Each episode will focus on a different aspect or example of the general theme. Our kick-off frame is the awkward position that progressives find themselves in. It seems obvious, at least to a significant portion of Leftists, that “working within the Democratic Party” has to be part of any realistic strategy for making substantive, social democratic or radical change in the United States. What is far less clear is what this means practically, in terms of organization and elections. For many years, the slogan of the Left has been to work both “inside and outside” the Democratic Party. But what does that “inside” part actually look like?
The podcast project comes from our experience as progressive activists--and from the urgency of now. Dick Flacks taught sociology at UC Santa Barbara and Umiversity of Chicago for 60 years. He's of the founding generation of Students for a Democratic Society and helped write the Port Huron Statement (along with Tom Hayden and the big Lebowski). He and his late wife Mickey recntly published a memoir of their lives--political and personal. It's called MAKING HISTORY/MAKING BLINTZES: HOW TWO RED DIAPER BABIES FOUND EACH OTHER AND DISCOVERED AMERICA. He's written a lot about the American Left--most notably MAKING HISTORY: THE AMERICAN LEFT AND THE AMERICAN MIND. His weekly radio show called'The Culture of Protest' can be heard 6 pm Thursdays on www.kcsb.org.
Daraka Larimore-Hall is vice-chair of the Democratic Party of California and a political and organizational consultant working primarily for social democratic parties and trade unions abroad. A lifelong political activist, Daraka first met Dick when he was in Jr High School, and first getting involved in local progressive politics in Santa Barbara. Since then, Daraka has been a national leader and staffer for DSA, a board member of the International Union of Socialist Youth, an activist and elected officer of United Auto Workers Local 2865, as well as active in the Democratic Party at all levels. He received his PhD, supervised by Dr. Flacks, in 2013.
Per Hoel is the producer/director of our effort. Per helped found the DSA chapter in Santa Barbara in the aftermath of the Sanders campaign in 2016. He's a professional videographer and multimedia designer and works in instructional design.
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Each episode will focus on a different aspect or example of the general theme. Our kick-off frame is the awkward position that progressives find themselves in. It seems obvious, at least to a significant portion of Leftists, that “working within the Democratic Party” has to be part of any realistic strategy for making substantive, social democratic or radical change in the United States. What is far less clear is what this means practically, in terms of organization and elections. For many years, the slogan of the Left has been to work both “inside and outside” the Democratic Party. But what does that “inside” part actually look like?
The podcast project comes from our experience as progressive activists--and from the urgency of now. Dick Flacks taught sociology at UC Santa Barbara and Umiversity of Chicago for 60 years. He's of the founding generation of Students for a Democratic Society and helped write the Port Huron Statement (along with Tom Hayden and the big Lebowski). He and his late wife Mickey recntly published a memoir of their lives--political and personal. It's called MAKING HISTORY/MAKING BLINTZES: HOW TWO RED DIAPER BABIES FOUND EACH OTHER AND DISCOVERED AMERICA. He's written a lot about the American Left--most notably MAKING HISTORY: THE AMERICAN LEFT AND THE AMERICAN MIND. His weekly radio show called'The Culture of Protest' can be heard 6 pm Thursdays on www.kcsb.org.
Daraka Larimore-Hall is vice-chair of the Democratic Party of California and a political and organizational consultant working primarily for social democratic parties and trade unions abroad. A lifelong political activist, Daraka first met Dick when he was in Jr High School, and first getting involved in local progressive politics in Santa Barbara. Since then, Daraka has been a national leader and staffer for DSA, a board member of the International Union of Socialist Youth, an activist and elected officer of United Auto Workers Local 2865, as well as active in the Democratic Party at all levels. He received his PhD, supervised by Dr. Flacks, in 2013.
Per Hoel is the producer/director of our effort. Per helped found the DSA chapter in Santa Barbara in the aftermath of the Sanders campaign in 2016. He's a professional videographer and multimedia designer and works in instructional design.
#49: Talking with faculty leaders resisting the Trump assault on the University of CaliforniaProf. Jessica Taft, co-president of the Coiuncil of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA) and Prof. Charemaine Chua, CUCFA director of campus organizing, talk about the new lawsuits challenging the Trump coercive actions against UC, sponsored by a historic coalition of university based unions, CUCFA and the national AAUP. We talk about the nature of the assault on higher education, and ways to organize in response, and the episode is a chance to get to know two outstanding leaders of the rising generation of academics dedicated to democracy. Jessica Taft teaches Latin American Studies, and directs the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas at UC Santa Cruz. She's written several books about youth activism. Charmaine Chua has just joined the Geography Department at UC Berkeley, after several years teaching Global Studies at UCSB. One of her multiple current projects is a book she's co-writing on "how to beat Amazon". Daraka, who is also of the new generation, was unable, at the last minute, to be on the call. He was missed...but will be back.Music: "I'm going to say it now" by Phil Ochs
"#48: Talking History and Strategy with David DuhaldeDavid is a long tme DSA leader. He served as deputy director of DSA and as director of the DSA Fund. We invited him back to reflect on his recent article which situates DSA today within the long history of American socialist organization. Ww try to draw good lessons from the past that can help going forward.Music: "Understanding Marx" by the Economics Rock & Roll Band"
#47 Talking with JW Mason about what Zohran can accomplishJpsh Mason is an economics professor at John Jay College, CUNY and a senior fellow at Groundwork, whose recent article in Dissent provides much insight into what Mamdani, if elected, can do to advance the "democratic socialist" agenda that helped inspire his grassroots victory in the NY mayoral primary. You may be surprised by his take. It's the first of what we hope will be several podcast conversations wth participat-observers aimed at illuminating how the campaign has been organized and what it may mean.Josh blogs at The Slack Wire. (RSS feed.) You can sign up for his free email newsletter at Substack.Music: from the original cast album of Fiorello! "The Bum Won!"
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#46: Talking with Michael Podhorzer about how to understand electionsMichael recently retired as Political Director of the AFL-CIO. He's a brilliant analyst of election data and pioneered the use of data for progressive electoral strategy. His Substack site: www.weekendreading.net, where you'll find a bunch of the analysis we talk about.Subscribe to TALKING STRATEGY MAKING HISTORY AT PATREON.COM/TSMH where you can get a good deal of bonus listening opportunities, including lots of political music. The song at the end: 'The Mandate" by Charlie King
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Prof. Nelson Lichtenstein returns to talk with us about his new book, an anthology of writings about the labor movement over the last 75 years from the pages of DISSENT magazine, called LABOR'S PARTISANS, that history illuminates the current scene.
Nelson shares well informed insights' about the potentials and problems for workers organizing in this critical time.
Music: "Step by Step" performed by Charlie King and 'Annie Patterson. Support the podcast and get bonus stuff by subscribing at Patreon.com/tsmh and share.
Eric Blanc is sociologiste/labor activist whose new book WE ARE THE UNION documents the spreading efforts by workers to initiate and carry forward union organizing without dependence on professional organizers. We explore some key examples and talk about what this might promise for empowering the working class.music: "You are the U in Union" a Si Kahn Song performed by Joe Jencks
#43 Talking about class, race, identity politics & DEIDaraka and Dick critically examine a lot of the talking points and arguments in Democratic circles about how class, race, sexuality and immigration are intertwined--and offer some thoughts about how a\ democratic popular working-class majority can be built and sustained. music 'Black Brown and White Blues by Bill Broonzy
After years of legendary success as a labor and community organizer, Harley embarked on a journey to recruit and train organizers and volunteers to reach out to working-class voters in swing states. In this conversation, he reflects on this work, inspired by finding many folk ready to listen and engage.
Music: 'Step by Step" Sung by Sweet Honey in the Rock
Daraka suggests a 3 R framework for organizing and action in the coming time: REFORM, REALIGNMENT, RESISTANCE--and in this episode we describe what each of these might involve. We promise from now on to strive to be 'Grunny". To find out what we're talking about, click on.. Give us your ideas, suggestions and feedback--and subscribe at: patreon.com/tsmhMusic: Kris Kristofferson passed away in 2024. He wrote quite a few politically engaged songs. One of these, written in the 1990's seems chillingly apt right now: "Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down'. "
Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast
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"BONUS: Talking About Ethel Rosenberg with her son, Michael MeeropolFor Dick interviewed Michael Meeropol for his weekly radio show 'Culture of Protest". triggered by new evidence that Ethel Rosenberg was executed along with Julius even though the government knew she was not guilty. President Biden is being petitioned to declare her exonerated before he leaves office. The conversation illuminates the case, and the sons' experience and development.. Listen and share this revelatory episode. The petition can be found at www.rfc.org.Music: 'Julius & Ethel" by Bob Dylan. 'Strange Fruit" performed by Shirley Verrett
Jeremy Brecher 's books on social change have changed how many activists think about labor and anti-globalization movements.
On Dick Flacks' long running radio show he etalksabout his just published book: THE GREEN NEW DEAL FROM BELOW., and we've added this conversation to our podcast series.
Do you know about the Liliput Strategy? To comment on this or other episodes, go to patreon.com/tsmhmusic: Iris Dement, 'Working on a World"
"n which Daraka and Dick talk about the most important things Left activists should learn from the election results and what we need to figure out. Can we imagine a Democratic Party that's intersectional and working class? Music: 'What We Want" by Joe Hill (on the 109th anniversary of his execution) performed by the Shelby Bottom duo
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Harold Meyerson is editor at large of Americn Prospect, Formerly a columnist forrthe Washington Post and the LA Times, a much respected reporter on the labor movement, the Demoratic Partty and California politics.
He was one of the founders of DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) and we talk to him abut the Demoratic conventions of 2024, 1968 and 1980 (all of which he atttended) --and much else.
Music: Keb Mo, PUT A WOMAN IN CHARGE
Historian Maurice Isserman’s new book: Reds: The Tragedy of American Communism helps us think about how the organized left ought to be organized. We talk about the past’s relevance to the present; Maurice, like us, is an activist, vitally concerned with building a Left that’s democratic and effective. The episode ends with the voice of Swedish singer-songwriter Molly Nilssen. It’s a track on her just released CD, Unamerican Activiities. The track is called “American Communist Party”
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Phyllis Bennis is a unique left journalist, having dedicated her life's work to reporting from the UN and helping the antiwar movements understand international law and diplomacy. She's a long time activist for Palestinian justice, a fellow at the Institute for Policy 'studies, and international advisor for Jewish 'voice for Peace. And an alumna of UC Santa Barbara.
Muisc: David Rovics "This is Genocide"
Daraka & Dick engage with Vladidas Khaykin, anti-semitism specialist with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), abd Matthew Finkelstein, co-founder, Progressive Zionists of California. They spell out their experience of leftwing anti-semitism and we all try to define a common ground for a just peace.closing music: David Broza "Yiyeh Tov (It will be better)"
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#35 Talking with Sherene Seikaly, Palestine ScholarDaraka and Dick converse with one of the leading Palestinian intellectuals in academia. It was an enlightening and heart-wrenching encounter for us--and perhaps you'll feel that as well.Music: Jerusalem Youth Choir: 'A Different Way"
A conversation with Rosie, a media spokesperson for the Palestinian solidarity encampment at UC Santa Barbara. We talk about why and how she's engaged, the impact of the protest on campus, how participants respond to concerns about anti-semitism, and how she defines the movement's goals. We learned a lot.
Music: Phil Ochs: "I;m gonna say itn now" Declan Griffin is our producer.
Daraka and Dick use the current Columbia student protests as a springboard for examining the way efforts to control the student movement are threatening the framework of campus democracy and free expression--and how and why 'anti-semitism' labelling is being weaponized. Are there ways out of this mess?closing song: 'it Isn't Nice" by Malvina Reynolds, sung by Barbara Dane & the Chambers Brothers
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A conversation with Murad "Moe" Samara, Palestinian American Democratic Party leader, Moe is an envirnmental scientist, ather of five, and a signifiant voice in Sacramento politics. He describes the gap between the Biden adminIstration and Arab American and youth Democratic Party activists, expressing hope for a war ending poicy, and fear if there isn't.
Closing music: David Rovics "if a Song Could Raise an Army
Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast
Each episode will focus on a different aspect or example of the general theme. Our kick-off frame is the awkward position that progressives find themselves in. It seems obvious, at least to a significant portion of Leftists, that “working within the Democratic Party” has to be part of any realistic strategy for making substantive, social democratic or radical change in the United States. What is far less clear is what this means practically, in terms of organization and elections. For many years, the slogan of the Left has been to work both “inside and outside” the Democratic Party. But what does that “inside” part actually look like?
The podcast project comes from our experience as progressive activists--and from the urgency of now. Dick Flacks taught sociology at UC Santa Barbara and Umiversity of Chicago for 60 years. He's of the founding generation of Students for a Democratic Society and helped write the Port Huron Statement (along with Tom Hayden and the big Lebowski). He and his late wife Mickey recntly published a memoir of their lives--political and personal. It's called MAKING HISTORY/MAKING BLINTZES: HOW TWO RED DIAPER BABIES FOUND EACH OTHER AND DISCOVERED AMERICA. He's written a lot about the American Left--most notably MAKING HISTORY: THE AMERICAN LEFT AND THE AMERICAN MIND. His weekly radio show called'The Culture of Protest' can be heard 6 pm Thursdays on www.kcsb.org.
Daraka Larimore-Hall is vice-chair of the Democratic Party of California and a political and organizational consultant working primarily for social democratic parties and trade unions abroad. A lifelong political activist, Daraka first met Dick when he was in Jr High School, and first getting involved in local progressive politics in Santa Barbara. Since then, Daraka has been a national leader and staffer for DSA, a board member of the International Union of Socialist Youth, an activist and elected officer of United Auto Workers Local 2865, as well as active in the Democratic Party at all levels. He received his PhD, supervised by Dr. Flacks, in 2013.
Per Hoel is the producer/director of our effort. Per helped found the DSA chapter in Santa Barbara in the aftermath of the Sanders campaign in 2016. He's a professional videographer and multimedia designer and works in instructional design.
