M&M - Marx & Medicine

FRIENDSHIP ENDED WITH ‘SUMMER’

NOW ‘THE RETURN OF M&M’ IS MY BEST FRIEND

since we last saw our heroes, Fidel started a locums job, Sigmund became the spiritual and material successor to Matthew Lesko, and Bae stayed ‘lowkey eating’ in ‘the cut’ (at Whataburger)

we decided to ca$h in on the discourse surrounding ‘Biden Bucks’ aka the loan forgiveness relief that’s been percolating in the zeitgeist - and then focus on educational loans for physicians (+ briefly touch on nurses). we also zoom out and discuss how debt’s historical role is to act as a tool of social manipulation, and in its current iteration, it tends to shape modes of existence into what’s expedient for Capital.

***apologies for the feedback at random points throughout the episode! i believe it is our enemies

SAAG's Solidarity Appeal for Flood Victims in Pakistan

outro: check it out by John Cougar Mellencamp

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

by now, most of us have at least heard of RaDonda Vaught and the cover-up by Vanderbilt University Medical Center of the tragic death of Charlene Murphey. on March 25 2022, RaDonda was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of an impaired adult in the context of a medication error. we welcome back nurse homie and union thug Rach (aka “Just Some Nurse”) to discuss the timeline of events, relate some personal experiences, interpret the systemic conditions that could allow something like this to happen, and evaluate the implications this trial may have on healthcare workers and patients alike. join us as we barrel into the fresh new contradictions of 21st century Medicine - the American way.

here’s a good timeline of events

on May 13, RaDonda Vaught was sentenced to 3 years of supervised probation - no jail time mashallah!!!

Christian Gainey case

music:

intro: created by fidel cashtho

1.14.00: shaking ass by Jerry Paper

outro: june by Destroyer

(apologies for some of the shaky audio quality)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

AND WE BACK AND WE BACK AND WE BACK AND WE BACK [x1,000]

the gang returns mfers!!!!!!!!!! (sorry that was 2 long 2 be away) Fidel is board certified, Sigmund grows their hair out and leaves the polycule because nobody noticed, and Bae puts on his ‘presenter’ hat to give us a peek into healthcare in rural america.

SHOUTOUT STANFORD HOUSESTAFF ON THEIR UNION WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

and a special welcome 2 all the bloggers out there.

intro: created by fidel cashtho

outro: exposure by John Vanderslice

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

Sigmund is the train conductor of today’s episode, next stop hell u mfers!!!!! on the way, we’ll hear about transportation, its history, and its relationship to healthcare and other human needs. we’ll also get some comparisons on how other countries are doing - and of course, we couldn’t do an episode on transportation without talking a little bit about elon musk.

to skip ahead to the episode’s ‘content’ (how dare u??) start at 7:20.

outro: C’mon N’ Ride It by Quad City DJ’s

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

after analyzing various fast food kids meals in fastidious rapture (coming soon to the patreon-only feed!!), the gang dissects food production and consumption under a capitalist paradigm, its vicissitudes during the neoliberal turn, and how struggles for food sovereignty relate to health and healthcare.

Gilles Deleuze - Postscript on the Societies of Control

intro: created by fidel cashtho

outro: Q by Cartel

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨e-pod🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

medical instagram has recently been popping off over the current milieu of ‘strike fever’ happening across healthcare, as well as the strikebreaking scabs hindering these working class efforts. our union thug west coast besties Rach and Alex return to discuss the situation, how we got here, how we should analyze it, and where we go from here.

as a reminder: never cross a picket line.

Labor Notes

Secrets of a Successful Organizer - LaborNotes workshop on December 2!

Jane McAlevey - No Shortcuts

Kim Moody - US Labor in Trouble and Transition

intro: created by fidel cashtho

outro: imposter syndrome by Sidney Gish

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

what do u want from me? it’s the 2nd part of the housing episode.

https://mcmansionhell.com/

[inhale] decommodify needs.

[exhale] decommodify needs.

decommodify needs.

intro: created by fidel cashtho

outro: little blu house - unknown mortal orchestra

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

in an episode some would already dub an M&M “classic” (although some commenters classify ALL M&M episodes as “classics”), Sigmund leads us through an analysis of homelessness and the rampant moralizations surrounding it, the housing ‘crisis,’ and beyond. we also throw in the large wrench that is the pandemic, investigate the breadth of the CDC eviction moratorium, and critique what gives rise to these truly dire conditions of housing in the United States in the first place - a ghostly remnant & modernized update of feudal society, existing within a free market system of distribution, where ownership of land and housing is favored toward those with pre-existing wealth, and is used to further extract wealth from non-owners of land and housing. shelter should not be a commodity. (part 2 coming soon.)

intro: created by fidel cashtho

45:00 the box by roddy ricch (?? honestly id never heard this song before)

outro: mailbox by cola boyy

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

IT’S THE UNION EPISODE

we welcome our first ever (!!) guests to the M☭M podcast, 2 union thugs named Alex and Rachael, to chat about unions. what is a union? should i join one? START one? how would it benefit me? why are the bosses so against them? is everything i learned about unions growing up just propaganda? all these questions - and more - will be answered, along with other tidbits like eternal hospital snacks, mysterious dental emergencies, and the app-ification of labor organizing. 

LINX:

Labor Notes

CIR/SEIU

Jane McAlevey Resources

M&M Patreon

music:

intro: created by fidel cashtho

outro: solidarity forever - pete seeger

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com

🎶 u may tire of me 🎶 // 🎶 as our december sun is setting 🎶 // 🎶 ‘cause i'm not who i used 2 be 🎶

summer break is over and M&M is back! welcome babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sigmund leads today on the unfortunate death of Libby Zion - a famous case that most docs and many people in healthcare have at least heard of - and how it eventually led to changes in physician residency training. work responsibilities limited to 24 consecutive hours (with caveats), 80hrs/week (with caveats), and a mandatory 10 hours rest period in between clinical duties, among other things; while this is progress from the more horrific exploits of residency prior to these changes - 120 hour weeks, q3day 36hr in-house call - we have to ask: how far have we really come? many residents still routinely lie about their duty hours. mental health continues to deteriorate for residents and even beyond residency; attending doctors face ever-escalating production pressures (employers increasing the relative rate of surplus value), documentation burden merely for billing purposes, and cost-saving mechanisms stemming from the 1980s neoliberal political turn and the managed care regime. the questions we all need to start asking are: how do we get closer to making a lasting, positive transformation in how young doctors train? and how will that set us up for a future of meaningful labor - and importantly - on our own terms?

music:

intro - created by fidel cashtho

closing track - my sweet lord by george harrison

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.marxismandmedicine.com