In this August 2022 patrons-only seminar, Brian discusses the legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union before its dissolution, who is being lionized by the capitalist media after his death on Tuesday. Brian also discusses the 1-year anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal of from Afghanistan, the drying up of the Colorado River due to climate change, education under capitalism versus socialism, and more.

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In this special crossover episode, Rania Khalek of Dispatches sits  down with Brian to talk about the impact of severe repression on the  socialist, communist and Black Liberation movement in the United States  during the past decades.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows.

All  Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly  Q&A seminar with Brian. This month it's on Wednesday, August 31, at  12pm ET/9am PT. Register now on Patreon!

On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard Wolff discuss the student debt crisis. With an announcement expected imminently on the fate of the national freeze on student debt payments, pressure is mounting on the Biden administration to not only extend the moratorium, but also cancel a substantial amount of the crushing debt burden tens of millions of people in the United States are under. How did we end up in a situation where borrowers have accumulated over $1.7 trillion in debt just because they wanted to get an education?

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

A political, social, economy, and class struggle has been intensifying in Turkey. What are the demands of the people and the progressive forces like the   TKP, the Communist Party of Turkey?

Brian is joined by Kemal Okuyan, who is the secretary general of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), for an inside look.

A second congressional delegation went to Taiwan this week, less than two weeks after Pelosi visited. These trips have sparked a sense of outrage among many Chinese people, who demand respect for their sovereignty and for their impressive social and economic achievements. This includes massive poverty reduction and surpassing the United States in key indicators like life expectancy. How is U.S. aggression against China related to their continuous rise?

Brian is joined by Tings Chak, Shanghai-based researcher at the Tricontinental Institute & a member of Dongsheng News collective and the author of the pamphlet “Serve the People: The Eradication of Extreme Poverty in China.”

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof.  Richard Wolff discuss the housing market as the Federal Reserve-induced  economic downturn takes shape. The situation is rapidly deteriorating  for both renters and prospective home buyers, with  evictions on the rise, prices rising and interest rates spiraling out  of control.

Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

The month of Black August  focuses on the importance of the continued struggle for Black liberation  and honors the lives and struggle of political prisoners—and calls for  their freedom. While many have been released, like Albert Woodfox, who  was released in 2016 and passed away earlier this month, many still  linger behind bars, even in solitary confinement and in their 80s or  sick. What does the ongoing treatment of these organizers and fighters  tell us about the nature of the capitalist system and the tools that the  ruling class fears the most?

Nicole Roussell is joined by Nino Brown, a member of the Jericho  Movement, which organizes to free political prisoners, and an organizer  for the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

A massive fire in Matanzas, Cuba, is coming under control after five days due to tireless efforts by firefighters and specialist crews. But the U.S. blockade, which worsened under Trump with 243 additional coercive measures, and which Biden has largely kept in place, has deprived Cuba of the equipment and resources necessary to handle this disaster.

Brian is joined by Manolo De Los Santos, a central organizer of the Let Cuba Live campaign and the co-executive director of The People’s Forum in New York.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

On today's episode Brian and Prof. Richard  Wolff analyze the Senate's spending bill entitled the "Inflation  Reduction Act" for the effect it could have on inflation. It falls far  short of what’s desperately needed to address the overlapping crises  causing so much suffering for working people.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram.  We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you  consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more  are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

A deadly fire broke out over the weekend in Cuba from a lightning storm  that struck near an oil storage facility and caused an explosion. At  least one person has been confirmed dead, and dozens more are injured  and missing. This tragic natural disaster could have happened in any  country, but is even harder on Cuba due to the U.S. war against  them...including many of Trump’s policies that Biden hasn’t touched.

Nicole  Roussell is joined by Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the Cuba and  Venezuela Solidarity Committee and one of the co-founders of the Hatuey  Project at hatueyproject.org.