In the past few years, what has been loosely called the modernist left has seen some revival. Whether coming out of the ultimate failures of the Occupy movement, dissatisfaction with moralistic lifestyle politics or an attempt to analyze the current conundrum of moribound but hegemonic capitalism, some have returned to the idea of the […]
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Michal Rozworski: Podcast: The return of the modernist left
In the past few years, what has been loosely called the modernist left has seen some revival. Whether coming out of the ultimate failures of the Occupy movement, dissatisfaction with moralistic lifestyle politics or an attempt to analyze the current conundrum of moribound but hegemonic capitalism, some have returned to the idea of the […]
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: 2015: Year in review
As 2015 comes to a close, here’s a podcast and a post that’s something in between a best of and a year in review. It’s a look back at some of my interviews from 2015, both in terms of significant subjects and personal favourites. First up, it is interesting to follow my sequence of interviews […]
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Podcast: COP21, climate inaction and corporate power
This week marks the beginning of the COP21 climate talks in Paris, the latest episode in a UN framework that has been trying, and failing, to reduce global carbon emission for over two decades now. For my first interview, I caught up with Oscar Reyes, Barcelona-based climate policy researcher, to get an overview of what […]
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Podcast: Climate and the state, refugees in Europe
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Podcast151116-Climate-and-Refugees.mp3 Two interviews this week on two human-made crises: first, my conversation author and academic Christian Parenti on the climate crisis and the role of the state followed by journalist Jesse Rosenfeld with an update on the refugee crisis in Europe. Christian Parenti is author of numerous books, most recently Tropic of Chaos:
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Podcast: What’s next for anti-austerity in Portugal and Greece?
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Podcast151028-Portugal-and-Greece.mp3 Two updates from Southern Europe this week: Catarina Principe brings us up-to-date on the situation in Portugal and Andreas Karitzis recounts the search for a new politics in Greece after (and under the rule of) Syriza. My first guest, Catarina Principe, is an prominent activist in Portugal’s Bloco,
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Podcast: Cutting through Canada’s election fog, where’s inequality, climate change and free trade?
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Podcast151012-Elections-TPP.mp3 This week’s podcast is a Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives double-header. The CCPA has been an invaluable resource for alternative economic and political analysis for decades and I always enjoy highlighting their work. First up, I speak with Seth Klein, the director of the Centre’s British Columbia office, on how inequality
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Podcast: Canada’s immigration failures, Quebec’s hot autumn
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Podcast150914-Refugees-and-QC.mp3 My two guests this week are Harsha Walia and Roger Rashi, talking on two different topics, but both of very immediate interest. First, Harsha Walia, author of Undoing Border Imperialism and long-time anti-racist and migrant rights activist, discusses the changes to Canada’s immigration system over the past decade
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Podcast: Jane McAlevey on organizing to win today
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Podcast150831-Jane-McAlevey.mp3 I’m very happy to have an extended interview with Jane McAlevey this week. Jane is a well-known US labour organizer and author. During the 2000s, she worked for the SEIU, organizing mostly service and care workers. Much of her work was in right-to-work states, places where the labour movement has
Continue readingMichal Rozworski: Podcast: The challenge of Sanders and Corbyn to the extreme centre
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Podcast150814-Sanders-Corbyn.mp3 Over the past year, unlikely challengers have emerged to the dominant politics of the center-left in both the US and the UK. Jeremy Corbyn is looking increasingly poised to win the leadership of the UK Labour Party next month. Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, Bernie Sanders
Continue readingMichal Rozworski » Political Eh-conomy: Podcast: A labor journalism resurgence?
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Podcast150803-Labour-reporting.mp3 As unions and workers suffered defeats over the past few decades, so has labor journalism dwindled from a mainstay of major media outlets across Canada and the US to a relatively niche reporting interest. The past few years, however, have seen a still small but noticeable resurgence of
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Podcast: Syriza’s John Milios, “I will continue to fight against austerity”
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/podcast150720-greece-milios.mp3 Greece continues to be in flux. Two weeks ago, the Greek people voted over 60% No in a referendum on further austerity. One week ago, the Greek government agreed to a new Memorandum in principle after an all-night negotiation, described at times as “mental water-boarding”. Finally, last Wednesday, the
Continue readingMichal Rozworski » Political Eh-conomy: Podcast: Syriza’s John Milios, “I will continue to fight against austerity”
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/podcast150720-greece-milios.mp3 Greece continues to be in flux. Two weeks ago, the Greek people voted over 60% No in a referendum on further austerity. One week ago, the Greek government agreed to a new Memorandum in principle after an all-night negotiation, described at times as “mental water-boarding”. Finally, last Wednesday, the
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Podcast: Laudato Si and carbon trading
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/podcast150629-laudato-and-carbon.mp3 Last week, Pope Francis released his encyclical on climate change, Laudato Si. The document speaks out strongly against environmental degradation in all forms and even calls for climate justice between the global North and South. My first guest is Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig, staff writer at The New Republic who writes
Continue readingMichal Rozworski » Political Eh-conomy: Podcast: Laudato Si and carbon trading
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/podcast150629-laudato-and-carbon.mp3 Last week, Pope Francis released his encyclical on climate change, Laudato Si. The document speaks out strongly against environmental degradation in all forms and even calls for climate justice between the global North and South. My first guest is Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig, staff writer at The New Republic who writes
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Podcast: Truth, reconciliation and restitution
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/podcast150612-reconciliation-restitution.mp3 The summary report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was released last week. The work of the Commission took seven years, gathering public and private testimony from survivors and families of survivors of Canada’s state- and Church-sanctioned residential school system—a system that forcibly removed from families,
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Podcast: What’s next for Alberta?
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/podcast150515-alberta-election.mp3 This episode focuses on what else but the recent Alberta provincial election that saw the social democratic NDP sweep into power after 44 consecutive years of Conservative rule. To gain some perspective on this rather remarkable result in Canada’s oil and gas heartland and see what lies ahead for
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Podcast: Pension tensions and privatizations
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/podcast150501-pensions-and-privatization.mp3 I have two guests on two different topics today. First up: Kevin Skerrett, a pension researcher at the Canadian Union of Public Employees. I spoke with him about the role of pensions in financialized capitalism. Don’t let the word pensions scare you off, this is a conversation that gets
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Podcast: JW Mason on business not investing, still disgorging the cash
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/podcast150420-jw-mason.mp3 This week’s podcast is a bit more economics-focused than usual but gets at the heart of what’s going on in the global economy where interest rates are near, at, or even below zero, but where investment, growth, wages and employment continue to suffer. My one guest, who joins me for a
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Podcast: The roots of the Greece crisis in European integration and what this means for the future
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/podcast150402-europe.mp3 As the simmering crisis between Greece and the institutions formerly known as the Troika heats up again, it’s a good time to look once more at the roots of the European crisis and what they mean for the possibilities open before Syriza at the present juncture. Greece is being squeezed
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