SpartTalk

Mansa is joined by Comrade Perrault to discuss what a revolutionary approach to trade union work looks like, and the challenges and pressures of such work as they bear down on both trade union militants, and left organisations. A day late in publishing this, we hope that listeners will nonetheless appreciate dwelling on these questions which are largely ignored by much of the left. 

Check out some of the articles on our work in the trade unions below:

• For revolutionary work in the trade unions 
• Communist longshorewoman speaks - An interview with Emily Turnbull 

On Colorado meatpackers strike:

• Expand strike, win safety 
• Colorado meatpacking workers - How to strengthen the strike 
• The strike doesn't have to be over! 

Boeing

• How we fought to escalate the Boeing strike 

Puerto Rico

• To win - Let's strengthen the strike at UPR! (in Spanish)
• Workers - Join the UPR strike! 

Britain

• A challenge to the RMT - Organise the unorganised 
• How to fight misogyny in schools 
• Letter from a Unison rep - Repping against rot 

Germany 

• IG Metall - Stop the jobs massacre in auto! (in German)
• For a strong IG Metall union at Tesla! 

South Africa

• NUMSA & All trade unions - Defend Malema to defend yourselves! (United front to defend Malema) 

Mexico

• Tornel Strike - A strategy to win (in Spanish)
• Unions! Defend the country! 

Canada

• How to lose a winning strike 

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

We bring you a special episode with reports from the 16 April protest in KuGompo City, South Africa, where Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was sentenced to five years in prison on bogus gun-related charges. This is a clear attack by the Ramaphosa government which is bowing to Trump's targetting of Malema. Listeners will hear from members of the Socialist Party of Azania, the Solidarity Action Committee Collective, the Trotskyist Group of Greece, Spartacist South Africa, and members of the EFF.

• Malema sentenced to 5 years - Fight this racist outrage! 
• Speech of our American comrades at an emergency protest following this racist sentencing

Check out AmaBolsheviki Amnyama on X @amaBolsheviki, or visit their website https://iclfi.org/zaf

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Disclaimer: This episode was recorded in February 2026, before the Iran war. We postponed its publication to cover more urgent questions. 

Mansa is joined by Comrade John Masters to discuss South Korea, a country rarely discussed in the Western left. We talk about its strategic importance, how it's being squeezed as the US goes on a rampage, its relation to China, the tremendous potential of its proletariat, and as always, the problems of the South Korean left. An extremely educational discussion - I hope listeners enjoy it as much as I did. 

To follow our Korean social media and content, visit https://iclfi.org/ko or follow @SpartacistHng on X

• KCTU must break with Lee Jae-myung government! 

Other articles on South Korea:

• To defend democratic rights, break the US alliance! 
• Elections after the coup - For a working-class anti-imperialist pole! 

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Disclaimer: This episode was recorded on 28 March and therefore some of the references to events are now slightly dated.

Mansa is joined by Comrades Anna, Lisa and Tom to discuss their trip to Cuba. They brought material aid under the banner of the Partisan Defence Committee to help Cuba in its hour of need, and they did this in conjunction with the Nuestra America Flotilla - a campaign by hundreds of leftists and activists to bring aid to Cuba. Comrades discuss their impressions on the situation, the contradictions of Cuba under siege, including why significant layers of younger generations don't immediately see the need to defend the Cuban Revolution. Listeners can still donate to the efforts of the PDC towards Cuba -- every little bit counts! Donate here https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/2026-cuba-donate

• Aid to Cuba - PDC fundraising campaign
• Cuba under siege - An eyewitness report
• Break the blockade! Double the oil shipments to Cuba!
• US workers - Defend Cuba! Break the blockade! 

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Mansa is joined by Comrade Vincent to discuss the latest on the Iran war, and probe why a huge majority of the left thinks Iran is winning, including why it was so positive about the ceasefire last week. We get into why simply cheering on the strategy of the IRGC ends up removing any role for socialists, whether on the question of the war, on against their own ruling classes in the West.

• Beware of US ceasefire swindle
• Don't underestimate US imperialism
• Can Iran defeat the U.S & Israel? 

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Apologies for being a few days late! We have been busy producing the new issue of Women & Revolution which should be out soon.

In this episode, Mansa sits down with Comrade Perrault to discuss a big debate on the left: why the world is not defined by an inter-imperialist rivalry, but by the breakdown of U.S. hegemony. We go into some of the arguments on the left for characterising China and Russia as imperialist powers, and what the problems with these are. Hint: revision of Marxism!

• The fallacy of the inter-imperialist analysis
• The world at a turning point
• U.S. imperialism turns the screws
• The class nature of China
• Why China is not imperialist
• Why China is not capitalist

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Mansa is joined by Comrade Erica from Workers Vanguard, the newspaper of our comrades in the United States. We start off with the context in the country and the domestic response to Trump's war on Iran as well as his attacks at home. We then discuss the problem with the dominant strategies on offer--a repeat of the so-called general strike in Minneapolis, and No Kings--both of which lead back to the Democrats, and why class independence is the only way to stop Trump.

Check out the latest Workers Vanguard here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1189

• Wars, deportations, inflation: What can stop Trump?
• Colorado Meatpackers: Expand strike, win safety (in English, French and Spanish)

Check out other articles from their press at https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv and follow them on X and Insta @workersvanguard

*Correction - The UAW worker who heckled Trump on Epstein was not actually fired. https://www.reuters.com/world/uaw-says-ford-worker-who-heckled-trump-kept-job-not-disciplined-2026-02-09/ 

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Mansa is joined by Comrade Julia to discuss the rapidly worsening situation in Cuba and what is being done to help Cuba in its hour of need. Julia explains our fundraising efforts in the Partisan Defence Committee, which launched an international fundraising effort which has so far raised nearly £19,000 to donate to efforts to help Cuba, as well as our comrades who are bringing material aid to Cuba with Nuestra América Convoy.

*I mistakenly use USD instead of pounds to refer to the amount of money we have raised.

• The PDC is taking urgent aid to Cuba!
• Donate to break the blockade here!
• Cuba under seige: An eyewitness report 

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Mansa is joined by Comrade Perrault to look at why a lot of analysts and the left think the U.S. will emerge weaker out of the Iran war. There is a lot of fatuousness that the Iranian regime's strategy will lead it to victory, but we ask: what constitutes victory? Our starting point is that communists and anti-imperialists should approach this question from the point of view of which class force emerges strengthened out of this conflict. Will this war lead to a strengthening of the oppressed internationally, or no? 

• U.S. imperialism turns the screws
• The world at a turning point

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik

Mansa is joined by Comrade Elizabeth to discuss how the left finds itself divided and disoriented yet again on Iran. Whether it's the 12-day war, the Dey uprising, or now, the two trends persist and keep getting ever more polarised: denounce the regime for being repressive and therefore refuse to defend Iran from attack by the U.S. and Israel, or support the regime for being anti-imperialist. This binary is not new. We put forward a framework to resolve this and urge leftists to face reality, and draw the hard lessons, no matter how bitter and painful. 

Our recent propaganda on/relevant to Iran: 

• Why leftists shouldn't celebrate Khamenei's death, by Mansa Kaur
• Stop U.S.-Israel rampage - Defend Iran
• Iran still needs to be defended
• Iran - The revolution must be anti-imperialist
• Iran - Marxists who failed the test
• Iran and the national question
• Why can't anyone stop Netanyahu?

Previous SpartTalk episodes:

• Why workers should stand with Iran!
• Iran and the Marxists who failed

Get in touch!

sparttalk.org | Like the episode and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on X @SpartacistICL, YouTube @Spartacist, or follow Mansa on Insta @punjabibolshevik