Nov 5
The Ethics of Ambiguity: Simone de Beauvoir, Existentialism, and Revolutionary Politics
Breht and Alyson explore Simone de Beauvoir's The Ethics of Ambiguity, a foundational work of existentialist ethics that asks a deceptively difficult question: if there is no God, no predetermined human purpose, and no absolute moral order written into the universe, why shouldn't ... Show More
2h 19m
Nov 1
Coming to America: From Mao's China to American Suburbia
Through one family's journey from socialist China to the United States, we explore the gulf between the mythology of the American Dream and the realities of American capitalism. From the Cultural Revolution and Voice of America to racial and class hierarchies, liberal academia, a ... Show More
1h 48m
Oct 21
Requiem for French Theory: Transatlantic Funeral Dirge in a Marxist Key
Gabriel Rockhill joins Breht to discuss his book Requiem for French Theory, coauthored with Aymeric Monville, and to challenge the radical reputation of thinkers such as Foucault, Derrida, and Deleuze. Situating their rise within the Cold War, Rockhill examines how intelligence a ... Show More
1h 35m
May 2023
"The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State" by Friedrich Engels (Pt. 2)
In this second installment of our three-part series on Friedrich Engels' famous work "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State", Alyson and Breht discuss chapters 4, 5, and 6 titled "The Greek Gens", "The Rise of the Athenian State", and "the Gens and the State i ... Show More
57m 28s
Aug 2023
"The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State" by Friedrich Engels (Pt. 3)
Alyson and Breht finish their 3-part series on Friedrich Engels' text "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State", and reflect on the text as a whole. Together, they wrestle with questions, like: What is family abolition? How do rich people buy extended, communal ... Show More
1h 9m
Sep 2020
The Fundamentals of Marxism: Dialectics, Historical Materialism, and Class Struggle
In this episode, Alyson and Breht summarize and discuss the fundamental ideas, concepts, and arguments within Marxism. We want this episode to stand as a resource for *everyone* interested in Marxism - from those who are brand new to the Marxist left all the way to veterans of th ... Show More
1h 42m
May 2025
Dialectics of Nature: Engels on Dialectical Materialism as a Worldview
In this episode, Alyson and Breht explore Friedrich Engels' Dialectics of Nature, a bold and underappreciated attempt to apply dialectical materialism to the natural sciences. Often dismissed or misunderstood, this unfinished work offers a sweeping view of reality - from physics ... Show More
2h 35m
Jun 2021
Alexandra Kollontai: Marxist Feminism and Love After Capitalism
In this episode, Alyson and Breht teach and discuss two works by Alexandra Kollontai: her 1909 essay "The Social Basis of the Woman Question" and her 1923 essay "Make Way for Winged Eros". They contextualize each essay, walk the listener through them both, and then discuss their ... Show More
2h 3m
<div class="gs"> <div class=""> <div id=":yf" class="ii gt"> <div id=":ye" class="a3s aiL"> <div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;">In this episode, Alyson and Breht introduce the core concepts of Marxist political economy by an analysis of the history of po ... Show More
