McCarthyism and its lessons for the left today
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The Trump administration's repressive moves have sparked talk of a "new McCarthyism" so this episode presents an interview with Alan Wald about McCarthyism -- the "Second Red Scare" in the US in the late 1940s and 1950s -- and its lessons for the left in our time.
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UPDATE - Helpful clarification from one of our listeners on information mentioned in this episode's intro: "Of the two recent faculty firings in Texas, only one of them (Tom Alter’s case) was at Texas State. The other was at Texas A&M. And, of course, there have been numerous other cases around the country."
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Readings and Resources
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Ashley Smith, Against the New McCarthyism
https://tempestmag.org/2025/09/against-the-new-mccarthyism/
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United States: Texas State Terminates Alter, National Campaign Fights Back
https://lis-isl.org/en/2025/10/united-states-texas-state-terminates-alter-national-campaign-fight-back/
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Alan Wald Homepage
https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/alan-wald-homepage/
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Bill Keach, Rehabilitating McCarthyism
https://tempestmag.org/2025/10/rehabilitating-mccarthyism/
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McCarthyism and its lessons for the left today
.
.
The Trump administration's repressive moves have sparked talk of a "new McCarthyism" so this episode presents an interview with Alan Wald about McCarthyism -- the "Second Red Scare" in the US in the late 1940s and 1950s -- and its lessons for the left in our time.
.
UPDATE - Helpful clarification from one of our listeners on information mentioned in this episode's intro: "Of the two recent faculty firings in Texas, only one of them (Tom Alter’s case) was at Texas State. The other was at Texas A&M. And, of course, there have been numerous other cases around the country."
.
.
Readings and Resources
.
.
Ashley Smith, Against the New McCarthyism
https://tempestmag.org/2025/09/against-the-new-mccarthyism/
.
.
United States: Texas State Terminates Alter, National Campaign Fights Back
https://lis-isl.org/en/2025/10/united-states-texas-state-terminates-alter-national-campaign-fight-back/
.
.
Alan Wald Homepage
https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/alan-wald-homepage/
.
.
Bill Keach, Rehabilitating McCarthyism
https://tempestmag.org/2025/10/rehabilitating-mccarthyism/
#43: Listen Even If You Don't Want To: COVID-19, Health and Politics Today
Victor's Children
58 minutes 54 seconds
1 year ago
#43: Listen Even If You Don't Want To: COVID-19, Health and Politics Today
Listen Even If You Don't Want To: COVID-19, Health and Politics Today
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Over four years after the COVID-19 pandemic first swept the world, most governments are giving the disease almost no attention and most of us don't want to think about it and are acting as if "COVID is over." But the virus isn't trivial and it's still circulating on a large scale and in unpredictable ways. Socialist health researcher Sam Friedman discusses what we should we know about the disease now, how we got here, and the lessons for future pandemics.
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Readings:
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An open letter from the People's CDC https://peoplescdc.org/2024/04/10/covid-isolation-expert-sign-on-letter/
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Sam Friedman and Suzie Kay, Marxism and the U.S. Response to the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 Pandemics
https://spectrejournal.com/marxism-and-the-u-s-response-to-the-hiv-aids-and-covid-19-pandemics/
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Sam Friedman, In bird flu, capitalism is the culprit
https://tempestmag.org/2024/06/in-bird-flu-capitalism-is-the-culprit/
Victor's Children
McCarthyism and its lessons for the left today
.
.
The Trump administration's repressive moves have sparked talk of a "new McCarthyism" so this episode presents an interview with Alan Wald about McCarthyism -- the "Second Red Scare" in the US in the late 1940s and 1950s -- and its lessons for the left in our time.
.
UPDATE - Helpful clarification from one of our listeners on information mentioned in this episode's intro: "Of the two recent faculty firings in Texas, only one of them (Tom Alter’s case) was at Texas State. The other was at Texas A&M. And, of course, there have been numerous other cases around the country."
.
.
Readings and Resources
.
.
Ashley Smith, Against the New McCarthyism
https://tempestmag.org/2025/09/against-the-new-mccarthyism/
.
.
United States: Texas State Terminates Alter, National Campaign Fights Back
https://lis-isl.org/en/2025/10/united-states-texas-state-terminates-alter-national-campaign-fight-back/
.
.
Alan Wald Homepage
https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/alan-wald-homepage/
.
.
Bill Keach, Rehabilitating McCarthyism
https://tempestmag.org/2025/10/rehabilitating-mccarthyism/
