All That's Left

In this episode, Samuel Karlin speaks to André Barbieri about the upcoming election in Brazil, in which current president Lula is in a dead heat with far-right candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. They discuss the context of declining U.S. hegemony, in which President Trump seeks to subordinate Latin America — including Brazil — to U.S. imperialist interests. Importantly, André describes how Lula's conciliatory stance toward the Right has fueled Flavio Bolsonaro's rise, and the need for the Brazilian working class to organize, independently and from below, to defeat the Right and U.S. imperialism for good. 

Learn More:

- Beyond Trumpification: Latin America's Deepening Organic Crisis

- Brazil’s Supreme Court in Crisis as Alexandre de Moraes Faces Investigation

- At the Global Progressive Mobilization Conference, Lula’s Speech Was a Confession by a Neoliberal Administrator

- Lula-Trump Meeting: “Love at First Sight” in Submission, Dependence, and the Surrender of Natural Resources

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Jeffrey Epstein's decades of systematic sexual abuse ensnared some of the richest and most powerful members of the capitalist class. How was it possible? And why has no one, besides Epstein and Ghisleine Maxwell, faced accountability? 

In this episode, we unpack the capitalism and patriarchy at the heart of the scandal. After all, a system where people are forced to sell their labor and depend on capitalists for survival is one where people like Epstein can mask their abuse by providing a paycheck or a visa. And because the horizon of liberal feminism is women's greater incorporation into this exploitative system, this movement has stayed largely silent on the scale of Epstein's abuse. In fact, liberal feminism is entrenched in the institutions of the state itself. 

The antidote is socialist feminism, and fighting capitalism and patriarchy at its root to dismantle this exploitative system that makes wide-scale abuse possible. 

Learn More:

- The Crimes of the “Epstein Class” Are Rooted in Patriarchy and Capitalism: The Answer Is Socialist Feminism

- Epstein Files: Trump, Republicans and Democrats Are Responsible for the Over 1,000 Victims

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Queer liberation is incompatible with capitalism, because queer oppression inscribed in capitalist production and reproduction. In this episode, we explain why, and how socialism can create the context for queer liberation and sexual liberation for all. 

Learn More: 

• Queer Oppression is Etched in the Heart of Capitalism
• For a Pride Against Capitalism, Imperialism, and the Far Right
• Whither Queer Liberation?
• The Supreme Court Is Endangering Far More than Trans Athletes — We Must Fight Back

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In this episode, Oden speaks to Samuel Karlin about the massive protests that have shaken Bolivia during the past month, led by workers, Indigenous peoples, and peasants demanding President Rodrigo Paz step down. Sam describes the origins of the uprising, including Paz's austerity and privatization policies, and how broad sectors have mobilized despite union bureaucracies' conciliatory approach. 

Importantly, Sam explains how the current situation must be viewed in the context of the failures of the Pink Tide governments in the early 2000s, including that of Evo Morales and the MAS party, which ultimately helped pave the way for right-wing governments to take power in Latin America. What's happening in Bolivia shows the power of the working masses to fight both the Far Right and imperialism, and it must be an inspiration for working people and oppressed sectors everywhere. 

Learn More:

- International Declaration: Long Live the Workers’, Peasants’, and Indigenous Rebellion in Bolivia! Down with the Austerity Government of Rodrigo Paz!

- Bolivia: The Start of a Counteroffensive against the Right-Wing Wave in Latin America

- Class Struggle Erupts Throughout South America, Confronting Trump's Far-Right Allies

- Declaration: For a General Strike in Bolivia Until the Paz Government Falls

- The Bolivian Revolution of 1952: When Workers and Miners Defeated a National Army

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In this episode, Oden speaks to sociology professor Remo Erdosain about the new U.S. embargo on Cuba. Remo describes the six-decades-long history of imperialist attacks on the island, their devastating human and economic toll, and the goal of these efforts: Capitalist restoration, and erasing the gains of the 1959 Revolution. Importantly, Remo explains how we must support the Cuban working class — without supporting the program of the Diaz-Canel administration — in leading this fight. And from outside of Cuba, we must build a movement to demand an end to this monstrous embargo. The struggle of the Cuban people is the struggle of the global working class. 

Learn More:

- As Trump Strangles Cuba, We Need a Movement to Confront Imperialist Aggression and the Blockade

- Cuba Needs Oil, Not Symbolic Solidarity

- Down with the Imperialist Siege on Cuba

- In Defense of the Cuban Revolution

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In this episode, Oden speaks to Left Voice writer Maryam Alaniz about the revolt taking place in Iran. Maryam explains both what's happening and the broader context of the mass mobilizations, including the devastating economic effects of sanctions and popular uprisings in recent years. Importantly, we discuss the need for the Iranian working class to forge a way forward — independent of the repressive Khamenei regime and independent of imperialist powers like the U.S. which seek to install a puppet monarchy under Reza Pahlavi. A victory for the Iranian working class would reverberate across the region, and could be the foundation of genuine democracy, inseparable from the socialist reorganization of society.

Learn More:

- Iran: Against Repression and Imperialist Threats — for an Independent Path of the Working Class!

- “Workers Must Lead Fight for Liberation, Not Authoritarian Forms of Power or Foreign States”: Statement from Workers in Iran

- Revolt in Iran: Only Workers Can Turn the Tide Against Khamenei and Pahlavi

- Permanent Revolution in Iran

- Black Friday: The Massacre that Ignited a Revolution in Iran

Check out our episode about Venezuela.

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In this episode, Oden speaks to Left Voice editor Samuel Karlin about President Trump's attacks on Venezuela. Sam explains how these escalations are about U.S. imperialism — not drug trafficking — and about reasserting U.S. hegemony in Latin America. We also discuss Republicans' and Democrats' responses, and the ways in which imperialism is bipartisan. Importantly, we talk about the tasks for the international working class. Liberation for Latin America and the defeat of U.S. imperialism in the region can only come from international, working-class unity, without supporting repressive, anti-worker governments like that of Nicolás Maduro. Workers make the economy and imperialism run, which means that we can grind imperialism to a halt. 

Learn More:
- U.S. Attacks on Venezuela Are a Threat to All of Latin America and the Caribbean

- Trump Doesn't Care About Drug Trafficking, He Cares About Domination

- Hegseth Threatens Greater Military Aggression in Latin America with Operation Southern Spear

- What the PSL (and the Campist Left) Gets Wrong About Venezuela

Check out our episode about U.S. imperialism in Mexico on Spotify or Apple. 

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In this episode, Oden talks to rank-and-file union member and college professor Jason Koslowski about Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's book Abundance, and the roadmap it puts forward for the crisis-ridden Democratic Party. They discuss the problems with the authors' policy prescriptions, and the broader capitalist and imperialist crises motivating the book. 

Abundance is already everywhere — it's just abundance for the bourgeoisie, at the expense of workers and the oppressed. Capitalist abundance, as advocated by Klein and Thompson, hinges on even more exploitation and immiseration for the working class, as well as greater ecological devastation. 

However, the crises the book is trying to address holds an opening for the working class. We make society and the economy run, and we can fight to create a truly abundant world under socialism — one without private property, exploitation, oppression, borders, and ecological devastation. But this requires independent organization, without the Democratic Party and its capitalist abundance agenda. 

Learn More:
- The Reactionary Patchwork of Abundance

- Left Voice Magazine: "The Mamdani Moment and the Fight Against the Far Right"

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In this episode, Oden and fellow Left Voice member Julia Wallace interview Luca Otello Gieri, a Master's Student in Journalism at the University of Bologna, Italy who is a militant of Frazione Internazionalista Rivoluzionaria and has been active in the movement for Palestine for the past two years. They discuss the powerful worker- and student-led actions in Italy in solidarity with Palestine, including huge strikes and mobilization in September and October, and organizing amid the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni. 

 Learn More:
- “Blocchiamo Tutto!” Strikes and Blockades Paralyze Italy in Solidarity with Gaza

- 2 Million People Paralyze Italy in a General Strike for Gaza and the Flotilla

Luca is also a contributor to Left Voice's sister site, La Voce delle Lotte.

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In this episode, Oden talks to Julia Wallace, member of Left Voice and SEIU 721, and Hector Rivera, a queer, Chicano, socialist educator who writes for Tempest Magazine. They discuss what's going on in Los Angeles, California, which has become a flashpoint in President Trump's war on immigration and attacks on the working class. Hector and Julia also describe the ways that communities have been fighting back, including independent self-organization, and how the struggle against the Far Right is connected to the fight for other democratic rights. 

The working class, community organizations, the immigrant rights movement, and other social movements can unite their forces and go even further to definitively push federal agents out of the city and win rights for immigrants — in California, and beyond. 

 Learn More:
- Los Angeles Demands: ICE Out of Our Communities!

- 2,000 Troops Withdraw from Los Angeles, but the Fight for Immigrant Rights Isn't Over. Fuera ICE!

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