The Regrettable Century

<p>The old forms of the Left are moribund and the new forms are stupid. We're making a podcast that discusses the need to organize a Dialectical Pessimism and develop a salvage project capable of sparking a new workers' movement for socialism. A clean, honest, and unsentimental melancholy is required; we are cultivating one and would like to share it with you. <br /><br /><b><em>“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned. I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.”<br /> -- Antonio Gramsci</em></b></p>

Years of Dread: Political Violence & The Spectacle of Tension

Instances of stochastic violence in the United States are at an all-time high and the political violence of our era mirrors the political topography, disaggregated and rudderless. The boys got together this week to talk about Charlie Kirk and the newer/dumber "Years of Lead." A Stark Look at the Recent History of Political Violence in America https://time.com/6998406/political-violence-united-states-recent-history/ Our Own Worst Enemies https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/polit...

09-17
01:10:58

PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 09/14/2025

Newer Dumber Years of Lead, Newer Dumber Cold War Heats Up, Israel Kills Kids in Doha This Time, Europe Can't be Inconvenienced by Sanctions on India and China, Poland Shoots Down Three Slow Moving Unarmed Decoy Drones... Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

09-15
18:26

A Cascading Series of New Lefts (Part I of II)

This week the boys do a close reading of an interview with Terence Renaud wherein he discusses his new book New Lefts: The Making of a Radical Tradition. We weigh in on the positive and negative legacies of the multiple revisions to "leftism." https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/qa-terence-renaud-new-left/ Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

09-09
55:51

Patreon Preview: Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? (Part II of II)

Today we read the second half of an article titled Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? Theorizing the nature and implications of the global far-right resurgence by Prof. Dr. Alex Demirović, which was published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. We liked this article for a few reasons, not the least of which was that it sparked good discussion... Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? by Alex Demirović Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

09-04
17:16

Patreon Preview: Anatomy of the Microsect (Patron Roundtable)

We sat down with our patrons to read and discuss the 1973 Hal Draper Pamphlet, Anatomy of the Microsect. https://www.marxists.org/archive/draper/1973/xx/microsect.htm Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

08-27
17:33

Under an Elm Tree: William Morris, Animism, and Anti-Capitalism (Featuring Dr. Mathias Nordvig and Arnold from Fight Like an Animal Podcast)

This week, the animist caucus of the Regrettable Century (Kevin) teamed up with Dr. Mathias Nordvig, professor of Nordic Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Sacred Flame Podcast, as well as Arnold from the Fight Like an Animal Podcast to talk about the intersection of animist spirituality and radical politics. To that end, the crew read and discussed William Morris' short essay titled Under an Elm Tree. Click Here for More Mathias Nordvig Click Here for Fight Lik...

08-25
01:43:58

PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 08/23/2025

Bounty on Maduro, Israeli Pedophile Protected by Trump... Again, Palestinian Dead are 83% Civilians, Zelensky in the Whitehouse... Again, Ukraine's Failing Drone Industry, The Inexorable Russian Lava Flow Pushes On... Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

08-23
13:57

PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 08/19/2025

Trump Wusses out on China Tariffs... Again, Leaks Expose Netanyahu's Hunger Plan, Israeli Spies Have Thoroughly Infiltrated Big Tech, The Alaska Summit, Ukraine's Infantry Crisis, Ukraine's Morale Crisis, Dobrapilia Breakthrough, The Collapse Speeds Up... Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

08-20
13:47

Never Coming of Age in America: Adulting and Alienation in a Decadent Society

This week the boys are joined by eternal co-host Jess to discuss the novelty of adults being adults. We discuss the self-infantilization of millennials and older zoomers, which is a reflection of the crisis of meaning and deep rot at the heart of liberal modernity. We believe this is the result of a purely self-oriented conception of liberty and the ideological victory of capital's redefinition of the very essence of what it means to be human. --------- Adulting in Middle Age https://jacobin....

08-11
01:12:57

Patreon Preview: Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? (Part I of II)

Today we read an article titled Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? Theorizing the nature and implications of the global far-right resurgence by Prof. Dr. Alex Demirović, which was published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. This is an excellent article that we think misses the mark in a few places and provides much fodder for discussion. Do We Need an Updated Theory of Fascism? by Alex Demirović Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

08-07
10:47

The Luddites Were Right, Actually

Marxist, as well as conservative and liberal bourgeois historians alike, have always had a fundamental misunderstanding about the Luddites. It turns out they weren't just reactionary peasants who feared technology and wanted to keep the world mired in an economy based on stacking sticks and mud. The Luddites weren’t resisting technology itself—they were fighting the economic systems that exploited them through it. This week, the boys dive into a conversation about Luddism's past, present, and...

07-28
01:02:09

Patreon Preview: Towards the Founding of Something New

This week Chris, Jason, and Ben read over the founding document of a now-defunct group to which Jason and Ben used to belong. While much has changed in the years since Jason wrote this document, the fundamental arguments remain the same. It is time for new working-class organizations that seek to build power from the ground up, abandoning any association with liberal NGOs, the democratic party, the microsect form, and internet-based culture war. ---- We've including the document that we're re...

07-24
11:04

PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 07/18/2025

Ultra-Orthodox Abandon Bibi, Israel Kills More Christians, Israel Kills a US Citizen, SBU Chief Merc'd in Broad Daylight, The West Slowly Begins to Abandon Ukraine, Zelensky's Authoritarianism, Pokrovsk in Peril, Russia's Methodical Advance is Unchecked... Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

07-21
14:05

On Care For Our Common Home: Laudato Si and Christian Anti-Capitalism (Part II)

This week the gang tackles Chapter I of Laudato Si, but the late Pope Francis. You can follow along by grabbing the PDF from Verso or from the Vatican website. This Papal Encyclical calls for urgent action to address the global environmental crisis, critiques consumerism, blind developmentalism, inequality, and profit seeking. The document calls for global political solidarity to transition to a sustainable economy and for protection of the worlds most vulnerable populations. Se...

07-15
01:06:11

PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 07/11/2025

Deep State Don's Pedophile Coverup Extravaganza, More Tariff Idiocy, Israel's Relentless War Crimes Perpetration, Yermak's Power Grab in Kiev, Azerbaijan Mafia/NATO State, Russian Gains, Ukrainian Systemic Breakdown... Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

07-12
10:29

PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 07/04/2025

Israel failed to assassinate Khamenei, US lifts some sanctions on Hungary/Russia, Russia controls 100% Luhansk, US cuts off military aid to Ukraine, Azov civil war, the collapse continues... Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

07-07
13:14

The Pinnacle of Spectacle: Trump, War, and Opposition in Late Spectacular Capitalism

This week Chris and Jason signed on to give an update on the status of the spectacular nature of American Capitalism. Trump's useless strikes on Iran and false declaration of victory prompted us to revisit Guy Debord's concept of the spectacle in relation to contemporary American politics. Revenge of the Spectacle: This Time It's Personal http://www.redwedgemagazine.com/online-issue/revenge-of-the-spectacle-this-time-its-personal The Game of War. Guy Debord and the Society of ...

07-02
01:02:08

PATREON PREVIEW -- Regrettable Geopolitics 6/28/2025

US Attacks Iran... Did It Work?, Iran Tosses out the IAEA, NATO Potemkin Summit, The Inexorable Russian Lava Flow Pushes On, Ukraine Keeps Collapsing... How to Pronounce Schadenfreude https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3_DjiLLDfo Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

06-30
22:33

On Care For Our Common Home: Laudato Si and Christian Anti-Capitalism (Part I)

Real romantic anti-capitalism hours are back, and this week the boys brought in Mir and Daniel to read Laudato Si by the late Pope Francis, as published by Verso Books (you can read it on the Vatican website or in book form, but we got the free ebook from Verso). This Papal Encyclical calls for urgent action to address the global environmental crisis, critiques consumerism, blind developmentalism, inequality, and profit seeking. The document calls for global political solidarity to tran...

06-25
01:06:49

Patreon Preview: The Question of Nationalities & Social Democracy by Otto Bauer: (Episode XI) FINAL

This is it folks, the second half of Chapter 7 and the grand finale of the reading series. Go to the Patreon to hear the whole episode. Join the Discord to help us determine what's next… And Read Along Here: https://libcom.org/article/question-nationalities-and-social-democracy-otto-bauer Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here). Support the show

06-19
20:51

Alex Shook

It seems to me there is a tension in this episode between wanting to define classes based on their relationship to production and wanting to define classes based on which "side" you think they will be on. The later is an obstacle to doing the former.

08-23 Reply

Maskingunnar

Well, I see that the time honored tradition of finding the most pedantic nerd imaginable that can hold the banner high to embaress swedes throughout the world is still honoured.

08-24 Reply

Promaxius

This is an extremely podcast for every human to listen to.

08-27 Reply

Recommend Channels