Chloe and Emma cap off a terrible year by compiling some of the chattering classes' worst takes. We hand out prestigious awards for Australian journalism, including "Most Tone-Deaf Commentary on the Cost of Living Crisis" and "Most Hapless Middle-Class Guardian Writer." We survey the ups and (mainly) downs of 2024 and discuss reasons to be hopeful about 2025. 

Ryan Stanton is an electrician and ETU member based in Melbourne. He worked in warehousing for 5 years where he led a victorious strike at Polar Fresh back in 2016. He’s a socialist and contributor to Red Flag. 

Jerome Small is an industrial organiser of Socialist Alternative. He worked in construction for around 17 years and has been a socialist and union activist since the 80s. He has been covering the Woolworths strike for Red Flag newspaper. 

Support striking Woolworths warehouse workers this week (and next) (19 Nov)

We chatted with two wonderful socialists: Jordan Van den Lamb, A.K.A. PurplePingers, and Roz Ward, the original host of Red Flag Radio. Jordan will be a senate candidate with the Victorian Socialists in the upcoming federal elections, and Roz is his campaign manager. Jordan has amassed a serious following on Tiktok and Intagram thanks to his unflinching honesty about the housing crisis and his advocacy for tenants' rights. We chatted about the housing crisis, the elections, why private schools are shit and much more. 

Check out the Pingers4Parliament campaign here: https://pingers4parliament.com/ 

Check out the Shit Rentals website, created by Jordan: https://www.shitrentals.org/ 

We spoke to Lance Selfa, a long-time socialist based in Chicago, about Trump's re-election. Lance explains how this could have happened, again, and what lessons socialists can learn from the election. 

Lance is the author of The Democrats: A Critical History. He is a member of the International Socialism Project, whose website has published Lance's election coverage and analysis. He has also been covering the election for Red Flag newspaper. 

Further reading

"It's the economy stupid!" - By Lance Selfa and Sharon Smith 

"Return of the Beast" - by Red Flag editors 

A collection of Lance Selfa's articles in Red Flag 

"Why is the US election so close" - by Lance Selfa 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader of India's far-right Hindu nationalist or "Hindutva" movement. Sagar Sanyal, socialist and regular on the pod, delves into the roots of Hidutva in both European fascism and the Indian caste system. He explains how, over the course of 100 years, Indian fascism moved from the margins of Indian politics to the centre of government.

Sagar's previous guest appearance on Red Flag Radio discussing the GFC

The Murdoch press has been on a tear against the Palestine movement and particularly "serial protestor" Josh Lees, a leading member of the Palestine Action Group (PAG) and Socialist Alternative, and our guest for this episode. NSW Premier Chris Minns accused Josh of costing tax-payers $5 million to police the protests. The attacks on Josh and PAG are part of a fresh wave of repression and censorship against the Palestine movement in Australia. These attacks are happening on campuses and in the streets, they are coming from the media, Labor governments, the Liberals and university vice-chancellors. Emma spoke to Josh about the nature of that repression and the way charges of anti-semitism have been weaponised against anti-war campaigners protesting a genocide.

Relevant articles:

"Zionist groups are falsifying antisemitism statistics and the media are playing along" - by Joel Schneider

"NSW police fail to ban pro-Palestine protests" by Emma Norton 

"Fighting for Palestine, one year on" - by Josh Lees 

"Slander won't stop students from resisting genocide" - by Jack Mansell 

Israel’s invasion of Lebanon with Omar Hassan

After a year of genocidal war in Gaza, Israel has now begun a ground invasion of Lebanon. In less than a week Israel has killed over 2000 people in Lebanon through massive bombardment of civilians in the capital of Beirut and a renewed offensive against the already devastated South. Israeli aggression and repeated military strikes on Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Iran have led the Middle East to the brink of all-out regional war. 

This episode Chloe spoke to Omar Hassan, a Lebanese-Australian socialist and editor of the Marxist Left Review about the invasion of Lebanon, the threat of regional war and the history of Israeli aggression. 

Omar touched on the role Israel has played as attack dog for US imperialism from the Suez Crisis invasion of Egypt in 1956 to the 18 year long Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000. 

This week the Australian Government, the NSW Police and the capitalist media have engaged in a massive smear campaign against the pro-Palestine anti-war movement. The NSW police unsuccessfully attempted to ban the rallies commemorating the 1 year anniversary of the genocide. Omar spoke about the hypocrisy and cynicism of the media as well as the role of Labor in supporting Israeli aggression and US imperialism.

Further reading:

https://redflag.org.au/article/by-attacking-lebanon-israel-seeks-to-expand-its-genocidal-war

https://redflag.org.au/article/israels-history-of-aggression-against-lebanon

Get involved with Victorian Socialists

https://victoriansocialists.org.au/candidates/omar-hassan

In one of the worst attacks on a union in Australian history, the Labor government has imposed a dictatorial administrator on the construction union, the CFMEU. This move has disenfranchised the union's entire membership.  Chloe spoke to Jerome Small, ex-construction worker and reporter for Red Flag, about the causes and consequences of this unprecedented anti-union attack. 

Further reading

"Labor set to impose dictatorial powers over construction union" by Jerome Small in Red Flag 

"Strike shows stakes for Queensland CFMEU" by Duncan Hart in Red Flag

The Land Forces weapons expo is Australia's largest get-together and money-making opportunity for the booming business of war. When it came to Melbourne in September, activists from Students for Palestine and Disrupt Wars protested the orgy of militarism and violence. In response, the Victorian police unleashed hell, firing rubber bullets and torrents of pepper spray at protestors. The media followed up with a barrage of lies about protestors, presenting anti-war peace activists as the violent thugs while cheering on extreme police violence. 

Emma spoke to Bella Beiraghi, one of the protest organisers, to get an insider's perspective on the protest and its aftermath. 

Further reading:

"Guardian fake news helps cops mobilise against anti-war activists" - by Anneke Demanuele in Red Flag 

"Inside the Land Forces protest" - by Jerome Small in Red Flag 

For over 60 days, Tamil and Iranian refugees have maintained a protest camp outside the Department of Home Affairs in Melbourne. Similar protest camps have spread across Australia's major cities. Their demands are permanent protection and justice for almost 10,000 refugees left in limbo by the federal Labor government.

Emma spoke to Aran Mylvaganam, a staunch refugee activist and socialist who has been heavily involved in protests for refugee rights for years. 

Aran describes the incredible bravery of refugees who have stood up to racists and neo-Nazis on the streets of Melbourne. They plan to maintain their protest against the Labor government until victory. 

Our deepest condolences to the family, friends and comrades of Mano Logalingam, a Tamil refugee activist from the encampment who died. We honour Mano in this episode and call for full rights for all refugees. 

Produced by Jack Morrison and Daniel Kenny

Music by Daniel Kenny

Further reading:

- Amid tragedy, refugee protest encampment continues - by Renee Nayef for Red Flag

- Refugees fighting for permanent protection in Sydney  - by Annabel Petit for Red Flag

- Aran Mylvaganam on the Tamil genocide, 15 years on