SpartTalk

Mansa sits down with Comrade Perrault to discuss what is unfortunately not discussed and debated more in the left: the Ukraine war. We discuss the current situation on the battlefield, the diplomatic faff and imperialist aims, and most crucially, what are the tasks of communists regarding the Ukraine war. The short answer: to build unity between Russian and Ukranian workers and soldiers in opposition to their ruling classes and imperialism. Only on this basis can there be a progressive outcome - everything else spells disaster. 

Some of the ICL's key articles on the question include:

Ukraine war: What strategy for Marxists? A debate between the Spartacist League and Bolshevik Tendency, https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/251/debate 

Ukraine war: Where do you stand now? https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1184/ukraine

NATO/EU aggression provokes war in Ukraine, https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/2022-ukraine

Stop arms shipments to Ukraine - The main enemy is at home! https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/2023-tuc-ukraine

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL for regular updates

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

It's a full house at Spart Talk as Mansa is joined by Brianna, Edward and Jack from the Just Break Already (JBA) caucus in the DSA (Dem Socialists of America). We discuss what went down at the recent DSA convention at which Jack was a delegate, and the need to learn lessons from the AOC experience so that the left doesn't end up in another toxic situationship with the latest darling of the left, Zohran Mamdani. The JBA is putting forward a programme for conditional support to Mamdani - listen to find out what it is and why.

How to avoid another AOC situationship, by Brianna (JBA) can be found here:

https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1186/zohran

Cosmonaut version can be accessed here (https://cosmonautmag.com/2025/08/letter-how-to-avoid-another-aoc-situationship/)  but since the author bio was removed, you can contact Brianna on X @cleanbreaknow and Insta @dsa_justbreakalready, or follow them and join the campaign for conditional support!

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 Anna Mili of the Trotskyist Group of Greece to discuss key questions for revolutionary strategy for the Global South, a burning question for the left as US imperialism turns the screws on the whole world, squeezing oppressed countries even further. Historically, the Marxist left has fallen into a trap of either supporting the national bourgeoisie against imperialism, or abstractly being for class war, denying that national oppression animates the masses. We argue that the task of revolutionaries is to fuse the national liberation struggle with the struggle for social emancipation, something that defined the Russian Revolution and later, Trotsky's struggle against Stalinism. I hope listeners have as much fun listening as I did in conducting this interview. 

In defense of permanent revolution, our conference document that lays out this view in more detail, can be found here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/68/permrev

In defense of the Second and Fourth Comintern Congresses, https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/68/comintern 

Our propaganda on Iran and the task of Marxists: 

"Iran under attack: Marxists who failed the test" https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/2025-iran-left

"Workers: Stand with Iran and Palestine!" https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/2025-iran 

Anna debates Jan Norden of the Internationalist Group, on permanent revolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATxGhd5rwck

Debates with the International Bolshevik Tendency on the national question, which revolve around the themes Anna and I discuss, can be read here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/spart-letters/2

You can follow the press of the Trotskyist Group of Greece here: https://iclfi.org/grc, or follow them on X and Insta @toe_icl

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 sits down with Jon Brule, longtime leader of the Spartacist League US and the ICL, to review the ICL's position on the Soviet intervention into Afghanistan in 1979 where we controversially raised the slogan "Hail Red Army!". We discuss the political situation leading to the PDPA takeover, known as the Saur Revolution, and the subsequent events which led to heightened imperialist pressure on Afghanistan and the USSR, precipitating Soviet military intervention. What were the tasks of revolutionaries in these events? And how did the failures of the PDPA and the Soviet bureaucracy lead to the rise of the Taliban? 

Jon's article which reviews our position can be found here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1185/afghanistan

Anti-imperialism and women's liberation can be found here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wr/46/antiimperialism

Follow Workers Vanguard on X and Insta @WorkersVanguard, or Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik

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 comrades Maria and Emilio from the Trotskyist Group of Greece to discuss the lessons of the Tempi struggle. Tempi refers to the train crash resultant of pure EU-led austerity that led to the death of 57 students, unleashing a mass movement for justice. Maria and Emilio explain what the struggle for justice meant for the Greek masses and why ultimately it led to a defeat.

The article we discuss can be found here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/obol/2025-maches

Subscribe to the press of the Trotskyist Group of Greece here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/obol/subscribe 

Follow them on insta @toe_icl 

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 sits down with Comrades Kat and Kate from the Partisan Defence Committee to discuss the increase in political repression and its relation to the crisis of U.S. hegemony. Crucially, we try and understand why there isn't a united response in the left and the labour movement to fight back, and ways to break out of the status quo.

You can follow PDC Britain on X@ PDCBritain, or in the US @PartisanDefense

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 back with Ray Bishop, member of the editorial board of Spartacist, to discuss all things China, from how the CPC's strategy is undermining the defense of China, to the crazy Sparts writing an open letter to the very CPC they are criticising! To make sense of what's going on with China as Trump turns the screws, and what's going on with the Sparts and their crazy letter, tune in and check out the other relevant articles below. 

The article we are discussing is called "China: Do nothing, lose" and can be read here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/china

Open letter to the CPC: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/cpc-letter

The class nature of China: Not capitalist not imperialist: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/69/china

Longform Youtube on the same article here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocQX9uBh5j0&t=368s - Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsK67oWwa3Y - Part 2

Relevant correpsondence on China: https://iclfi.org/pubs/spart-letters/2025-icl-cpc

National oppression in Xi's China - A Trotskyist answer https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/china-natl

US imperialism turns the screws: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/screws

You can read our newly launched Chinese Spartacist here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/zh/10 and read our other Chinese-language publications here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/zh

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL, or Chinese Spartacist on X @sibadakepai 

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 sits down with Michael Davisson, editor of Workers Vanguard, and Tom, a public transit worker, who recently came together in a workers' conference hosted by the Spartacist League U.S. which brought together workers from across the country and some from abroad. We discuss the state of labor and the mood amongst the working class half a year into the Trump presidency, the pressures this is having on class struggle militants, and how to combat these while trying to advance the situation of the working class at a juncture where there is little organized labor struggle and the dominant mood is fear, apathy or despair.

Some of the articles we discussed or mentioned in the discussion can be accessed here:

James P. Cannon, Our Aims and Tactics in the Trade Unions https://www.marxists.org/archive/cannon/works/1924/unions.htm

Where is the U.S. going? https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1183/us-tasks

Workers: Brace for impact! https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1184/brace 

Why U.S. imperialism needs Trumpism https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1184/trumpism

US imperialism turns the screws https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/screws

The death of liberalism https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/2024-liberalism

You can subscribe to Workers Vanguard here: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/subscribe or follow them on X and Insta @WorkersVanguard

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 back with Vincent with the third instalment of their series on the world situation. We discuss the basic mechanics of the US empire going back to the end of WWII in order to understand the dynamics behind the rise of Trump, what's on the horizon economically, and what this means for the left and the workers movement politically. 

Our discussion is based on this article here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/70/screws 

Here is a 2-part video by Vincent right after the Trump election, titled "Where is the U.S. going?" https://iclfi.org/pubs/spartv/2025-trump 

Subscribe to Spartacist and our other press here: https://iclfi.org/spartacist/en/subscribe

Follow us on X @SpartacistICL, Vincent on X @VincentD_10, or Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik

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 Comrades Eibhlin and Vincent from Spartacist League Britain to discuss the latest development on the British left: the announcement by Zarah Sultana that she will form a new left party with Corbyn. Since this announcement, there has been much clamour and excitement (as well as some disasters) but we focus here on the lessons of Corbynism and the key questions this party must confront if it is to become a successful vehicle to channel working class discontent, build unity amongst workers and the oppressed, and bridge the gap between the left and working class. 

Some of the key articles published by the Spartacist League Britain (SLB) on Corbynism, liberalism and the recent period are below:

How London liberals fuel the far right: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/254/liberals

Apathy, despair, right-wing reaction: How to fight back https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/255/reaction

To build a workers party.... you need workers: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/255/workers

British far left in cloud cuckoo land: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/255/cuckoo 

Special supplement on the general election 2024: https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/253 

Throw the Zionists out of Labour and TUC! https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/251/zionists 

The conference document of the Spartacist League on which we base our political work in the current period: In defense of the revolutionary programme (II): https://iclfi.org/pubs/wh/247/conference

Follow Workers Hammer, account of the SLB on X and insta @WorkersHammer, Vincent on X @VincentD_10 and Mansa on insta @punjabibolshevik

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