Sps

A special holiday edition, with guests Reid Kotlas (Platypus Vermont, and Socialist Party USA) and Efraim Carlebach (Platypus London), on the Left today and the problem of the Democratic and Labor Parties. What do the socialists want anyway? We discuss: An interview with Lee Carter, a democratic socialist who defeated a Republican legislator in Virginia in the recent elections https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/11/lee-carter-interview-virginia-election-socialist Seth Ackerman, "A Blueprint for a New Party" https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/11/bernie-sanders-democratic-labor-party-ackerman An interview with Ian Birchall, a leading figure of the International Socialist tendency for over half a century https://platypus1917.org/2017/12/02/unchanging-core-marxism-interview-ian-birchall/ Hosted by Audrey C., Pam C. and Laurie R.

On this episode: (0) Democrats are lame. #nuffsaid (1) A conversation with Philip Cunlife, author of Lenin Lives! Reimagining the Russian Revolution 1917-2017, reviewed by Gregor Baszak on the pages of the Platypus Review November issue. https://platypus1917.org/2017/11/01/book-review-philip-cunliffe-lenin-lives-reimagining-russian-revolution-1917-2017/ (2)A convo about the Platypus panel "1917–2017" with members, Frederik Heinz and Lukas Hedderich, hosted by the Goethe University chapter in Frankfurt (DE). The panel had Frank Ruda (Philosopher, Berlin/Frankfurt am Main); Lars Quadfasel (Hamburger Studienbibliothek); Anton Stortchilov, (Historian, Die LINKE); Rafael Rehm (Der Funke, International Marxist Tendency). Recording of the panel can be found here: https://archive.org/details/20171103PASPanel19172017Frankfurt (3) Why should anyone care about 1917? Hosted by Audrey C., Pam C., and Laurie R.

On this episode, commentary on: (1) "The negative-sum internet" (Weekly Worker) Paul Demarty reviews: Angela Nagle, Kill all normies: the online culture wars from Tumblr and 4chan to the alt-right and Trump (Zero Books, 2017) http://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1176/the-negative-sum-internet/ (2) Platypus Berkeley panel: "Antifascism in the Age of Trump" Description: Since the Nazi seizure of power eighty years ago, anti-fascism has been a component of left-wing politics. In response to the Trump presidency, the politics of anti-fascism, reminiscent of the Popular Front of the 1930s or the Black Bloc politics of the 1990s, have—once again—been resurrected by the Left. How is anti-fascism the same or different today? Why anti-fascism now? Speakers: Eugene Ruyle (CPUSA/DSA Member, runs Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library); Luma Nichol (Freedom Socialist Party, Communities Against Racism and Fascism); Victoria Fierce (DSA Member, East Bay for Everyone); Ramsey Kanaan (PM Press) Audio recording: https://archive.org/det