Un-bought and Un-bossed: Essential & Independent Leftist Podcasts
We live in an ideological world where news, history and culture is curated and distorted to justify the excesses of capitalism. With moneyed interests behind almost all mass communication outlets, independent journalism and media has never been more important.
Here is a small list of podcasts that are essential leftist listening for the global news of the day and a read on history that will help you reclaim the narrative and imagine an alternative future.
Goth-Commies with no time for common-sense, The Antifada tackle topics from the politics of sex work to space-communism. With a focus on history, the material world and direct-action politics, their weekly episodes feature a multitude of (mostly American) organisers and activists from many left political traditions.
This three-piece outfit starring NYC activists Jamie Peck, Sean KB and AP Andy, never fails to entertain in their comedy driven fight against capitalism and conventional wisdom. The episode series ‘History is a Weapon’ is particularly informative in its exploration of the ugly truth behind the benevolent image of global neoliberalism, and the para-political machinery that has been its driving force for the last century.
Prepare to listen for a more than an hour per episode to fully appreciate their minimally-scripted conversations and interviews.
Serious politics with a strong comedy game, The Majority Report should be a staple in the diet of any informed leftist with an interest in current events, electoral strategy and American politics. With new episodes every weekday, this podcast is host to one of the most impressive and diverse rosters of politicians and political commentators, authors and academics as seen anywhere in independent media.
Host (Actor and comedian) Sam Seder provides much needed curation and analysis of history, politics and current events in the USA and beyond, backed by producers Matt Lech, Jamie Peck and Brendan Finn. This well-structured and entertaining show dives into a number of topics-of-interest to the modern news junkie, from US law, foreign relations and electoral strategy, to culture, history and popular media around the globe.
The Majority Report was co-hosted from 2013 up until very recently by the late Michael Brooks, who’s lightning wit and legendary comedic impressions helped the show to claim its status as an institution of independent media.
With interviews every episode and regular contributor guest slots in segments such as the ‘Fun Half’, the show often runs upwards of two hours, but is well-structured for staggered listening. The Youtube channel features entire episodes as well as bite-sized clips, and is all the more entertaining for the in-studio cameras and screen-shared content.
Globally oriented and wildly entertaining, The Michael Brooks Show (TMBS) is an unrivalled project of humour in service of humanity. The show relentlessly advocates for the working class with an internationalist approach to politics, power and the means of production.
The late Michael Brooks led the show, combining the flow of a stand-up comedian with the clarity and vision of a philosopher. With the help of co-hosts and producers Matt Lech, and David Griscom, TMBS produced incendiary critiques of global capitalism, while at the same time presenting a vision for a regenerative, radical future based on love, compassion and the emancipation of the Global South.
Although Michael has passed away, the TMBS emblem sits atop a mountain of absolutely essential archived content. This includes interviews with left figures including Cornel West, former Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Noam Chomsky; Segments such as ‘Illicit History’ and ‘The Debunk’ that dive into the cultural and historical narratives that justify society’s worst ongoing injustices; and the ‘Griscom Economic Minute’ (GEM), which provides a marxist understanding of contemporary political economic issues.
These segments can be found edited into their own, more digestible clips and entire shows often run for two hours.
While the show has an uncertain future at this point, Michael Brooks’ friends, collaborators and comrades have pledged to carry on the TMBS vision, and will hopefully produce more content in the near future.
Equal parts thought provoking and terrifying, Tech Won’t Save Us explores the history and policy that informs the modern global tech industry. The show’s critique of the Silicon Valley mindset comes as a crucial inoculation against tech-fetishism and all too common hero worship of industry titans like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
Paris Marx, a writer for Jacobin, Tribune and other leftist publications, helms the show and brings a modern marxist perspective to the many issues presented by techno-capitalism.
Hosting a different research academic or author in each weekly episode, the show dives deep into the origins and uses of some of the most troubling tech-innovations of the modern era, from data-harvesting social media platforms, to the surveillance capabilities of mobile phones.
Episodes most often run under an hour, and are centred on interview-type conversations. While the podcast is under a year old, it already has an impressive backlog of interviews on a range of topics, from capitalism in outer space and urban techno-dystopia, to name a few.
Inspiring in their resistance and radical vision, the Red Nation organisation are activists for indigenous struggle in the Americas. They relentlessly fight and organise against ongoing colonialism and capitalism and the limitless exploitation of land, body and mind.
The Red Nation Podcast is hosted by activist and scholar Nick Estes backed by writer and academic, Sina Rahmani. Echoing the mission of the organisation, the podcast brings an indigenous and socialist perspective to history, politics and culture. The show produces multiple episodes a week, featuring an array of journalists and organisers of indigenous and non-indigenous backgrounds from the United States and beyond.
Presenting in a number of segments such as ‘Red Power Hour’ and ‘Native Reads’, this show challenges the settler mythologies at the heart of US nationhood. By exploring the history of indigenous struggle, the show establishes common ground with modern civil struggles for Queer, Feminine and Black equality, and is an invaluable voice in any humanist vision for a better world.
Most episodes run over an hour, and can be found broken up into smaller segments on the various podcast platforms that host the show.
December 2020 Update
2020 and the COVID pandemic has turned everything on its head, from the organisation of production, to global politics. It’s important now more than ever to stay up to date with global news in labour, politics and public health, as capital realigns itself amidst the crisis to deepen exploitation and avoid social responsibility in the recovery.
Here are a couple more essential podcasts that challenge the status quo of global capital and call out injustice.
Left Reckoning is a new production by the hosts of The Michael Brooks Show, Matt Lech and David Griscom. True to the TMBS mission, this show focusses on policy and labour struggles important to the future of the working class in the United States and globally. Bringing to the table some southern style, down-to-earth social commentary, blended with history and marxist theory, Griscom and Lech cut through America’s cultural divide to take socialism beyond the city,
Although the show hasn’t launched on podcast platforms quite yet, they have a range of listenable content on their youtube channel and livestream. They also host regular theory reading groups and think tanks, which help their audience to navigate important, complex ideas and connect theory to everyday life.
Backed by a diverse community of insightful, entertaining commentators and leftist theorists, this show is sure to produce some essential content moving forward. Watch this space, and subscribe to help get this much needed project off the ground!
Red Flag Radio is a fiery and focussed weekly podcast associated with Australia’s largest marxist group, Socialist Alternative, on Australian labour, politics and current affairs. Armed with a distinct Australian scepticism mainstream politics, Red Flag Radio calls out the self-serving narratives of politicians and private interests alike.
The show is hosted by Roz Ward, a prominent socialist activist, unionist and educator, who sits down every week with historians, organisers and agitators of all kinds to advocate for the working class and advance the cause of socialism. Topics covered include contemporary electoral politics, labour history, imperialism and much more.
Episodes usually run under an hour, so they’re a perfect injection of class-consciousness to take on your daily commute to go make profits for the bosses.
While this podcast list is far from exhaustive, it is a diverse collection of independent sources of news, history and revolutionary politics. Some of these shows affiliate with each other and promote many more great content creators, so if you know of any that could add to this list, please comment below!