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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, October 26, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guest:
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| Ilya Matveev
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| Topic
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| 21st Century Imperialism
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| Ilya Matveev on the new era of inter-imperialist rivalry, in a discussion I moderated for the Critique journal of socialist theory. China’s rise as a manufacturing superpower, Russia’s neo-fascist imperialism, and Trump’s wrecking ball policies are reshaping global capitalism. What theories of imperialism can help us make sense of this fractured order? Matveev argues that to understand today’s disjointed global system, we must reckon not only with capitalism’s structural contradictions, but also with the sovereign decisions and ideological projects of political elites.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, October 19, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guests:
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| Jesse Baum, David Williams
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| Topics
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| When the Law Fails Workers, They Organize Anyway
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Suzi Weissman talks with Capital & Main reporter Jesse Baum and David Williams, a Dollar General worker and organizer with Step Up Louisiana, about the rise of pre-majority unionism — organizing and acting like a union, without one.
They discuss how workers are winning raises and safety audits through direct action and solidarity, even as Trump’s second administration hobbles the National Labor Relations Board. When the law fails to protect workers, they’re proving that collective action still works — and may well be shaping the future of the labor movement itself.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, October 12, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guests:
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| Tom Alter, Bill Gallegos
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| Topics
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| From Texas to Los Angeles: Resistance & Solidarity Win
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Professor Tom Alter, a tenured historian at Texas State University was fired on September 10 for speaking at an online socialist conference. His remarks were secretly recorded and doctored by a self-proclaimed fascist influencer, and within days, the university president fired him without due process — a blatant violation of his First Amendment and academic freedom rights. Tom joins me to describe what happened, why his case has become a flashpoint in the new McCarthyism sweeping U.S. campuses, and how his reinstatement by court order -- pending the decision of the University President-- marks a victory not just for him, but for free speech everywhere.
Then we turn to Los Angeles — where Trump opened his war on the enemy within" by sending thousands of National Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines into LA to enforce ICE ethnic cleansing raids, terrorize immigrant communities and crush resistance. But the city fought back. Longtime Chicano activist Bill Gallegos joins me to discuss his forthcoming Nation article “Los Angeles Boots Out Trump’s Troops.” Bill shows how labor unions, immigrant organizations, faith leaders, artists, and even business groups built a united front demanding troops out – and they won. Trump’s troops were forced to withdraw. LA showed the country what resistance and broad solidarity can achieve: when people organize and stand firm, even a President bent on repression can be pushed back. LA was supposed to be Trump's model for his authoritarian power grab, but instead it was the template for defeating it.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, September 28, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guest:
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| Thomas Ferguson
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| Topic
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| Tech Capital Taking Over Politics
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Thomas Ferguson has investigated money in politics for decades, and he has found, over and over again, that money and election outcomes are directly linked.
He joins me to talk about how Silicon Valley, finance, defense, and crypto have fused into what he calls “red tech.”
Ferguson explains why the Democrats’ crisis isn’t about messaging — it’s about failing to deliver for working people while catering to donors. We dig into the investment theory of politics, the K-shaped recovery, crypto’s bipartisan capture, and the structural impasse at the heart of the Democratic coalition.
What does this new tech-capital bloc mean for labor, democracy, and the future of American politics?
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, September 21, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guest:
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| Pema Levy
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| Topics
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| Trump’s DOJ: His Personal Hit Squad?
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| The Roberts Court gave Trump sweeping immunity — and he’s using it to intimidate critics, greenlight ICE's racial profiling raids, and crackdown on political speech. Pema Levy of Mother Jones joins me to unpack the landmark decision in Trump v. United States — a ruling that didn’t just grant Trump immunity for official acts, but armed him with the ability to wield the Justice Department as a personal weapon against political rivals, as if the DOJ were Trump’s private legal office. Pema Levy traces how law, politics, and authoritarian practices are converging in ways that threaten us all.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, September 14, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:15
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| Guests:
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| Sebastian Budgen, Joe Allen
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| Topics
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| French political crisis; Teamsterland
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Sebastian Budgen joins to unravel the political turmoil in France, where Prime Minister François Bayrou’s government has collapsed after losing a vote of confidence. President Emmanuel Macron’s relentless drive to impose austerity has sparked yet another wave of resistance: the “Block Everything” mobilization on September 10, which brought unions, students, and grassroots activists into the streets, with another national strike set for September 18. Sebastian Budgen is here to help understand this political moment: over the years I’ve spoken to him about explosive social movements that have stopped governments in their tracks. Today we ask: what makes this mobilization different — and what does the crisis mean for the left, the far right, Macron’s presidency, and the future of the Fifth Republic?
Joe Allen talks about his new book Teamsterland — a story of the union’s notoriety and contradictions. In 2023, after a year-long contract campaign and practice pickets, the Teamsters came close to launching one of the largest strikes in U.S. history before reaching a last-minute agreement with UPS covering 340,000 workers. Leaders hailed it as “game-changing,” but some Teamsters worried about what was left on the table. And just months later, Teamster president Sean O’Brien stunned many by speaking at the Republican National Convention. From the near-strike at UPS to O’Brien’s embrace of Donald Trump, Allen shows how the Teamsters’ fate mirrors the challenges facing the American working class.
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