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frandroidA few entries this week...
Revolutionary Left Radio -
Modern China pt. 4: The Deng Reform Period to Today w/ Ken Hammond. This was a 4-episode Modern China history series by RevLeft Radio. An absolutely banger of a series, with an American guest, Ken Hammond, who spent years working in China and studying China. I particularly enjoyed the last instalment of the series, because it starts at the market shift initiated by Deng Xiaoping, demolishes the Tienanmen Square mythology (did you know that dissidents had killed hundreds of soldiers before the regime finally cracked down??), comes to the present, and then peers into the future. The "present" part discussed what happened in the 2008 economic crisis and the 2020 COVID crisis, and the contrast with the United States is very stark, highlighting why socialism works in China. Then looking at the looming population decrease in China, which here would create an economic crisis (or at least economic stagnation, as seen in Japan in the last 30 years), Hammond, without uttering the words, nearly summarizes China's plan as "fully automated communism". My heart swelled.
The Great Battlefield - Progressive Messaging with Anat Shenker-Osorio of ASO and Words to Win By. Earlier in this tag I recommended episodes of the Words to Win By podcast. If you don't want to load up on the whole thing, this interview with her is a great summary of her way of thinking and how progressives must shape their messaging to win their campaigns, particularly focusing on the current American election. It's quite delightful to listen to sharp thinking. She's a clear descendent of Saul Alinsky in how she's able to look at issues from a different angle to be laser focused on what's going to move the needle. Jagmeet could use some of her insights... She'd be wasted on the Liberals.
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An anti-recommendation of sorts here:
Everyday Anarchism - Q&A: Who Counts as an Anarchist?. I've mentioned this podcast before for its early Christian and LOTR episodes... Then I came to this episode where the host admits that even though he got a PhD in late 19th and and early 20th century social and political movements, he never studied anarchism??? And then it took him 20 years to organically synthesize anarchism on his own, until a student pointed him to... Oscar Wilde?? "But no one told me [about anarchism]!". Like, dude. Dude. Duuuude. I mean kudos to him for catching up since then, with 100+ episodes of his podcast, but holy cow.
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#PodcastFriday is a tag where people recommend a particularly good episode from a podcast. The point of this tag is NOT to recommend entire podcasts--there are too many podcasts out there, and our queues are already too long, so don't do that. Let's just recommend the cream of the crop, the episodes that made you *brainsplode* or laugh like crazy.
Revolutionary Left Radio -
Modern China pt. 4: The Deng Reform Period to Today w/ Ken Hammond. This was a 4-episode Modern China history series by RevLeft Radio. An absolutely banger of a series, with an American guest, Ken Hammond, who spent years working in China and studying China. I particularly enjoyed the last instalment of the series, because it starts at the market shift initiated by Deng Xiaoping, demolishes the Tienanmen Square mythology (did you know that dissidents had killed hundreds of soldiers before the regime finally cracked down??), comes to the present, and then peers into the future. The "present" part discussed what happened in the 2008 economic crisis and the 2020 COVID crisis, and the contrast with the United States is very stark, highlighting why socialism works in China. Then looking at the looming population decrease in China, which here would create an economic crisis (or at least economic stagnation, as seen in Japan in the last 30 years), Hammond, without uttering the words, nearly summarizes China's plan as "fully automated communism". My heart swelled.
The Great Battlefield - Progressive Messaging with Anat Shenker-Osorio of ASO and Words to Win By. Earlier in this tag I recommended episodes of the Words to Win By podcast. If you don't want to load up on the whole thing, this interview with her is a great summary of her way of thinking and how progressives must shape their messaging to win their campaigns, particularly focusing on the current American election. It's quite delightful to listen to sharp thinking. She's a clear descendent of Saul Alinsky in how she's able to look at issues from a different angle to be laser focused on what's going to move the needle. Jagmeet could use some of her insights... She'd be wasted on the Liberals.
___
An anti-recommendation of sorts here:
Everyday Anarchism - Q&A: Who Counts as an Anarchist?. I've mentioned this podcast before for its early Christian and LOTR episodes... Then I came to this episode where the host admits that even though he got a PhD in late 19th and and early 20th century social and political movements, he never studied anarchism??? And then it took him 20 years to organically synthesize anarchism on his own, until a student pointed him to... Oscar Wilde?? "But no one told me [about anarchism]!". Like, dude. Dude. Duuuude. I mean kudos to him for catching up since then, with 100+ episodes of his podcast, but holy cow.
___
#PodcastFriday is a tag where people recommend a particularly good episode from a podcast. The point of this tag is NOT to recommend entire podcasts--there are too many podcasts out there, and our queues are already too long, so don't do that. Let's just recommend the cream of the crop, the episodes that made you *brainsplode* or laugh like crazy.