Dead Pundits Society

*** This track is a teaser of this week's B-Side, which is available to patrons of the Dead Pundits Society. To listen to the entire episode, join at www.patreon.com/deadpundits *** In this juggernaut of a B-Side, Adam and Aimee begin by briefly breaking down the significance of the midterm election results. Next, they begin a wide-ranging discussion on the meaning of so-called "normie" socialism -- a term that has largely been crafted by opponents of this strategy. They break down two recent blog pieces that are representative of this anti-normie socialism and set the record straight about the meaning of democratic socialism and the role of culture and identity in our project. Adam loses his temper on a few occasions, Alex Jones-style (but no gay frogs were harmed in the making of this episode). The blog posts in question can be found here: -Peter Frase, "Keep Socialism Weird," http://www.peterfrase.com/2018/10/keep-socialism-weird -"Breaking the Norm," http://www.peterfrase.com/2018/11/breaking-the-norm/ ----------------- Twitter: @deadpundits Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/deadpundits Facebook: facebook.com/deadpunditssociety iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1212081214 Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCHahv2fM9eH2K4TzmsWl_Xg

Joining us this week to discuss the process around NYC DSA’s endorsement of Cynthia Nixon for the Democratic Party primary race in New York state are two members in NYC-DSA leadership, Susan Kang and Michael Cavadias. We discuss the various meanings of endorsement as well as the debates that emerged around these various and competing visions. Additionally, we discuss the role of accountability and the problematic relationship of the Democratic Party and socialist candidates. Whether you were in favor of this endorsement or not — and even whether you’re in favor of a socialist electoral strategy or not — there are many insights in this interview that will be beneficial for developing ou arguments. Articles: -"Building Power: A Rebuttal to the Case Against Nixon/Williams," by Susan Kang, Michael Cavadias, Danya Lagos, Cale Brooks, et al. -"To Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s critics: This is no time for sloganeering," by Jamie Stern-Weiner, https://mondoweiss.net/2018/07/alexandria-cortezs-sloganeering/ Image credit: @volperchlorate ***The B-Side to this week's episode will be available for patrons in several days. Join the Dead Pundits Society to catch the second subscriber-only episode each week and to support the new left agenda: www.patreon.com/deadpundits*** ----------------------- Twitter: @deadpundits Soundcloud: @deadpundits Facebook: facebook.com/deadpunditssociety iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1212081214 Patreon: www.patreon.com/deadpundits

"Well, I do declayah!" -- this week we're joined by Matt Karp, Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University and frequent contributor to Jacobin Magazine, to talk about his new book, This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholder and the legacy of slavery, race and class. We also talk about Matt's piece in The Nation on the legacy of Frederick Douglass and what kind of lessons we might learn from that era. So kill your slavemaster, grab a mint julep, take a seat on the porch, and tune in. Matt's articles in The Nation, "The Enduring Struggle": https://www.thenation.com/article/the-enduring-struggle Matt Karp, This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Empire: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674737259' DONATE to us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Deadpundits

Adam Hilton is back on DPS to talk about his book on the Democratic Party. Also, we talk a lot about... you guessed it, the Democratic Party. *** Become a patron of DPS today: http://www.patreon.com/deadpundits *** Find his book here: https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/16211.html

Season 2 of DPS has officially wrapped. Season 3 will launch in beginning of May featuring a new website, weekly YouTube videos along with articles and blog posts. In the meantime, patrons will be getting a weekly B-Side and the free feed will revisit classic episodes of DPS. This episode featuring Adaner Usmani aired a year and a half ago and remains as relevant as ever. Be sure to support DPS Media as we enter our third season: http://www.patreon.com/deadpundits -------------------------- Joining me this week is Adaner Usmani. We discuss his latest essay in Jacobin (co-authored with Connor Kilpatrick) titled "The New Communists." They argue that it's time to leave the iconography and inward-facing legacy of 1917 behind and forge a socialism that addresses people's lived concerns in 2018. SOCIALISM FOR REGULAR-ASS PEOPLE Check out Adaner's writings here: -"The New Communists," http://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/12/the-new-communists -"Did Liberals Give us Mass Incarceration?" https://catalyst-journal.com/vol1/no3/did-liberals-give-us-mass-incarceration I also mentioned this important essay by Ralph Miliband during the interview: "Moving On," https://www.marxists.org/archive/miliband/1976/xx/moveon.htm ***To access the B-Side to this week's episode, which will be out in a few days, subscribe to the Dead Pundits Society at http://www.patreon.com/deadpundits*** -------------------------------- Twitter: http://twitter.com/deadpundits Facebook: http://facebook.com/deadpunditssociety iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1212081214 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHahv2fM9eH2K4TzmsWl\_Xg