Krystal Kyle & Friends

We’re honored to be joined by political activist and actress Rose McGowan for this week’s episode, discussing the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party, the culture of fear and violence in Hollywood, and the solidarity of the ruling class — from the CIA to the media.

For Rose, the story of the Democratic Party is the story of a cult: Google the definition, she suggests, and it’s all too obvious. The demand of unconditional loyalty sits at the center of this comparison. Leftist organizers know that lobbying the Democrats for universal healthcare, a jobs guarantee, or reduced police budgets results in personal attacks, accusations of supporting the far-right, empty gestures — in essence, anything but the basic human right we’re asking for. The Democratic establishment depends upon partisan polarization — the eternal, anti-materialist struggle between Team Red and Team Blue — to insist that any political activism outside this binary is toxic, dangerous, “asking too much.” Rose’s critiques of this controlling political cult, which asks for everything and gives nothing in return, remind us how essential it is that we not only ask for more, but demand it. We hope you enjoy this thought-provoking episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends — and we hope you come back for more next week.

Audio of this episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends will be available on Substack, Pandora, Stitcher, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more tomorrow evening.

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With the announcement of Breaking Points, Krystal’s new independent YouTube show and podcast with co-host Saagar Enjeti, it’s been a whirlwind week. Big things are coming on Krystal Kyle & Friends, too. We’re bringing Rose McGowan on the show to discuss the cult of the Democratic Party, the struggle to bring Harvey Weinstein to justice, and the ways that social media platforms protect dangerous people. A talented actress and a tireless advocate for survivors of sexual assault, Rose has used her voice to call out the abusive behavior of men protected by wealth and fame. We’re honored to have her on the show this week, and we hope you’re looking forward to the conversation. To be honest, we think she’s going to blow your mind.

When Tara Reade, a former congressional staffer for Joe Biden, came forward in early 2020 to report that Biden sexually assaulted her, mainstream news outlets like The New York Times dismissed the allegation against the Democratic establishment candidate. While these sources probed Reade’s past landlords for details in order to paint her as a dishonest and untrustworthy voice, few were willing to give her the opportunity to tell her story, one that she had told to various people in her life for many years. Reade found an ally in Rose McGowan. Refusing to be silenced by establishment dismissal of her rape allegation against Harvey Weinstein, Rose criticized the treatment of Reade’s story as “politically inconvenient” for the Democratic Party — supposedly the party of believing women and supporting survivors.

Rose has continued to call out the hypocrisy of the Democratic Party, comparing it to a cult and observing the ways in which it calls its followers are led to abandon their principles. From smearing survivors to protecting predatory billionaires, the Democrats often stand for little other than performative opposition to the Republican Party, whose political agenda they’re all too happy to allow. Mainstream outlets like the New York Times want you to think that Biden is the new FDR and that Trump’s replacement means the end of rape culture, but Rose McGowan knows how empty those proclamations are. We can’t wait to share our conversation with you — Friday is only a few days away.

Paid subscribers access the video of our KK&F episodes on Friday evenings, when they drop on Substack. Everyone else can listen to the audio through Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more once it is released on Saturday evening.

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As this week’s guest on Krystal Kyle & Friends, Vaush had plenty to discuss with us. Because of his experience as a debater and his political identification as a leftist, we brought up the big issues — how leftists should regard the Biden presidency, the legacy of Bernie or Bust, supporting Palestine — and Vaush didn’t disappoint. Without further ado, here’s the newest episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends.

During an age in which we head to YouTube to learn essential skills, enjoy ourselves, and gain some political perspective, Vaush has made a name for himself by delving into timely leftist discussions, sharing his insights and analyses with hundreds of thousands of people online. From a “Politics 101” intro video with thousands of hits, to more recent responses to Ben Shapiro and PragerU, Vaush doesn’t shy away from clashes with the far right — he’s happy to take on their ideas from a leftist perspective, and we were excited to hear more about that perspective during this week’s conversation.

Vaush, Kyle and Krystal also dive straight into areas of some disagreement. Bernie or Bust, the Populist Right, woke ideology and Vaush’s critique of Rising were all addressed. We think you’ll find it very interesting.

In addition, Krystal had a chance to talk a bit more about her big news. In case you missed it, Krystal and Saagar are leaving The Hill for a new chapter in their work together! To be the first to know the details of what comes next, sign up at krystalandsaagar.com.

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As continued Israeli violence against Palestinians led to a Palestinian general strike, we had the opportunity to speak with Abby Martin about mainstream coverage of the apartheid — and about how Israel, aided by the U.S.’s imperialist interests, has controlled the narrative. This comes at a time when journalists willing to support Palestinian liberation face silencing and punishment. Days after Israeli forces destroyed the AP’s office in Gaza, the AP fired Emily Wilder, a staffer with a history of activism for Palestinian rights and critiques of Israeli leaders. While corporate media outlets restrict coverage of the truth of Palestinian oppression, it was a pleasure to speak with Abby about her own independent journalism, including The Empire Files: Gaza Fights for Freedom.

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We were so grateful to have Rania Khalek as our guest for Episode 20 of Krystal Kyle & Friends. Rania gave us her insight into Israel’s current ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, taking us through the past history of the Israeli occupation and the conditions of Israeli military rule. At a time when all of our minds and hearts are with the oppressed people of Palestine, we truly appreciated Rania’s thoughtful analysis of the moment, and we think you will, too.

Even as the current violence against Palestinians is at the front of so many people’s minds, from Biden and Pelosi to supposed Senate lefties Markey and Warren, many Democrats are pushing the same dangerous denial of Palestinian genocide. Old video footage reveals, in fact, that Biden has a long history of unconditional support for Zionism, a stance that he’s reiterated throughout his political career.

Biden’s past and present refusal to reckon with the human rights abuses committed in the name of Zionism, however, is a sharp contrast with the political leadership being shown by leftist politicians like Rashida Tlaib. While so many of her colleagues push a two-state solution or argue that Palestinians should have no right to self-defense, Tlaib gave a powerful speech on the House floor, calling out her peers’ vocal and material support for a brutal regime. The day will come when American tax dollars are not used to enable the murder of Palestinian children. Tlaib and others are fighting for it, and the least we can do is join them.

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For some, the prospect of an automated future heralds an era of robotic convenience. For others, it is another fateful step on the journey toward a cybernetic dystopia. But for many, the prospect of an automated future raises only one immediate question: what will happen if a robot takes my job?

So begins James Suzman’s compelling and thorough history of work, beginning at the dawn of the Stone Age and moving forward to an analysis of current labor conditions in our capitalist society. This passage from Work: A Deep History perfectly captures Suzman’s balancing of technology’s wonders alongside the ways in which this technology is manipulated to make work for human beings more, not less, precarious. We’ve been looking forward to having him on the show, and after watching today’s episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends, we think you’ll agree that James makes a necessary intervention into the discussion on how and why we work. Does it have to be this way? History says otherwise.

We’re thrilled to delve into the past, present, and future of labor with James Suzman in this week’s episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends, and we hope you enjoy the journey as much as we did.

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It was an honor to be joined this week by Dr. Cornel West, celebrated author, philosopher, and professor, for a conversation about Dr. West’s political activism and personal journey. Moving from the topic of keeping one’s personal faith to a discussion of how Harvard limits leftist perspectives on campus, this episode touches on a wide range of subjects — appropriate, given our guest’s many intellectual and political interests. Tying the broad-ranging conversation together, though, is Dr. West’s fierce love for humanity and keen insight on how we build a moment based on international solidarity. To watch the full video subscribe now!

There’s much more to hear in this conversation, about the current state of the Democratic Party, Dr. West’s insights for the present moment, and his thoughts on political life. We hope you’ll enjoy this luminous discussion with one of the most inspiring and brilliant leftists of our time.

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We were very excited to welcome Professor Richard Wolff to Krystal Kyle & Friends this week. As a prominent Marxist economist and a prolific writer on the crises of capitalism, Professor Wolff is someone we always look forward to hearing from — we know many of you probably feel the same way. That’s why we couldn’t wait to get him on the show to discuss Modern Monetary Theory, how the Biden admin is measuring up to expectations, and even more.

If you’re familiar with Professor Wolff’s work, you won’t be surprised to hear that in his view, the Biden presidency falls far short of its potential — restricted as that potential is by the admin’s liberal-democratic political framework. At the center of Wolff’s critique is a challenge to the austerity budgets that Biden, like so many other Democratic leaders, has supported during his years in office. Wolff makes the case that what actually drives the formation of the budget is the political will of the elites in power. Along with Stephanie Kelton and other prominent supporters of Modern Monetary Theory, Wolff has shown that when it comes time to offer massive funds to imperialist military projects, the cost-cutting concerns of these “hawks” fly out the window. Instead of allocating the profit made by workers toward projects that deprive those workers of basic needs, Wolff argues, the government has other options. Other forms of distributing wealth are possible — providing essential resources to everyone, as a guarantee, for example, rather than stripping down those programs to pay for more military weapons.

Join us for more Krystal Kyle & Friends next week, and remember that you can find the audio of our conversation with Professor Wolff on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other major streaming platforms.

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Author and longtime Steelworkers labor lawyer Dan Kovalik joined us on KK&F this week to talk cancel culture. Why does cancel culture matter? When should people be “cancelled,” and when is cancellation harmful to the left’s political goals? You’ll find these questions, as well as Dan’s thoughtful answers, in this week’s episode of Krystal Kyle & Friends. We feel that understanding how to relate to our fellow leftists in a respectful, solidaristic way is key to gaining political power, so we were grateful to bring in Dan, who has thought and written extensively about this topic in Cancel This Book: The Progressive Case Against Cancel Culture.

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At the end of the day, why is the debate over cancel culture pertinent to our lives? Log off of Twitter (always a good idea) and you instantly lose connection to the day’s debate over who should be de-platformed, who’s problematic, and who needs to take a seat. It’s telling when this discourse distances itself from issues with real, material impact on people’s lives, focusing instead upon adding fodder to the culture wars. When people take issue with cancel culture, it’s often because this culture places heavy punishment on “saying the wrong thing.” This concept is broad: it distracts from the true principles that should drive a group to exclude an unsafe or harmful member. It lumps in genuine and harmless mistakes with words intended to make others feel unwelcome or unsafe, and those seeking to build an inclusive leftist movement should view these scenarios very differently. What Dan advocates for, both in this conversation and in his book, is a greater openness to discussing harm or mistakes not as a precursor to cancellation, but as an opportunity for learning and growth. We hope you’ll enjoy hearing his perspective, and we’re grateful to you for tuning in.

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This week’s guest on KK&F is Christopher Ryan, an author and researcher on human sexuality. If you’re not familiar with his book Sex at Dawn, we hope you’ll enjoy watching our conversation with him, covering everything from the personal — are our brains wired for monogamy? — to the societal and political. Drawing upon Christopher’s expertise on ancient hunter-gatherer societies, we were curious to learn how the advent of settled agriculture and private property transformed human societies in every way from how we raise our kids to how we think about sex to whether we emphasize the individual or the collective.

Perhaps we weren’t expecting to hear that a social-democratic political model maintains the ethos of the hunter-gatherer society more fully than a capitalist society, but Christopher is full of compelling, provocative insights. Too often, conversations about leftist political models are shut down by the argument that “humans are inherently greedy” — we’re willing to bet that the vast majority of leftists in the United States have been fed this line. Like you, perhaps, Christopher shows that it’s more complicated, and that classifying humanity as “good” or “bad” by nature doesn’t address the real question: How do we choose to act? Acknowledging that our baser or more greedy personal impulses exist doesn’t mean we must deny other people basic rights. Even alongside those impulses, we can recognize the imperative of a society that prioritizes human well-being and allows us all to live our fullest lives.We hope you enjoy this conversation! Audio of Episode 15 is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more. Thank you very much for joining us. To subscribe to our video conversations, which are released Friday, click below:

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