Trotsky & the Wild Orchids

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 social distance.

Andrew and Ray discuss Super Tuesday and the future of Bernie's movement.

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.

Really, Iowa? Andrew and Ray talk about the 2020 Iowa caucus debacle.

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.

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.

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.

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 a response essay, 'The Humanities Without Nostalgia' by Devin M. Garofalo, Anna Hinton, Kari Nixon, and Jessie Reeder.

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?

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, Ray, and Andrew.