Trotsky & the Wild Orchids

By Ray Haberski, Andrew Hartman, Daniel Rinn

Society & Culture History Philosophy

What's Trotsky & the Wild Orchids about?

Two intellectual historians discuss politics, culture, and the history of ideas in the United States.

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Trotsky & the Wild Orchids episodes:

10.19.2021
EP44: Andrew & Ray Are Back from Break
Andrew and Ray are back from summer break! In this episode Andrew provides an update on his book before the conversation transitions to the New Deal's legacy as well as sports and our contemporary moment. For this episode we read...
04.20.2021
EP43: Andrew & Ray, unadulterated
Andrew & Ray check in about the Biden administration and discuss New Monetary Theory, the strategic objectives of the American military and how Andrew became a lefty. Kim Hjelmgaard's USA Today article "A Reckoning is Near" and Jed Purdy's "A...
03.11.2021
EP42: Keith Pluymers
Keith Pluymers comes on the show to talk about environmental history, wood in the early modern world, and contemporary environmental politics.
02.25.2021
EP41: Nicole Hemmer
Nicole Hemmer sits down with Ray and Andrew to discuss a range of topics from conservative media and the NYT to public history and "Welcome to Your Fantasy," a podcast about the Chippendales!
02.09.2021
EP40: Inauguration, with Harvey Kaye
Harvey joins Andrew and Ray to discuss the inaugural address as well as Biden's bipartisan hopes.
01.07.2021
Ep Thirty-Nine: Harvey Kaye
Ray and Andrew return from a recording hiatus to have a conversation with the historian Harvey Kaye.
08.12.2020
Ep Thirty-Eight: Reed on Race Reductionism
Class reductionism or race reductionism? Listen in as Andrew and Ray speak with Touré Reed about his book Toward Freedom: The Case Against Race Reductionism.
08.10.2020
Ep Thirty-Seven: Derek Catsam on Rugby
Derek Charles Catsam, professor of history and humanities at University of Texas-Permian Basin, joins Andrew and Ray for a conversation about race, class, and rugby in sports history. For this episode we read Catsam's essays for Africa is a Country.
06.02.2020
Ep Thirty-Six: The Pandemic's Social and Psychic Context
Salik Farooqi comes on the show to discuss the pandemic from the perspective of political sociology. For this episode we read: An Organic Crisis is upon Us; On the Concept of History; Gooseberries; Pandemic’s Lesson: Global Capitalism is Uneven and...
05.19.2020
Ep Thirty-Five: Sweden's Response to Covid19
Professor Gina Gustavsson from the Department of Government at Uppsala University speaks with Ray and Andrew about Sweden's response to covid19. Listen in as we consider the meaning of nationalism during a pandemic.
04.16.2020
Ep Thirty-Four: Rona
Ray and Andrew discuss our covid19 moment. What are the political implications of this pandemic? How do we understand the CARES Act? And what does all this mean for the future of the left? Listen in as you continue to...
03.09.2020
Ep Thirty-Three: Long Live Bernie Sanders!
Andrew and Ray discuss Super Tuesday and the future of Bernie's movement.
02.24.2020
Ep Thirty-Two: Policing Los Angeles
Historian Max Felker-Kantor talks about his book Policing Los Angeles: Race, Resistance and the Rise of the LAPD (2018). Listen in as Andrew and Ray consider the rise of the carceral state and the role of police in our society.
02.07.2020
Ep Thirty-One: Of the Iowa Caucus
Really, Iowa? Andrew and Ray talk about the 2020 Iowa caucus debacle.
01.30.2020
Ep Thirty: Fear City
Kim Phillips-Fein comes on the show to discuss her book Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics. Ray thinks he sounds particularly smart in this episode.
01.10.2020
Ep Twenty-Nine: Of Corbyn and Elections
Andrew and Ray talk Corbyn, Trump, Bernie, and our political moment. They also provide a short briefing on the annual U-USIH conference in New York.
10.20.2019
Ep Twenty-Eight: Sunkara on Socialism
Bhaskar Sunkara, founder of Jacobin Magazine, comes on the show to discuss his new book The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality.
09.01.2019
Ep Twenty-Seven: Extinction or Nostalgia for Academe?
Andrew and Ray discuss 'quit lit,' the humanities, and the state of higher ed. When was the golden era for training and careers in the humanities? And for whom? For this episode we read Andrew Kay's 'Academe's Extinction Event' and...
05.24.2019
Ep Twenty-Six: GoT, Avengers
Andrew, Ray, and Daniel discuss Game of Thrones and Avengers: End Game. Did GoT decline as in the last few seasons? And what message do we take from Thanos and his attempt to dramatically reduce the population in the universe?
03.04.2019
Ep Twenty-Five: The Ideas that Made Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen
Historian Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen joins the show to talk about her new book, The Ideas that Made America. Other topics in the conversation include epistemic humility, the methods of intellectual history, as well as the influences that have shaped Jennifer,...
02.15.2019
Ep Twenty-Four: Dropping the Hobs-Bawm
Andrew and Ray reflect on the work of Eric Hobsbawm, a Marxist historian. For this episode we looked at the following material:'Eric Hobsbawm's dangerous reputation,' 'Eric Hobsbawm: a conversation,' 'Man of the extreme century' (interview), 'Indomitable' (review). See also Michael Ignatieff's...
02.01.2019
Ep Twenty Three: A Counter-Hegemonic Foreign Policy
Historian Daniel Bessner joins Andrew and Ray for a discussion of American foreign policy. What would a leftist foreign policy look like? Bessner suggests the ways we might introduce a form of humanitarian intervention without imperial ambitions. See his book Democracy...
01.18.2019
Ep Twenty Two: Why Niebuhr, Ray?
In this episode, Ray explains the intellectual appeal of Reinhold Niebuhr. Andrew remains skeptical. For this episode we read Ray's "A Theology of Limits" (Reviews in American History December 2012), the epilogue in David Hollinger's After Cloven Tongues of Fire, chapter...
01.01.2019
EP Twenty One: Andrew Goes Viral
Following Bloomberg's recent donation of $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins, Andrew and Ray discuss taxes, philanthropy, education, and even burnt coffee. Plus, hear about Andrew's viral tweet and the controversy it stirred.
12.10.2018
EP Twenty: RIP Leo Ribuffo, Historian Extraordinaire
A special episode of T&TWO;, Andrew and Ray discuss the work of recently deceased historian (and Andrew's dissertation adviser) Leo Ribuffo. For this episode we read Leo's essay "Moral Judgments and the Cold War: Reflections on Reinhold Niebuhr, William Appleman...
11.07.2018
Ep Nineteen: Elesha Coffman on Religion
Elesha Coffman joins Ray and Andrew for a conversation about scholarship in religious history/studies. What role does empathy play in historical analysis? How should we think about the relationship between evangelicals and Trump? Listen in as Andrew and Ray explore...
10.15.2018
Ep Eighteen: The Working Class, the American Dream
Jefferson Cowie comes on the show to discuss the working class, patriotism, and the state of leftist politics. Ray and Andrew wonder about the American Dream and the resilience of liberalism. For this episode we read Cowie's short essays "Reclaiming...
10.01.2018
Ep Seventeen: The New Socialism
Andrew and Ray discuss millennials, student debt, and the New Socialism. See "I Came of Age During the 2008 Financial Crisis. I’m Still Angry About It" by M. H. Miller, "What Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Think About the South China Sea?" by...
09.16.2018
Ep Sixteen: Deneen on Liberalism's Failure
In this episode of T&TWO; Andrew and Ray talk about Patrick J. Deneen's book Why Liberalism Failed (2018).
08.15.2018
Ep Fifteen: Black Mirror
Andrew and Ray (and Daniel) discuss their summer activities before moving on to a conversation about the TV series "Black Mirror." For helpful reviews of the series check out articles by Charles Bramesco and Kathryn VanArendonk for Vulture...
05.17.2018
Ep Fourteen: The Politics of Sports
How did sports get so political? Ray and Andrew discuss the NFL, NBA, NCAA and the ways in which American sports are shaped by patriotism, social activism, pay inequity and much more. Recommended: Howard Bryant's New York Times piece "How...
05.01.2018
Ep Thirteen: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Post-racialism, & Class
Using an article by Touré F. Reed as a springboard, Ray and Andrew discuss Ta-Nehisi Coates, Barack Obama, and the politics of race and class.
04.15.2018
Ep Twelve: Marx vs Lincoln!
Ray and Andrew battle it out over the films The Young Karl Marx (2017) and Lincoln (2012). Read A. O. Scott's review of The Young Karl Marx after you listen!
04.01.2018
Ep Eleven: Free Speech Freakout
Is the college campus closed to free speech? Ray and Andrew offer a sober discussion of the free speech controversy that has recently rocked American universities. Andrew's recent Washington Post essay serves as the springboard for discussion.
03.15.2018
Ep Ten: Zinn and the Art of History
On this episode of Trotsky & the Wild Orchids our hosts, Andrew and Ray, talk about Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. They consider Michael Kazin's critique of Zinn and the larger implications A People's History has for...
03.01.2018
Ep Nine: Pete's Prison Pedagogy
Pete Kuryla comes on the show to discuss his experience teaching history in a prison.
02.15.2018
Ep Eight: Neoliberalism (part two)
Andrew and Ray return to the topic of neoliberalism. What does the term mean and how has that meaning changed? What is its analytical value? They address these questions through a discussion of Lawrence Glickman's essay "Everyone was a liberal"...
02.01.2018
Ep Seven: Stranger Things & 80s Nostalgia
Andrew and Ray enter The Upside Down to explore our current fascination with the culture of the 1980s. They consider the popular Netflix programs Stranger Things and The Americans as they discuss culture, politics, and science during the Cold War.
01.15.2018
Ep Six: Mike O'Connor, American Studies, & Public Affairs
Features a conversation with Mike about his decision to work on a Master of Public Affairs after completing a PhD in American Studies.
01.01.2018
Ep Five: Neoliberalism
Andrew and Ray consider the relationship between liberalism and neoliberalism.
12.15.2017
Ep Four: Building Community at the 'SUSHI' Conference
Andrew and Ray talk about the Society for US Intellectual History (S-USIH) annual conference and how it has shaped the field of intellectual history.
12.01.2017
Ep Three: The Wal-Mart Effect on Higher Education
Andrew and Ray draw from Bethany Moreton's book To Serve God and Wal-Mart as they consider the relationship between neoliberalism and higher education.
11.15.2017
Introduction
Two intellectual historians discuss politics, culture, and the history of ideas in the United States.
11.15.2017
Ep Two: Rorty, Democracy, Public Choice
In this episode Ray and Andrew discuss Rorty's political theory as well as the Nancy MacLean book Democracy in Chains.

What's Trotsky & the Wild Orchids about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Trotsky & the Wild Orchids episodes:

EP44: Andrew & Ray Are Back from Break

EP43: Andrew & Ray, unadulterated

EP42: Keith Pluymers

EP41: Nicole Hemmer

EP40: Inauguration, with Harvey Kaye

Ep Thirty-Nine: Harvey Kaye

Ep Thirty-Eight: Reed on Race Reductionism

Ep Thirty-Seven: Derek Catsam on Rugby

Ep Thirty-Six: The Pandemic's Social and Psychic Context

Ep Thirty-Five: Sweden's Response to Covid19

Ep Thirty-Four: Rona

Ep Thirty-Three: Long Live Bernie Sanders!

Ep Thirty-Two: Policing Los Angeles

Ep Thirty-One: Of the Iowa Caucus

Ep Thirty: Fear City

Ep Twenty-Nine: Of Corbyn and Elections

Ep Twenty-Eight: Sunkara on Socialism

Ep Twenty-Seven: Extinction or Nostalgia for Academe?

Ep Twenty-Six: GoT, Avengers

Ep Twenty-Five: The Ideas that Made Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen

Ep Twenty-Four: Dropping the Hobs-Bawm

Ep Twenty Three: A Counter-Hegemonic Foreign Policy

Ep Twenty Two: Why Niebuhr, Ray?

EP Twenty One: Andrew Goes Viral

EP Twenty: RIP Leo Ribuffo, Historian Extraordinaire

Ep Nineteen: Elesha Coffman on Religion

Ep Eighteen: The Working Class, the American Dream

Ep Seventeen: The New Socialism

Ep Sixteen: Deneen on Liberalism's Failure

Ep Fifteen: Black Mirror

Ep Fourteen: The Politics of Sports

Ep Thirteen: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Post-racialism, & Class

Ep Twelve: Marx vs Lincoln!

Ep Eleven: Free Speech Freakout

Ep Ten: Zinn and the Art of History

Ep Nine: Pete's Prison Pedagogy

Ep Eight: Neoliberalism (part two)

Ep Seven: Stranger Things & 80s Nostalgia

Ep Six: Mike O'Connor, American Studies, & Public Affairs

Ep Five: Neoliberalism

Ep Four: Building Community at the 'SUSHI' Conference

Ep Three: The Wal-Mart Effect on Higher Education

Introduction

Ep Two: Rorty, Democracy, Public Choice