Following our last episode on the state of psychedelic culture in the 1970s, we wanted to expand the historical setting in which our series is situated. In that spirit, in this episode Jeremy goes solo, taking it all the way back to the 1790s for a historical primer on the New Left: a political tendency to emerge from the decline and split of the hegemonic left forces of the early and mid-century left tradition. In order to accurately explain who the New Left were - and to challenge a prevailing inaccurate story about what they achieved (more on that next episode) - we go back to the origins of the French Revolution for a refresher on what we mean by ‘left wing’. In a whistle stop tour, Jeremy explains the concepts of Liberalism, Conservatism and Radicalism, and the historical conjunctures that they emerged from. 

We hear about the ‘old left’ of the Communist party and the USSR, exploring their aesthetic and political frameworks, and how the tendency fractured after 1956. For the music heads, Jeremy discusses the somewhat bogus ideas of popular authenticity that gave folk music a privileged position within the old left, and lays the groundwork for the more expressive libertarian art forms that would accompany the New Left. Plus the Spanish Civil War, Trotsky and the New Left Review.

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Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!

Books:

Doris Lessing - The Golden Notebook

EP Thompson - The Making of the English Working Class

Tracklist:

Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger  - Dirty Old Town

Peter, Paul & Mary - If I Had A Hammer

Trini Lopez - If I Had A Hammer

Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face