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This week on 1Dime Radio, I’m joined by Dr. Cadell Last, creator of Philosophy Portal, to unpack what feels like a shifting “world spirit” in politics and culture. We dig into the collapse of New Atheism, the move from reason to “spirit,” why Jordan Peterson landed when he did, and how religion and politics are re-emerging as answers to a modern crisis of meaning. Along the way we talk Marx, “events” like 9/11 that fracture shared narratives, and why capitalism keeps generating contradictions it cannot metabolize.

In the Backroom (Patreon exclusive), we go further into the global right-wing shift, the return of suppressed contradictions liberals and leftists avoid, and figures like Nick Fuentes for Part 2. In Part 3 (also on Patreon only), we then discuss the idea of “Nationalist Internationalism,” arguing that genuine international cooperation requires strong sovereign nations first, and that real internationalism has to pass through nationalism rather than cosmopolitan globalism.

Timestamps:

00:00:00  Nationalist Internationalism (The Backroom Preview)

00:04:01  The Conservative Zeitgeist

00:08:55  New Atheism's Rise and Fall

00:11:20  Jordan Peterson vs Sam Harris and the religion comeback

00:15:23  Why Marx's critique of religion is wrong

00:26:18  “Events” and the collapse of shared narratives

00:33:02  9/11, New Age mysticism, and the hunger for meaning

00:38:37  The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism

00:43:43  Badiou: truth procedures and politics-as-religion

01:08:29  Religion vs science, the knowledge problem

01:20:22  God, Religion, and ideology

01:45:08  Backroom preview (Patreon): global right shift, Nick Fuentes, nationalist internationalism

GUEST:

Dr. Cadell Last (Philosophy Portal)

• Philosophy Portal (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCtCqYQFPhnU1OnHPveEnYw

• Philosophy Portal (Site): https://philosophyportal.online/about

• Cadell’s Website: https://cadelllast.com/

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/cadellnlast

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Tags: #1DimeRadio #CadellLast #PhilosophyPortal #Religion #NewAtheism #JordanPeterson #PoliticalPhilosophy #Globalism #Nationalism #Internationalism #Conservatism #RightWingShift

Get access to The Backroom (95+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime

This week on 1Dime Radio, I sit down with Rob Ashton, a trade unionist and frontrunner for the Federal NDP (New Democratic Party) leadership race. I ask him all about his policy platform, what the NDP needs to do to win back the working-class majority. and the biggest issues facing Canadians right now. We get into Ashton’s labour-first strategy, his comprehensive labor reform, whether higher union density risks inflation, what “full employment” should mean, how to rebuild domestic industry without turning it into corporate welfare, and why he thinks the NDP can become a party of real worker power again.

Timestamps:

00:00:00  Intro

00:01:21  Why run for NDP leader as a non-career politician?

00:05:02  Why the NDP lost working-class support

00:11:46  Temporary Foreign Worker program, wage suppression, and migrant rights

00:19:07  How to make unionization easier, labour law reforms, union busting

00:32:13  Inflation, wages, and the “wage-price spiral” debate

00:34:33  Bank of Canada, full employment, and job guarantee talk

00:43:48  Free trade, protectionism, and rebuilding Canadian industry

00:49:13  “Pre-distribution” vs redistribution, what it means in plain language

01:00:49  Defence procurement, shipbuilding, and reindustrialization

01:04:20  Climate policy, nuclear, and a worker-centered transition

01:10:23  Alberta, energy jobs, tanker ban, and Indigenous consent

GUEST:

Rob Ashton, NDP leadership candidate, trade unionist (ILWU Canada)

• Rob’s campaign: https://robashton.ca/

• Meet Rob: https://robashton.ca/meet-rob/

• Rob Ashton on X: https://x.com/Rob_T_E_Ashton

• NDP leadership contestants page: https://leadership.ndp.ca/contestants

How to vote in the NDP leadership race

• Become an NDP member: https://act.ndp.ca/donate/membership-en

• Leadership 2026 hub: https://leadership.ndp.ca/

• Leadership FAQ and voting info: https://leadership.ndp.ca/faq

• Rules governing the leadership contest (official PDF): https://www.ndp.ca/sites/default/files/2026-leadershipgoverningrules.pdf

FOLLOW 1Dime:

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• Instagram: instagram.com/1dimeman

• Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee

Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.

Get access to The Backroom (95+ exclusive episodes of 1Dime Radio) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime

In this episode, friend of the show, Philosopher Dave McKerracher of Theory Underground, and I dig into the idea of “radical responsibility,” basically the notion that if you’re trying to change the world, you’ve got more responsibility on your shoulders, not less. We talk about how bad messaging, cringe behavior, and ideological shortcuts can tank movements, including a wild DSA mishap. Pulling from Max Weber, history, and everyday politics, we argue that real progress comes down to considering real consequences and what a majority of people can actually get behind.

 In the Backroom, Dave and I continue our spicy conversation on “Progress and Reaction,” taking a deeper look at how parts of the left end up functioning as “shocktroops for capital.”

Timestamps: 

0:00 Trump’s ICE Raids (Preview)

3:43  The Importance of Radical Responsibility 

30:45 The Responsibility of the Radical Right

53:04 DSA Disaster 

1:09:14 Nick Fuentes' Rise 

1:25:49 Ends, means, & Intentions: The Ethics of Conviction vs Responsibility

GUEST:

David McKerracher (Theory Underground)

• Theory Underground (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/@theory_underground

• McKerracher of TU (X): https://x.com/theoryundrgrnd

• Theory Underground (Substack): https://theoryunderground.substack.com/

• Underground Theory Volume 2 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FZBNYSF9

FOLLOW 1Dime:

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• Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee
Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.

Get access to The Backroom (90+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime

In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I sit down with Harper O’Connor, a rising Socialist YouTuber and DSA organizer, to make the socialist case for National Service and how the millitary can be transformed and used to solve climate change. This ain’t just a case for millitary conscription or to bring back the millitary draft per se, but rather for a broader, socialist vision of National Service. This includes the idea of a Civilian Climate Corps and broader service programs that could rebuild state capacity, civic trust, shared purpose, and the social fabric that atomized capitalism keeps dissolving. 

In the Backroom Exclusive podcast on Patreon, Harper and I talk about how the Left lost younger men, why the far right is winning the “spiritual crisis,” and what a left-wing alternative could be, and we talk socialist strategy more broadly.

Timestamps:

00:00:00  Why the Left Lost Young Men (The Backroom Preview)

00:06:03  The Civilian Climate Corps

00:11:41  Were not in Kansas anymore: Harper's Political Journey

00:16:51  The Citizen Army Idea: A Socialist Republican Idea

00:22:03 What if Everyone Joined the Military? 

00:27:34 Belonging, Comradery, and Solidarity

00:33:17 Build Stuff, Save Lives, Learn Life Skills, Make Friends

00:37:06  Conscription Makes it Harder to Go to War

00:44:20  “Isn’t This Just Legitimizing Empire?”

00:49:22  Civic Duty, Coercion, and Collectivism

00:57:10  The Masculinity Crisis

01:04:44  Socialism or Eco-Fascism

01:17:43  Closing + The Backroom Teaser

GUEST:

Harper O’Connor, Socialist YouTuber and DSA organizer

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCZDSz1E3rJ18vefmK7Hw4YA 

• “A Guide to Democratic Socialists of America” (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijlg0phla-s

FOLLOW 1Dime:

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Get access to The Backroom (90+ exclusive episodes) and support 1Dime Radio: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime

This week on 1Dime Radio, I am joined by Noj Rants, one of the sharpest new voices in Soviet history on YouTube. We go straight at the myths that both mainstream commentators and newer Marxist sympathizers tend to repeat, especially about the Lenin era, the Soviets themselves, and how the Soviet state actually functioned. We talk about bad historiography, timeline compression, “Lenin died, then Stalin took over” simplifications, Civil War narratives, archives, and why so much of Soviet history discourse ends up polarized into propaganda versus counterpropaganda. 

In the Backroom segment on Patreon, NOJ Rants, and I keep going for four more hours, continuing the conversation. It is split into two parts, covering a wide range of Soviet history debates across multiple periods. In these two Patreon exclusive episodes, NOJ Rants, and I continue our conversation about contentious events in Soviet history, from the development of the Bolshevik one‑party state to the realities of Soviet “democracy.” We also discuss the Stalin period, the Red Purges, and NOJ Rants' hot takes on Marxism‑Leninism and the lessons of Soviet state-building.  I basically throw every question you can imagine at him and get his take on the biggest controversies, interpretations, and myths. We also get into the state of left-wing YouTube today, and how prominent leftist creators, especially Marxist-Leninists, tend to cover Soviet history.

Timestamps:

00:00:00  The Backroom Preview 

00:04:51  The Best Soviet History YouTuber

00:10:05  Where to start reading Soviet history, the best historians and books

00:20:19  Stalin Wasn't a Dictator According to the CIA?  

00:37:43 The Soviet archives 

00:42:36  How the Russian Civil War Timeline Gets Re-Written

00:44:44  Soviet elections, Mensheviks, SRs, & the Socialist Opposition

00:47:43 The Truth About Imperialist Encirclement

01:11:52  The Constituent Assembly and Bolshevik Consolidation

01:29:05   Was Soviet Democracy a real thing? 

01:33:19  Prelude to the 4-hour Backroom Segment (Parts 2 and 2)

GUEST:

NOJ Rants (YouTuber, Soviet history)

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nojrants

FOLLOW 1Dime:

• Substack (Articles and Essays): https://substack.com/@tonyof1dime

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• Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee

 #soviethistory  #sovietunion 

#russianrevolution 

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Get access to The Backroom (85+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime

Benjamin Studebaker returns to 1Dime Radio to break down the meaning of Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist who was just sworn in as the new Mayor of New York City, and what his rise means for the Left, what to expect, and whether his policies are actually socialist whatsoever.  

In the Backroom exclusive on Patreon, we get deeper into Studebaker’s theory of “Neo-Leftism” and how it differs from both the New Left and Old Left. It's quite a fascinating episode! 

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Neo-Leftism (The Backroom Preview)

00:04:21 Mamdani Sworn in as Mayor of NYC

00:13:14 Offshoring, tariffs, labor power

00:15:54 Socialism in One City

00:56:22 Childcare Debate

01:12:36 The Real Reason Mamdani  Won

01:30:49 Backroom tease, closing

GUEST:

Benjamin Studebaker (Political Theorist, PhD University of Cambridge), author of The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy

• X: https://x.com/BMStudebaker

• Substack: https://bmstudebaker.substack.com/

• Website: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/

FOLLOW 1Dime:

• Substack (Articles and Essays): https://substack.com/@tonyof1dime

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/

• Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee

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A Christian critique of Capitalism by Tony of 1Dime

Since there won't be a new episode of 1Dime Radio this week, I decided to release a voice-over of an essay manuscript I had written on Christianity, capitalism, and a vision of socialism founded on Christian principles. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you!

Become a Patron if you wish to support my work: https://www.patreon.com/c/OneDime

Subscribe to my Substack: https://substack.com/@tonyof1dime

Get access to The Backroom (Almost 90+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime

In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined by American sociologist Musa Al-Gharbi to discuss his book "We Have Never Been Woke" which is by far the most scholarly work on the topic of “wokeness.” Al‑Gharbi provides a materialist theory of the economics and social dynamics that drive what we call "wokeism" and the great disconnect between what he calls “symbolic capitalists” (the section of the Professional Managerial Class within discourse/symbol generating industries like Media, Academia, Art, and Entertainment) and the rest of society. Al-Gharbi's book provides rigorous empirical research on social attitudes, class structures, and identifies four patterns that he calls "the great awokenings" which are driven by "elite overproduction" and liberals and leftists appear the same to so many people.

In The Backroom (on Patreon), Musa and I continue the conversation by connecting Musa’s materialist socio-economic theory of Wokeness and Symbolic Capitalists to Tony’s Genealogy of Wokeism essay, plus additional examples, arguments, and pushback that we did not have time for on the main episode.

Timestamps:

00:00:00  Changing Minds vs Material Conditions (The Backroom Preview)

00:05:34  An Empirical Theory of Wokeism 

00:14:41  Who are The “Symbolic Capitalists”?

00:23:55  Top 20% not just the 1%

00:33:45  Elite overproduction and intra-elite competition

00:38:31  The 2010s The Great Awokening 

00:53:58  Is “woke” dead? Tech backlash, Trump era shifts

00:59:14  The Four Great Awokenings, mapped

01:00:04  First Awokening (1920s–30s): identity politics before the 60s

01:03:51  Orwell’s warning

01:07:02  Progressive paternalism and Managerial politics 

01:15:41  Turning Standpoint Epistimology back on elites

01:19:31  Policing, crime, and what Black voters actually want

01:24:10  Do Woke People believe in Woke ideas? Does Sincerity Matter?

01:28:19  What about the bottom 80%? 

01:33:19  Diversity and Totemic Capital

01:36:49  Backroom teaser: Tony’s Genealogy of Wokeism Essay

GUEST:

Musa Al-Gharbi (American sociologist), author of *We Have Never Been Woke*

• Book announcement and links: https://musaalgharbi.substack.com/p/we-have-never-been-woke-available-now

• Musa’s website: https://musaalgharbi.com

Musa’s Substack: https://musaalgharbi.substack.com

FOLLOW 1Dime:

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• Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee

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Get access to The Backroom (80+ EXCLUSIVE episodes): https://www.patreon.com/OneDime⁠

Given there is some confusion regarding my positions on immigration, I decided to release the BACKROOM exclusive episode (originally supposed to be for Patrons only) that I did with Benjamin Studebaker (Cambridge, and author of the Chronic Crisis of American Democracy) all on the subject of immigration,—what both the left and right get wrong, and what leftists & liberals don't understand about the rise of the far-right in Europe. This episode is a heavy one! 

The conversation delves into the complexities of immigration and why the left needs a better response to mass migration and how the far-right captured many working class people across the world. We address topics such as the assimilation, social cohesion, demographic change, brain drain, declining bargaining power, and  the socio-economic impacts of immigration, globalization, and neoliberalism more broadly. The dialogue also touches on the challenges and necessities of having an open discourse on immigration without falling into binary thinking ideological trap.

Timestamps: 

00:00 How Leftists and and Liberals Often Respond to immigration

04:25 Social Cohesion and Integration

12:55 Brain Drain and Economic Imperialism 

18:46 Assimilation Challenges

30:58 Modern Immigration Policies

45:21 European Union and Migration

55:07 Racism, Xenophobia and tribalism

56:05 Trust and Integration in Multi-Ethnic Societies

58:27 Leftist and Liberal Perspectives on Immigration

01:05:22 Cosmopolitanism vs. Localism

01:24:09 The Role of the Professional Managerial Class (PMC)

01:34:45 Technocratic Mindset and Immigration

01:39:58 Its about more than  "Living Standards"

01:41:45 Internationalism and Globalism Critique

01:45:39 Managerialism in Progressivism

01:52:14 Challenges of Assimilation and Immigration

02:27:13 Climate Change and Refugee Crisis

02:28:31 Concluding Thoughts on Political Discourse

GUEST:Benjamin Studebaker — political theorist; author of Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies and The Chronic Crisis of Liberal Democracy.• 

Website: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/about/• Follow Benjamin Studebaker on X: https://x.com/BMStudebaker

FOLLOW 1Dime: 

• Substack (Articles and Essays): https://substack.com/@tonyof1dime 

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial 

• Instagram: / tonyof1dime

• Check out my main channel videos: / @1dimee

Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee.

Outro Music by Karl Casey.

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Get access to The Backroom (80+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon.com/onedimeIn this episode of 1Dime Radio, I have an in-depth discussion with Ross Wolfe about neo-Stalinism. We examine the influence of Domenico Losurdo, and how his work relates to a niche defence of Marxism-Leninism. We take up the concepts of state power and revolution, and how the history of liberalism is often misinterpreted by modern activists. In the Backroom on Patreon, Ross Wolfe and I explore just what is “Western Marxism.” Is there a widely agreed upon definition? To do this, Wolfe and I have to unpack its origins, and the polemics by Losurdo, Gabriel Rockhill and others. We try to pin down the line between socialistic critique of capitalism, and simple anti-Western sentiment.TimeStamps: 00:00 Losurdo and Rockhill The (Backroom Sneak Peek) 03:48 Critique of Neo-Stalinism and Marxism-Leninism 06:29 The Influence of Dominico Losurdo 47:23 Historical Inaccuracies in Losurdo's Work 51:14 Trotsky's Legacy and Stalin's Tactics 01:01:21 Debating Marxism, Communism, and State PowerGuest (Ross Wolfee): X/Twitter: https://x.com/rosswolfe?lang=enFind His Articles on Losurdo here: https://thecharnelhouse.org/author/rosslaurencewolfe/FOLLOW 1Dime: • Substack (Articles and Essays): https://substack.com/@tonyof1dime • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: / tonyof1dime• Check out my main channel videos: / @1dimeeOutro Music by Karl Casey. Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.