working group, Charlie Frank argues that Marxists must continue the political fight rather than turn towards localist activism or the various left-wing sects. Comrade Mike reads aloud.

Giacomo Bianchino and Rudy join Amal for an introductory discussion on New Zealand's (Aotearoa in the Maori language) political economy, with a focus on how the country was settled and connected to the world market. We discuss the nature of the first settlements, the dispossession of the Maori, the Treaty of Waitangi and why it is a cornerstone of …

Jackson joins ethnomusicologist and anthropologist T.M. Scruggs to discuss Nicaraguan popular music in the decades leading up to the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, as well as during the first Sandinista government from 1979 to 1990. With a focus on the work of FSLN-affiliated musician Carlos Mejía Godoy, we dive into the history of the Nicaraguan poli…

Ian Wright defends Marx’s theory of surplus-value and its claim that human labor is the ultimate cause of economic profit. Gabriel Palcic reads aloud.

Agata, Anne, Lydia and Rudy join to talk about the historic context of Engels' The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, and how we can apply it today. We discuss Engels' theories on the historically evolving family structure and the origin of the state, how the evolution of women's conditions in the 20th century changed from what h…

Myk Labas reads five letters in dialogue with each other around the topic of Alexander Gallus' recent article "The Russian "Threat to Freedom and Democracy"". Letters can be read at: 1. "Comments On "The Russian Threat"" 2. "Letter on the Reply to "The Russian 'Threat to Freedom and Democracy'" 3. "Regarding Gallus' The Russian "Threat to Freedom a…

Rudy joins Keith, author of The Ecocentrists: A History of Radical Environmentalism for a discussion on the history of the mainstream environmental movement in the US. We discuss the term ecocentrist, the philosophy behind the environmental movement, how it led to Neo-Malthusianism as well as the critics of this philosophy like Murray Bookchin. We …

Gabriel Palcic reads The Russian "Threat to Freedom & Democracy", wherein comrade Alexander Gallus takes a closer look at the developments leading up to this week’s dramatic events and offers some explanations for how we got to this moment.

AJ, Annie, Ira and Rudy discuss the methods of workers' inquiry and social investigation and how they have applied it to their organizing. They talk about the history of workers inquiry and its uneven use across tendencies, the usefulness of the method and the varying objects and objectives of the investigation. They also reflect on the ways that h…

The infamous Transformation Problem has long stood as a supposed example of the failure of Marx’s economic theories. Ian Wright gives an explanation of the problem to help pave the way for a possible solution. Gabriel Palcic reads aloud.

For our 100th episode, we go back to our roots. Djamil, Virginia and Rudy sit down to discuss the launch of Sputnik, using Asif A. Siddiqi's The Red Rockets Glare: Spaceflight and the Soviet Imagination 1853-1957 to ground the discussion. We talk about the intellectual origins of the Soviet space program in Cosmism, the figures in the space race, t…

Is the economic calculation problem a valid argument against planned economies? Max Black argues that this so-called problem is based on flawed reasoning and that a world beyond markets is possible. Robert Fisher reads aloud.

Donald and Rudy join Jairus Banaji, author of Theory as History and A Brief History of Commercial Capitalism to discuss his theoretical contributions around the mode of production debates. We begin with his political starts in the UK and in India, and how he saw the organizational and cultural failures of the left in both countries, the debates on …