Red Menace

Alyson and Breht discuss the student-led protests for Palestine sweeping across American universities, the reaction to them by the ruling class elite and their attack dogs (the cops), lessons learned from previous movements over the past decade or so, parallels to 1968 and the anti-Vietnam War protests, the current negotiations between the Palestinian resistance and Israel, and what it all means for the broader crisis (geopolitical and internal) racking the U.S.  

In this episode, Alyson and Breht wrestle with the possible rise of artificial general intelligence and its implications. Together they discuss the Silicon Valley Techno-Cult and their dark religious search for immortality, their hubristic attempts to "build god" and escape death, their neoliberal subjectivities and how that manifests in their work, how AI might manifest under the capitalist mode of production, the horrors and contradictions of "capitalism without workers", deflationary critiques of AI, humans as transitional creatures, consciousness and its complexities, intelligence without consciousness (philosophical zombies), Nietzchean nihilism, real religion and what it offers, embracing the inevitability of your own death, and much more!

Alyson and Breht explain and explore this famous text from Karl Marx, in the process they discuss French history, class conflict, the peasantry and lumpenproletariat, Bonapartism and Fascism, history, the role of the State under capitalism, and how all of this helps us to make sense of our contemporary moment of crisis in the US and around the world.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get immediate access to over 300 bonus episodes, with new ones coming every month!

Rest in Peace, Aaron. Free Palestine! "To burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance. There is nothing more painful than burning oneself. To say something while experiencing this kind of pain is to say it with utmost courage, frankness, determination, and sincerity." - Thich Nhat Hanh in a letter to MLK Jr. regarding the self-immolation of Vietnamese Buddhist monks

On this episode of Red Menace, Alyson and Breht had some things come up such that they couldn't record their planned episode on Marx's 18th Brumaire (coming soon!), so instead they have a deep, organic and wide-ranging conversation on mysticism; together they explore humanities religious and spiritual traditions and the mystical strain within them, discuss atheism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Sufism, mystical experiences, the role of suffering, holy union and oneness, the dissolution of subject/object duality, the role of psychedelics historically and experientially, dialectics, and whether or not any of this has any relevance for political struggle.   Support Rev Left HERE Check out all Red Menace Eps HERE Follow us on IG HERE   All Music by Mount Eerie

In this Rev Left Family Annual Collab (Rev Left+Red Menace+Guerrilla History), Alyson, Henry, Adnan, and Breht sit down for a deep dive on South African Apartheid. Together they discuss its euro-colonialist origins, explain the significance of the Boer Wars, define and explicate the origins of apartheid, explore the political economy of apartheid and how brutal racism shaped it, examine the multi-faceted indigenous resistance to apartheid, analyze the end of formal apartheid as well as its ongoing legacy in post-apartheid South Africa, and try to extract important lessons from this history to apply to the ongoing struggle in Palestine.   Support the show and get access to multiple bonus episodes a month  

Alyson and Breht discuss the ongoing national liberation struggle in Palestine (recorded Oct. 30th 2023). Together, they discuss the incredible shift in public opinion on Israel and Palestine, the internal and external contradictions culminating in unison for Israel, the discussion about whether or not what Israel is doing is technically a genocide (it absolutely is), international law, Frantz Fanon on the psychology of national liberation, the prospects of a broader regional war, the possibilities of Turkish or Iranian engagement, the history and core elements of Zionism, the analytical importance of the settler colonial and decolonization frameworks, the disgusting role that Biden and the Democratic Party are playing in manufacturing consent for Israel's civilian mass murder campaign, how Hamas is basically an orphan army of men who have had their families killed by Israel in previous assaults, why we should reject the "terrorist" framing of the western ruling elites, what the palestinian resistance has managed to accomplish, and what might emerge from the Ruins of Gaza when all is said and done...     Get access to multiple bonus episodes a month here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace

What Is To Be Done? This is the question so profoundly posed by the Russian Revolutionary and Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, in his landmark text of the same name. Although it was written well over a century ago, this text, the questions it asked, and the paths forward that it provided, are just as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. And just as urgent. What roles do spontaneity and disciplined organization have in leftist movements? Can we focus simply on economic reform, or do our actions need a larger political framework to structure, guide, and propel them?  Why does it feel like even though so many of us are motivated to work towards structural change, that things continue to get worse? Why does it seem like potential revolutionary struggles in the West always seem to stall and fail to move from a singular moment to a protracted movement?  These are old and familiar questions — a lot of ink has been spilled and speeches made exploring them — and in this Conversation, we’ve brought on two guests who've not only thought about these questions in depth, but who have some pretty compelling answers that draw from revolutionary theory and practice in both their personal lives and from the deep well of wisdom bequeathed by theorists Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Mao.  Breht O’Shea is the host of the podcast Revolutionary Left Radio and a co-host of Guerrilla History. He’s been on the show multiple times so you may already be familiar with his voice. Alyson Escalate, who has also been on the show, is the co-host, along with Breht, of Red Menace, a podcast that explains and analyzes revolutionary theory and then applies its lessons to our contemporary conditions.  Further Resources: Red Menace – What Is To Be Done? - V.I. Lenin  Revolutionary Left Radio – Politics in Command: Analyzing the Error of Economism  Red Menace – The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon: On Violence and Spontaneity Red Menace – Understanding Settler Colonialism in Israel and the United States Revolutionary Left Radio on Instagram Upstream – Buddhism and Marxism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation) Upstream – Trans Liberation and Solidarity with Alyson Escalante (In Conversation) Upstream – Revolutionary Leftism with Breht O'Shea (In Conversation) This episode of Upstream was made possible with support from listeners like you. Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.  

Breht discusses the current situation in Palestine, helps listeners navigate and dismantle common Zionist talking points, and (hopefully) brings some much needed moral clarity and intellectual honesty to a topic that, especially in the West, often lacks both...

Originally Aired on Oct 31, 2021 On this episode of Red Menace Alyson and Breht teach, discuss, and apply the lessons of 'Decolonization is Not a Metaphor' by Tuck and Yang Support Red Menace and get access to bonus monthly content on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace  

Alyson and Breht finish their 3-part series on Friedrich Engels' text "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and The State", and reflect on the text as a whole. Together, they wrestle with questions, like: What is family abolition? How do rich people buy extended, communal family? What happens to the family and romantic relationships under communism? Should people ever be treated like commodities? How does the title of the text reflect historical and dialectical materialism? and much more!    Get access to multiple bonus episodes a month here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace

Alyson and Breht discuss the recent rulings by the Supreme Court, a wildly anti-democratic, thoroughly corrupt, and staunchly reactionary institution that the American right has spent years and billions of dollars capturing in order to impose its minoritarian rule on an American majority that firmly rejects what they stand for. And they do it all without having to worry for even a second about pesky things getting in their way: like democracy, human rights, or basic accountability to the American people.    Get access to three bonus episodes a month here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace  

In this second installment of our three-part series on Friedrich Engels' famous work "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State", Alyson and Breht discuss chapters 4, 5, and 6 titled "The Greek Gens", "The Rise of the Athenian State", and "the Gens and the State in Rome" respectively. Together they summarize the chapters, and then launch into a discussion on the main themes and lessons from this section of the text! 00:15 Intro 1:08 Summary 33:50 Discussion   Check out Red Menace's first installment on this text here: https://redmenace.libsyn.com/the-origin-of-the-family   Support Red Menace, and get up to three bonus episodes a month, here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace  

In this episode of Red Menace, Alyson and Breht summarize and discuss the first three chapters of Friedrich Engel's important work of historical materialism, "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State". Together they discuss the core arguments of the text, the anthropological science behind it, why this text is considered a foundational text of Marxist Feminism, and much more!   00:15 Intro 4:28 Summary 51:58 Discussion

Join the Rev Left Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/RevLeftRadio Join the Red Menace Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace Changes Starting Mid-Feb: - Tripling our monthly patreon output  - Covering the headlines more consistently - Being more selective about the topics we cover on the public feed - The integration of Red Menace and Rev Left 

Alyson and Breht summarize, discuss, and critique "Desert", an anarchist text by an anonymous author. Summary:  start 7:20 Discussion & Critique: start 45:06  

Alyson and Breht summarize and reflect on the famous "Bread Book" by Peter Kropotkin: The Conquest of Bread. After summarizing the text and its main arguments, Alyson and Breht discuss the similarities and differences between Marxism and Anarchism, and both applaud and criticize elements of the text in the process. Support Red Menace on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace

Donald Parkinson from Cosmonaut Magazine joins Breht to talk about the life, political theory, and legacy of Lyndon LaRouche. In our own time we see LaRouche-type deviations manifesting on the so-called socialist left, and by studying LaRouche and his movement, we can better comprehend - and thus combat - its modern day iterations, while avoiding similar errors.   Check out Donald's article in Cosmonaut on LaRouche here: https://cosmonautmag.com/2019/03/larouche-a-warning-for-us-all/   Outro Song: Where is my Mind? by the Pixies

Alyson and Breht reflect on the recent online stir caused by "MAGA Communism" and analyze the ideas of some of its main represenatives and proponents.   Together they discuss and clarify core marxist concepts, criticize and explain the specific errors being made, shine light on its intellectual influences, explore its connection to previous iterations in american history (like the movement that formed around Lyndon LaRouche), laugh at the extremely predictable response they recieved from Trump supporters, and then they reflect on what it all means and what we can learn from it.  Support Red Menace on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace

In this episode, Alyson and Breht use Devin Zane Shaw's work (specifically his Philosophy of Antifascism) as a jumping off point for exploring the concept of the three way fight, and how principled Marxists and revolutionaries can avoid falling into reaction or tipping into liberalism by understanding and adhereing to it.  Check out the Rev Left interview with Devin about his book here: https://revolutionaryleftradio.libsyn.com/antifascism Support Red Menace on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheRedMenace