Podcast
Give Them An Argument
Hosted by Ben Burgis · EN
Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday nights with an exclusive postgame for GTAA patrons after the main show. (To become a patron, go to patreon.com/benburgis and sign up for the monthly cost of a milkshake at a 50s nostalgia diner in 1994.) Past guests have included Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, David Pizarro, Gregory Sadler, Glenn Greenwald, Krystal Ball, Bhaskar Sunkara, Sam Seder, Ana Kasparian, Emma Vigeland, Matt Christman, and Amber Frost. The show has also featured debates between host Ben Burgis and opponents ranging from Walter Block to Charlie Kirk.Ben is a philosophy professor, Jacobin columnist, and frequent debater. He did a regular "Debunk" segment on the Michael Brooks Show until 2020. He's appeared on the Debate Night with Charlie Kirk, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, Rising, Krystal, Kyle & Friends, the Majority Report w/Sam Seder & the Joe Rogan Experience.benburgis.compatreon.com/benburgis
28episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Well, That Went Well: Talking Iran with Mean Djene Bajalan
1w ago01:03:59Tap to summarizeWhen Trump announced the war at the end of February, he said the goal was to bring "freedom" the people of Iran. Over and over again in the weeks of fighting, he said he'd settle for nothing less than "unconditional surrender." At one point, he said that if Iran didn't bend the knee he would "destroy" their "civilization."So...what happened? And what's going to happen now?Djene Bajalan joins us to break it all down.Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!]Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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Dialogue on Left and Right Populism w/Sohrab Ahmari (YouTube Version)
2w ago02:13:35Tap to summarizeLast month in New York City, Ben Burgis and Sohrab Ahmari sat down for an in-person dialogue on left- and right- "populism." Here it is!Follow Sohrab on Twitter: @SohrabAhmariFollow Cynthia on Twitter: @c_cook1988Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!]Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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Hegelian Marxism vs. Analytical Marxism (ft. Matt McManus + Michael Lazarus)
3w ago01:23:03Tap to summarizeBen Burgis is joined by Michael Lazarus (author of "Absolute Ethical Life: Aristotle, Hegel and Marx") and Matt McManus (who needs no introduction to GTAA fans) for a fun three-way exchange on "analytical Marxism" (the tradition Ben works in), Michael's more Hegel-inflected version of Marxism, and Matt's sympathies with both sides.Order Michael's book:https://www.sup.org/books/politics/absolute-ethical-lifeFollow Michael on Twitter: @Mblaz39Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!]Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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Debate on Socialism with Jillian Michaels
3w ago02:33:36Tap to summarizeLast week Ben Burgis and Jillian Michaels hashed out their disagreements on socialism in an in-person debate in Michaels's studio in LA. Here it is!Follow Jillian on Twitter: @JillianMichaelsFollow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!]Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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Western Marxism Through the Looking Glass (ft. Matt McManus)
Apr 1401:16:35Tap to summarizeMatt McManus discusses his review of Gabriel Rockhill's Temu-Stalinist conspiracy theory of "western Marxism."Read Matt's review of Rockhill's "Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?" in Damage magazine:https://www.damagemag.com/p/western-marxism-through-the-lookingFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwetBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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Philosophers Debate the War in Iran
Apr 902:08:09Tap to summarizeA day late because Ben had to write a Jacobin article about all this instead of doing the episode (sorry about that!) but there's a lot to cover. Last Friday he recorded a debate on the war in Iran (hosted by philosopher Spencer Case). In this episode, we play the debate and chat a little bit about the truly bizarre developments since it was recorded. Ben argues that it's good to be clear on what TACO Tuesday was, because that strengthens the anti-war case going forward.Watch the debate on Spencer's podcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ScPGb91B2kHere's the Jacobin article that delayed the episode a day:https://jacobin.com/2026/04/iran-war-trump-threat-ceasefireFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwetBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisiting G.A. Cohen
Apr 102:33:49Tap to summarizeLast week at York University in Toronto, there was a panel to pre-launch a book of essays called "Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisitng G.A. Cohen" co-edited by Ben Burgis and Matt McManus. Contributors Les Jacobs and Christine Sypnowich spoke first, then Matt and Ben. Q&A includes some spicy exchanges on dialectics and whether analytical Marxism is too academic to be of much use to the workers' movement. In this episode, Ben starts with some context on Cohen's life and the major themes of the work and then we play the full video of the panel. At the end, Ben comes back to chat a bit more about the trip to Toronto and the GTAA episode schedule going forward.Prices in academic publishing being what they are, we can't exactly tell you to go out and buy this thing, but if you want to get your library to order a copy, here's the link for that;https://www.amazon.com/Analytical-Marxism-Democratic-Socialism-Century/dp/3032028930Prof. Sypnowich's website:https://www.christinesypnowich.com/Prof. Jacobs's profile at York:https://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/jacobs/Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwetBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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RIP Habermas (ft. Matt McManus)
Mar 1700:58:46Tap to summarizeMatt McManus joins to discuss the complicated legacy of philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who died last Saturday.Read Matt's article "Jürgen Habermas Showed What Philosophy Could Be" in Jacobin:https://jacobin.com/2026/03/habermas-obituary-critical-theory-philosophyFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwetBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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Matt McManus Read Nick Land So You Don't Have To
Mar 901:12:21Tap to summarizeReturning champ Matt McManus joins us once again, this time to explore a reactionary weirdo who somehow hasn't been the subject of a GTAA episode yet!Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwetBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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Of All the Dumb Wars, This One is Somehow the Dumbest
Mar 401:03:05Tap to summarizeWe're back, baby!Ben Burgis breaks down the idiotic arguments made by the MAGA faithful in defense of Trump's decision to wage an unprovoked, illegal, open-ended war against a country with far more capacity to defend itself than Afghanistan had in 2001 or Iraq in 2003, and makes the case that opposing it isn't just a question of anti-imperialism or harm-minimization (though it certainly is all that) but that there's a basic question of American democracy at stake.Read Ben's article in Jacobin:https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinionRead Branko Marcetic's too while you're at it:https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinionConsider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:https://gofund.me/f8ec78c56Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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