Since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, US politics has polarised sharply - with the rise of Trump and right-wing populism, but also a renewed class-based left around figures like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes and Zohran Mamdani.

Part of what has given rise to these candidates is a Democratic Socialist political movement - and a key part of that movement is the publication Jacobin, which has sought to teach and lead debate about radical class politics, reviving Marxist critiques of capitalism and socialist ideology.

In this chat, the founding editor of Jacobin, Bhaskar Sunkara, charts the history of the US democratic socialists and the role of Jacobin in particular. He unpacks the recent New York Mayoral Election campaign with Zohran Mamdani, exploring how the big but simple demands about free buses and rent freezes created a different imagination for what is possible from the state. He also shares a little about his upcoming book The Blueprint (with Mike Beggs and Ben Burgis), and some of the topics he will be talking about when he visits Australia in May and June 2026.

For more information and to buy tickets for Bhaskar's Australian speaking tour: https://www.search.org.au/bhaskar_sunkara_live_in_sydney_get_your_tickets_today

The Jacobin magazine is here.

Bhaskar's earlier book, The Socialist Manifesto, can be bought here.

Story Notes

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For more on the books and Amanda’s writing, have a look at:

Amanda’s website - https://amandatattersall.com/ 

Conscious Tribes: thinking differently about making a difference - here and via Hardie Grant

People Power in Cities - here and via Oxford Uni Press

On Substack - https://substack.com/@amandatattersall

On Medium - https://amandatatts.medium.com/

And - her much earlier book about coalition building - Power in Coalition and via Cornell Uni Press

Amanda is on Socials here:

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandatattersall/

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BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/amandatattersall.bsky.social

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@amandatattersall

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