Podcast
The Measures Taken
Hosted by Stephan, Matthew, and Nathan · EN
The Measures Taken is a project to survey and reconstruct the history of Marxism from the development of mass Social Democracy to our own moment.
Recognizing that Bolshevism has lapsed as a living political tendency, those of us who remain committed to revolutionary communist politics and convinced by the Marxist critique of political economy are left searching for a past capable of orienting us in the present. Mindful of the threat of eclecticism and all too cognizant of the infelicities of sectarianism, the hosts of this podcast embrace a non-denominational Marxism.
Our purpose is self-education, never the display of expertise. We hope that our listeners extend to us the same principled courtesy we do our forebears: not to judge too harshly.
themeasurestaken.org
measurestakenpod@gmail.com
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Riot Strike Riot — Reading Joshua Clover
3w ago00:44:06Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailIn this episode, recorded in the fall, we discuss the late Joshua Clover's book 'Riot. Strike. Riot. : The New Era of Uprisings.'
Transcribe →The Specter of "Woke"
Dec 200:57:04Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailIs left woke? Has woke left?Susan Neiman's "Left Is Not Woke" provokes us to consider these questions and more.
Transcribe →The Workers' Opposition
Nov 2500:46:53Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailWe discuss the positions and influence of the Workers' Opposition in the Soviet Union.
Transcribe →The Luigi Mangione Question
Nov 1800:42:56Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThe high-profile assassination committed by Luigi Mangione, the enraptured public response, and his impending trial all demand a coherent political response from Marxists. Paired with discussion of the famed trial of Vera Zasulich in 1878, we take up the contemporary left response to Mangioni's actions and discuss how Marxists should understand and respond to the challenges of individual 'terrorism.'
Transcribe →'Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism' by E.P. Thompson
Nov 1100:46:07Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailThe three of us reunite to discuss E.P. Thompson's 1967 essay on the "new time-sense" that came into being with the rise and development of industrial capitalism.
Transcribe →Every Cook Can Govern
Nov 400:37:46Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailNathan and Stephan discuss C.L.R. James' "Every Cook Can Govern," the Johnson-Forest tendency, democracy, and sortition.
Transcribe →Now, the People!: The World According to Jean-Luc Melenchon
Oct 2800:38:48Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailWe return with our new *weekly* episode release schedule!In this episode, we discuss Jean-Luc Melenchon's "Now, the People!: Revolution in the Twenty-First Century."
Transcribe →Neofeudalism All Over Again: The World According to Jodi Dean
May 12, 202500:34:21Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailWe discuss Jodi Dean's new book Capital's Grave: Neofeudalism and the New Class Struggle.
Transcribe →The World According to Jane McAlevey
Aug 29, 202400:42:18Summary readySend us Fan MailWe discuss Jane McAlevey's contributions to the labor movement and two of her books: 'No Shortcuts' and 'Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell).'
SummaryBeach Reads #2: Alexandra Kollontai's "Morality and the New Society"
Jul 30, 202400:32:29Tap to summarizeSend us Fan MailWe discuss a selection of Kollontai's writings and speeches on women's oppression, the family structure, and new ways to conceive of sex and love in a liberated society.
Transcribe →