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. . . Readings and Resources . . Ashley Smith, Against the New McCarthyism https://tempestmag.org/2025/09/against-the-new-mccarthyism/ . . United States: Judge Rules for Tom Alter as Battle Against University Continues https://lis-isl.org/en/2025/09/united-states-judge-rules-for-tom-alter-as-battle-against-university-continues/ . . Alan Wald Homepage https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/alan-wald-homepage/ . . Bill Keach, Rehabilitating McCarthyism https://tempestmag.org/2025/10/rehabilitating-mccarthyism/

Defying the Law: The Air Canada Strike & How Labour Law Restricts Strikes and What Workers Can Do About It, w/ A King and D Camfield . . The historic law-defying strike by Air Canada flight attendants August 16-19 caught the attention of many people in the Canadian state and beyond. In the first part of this episode, David interviews Adam King about the strike and questions it raises. This is followed by a public talk (planned before the flight attendants' strike) David gave in Winnipeg on August 26, presented by the 1919 Workers' Collective, about the history of state restrictions on workers' freedom to strike, their impact, workers' defiance of these restrictions, and what conclusions people who want a powerful working-class movement should draw from this history. The talk was entitled "Against the Law? How Labour Law Restricts Strikes and What Workers Can Do About It." David's talk begins at 59:23. . . Adam King's article on the AC strike: Air Canada Flight Attendants Have Made Labour History https://www.readthemaple.com/air-canada-flight-attendants-have-made-labour-history . . Article by former flight attendant Ann Hui in the Globe And Mail mentioned in this episode (paywalled): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-air-canada-flight-attendant-job-experience-labour-unpaid-work/ . . Use Promo code "RF15" until Oct. 19, 2025 to receive a 15% discount when ordering David's book, Red Flags, here: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/red-flags

Taiwan: What the Left Needs to Know . . Taiwan is a flashpoint for US-China rivalry so radicals internationally need to be able to see through the misleading views about Taiwan spread by both Western and Chinese rulers to develop a consistently internationalist anti-imperialist approach. Ralf Ruckus, who discussed China today on episode 11 of this podcast, returns with an introduction to Taiwanese society and politics. . . To learn more: . Ralf Ruckus, "What Everyone on the Left Should Know about Taiwan (at the Minimum) https://spectrejournal.com/what-everyone-on-the-left-should-know-about-taiwan-at-the-minimum/ . An interview with Taiwanese leftist Brian Hioe https://therealnews.com/taiwans-future-will-shape-the-whole-global-economy-will-taiwanese-people-have-a-say-in-that-future . Some Taiwanese sources: https://tiwa.org.tw . https://www.spa.org.tw . https://newbloommag.net . https://eventsinfocus.org . https://sites.google.com/site/peaceforthesea/home

Anti-Racism, Class and History w/ David Roediger . . . Historian David Roediger discusses some of the people who've influenced him, white workers and Black struggles in the U.S., and some aspects of anti-racist theory and politics today. . . David Roediger's new memoir An Ordinary White: My Antiracist Education https://www.fordhampress.com/9781531509583/an-ordinary-white/ An adapted excerpt from the book is available here: https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/blogs/news/critical-studies-of-whiteness-an-autobiographical-defence . . In the episode David Camfield mentions this article: Kim Moody, "Cedric Johnson and the Other Sixties Nostalgia" https://newpol.org/cedric-johnson-and-the-other-sixties-nostalgia/ . . Related to an issue that comes up in the interview: David Camfield, "The PMC Does Not Exist and Why It Matters for Socialists" https://newpol.org/the-pmc-does-not-exist-and-why-it-matters-for-socialists/

The Right, Unions and the Working Class . . Right-wing politics are gaining support in the working class and within unions in so-called Canada. . What's happening and how can we fight it more effectively? Steven Tufts and a CUPE member discuss. . . An article worth reading: Martin Lukacs, How Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives seduced working-class voters https://breachmedia.ca/how-pierre-poilievres-conservatives-seduced-working-class-voters/ . If you listen to the end of the episode, there's a discount code you can use to order David's book Red Flags anywhere in the world from Fernwood Publishing. The code will be valid until mid-September 2025. . instagram @ victors_children

Todd Gordon and Jeff Webber join David on a deep dive into understanding the far right, including fascism, as a phenomenon of capitalist society. The interview was recorded on April 13, 2025. . In this episode, Todd and Jeff discuss ideas they develop in a book they're writing. If you have access to the print edition or subscriber-only online access to the journal Spectre, you can read their article in issue 8 (2023), “The Authoritarian Disposition: Capitalism, Liberalism, Fascism." If not, they've also published this brief piece: Todd Gordon and Jeffery R. Webber: The Return of Fascism? https://www.focaalblog.com/2024/01/29/todd-gordon-and-jeffery-r-webber-the-return-of-fascism/ . Mentioned in the episode: . Thomas Hummel, "For revolutionaries, the period must be defined by the international fight against the far right" https://tempestmag.org/2025/03/for-revolutionaries-the-period-must-be-defined-by-the-international-fight-against-the-far-right/ . Topics covered (times are approximate): . capitalism and liberalism 0:06:13 . democracy 0:20:24 . the Right 0:35:36 . fascism 0:45:15 . "populism," popular front anti-fascism, and the casualization of "fascism" 1:00:10 . left strategy against the far right 1:09:32 . Brazil and Argentina 1:15:07 . Trump's second administration 1:20:50 . Canada 1:37:01

Workplace Organizing for Radicals . . Why should workplace organizing matter for the radical left? What kind of unionism should radicals try to foster? How should we go about doing it? How should people who want to do workplace organizing think about where to work for pay? An interview with two experienced activists, retired New York transit worker Steve Downs and Ontario public sector worker Katherine Grezjszczak, about these and related questions. . If you listen to the end of the episode, there's a discount code you can use to order David’s book Red Flags anywhere in the world from Fernwood Publishing. The code will be valid until mid-September 2025 . To learn more: . Secrets of a Successful Organizer, from Labor Notes https://labornotes.org/secrets . Tim Goulet, Unions and the rank and file strategy https://tempestmag.org/2023/07/unions-and-the-rank-and-file-strategy/ . Steve Downs, Hell On Wheel Pamphlet https://archive.org/details/hellonwheelpamphlet . Steve Downs, Socialist Strategies in Unions:Twenty Years in Transport Workers Union Local 100 https://solidarity-us.org/transit_working_paper/ . . Follow Victor's Children on Instagram for info on episodes, events, and more

Red Flags: A Reckoning with Communism for the Future of the Left, w/ David Camfield . . . Host as guest! Guest host Saima Desai interviews David about his new book, Red Flags. . . If you listen to the end of the episode, there's a discount code you can use to order the book anywhere in the world from Fernwood Publishing either before or after it's published. The code will be valid until mid-September 2025. . . The book's page on the Fernwood site: Red Flags: A Reckoning with Communism for the Future of the Left https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/red-flags . . People based in the US may wish to order the book from its US distributor, Columbia University Press: Red Flags | Columbia University Press https://cup.columbia.edu/book/red-flags/9781773637327 . . People in the UK and EU countries may wish to order the book from Central Books: https://www.centralbooks.com/red-flags-a-reckoning-with-communism-for-the-future-of-the.html . . David's website is Welcome to Prairie Red - Home https://www.prairiered.ca

Trump's Tariffs: How Should the Left Respond? . . . The threat of sweeping US tariffs has touched off a political crisis in the Canadian state. Todd Gordon and Mostafa Henaway discuss how the left is responding and an alternative approach. . . Suggested Reading: . Todd Gordon https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/we-need-workers-solidarity-not-national-unity-in-response-to-trumps-tariffs/ . Mostafa Henaway https://notesfrombelow.org/article/experiments-in-worker-organising-from-unite-commun

U.S. capitalism vs Chinese capitalism: What do we need to understand? . . . Economic and geopolitical competition between China and the US and other Western powers is important and is only going to become more intense in the years ahead. What do leftists most need to understand about China, and how should we orient to the rivalry between the world's most powerful capitalist societies? An interview with Eli Friedman, one of the co-authors of China in Global Capitalism. . . Recommended reading: . China in Global Capitalism https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2228-china-in-global-capitalism

A Dive into Domenico Losurdo's Western Marxism . . . The recent publication of an English translation of Western Marxism: How it was born, how it died, how it can be reborn by the Italian historian of philosophy Domenico Losurdo has received a lot of attention in parts of the Left. In this episode Joshua Nicholas Pineda joins David to discuss Losurdo and this book. Tune in for a discussion of "Western Marxism", anti-imperialism and socialism today. . . Related resources: . . Book review."Eastern Light on Western Marxism" by David Broder, New Left Review (paywall) https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii107/articles/david-broder-eastern-light-on-western-marxism . . Book. Stalinism and the Dialectics of Saturn: Anti-Communism, Marxism, and the Fate of the Soviet Union by Douglas Greene. See the appendix on Losurdo. . . Victor's Children episodes: 3, 6, 8, 11, 31, 33, 36, 40, 41, and 44 . . Preorder David's Upcoming Book, Red Flags: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/red-flags . . Spectre Journal https://spectrejournal.com

Responding to Trump's Return, w David McNally and Natalia Tylim . . . The victory of Trump and his Republican Party is obviously important not just in the USA but internationally. A lot of what's being said about why Trump won and what it means is partially or entirely wrong. This episode is about analyzing their victory and, importantly, what radicals should do in the months ahead. . . Recommended for further listening: . The genocidal returns of lesser-evilism https://tempestmag.org/2024/09/the-genocidal-returns-of-lesser-evilism/ . Democratic Dealignment w/ Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor https://thedigradio.com/podcast/democratic-dealignment-w-keeanga-yamahtta-taylor/ . A Tender Riot https://soundcloud.com/a-tender-riot

Trump vs Harris: How did the USA get here? . . The 2024 US presidential election pits a far right billionaire former president whose supporters have taken control of the Republican Party away from the conservatives whose party it once was against the outgoing Democrat vice-president who champions strengthening US imperialism and many reactionary domestic policies. How did the most powerful society within global capitalism come to be in this situation? David interviews US socialist Aaron Amaral about the history leading up to 2024. . . Recommended readings: . Charlie Post, "The New Deal and the Popular Front" https://isreview.org/issue/108/new-deal-and-popular-front/index.html . Ashley Smith, "Trapped in the Democratic Party" https://tempestmag.org/2023/08/trapped-in-the-democratic-party/ . Sam Farber, "Donald Trump, Lumpen Capitalist" https://jacobin.com/2018/10/donald-trump-lumpen-capitalist-class-elections . Dan Davison and Sacha Marten, "Trump’s danger isn’t that he’s a fascist" https://tempestmag.org/2024/05/trumps-danger-isnt-that-hes-a-fascist/ . Haley Pessin, "Defund The Police" https://tempestmag.org/2021/02/defund-the-police/

Extra: The Ukrainian-Canadian Anti-Stalinist Left in the 1970s and 80s. . . An interview with participants Chrystia Chomiak and John-Paul Himka about the Ukrainian-Canadian anti-Stalinist radical left initiatives that grew out of the radicalization of the late 1960s into the 1970s. . . Related reading: . Marko Bojcun, "Ukrainian Socialists in the Diaspora" https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukrainian-socialists-in-diaspora-lessons-on-cold-war-solidarity/

Loss, Grief and Politics Today, w/ Sarah Jaffe . . How people feel about what's happening in their lives really matters politically. On this episode David interviews Sarah Jaffe, whose new book "From the Ashes" explores grief and its politics in the world today. . . From the Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/sarah-jaffe/from-the-ashes/9781541703490/?lens=bold-type-books . https://sarahljaffe.com

How (Not) to Challenge Anti-Communism (Against Michael Parenti) & the Case of Anti-Communism in the Ukrainian Diaspora . . Anti-communism is an ideology that opposes any effort to make radical social change. Clearly, we need to challenge it. But there's more than one way of doing so. Opening thoughts about this from David are followed by an interview with historian John-Paul Himka about the case of Ukrainian-Canadians, anti-communism, and the history of Ukraine from the late 1920s on. . . Readings . Sophie Lewis, "For One Another" (review of Kristen Ghodsee's Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism) https://thenewinquiry.com/for-one-another/ . John-Paul Himka, "The Ukrainian Nation in the Time of Lenin, Hitler and Stalin" https://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/2023/07/10/the-ukrainian-nation-in-the-time-of-lenin-hitler-and-stalin/ . John-Paul Himka, "Ten Turning Points: A Brief History of Ukraine" https://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/2022/04/13/ten-turning-points-a-brief-history-of-ukraine/

Listen Even If You Don't Want To: COVID-19, Health and Politics Today . . 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. . . Readings: . An open letter from the People's CDC https://peoplescdc.org/2024/04/10/covid-isolation-expert-sign-on-letter/ . 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/ . Sam Friedman, In bird flu, capitalism is the culprit https://tempestmag.org/2024/06/in-bird-flu-capitalism-is-the-culprit/

Settler colonialism, capitalism and Indigenous liberation: An Indigenous marxist view The Palestine solidarity movement has drawn more attention to the concept of settler colonialism, which growing numbers of people have been using to name the oppression of Indigenous nations on Turtle Island. John Carlson discusses "reconciliation," the relationship between settler colonialism and capitalism, and the political implications of their deep interconnectedness. To learn more: John Carlson, The Student Encampment Movement is Part of a History of Militant Struggle Against Settler Colonialism https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/the-student-encampment-movement-is-part-of-a-history-of-militant-struggle-against-settler-colonialism/ A lot of writing by radical Indigenous authors (and more) can be found on Mike Gouldhawke's site: https://mgouldhawke.wordpress.com Links to a two-part interview with Sai Englert (author of a recent marxist book about settler colonialism), a response by Jordan Humphreys, and Englert's reply can be found here: Debate - a response on settler colonialism https://www.rs21.org.uk/2024/05/12/debate-a-response-on-settler-colonialism/ Brian Ward. Are You A Settler? https://newpol.org/issue_post/are-you-a-settler/ . David Camfield, Colonialism and the Working Class in Canada https://www.prairiered.ca/archive/colonialism-and-the-working-class-in-canada

What is Imperialism Today? More people are talking about imperialism because of the US's backing of Israel's war against Gaza and heightened rivalry between the US, China and Russia. But what is imperialism in the third decade of the 21st century? Jeff Webber and Charlie Post discuss how we should understand imperialism and its relationship to capitalism today, the need for a better theory of imperialism than those developed by marxists like Lenin a century ago, and the political implications of how we understand imperialism. If you're interested in this topic, check out other Victor's Children episodes on imperialism and anti-imperialism including episodes 31, 32, 33, 36 and 40. If you're new to the topic you may want to listen to episode 31 before this episode. Recommended reading: Todd Gordon and Jeffery R. Webber, Prelude to a New Imperial Order? – Spectre Journal https://spectrejournal.com/prelude-to-a-new-imperial-order/

Workers in the Global North: Bribed into Compliance? Why don't more workers in rich countries support radical politics? Some leftists say it's because imperialism bribes some or all workers in imperialist countries, making them a "labour aristocracy." In this episode, Charlie Post argues against this explanation, discusses how imperialism does affect the working class in these countries, and suggests a different way of understanding what shapes working-class responses to capitalism. Readings: Charlie Post, "Exploring Working-Class Consciousness: A Critique of the Theory of the ‘Labour-Aristocracy’" https://web.archive.org/web/20190225112753/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5ed0/777f248114127997056169e8c87364ec9b23.pdf