1Dime Radio

Tony of 1Dime

1Dime Radio is a podcast about politics, philosophy, theory, history, and political economy hosted by Tony, a political theorist and founder of the YouTube channel "1Dime."
For access to the Patreon exclusive episodes (The Backroom podcast), become a Patron: thttps://www.patreon.com/OneDime

Play

Open in

23 episodes
weekly
Avg 1 hr 30 min
English

Episodes 23

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

Tuesday · 2 hr 12 min
The Post-Woke Age?: Mamdani, AI Job Loss, & the "Vibe Shift"
Get access to The Backroom, with 100+ exclusive episodes of 1Dime Radio, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime This is an Elleven Labs voice-over of an essay I released a while ago on my Substack titled "The Post-Woke Age: Making Sense of Mamdani, AI Job Loss and the 'Vibe Shift“ A Post-Woke Age,” (Part 3 of my Genealogy of Wokeism series). In this essay, I argue that the Fourth Awokening is exhausting itself while AI-driven white-collar displacement could produce a Fifth Awokening through a broader crisis of elite overproduction. I also examine the return of class politics, the appeal of neoreaction, whether a “woke right” really exists, Zohran Mamdani’s rise, the left’s inability to learn from defeat, and the political trajectory of the Palestine movement. Read the written essay: https://1dimereview.substack.com/p/the-next-awokening You can listen to 1Dime Radio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Timestamps: 0:00 The Post-Woke Age 7:46 Is Woke Dead, or Is It Coming Back? 14:00 The Vibe Shift 19:47 AI and the Fifth Awokening 26:52 Elite Overproduction in STEM 32:59 The FIRE Industries and Bullshit Jobs 34:41 Blue-Collar Workers and the Producer Class 44:12 The Appeal of Neoreaction 46:52 Is There a Woke Right? 52:48 Rise of Class Politics Across Left and Right 55:46 Don’t Mess With the Zohran 1:08:59 Why Mamdani Won 1:13:39 It’s Not Just Optics. It’s About Truth 1:16:43 Anti-Left Propaganda Works Because Leftists Are the Propaganda 1:21:56 Why the Left Is Slow to Learn 1:28:19 Israel and Palestine 1:35:39 Bibliography/Footnotes FOLLOW 1Dime: 1Dime Radio YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@1dimeradio Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/ Main 1Dime YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give 1Dime Radio a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
#157
August 21 · 1 hr 27 min
Marxism vs Elite Theory (Ft. Chris Cutrone)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: [https://www.patreon.com/OneDime](https://www.patreon.com/OneDime) In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined by Chris Cutrone, founder of the Platypus Affiliated Society, to debate the professional-managerial class, elite theory, and whether either offers a better explanation of today’s left than Marxism. Taking Cutrone’s essay “Was Lenin PMC?” as our starting point, we clash over the 20% versus 80% framework, liberal democracy, managerialism, the role of intellectuals in socialist politics, and what Marxism is actually for in the absence of a proletarian socialist movement. In the Patreon-exclusive Backroom, we move from history into strategy: whether a viable class coalition must extend beyond the proletariat, why Marxism still matters, whether Cutrone is really as Marxist as he claims, and why most self-described Marxists have no real commitment to communism. We also turn to the Graham Platner fiasco, the culture of #MeToo, and some characteristically hot takes from Cutrone. You can listen to 1Dime Radio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Timestamps: 0:00 The Backroom Preview: Graham Platner and #MeToo 4:12 1Dime Radio Intro 5:10 Marxism vs. Elite Theory 13:42 The 20% vs. the 80% 18:15 Is the Left Actually Left? 22:50 Marxism and Liberal Democracy 30:01 What Elite Theory Explains 36:34 Theory, Strategy, and Practice 41:03 The Synthetic Left and Family Abolition 51:26 Marxism as the Critique of Socialism 59:20 Intellectuals, Class, and the PMC 66:15 Elite Overproduction and Academia 74:16 What Is Marxism For? 78:28 In What Sense Is Cutrone a Marxist? 1:25:48 Join Us in The Backroom GUEST: Chris Cutrone | Founder of the Platypus Affiliated Society * Chris Cutrone’s website: [https://chriscutrone.platypus1917.org/](https://chriscutrone.platypus1917.org/) * Platypus Affiliated Society: [https://platypus1917.org/](https://platypus1917.org/) * “Was Lenin PMC?”: [https://www.sublationmag.com/post/was-lenin-pmc-how-elite-theory-doesn-t-fit-the-movement-for-socialism](https://www.sublationmag.com/post/was-lenin-pmc-how-elite-theory-doesn-t-fit-the-movement-for-socialism) FOLLOW 1Dime: * 1Dime Radio YouTube channel: [https://youtube.com/@1dimeradio](https://youtube.com/@1dimeradio) * Substack: [https://1dimereview.substack.com/](https://1dimereview.substack.com/) * X/Twitter: [https://x.com/1DimeOfficial](https://x.com/1DimeOfficial) * Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/](https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/) * Main 1Dime YouTube channel: [https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee](https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee) Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give 1Dime Radio a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
August 19 · 1 hr 49 min
The Culture War is The Class War: A Theory of the Two Lefts
Get access to The Backroom, with 100+ exclusive episodes of 1Dime Radio, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime This episode is an ElevenLabs voice-over of my essay “The Culture War IS the Class War: A Theory of the Two Lefts,” the fourth and final essay in my Genealogy of Wokeism series, originally published on my Substack. The essay challenges the familiar claim that the culture war is merely a distraction from the class war. Instead, I argue that the culture war is one arena of class conflict, driven by elite overproduction and an internal division between two increasingly incompatible lefts: a class-first left committed to universal economic transformation and a woke cultural left rooted in the professional-managerial class. Using the Bernie Sanders campaigns of 2016 and 2020—including the defining confrontation at his 2015 Seattle rally—as case studies, I examine the left-unity trap, pseudo-radicalism, institutional capture, K–12 education, gender politics, and the tendency of post-woke leftists to dismiss live cultural conflicts as fringe distractions. The essay argues that a serious working-class politics cannot succeed by ignoring these conflicts or indefinitely accommodating the faction that dominates the left’s institutional terrain. You can listen to 1Dime Radio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Timestamps: 0:00 The Culture War IS the Class War: A Theory of the Two Lefts 2:12 Memory-Holing Wokeism 7:44 Culture War Is Class War 13:54 The Lesson of Bernie Sanders, 2016–2020 16:17 The Day Sanders Stood Still 34:19 The Left’s Civil War 41:26 A Theory of the Two Lefts 51:37 The Left Unity Trap 53:24 The Hard Truth Most Old Leftists Don’t Want to Admit 56:26 How Pseudo-Radicalism Masks the Divide Between the Two Lefts 1:05:37 If Wokeism Is So Fringe, Then Why Doesn’t the Left Reject It? 1:09:29 Wokeism as a Paper Tiger 1:12:28 Why Accommodating Woke Fails 1:15:39 What Is to Be Done? 1:18:23 The Correct Answer to “Throwing Minorities Under the Bus” 1:28:49 Nothing to See Here, Folks. Turning a Blind Eye. 1:29:56 K–12 Radicalism and Gender/Race Education Revolution 1:31:40 The Gender Wars Were Waged by the Wokes and Rejected by the Right 1:36:47 Why Ignoring Culture War Enables Wokeism 1:38:16 “No War but Class War” Is a Lazy Cop-Out 1:41:30 What Discourse Is For 1:45:42 Conclusion: The Class War Is Inseparable from the Culture War FOLLOW 1Dime: 1Dime Radio YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@1dimeradio Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/ Main 1Dime YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give 1Dime Radio a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
#156
August 7 · 1 hr 4 min
Beyond Left Populism (Ft. Daniel Tutt)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined by philosopher and writer Daniel Tutt, who recently co-authored the book The People Are Not One: Socialist Strategy After Left Populism. We discuss why left populism failed, whether socialism can avoid populism, Bernie Sanders and the problem of recuperation, Trump and Bonapartism, the difference between populism and democracy, working-class “common sense,” Gramsci vs. Machiavelli, and the widening class divide between the contemporary left and the people it claims to represent. There are two Patreon-exclusive Backroom episodes this week: one titled“Strategizing the Class War” and one titled“Culture War As Class War,”Daniel and I continue the debate over what a serious class politics would actually look like. We get into the PMC and the “cultural apartheid” between classes, immigration, welfare and lumpenization, rentierism and private property, Christopher Lasch, DSA and woke politics, and whether the contemporary left can be reformed from within or is already locked in a civil war over what socialism is supposed to be. You can listen to 1Dime Radio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Timestamps: 0:00 The Backroom Preview 6:15 Populism vs Marxism 11:13 Recuperation, Bonapartism, and Trump 19:52 Bernie Sanders and the Failure of Left Populism 16:51 Populism As a Style Vs as an Ideology 29:11 Populism vs. Democracy 35:53 Common Sense, Gramsci, and Machiavelli 43:04 Who Are the Common People? 51:55 Why Marxism Attracts Intellectuals 55:11 DSA, Culture War, & Immigration 1:00:02 Rebuilding Class Politics 1:02:16 Transition to The Backroom GUEST: Daniel Tutt | Philosopher, writer, host of Emancipations, and co-author of The People Are Not One: Socialist Strategy After Left Populism Website: https://danieltutt.com/ The People Are Not One: https://www.revolpress.com/people-not-one Emancipations: https://www.youtube.com/@emancipations FOLLOW 1Dime: 1Dime Radio YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@1dimeradio Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/ Main 1Dime YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give 1Dime Radio a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
#155
July 31 · 1 hr 45 min
Why Not Marxism? (Ft. Benjamin Studebaker)
Get access to The Backroom, with 100+ exclusive episodes of 1Dime Radio, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime This special bonus episode of 1Dime Radio is a rare public release of a conversation previously available only through The Backroom, my Patreon-exclusive podcast. I sit down with political theorist Benjamin Studebaker to challenge assumptions on the far left about Marxism, communism, class, and revolution, from the decline of the organized working class and the rise of rentier capitalism to Marxism’s missing theory of politics, the failures of one-party states, China’s relationship to the world system, and the fantasy of world revolution. This public release contains the first half of our three-and-a-half-hour conversation and ends just as we turn to the dictatorship of the proletariat. Patrons can hear the full discussion in The Backroom. You can listen to 1Dime Radio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Timestamps: 0:00 Preview: How Capitalism Ruins the Elite 2:37 Intro 3:35 Are We Marxists? 10:43 Middle Capitalism and the New Class Structure 25:14 Labor vs. the Vulnerable 30:27 What Marxism Gets Right About Capitalism 37:36 Marxism’s Moral and Political Blind Spot 46:45 Needs, Consumer Goods, and Soviet Collapse 54:38 False Needs, Christianity, and the Internet 1:03:09 Pessimism, Accelerationism, and Anti-Imperialism 1:06:05 Why Not Communism? 1:12:01 Can Politics Exist Without the State? 1:16:21 China, the WTO, and the Limits of Socialist Power 1:25:01 Can Internationalism Avoid Imperialism? 1:40:22 Socialist Geopolitics and the Burden of Proof 1:43:17 Hear the Full Conversation on Patreon 1:44:25 The True Test of a Revolution GUEST: Benjamin Studebaker: political theorist and author of Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies Website: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/ Substack: https://bmstudebaker.substack.com/ Political Theory 101: https://soundcloud.com/benjamin-studebaker FOLLOW 1Dime: 1Dime Radio YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@1dimeradio Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/ Main 1Dime YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give 1Dime Radio a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
#154
July 28 · 1 hr 58 min
The Geneology of Wokeism by Tony of 1Dime
This is a complete audio voiceover recording of my essay on “The Genealogy of Wokeism.” The essay provides a complete history of what people call "wokeness" and develops a new theory of how to define it. The original essay was first published on my ⁠Substack⁠, 1Dime Review: It was also published by the New Centre for Research & Practice: ⁠https://tripleampersand.org/the-genealogy-of-wokeism/⁠ Part Two of “The Genealogy of Wokeism” has also been published on my Substack the New Centre for Research & Practice. This recording is presented as a long-form audio essay for those who prefer to listen rather than read. Subscribe for more audio essays, political theory, intellectual history, cultural criticism, and long-form analysis. Timestamps: 0:00 The Genealogy of Wokeism, Part One 5:59 The Etymology of Wokeism 8:01 Defining Wokeism 20:00 Who Are the Woke People and Where Did They Come From? 21:35 The Professional Managerial Class and the Symbolic Capitalists 28:37 The Symbolic Capitalists 32:59 Wokeism Beyond the Professional Managerial Class 35:19 Totemic Capital, Victimhood as Status Currency 40:47 Leftist versus Liberal Wokeism 45:49 Elite Overproduction: The Economics of Wokeism 46:36 What Changed? Since 2010? 49:37 The First Awokening, 1920s to 1930s 56:36 The Second Awokening, 1960s to 1970s 59:14 The Civil Rights Movement Was Not Woke 1:02:59 Wokeism versus the Silent Majority 1:07:42 The Third Awokening and the '80s Culture Wars 1:11:06 The Origin of Political Correctness 1:17:00 Action Precedes Reaction: What Liberals and Leftists Don't Get About Culture Wars 1:21:10 The Fourth Awokening, 2011 to 2020s 1:23:10 The Missing Piece: What My Theory Adds 1:27:25 The Connection Between Wokeism, Political Correctness, and Cancel Culture 1:30:31 Wokeism and Narcissism 1:34:23 Typical Examples of Wokeism 1:37:01 Are Identity Politics Always Woke? 1:43:25 Was Woke Co-opted? The Elite Capture Excuse 1:45:31 Wokeism's Anti-Political Character 1:48:50 From Hyperpolarization to Depoliticization 1:55:07 Footnotes/Sources Cited FOLLOW 1Dime: 1Dime Radio YouTube channel: ⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@1dimeradio⁠⁠ Substack: ⁠⁠https://1dimereview.substack.com/⁠⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/1DimeOfficial⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/⁠⁠ Main 1Dime YouTube channel: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee⁠⁠ Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give 1Dime Radio a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
#153
July 24 · 1 hr 2 min
The Old Left vs The DSA Today (Ft Jack Ross)
Get access to The Backroom, with 100+ exclusive episodes of 1Dime Radio, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined by Jack Ross, an independent historian, acquisitions editor at Sublation Media, and author of The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History and The Strange Death of American Exceptionalism. We compare today’s DSA with America’s Old Left, recovering the forgotten non-communist and anti-communist socialist tradition of Norman Thomas, A. Philip Randolph, and Bayard Rustin while discussing DSA 2.0, Zohran Mamdani, the Old Left–New Left rupture, the Popular Front, Cold War liberalism, Stalinism, the CCP, Hasan Piker, and the crisis of the contemporary online left. In the Patreon-exclusive Backroom, we discuss Jack’s theses on Trotskyism and neoconservatism, the infamous Trotskyist-to-neoconservative pipeline, and the complicated history of Jewish anti-Zionism, American Zionism, and Zionism more broadly. You can listen to 1Dime Radio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Timestamps: 0:00 Backroom Preview: Tankies and American Socialism 2:36 Intro 3:34 Jack Ross and America’s Old Left 15:07 Anti-Communist Socialists and DSA 2.0 26:13 Norman Thomas, the New Left, and the Popular Front 35:38 Woke Left, Stalinists, and Cold War Liberalism 45:19 McCarthyism, Foreign Influence, and the CCP 50:16 Hasan Piker and the Crisis of the Online Left GUEST: Jack Ross, independent historian, acquisitions editor at Sublation Media, and author of The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History, The Strange Death of American Exceptionalism, and Rabbi Outcast: Elmer Berger and American Jewish Anti-Zionism The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History: https://sublationmedia.com/product/the-socialist-party-of-america-a-complete-history/ The Strange Death of American Exceptionalism: https://sublationmedia.com/product/the-strange-death-of-american-exceptionalism/ Theses on Trotskyism and Neoconservatism: https://nonzionism.com/p/theses-on-trotskyism-and-neoconservatism Sublation Media: https://sublationmedia.com/ FOLLOW 1Dime: 1Dime Radio YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@1dimeradio Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/ Main 1Dime YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Outro Music by Karl Casey Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give 1Dime Radio a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
#152
July 17 · 1 hr 23 min
The Post-Left (Ft. Theory Underground)
Get access to The Backroom, with 100+ exclusive episodes of 1Dime Radio, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined by David McKerracher, founder of ⁨@theory_underground⁩ and author of *Timenergy*, to ask whether the post-left can finally be theorized beyond a dead internet scene, a vague political identity, or a euphemism for moving right. We discuss our upcoming book *Post-Left Theory*, the left as a master signifier, the post-left as a frontier rather than an ideology, the leftist industrial complex, the limits of anti-woke and PMC critique, why Marxism does not resolve the left’s impasse, and the possibility of recovering community and the good life beyond the political duopoly. We also preview TUCON 2026 and CanonFest, taking place at McKerracher Family Farm in Northern Idaho from August 26–31. Get tickets and see the full schedule here: https://canontcg.com/canonfest In the Patreon-exclusive Backroom, we ask why not move right, explain why neither Dave nor I are right-wingers, and discuss why recognizing the post-left impasse does not require joining the political right. You can listen to 1Dime Radio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Timestamps: 0:00 Backroom Preview: Why Post-Left Does Not Mean Right 2:56 Intro 3:53 TUCON 2026 and Post-Left Theory 16:50 What Is the Post-Left? 25:55 The Post-Left Is not an Ideology 39:34 The Leftist Industrial Complex 51:00 Where Anti-Woke Critiques Fall Short 1:05:21 Why Not Just Marxism? 1:21:31 Why We Aren't Rightists (Continued in The Backroom, on Patreon) GUEST: David McKerracher, founder of Theory Underground, author of *Timenergy*, and chief editor of *Underground Theory* * Theory Underground: https://theoryunderground.com/ * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theory_underground * Substack: https://theoryunderground.substack.com/ * Underground Theory, Volume 2, featuring essays by Tony and Dave: https://www.amazon.ca/Underground-Theory-TIMENERGY-I-EDUCATION-ebook/dp/B0G19L25B4 * TUCON 2026 / CanonFest TICKETS: https://canontcg.com/canonfest FOLLOW 1Dime: * Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ * X: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/ * Main 1Dime YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Give 1Dime Radio a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
#151
July 10 · 1 hr 20 min
Human Nature and The Left (Ft. What is Politics?)
Get access to The Backroom, with 100+ exclusive episodes of 1Dime Radio, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined by Daniel Bitton from the YouTube channel What Is Politics?, a YouTube channel that uses anthropology, political theory, and evolutionary psychology to explain the basic questions most political discourse skips over: what is politics, what are left and right, where does hierarchy come from, and what does human nature actually tell us about socialism? We discuss David Graeber and David Wengrow’s The Dawn of Everything, the “noble savage” myth, hunter-gatherer egalitarianism, why human beings are neither angels nor devils, how material conditions shape power, the difference between democratic hierarchy and domination, why Leninism failed, how left-wing ideas get captured by a new clergy class, and why the terms “left” and “right” have become so confused that they may now obscure more than they reveal. There are two Backroom episodes from this conversation this week. In Part 1, we get into Canadian immigration, the new clergy, socially conservative leftism, wokeism and cancel culture, Iran, Zionism, Palestinian history, and the way anti-imperialism can collapse into third-world campism. In Part 2, we go deeper into desire, decay, democracy, dating apps, monogamy, the family, IQ, education, Enlightenment racism, political theology, property, and the limits of far-left projects. Timestamps: 0:00 The Backroom Preview 03:16 Introduction 07:50 Graeber & Anthropology on The Left 21:58 Egalitarianism vs Hierarchy, Communism, Cults & Charismatic Authority 42:36 Delegated Power and Equality 47:46 What Is Politics? 50:39 The Distribution of Power 54:17 The New Clergy Class 01:05:40 Conservative vs Liberal is not Left vs Right 01:13:24 The Backroom Preview GUEST: Daniel / What Is Politics? YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WHATISPOLITICS69 FOLLOW 1Dime: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/ Main channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, comment your thoughts, and subscribe to 1Dime Radio.
#150
July 3 · 1 hr 9 min
AI Girlfriends, Sex Robots, and the Future of Love (Ft. Isabel Millar)
Get access to 100+ exclusive episodes on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/OneDimeThis bonus episode of 1Dime Radio was originally released as a Patreon-only Backroom exclusive, but I decided to make it public to give listeners a taste of what patrons get access to in The Backroom.In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Isabel Millar, author of *The Psychoanalysis of Artificial Intelligence*, for a conversation about AI girlfriends, sex robots, dating apps, psychoanalysis, feminism, gender, and love in the age of artificial intelligence.We discuss why AI girlfriends and AI boyfriends are becoming more popular, why this phenomenon cannot simply be reduced to loneliness, and how digital romance exposes something strange about ordinary relationships themselves. Drawing on Lacan, Baudrillard, and Badiou, we explore fantasy, desire, the gaze, sexual difference, dysphoria, sex work, the commodification of the body, and whether AI can ever truly replace human intimacy.We also get into dating apps, algorithmic matchmaking, the fantasy of the perfect partner, Bonnie Blue, sex positivity, the disappearance of eroticism, and whether AI chatbots could ever function as therapists or psychoanalysts.Listen to 1Dime Radio on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms.Timestamps:0:00 Why AI Girlfriends Are Happening So Fast2:56 OneDime Radio Intro3:54 Welcome to The Backroom5:00 Lacan, Sex, and Enjoyment11:44 Baudrillard and the Obscene15:14 Does the Female Gaze Exist?19:42 Femininity as Performance21:40 Dysphoria, Gender, and Subjectivity29:47 Motherhood and the Overcoded Body33:26 Bonnie Blue, Sex Bots, and Capitalism42:25 Sex Work and Sex Positivity46:27 AI Girlfriends and Romantic Fantasy54:09 Dating Apps and Algorithmic Arranged Marriage56:59 Badiou: Love as an Event59:08 Can AI Replace Therapy?1:06:40 Isabel’s Forthcoming WorkGUEST: Dr. Isabel MillarBook: *The Psychoanalysis of Artificial Intelligence*https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-67981-3FOLLOW 1DIME:X: https://x.com/1DimeOfficialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1DimeeSubstack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/
#149
June 26 · 1 hr 46 min
Did Trump Defy Israel? Iran, Cuba & "The Epstein Regime" (Ft. Benjamin Studebaker)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined once again by Benjamin Studebaker to discuss the new Iran deal, the growing rift between the United States and Israel, and what this all reveals about American power, Israeli leverage, and the limits of elite theory. We break down why the so-called Iran deal is really a memorandum of understanding, whether Trump has effectively recreated the Obama Iran deal after a disastrous war, why Israel is so angry about the terms, and whether the United States can actually discipline Israel when it comes to Lebanon, Hezbollah, and the broader regional conflict. From there, we zoom out into the realpolitik behind the U.S.-Israel alliance, the history of Israel’s strategic function in the Middle East, nuclear weapons, Palestine, the Gulf states, and the international pressure behind the Islamabad Accords. We then turn to Cuba’s sudden market reforms, the collapse of Cuba’s external support, Venezuela, China, Vietnam, North Korea, and why so many Western leftists turn foreign regimes into fantasy objects of anti-imperialist spectatorship. In The Backroom, this week’s bonus discussion is split into two exclusive episodes. In the first, Ben and I have a cordial debate about the narrative of the so-called Epstein regime, Israel, conspiracy thinking, and whether there is a rational kernel of truth in some conspiratorial interpretations of politics. In the second, we continue into elite theory, scapegoating, and why elites may not actually be as powerful, coordinated, or all-controlling as people often imagine. Timestamps: 0:00 The Backroom Preview: “The Elites” Aren’t That Smart 3:43 The Iran Peace Deal, Israel, Cuba 6:13 A Massive L For the USA and Israel? 14:11 Regime Change Fail & Trump’s Midterm chances 22:10 Israel Doesn’t Control the USA 30:36 Can the U.S. Discipline Israel? 39:33 The Necessity of a One State Solution 43:03 Did Israel Drag America In the War? 50:17 Lebanon & the Iran Deal’s Weak Spot 1:02:02 The Islamabad Accords 1:11:04 Cuba’s Market Reform Shock 1:25:22 The Truth about Cuban Socialism 1:34:32 Anti-Imperialism & Spectator Politics 1:39:36 Conspiracies & Elite Theory 1:44:51 “The Epstein Regime” Narrative (The Backroom Transition) GUEST Benjamin Studebaker Political theorist and author of Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies Substack: https://substack.com/@bmstudebaker X/Twitter: https://x.com/BMStudebaker Website: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/ Buy Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-legitimacy-in-liberal-democracies.html Affordable paperback now available for $24.95. FOLLOW 1DIME X: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyof1dime/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee My Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime #IranDeal #IsraelIranWar #USIsraelRelations Make sure to like, comment, subscribe, and hit the bell for more 1Dime Radio episodes on politics, philosophy, history, economics, and geopolitics.
#148
June 5 · 1 hr 56 min
Are America and Russia Losing Their Wars? (Ft. Benjamin Studebaker)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime Benjamin Studebaker joins me on 1Dime Radio for another episode in our regular series of wide-ranging conversations. This time we get into the geopolitical situations in Iran, Ukraine, and Cuba, asking whether the U.S. and Russia are both stuck in wars they cannot neatly win. We analyze how Iran’s power structure has changed, what Ukraine’s drone strategy signals about the war with Russia, and how North American energy business interests fit into the picture. We also touch on Cuba’s demographic pressures, the influence of the “success” of the Venezuela action, and the limits of the U.S. legislative system. In The Backroom on Patreon, Studebaker and I dig into a simple, yet highly nuanced question: what is politics, actually? What does it mean to DO politics? What makes something, or someone, political? When is something politics, and when is it not? What is the difference between Politics as usual, administration, and real politics? What differentiates Politics from social justice activism? Timestamps: 00:00:00 The Backroom Preview: A Better Future 00:03:48 Intro 00:06:07 Has Regime Change Already Occurred In Iran? 00:15:00 Will Iran Spike Oil Prices? 00:17:48 Israel vs America’s Interests 00:24:12 Trump’s Gas Price Problem 00:37:00 Iran’s Legitimacy Crisis 00:50:11 Can Cuba Survive? 01:05:42 Ukraine’s Drone War 01:11:37 The Energy Politics Behind Ukraine 01:20:00 Is America Politically Paralyzed? 01:28:37 Can Ukraine Still Negotiate? 01:35:00 Was Mearsheimer Right About NATO? 01:40:00 China, Trade, and Global Power 01:54:23 Backroom Preview: What Is Politics? GUEST: Benjamin Studebaker • Website: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/ • Substack: https://substack.com/@bmstudebaker • Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-legitimacy-in-liberal-democracies.html • Political Theory 101: https://open.spotify.com/show/3JwcqFCSwC9gwR6rUXwFFQ FOLLOW 1Dime: • Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1dimeman/ • Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.
#147
May 29 · 1 hr 36 min
Marxism in Defence of The West (Ft. Ralph Leonard)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime On this episode of 1Dime Radio, I sit down with British-Nigerian writer Ralph Leonard to ask what it even means to be a Marxist today, after the political fallout of the 20th century. Ralph describes himself as a “conservative Marxist,” which sounds like a contradiction until you realize that one of the core questions in this conversation is whether socialism, properly understood, is not the worship of capitalist progress but a defense of society against capital’s destructive acceleration. We get into Marxism’s roots in the Enlightenment, liberalism, and the Western political tradition, why Marxism is in many ways a radicalization of Western values rather than a rejection of them, and how Stalinism distorted Marxism into a state-worshipping ideology that dismissed freedom and democracy as “bourgeois” illusions. We also discuss race as ideology, decolonization theory, nationalism, Zionism, the USSR, and whether its failures were historically necessary or politically avoidable. In the exclusive Backroom, Ralph and I talk about whether world revolution was ever plausible and why I see Marxist internationalism as the doctrine’s fatal flaw. We explore how left-wing localism inadvertently helped create the conditions for fascism, why civic nationalism may be the only coherent path for a democratic left, and the hard limits of multiculturalism exposed by Canada’s immigration crisis. Timestamps: 00:00:00 The Backroom Sneak Peek 00:03:53 Introduction to Conservative Marxism 00:17:30 Marxism, Enlightenment and the State 00:33:00 Western Values and Decolonial Critiques 00:55:20 Historical Necessity or Preventable Atrocity 01:14:15 Race, Culture and Western Identity 01:24:43 Zionism Opposed to Liberalism GUEST: Ralph Leonard • Ralph’s writing at UnHerd: https://unherd.com/author/ralph-leonard/ Ralph’s Twitter: https://x.com/buffsoldier_96 FOLLOW 1Dime: • Substack (Articles and Essays): https://1dimereview.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: instagram.com/1dimeman • Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this. Tags: #Marxism #Socialism #TheWest #TheEnlightenment #WesternCivilization
#146
May 22 · 1 hr 36 min
Castration Culture (Ft. Theory Underground)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime On this episode of 1Dime Radio, regular guest, David McKerracher and I talk about his new Substack article The Natality Pill. Part of this discussion includes the concepts of castration culture, and the Liberal Rumspringa. We trace how secular adolescence, PMC institutions, and marketized intimacy sever people from natality, tradition, and each other. We also touch on midwifery’s suppression and left‑wing self‑sabotage. In The Backroom on Patreon Dave and I discuss the controversial questions of Race, Sex, Gender and all of the topics woke white liberals never like to go near. Timestamps: 0:00 The Backroom Preview: The Lesson of Bernie Sanders 3:53 Introduction 06:28 Natality Pill and Wanting Kids 12:33 From Kibbutz to Liberal Rumspringa 50:24 Bernie Bends the Knee 57:10 Privilege Stack and Literalists 01:19:58 Castration Culture Explained 01:24:25 Parents, Patriarchy, and Growing Up FOLLOW 1Dime: • Substack (Articles and Essays): https://1dimereview.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: instagram.com/1dimeman • Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee GUEST: Dave — Theory Underground • Check out the Theory Underground YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theory_underground • Check out the Underground Theory Book (Im in it too!) : https://www.amazon.com/Underground-Theory-David-McKerracher/dp/B0CH2CXSGN Checkout Dave’s Substack: https://substack.com/@theoryunderground?r=2sschq&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=stories&shareImageVariant=blur Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.
#145
May 15 · 1 hr 5 min
AI and The End of Capitalism (Ft. Ted Reece)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime On this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined once again by Marxist writer Ted Reese, author of Socialism or Extinction and Abundant Material Wealth For All, for a wide-ranging conversation on AI, automation, capitalist breakdown, Marxism, technology, falling profit rates, monopoly, food, health, and the possibility of socialism in the 21st century. Ted argues that capitalism is not simply politically or morally bad, but increasingly obsolete on its own economic terms. As automation, AI, and productivity push commodity values down, capitalism responds through monopoly, rent-seeking, militarized technology, state dependency, and new forms of social enclosure. We discuss Henryk Grossman, Marx’s theory of capitalist breakdown, whether AI makes Marxism more relevant or obsolete, why the left should not become anti-technology, and whether socialism could emerge through a more peaceful transition rather than a romanticized fantasy of violent revolution. In the Backroom episode on Patreon, Ted and I continue the conversation with a debate on immigration. I challenge the standard Marxist perspective on migration and argue that mass migration under capitalism is not a path toward international socialism, but a system tied to global capital mobility, labor discipline, brain drain, and the weakening of working-class political organization. We debate whether the current migration regime brings us closer to socialism or further away from it. Timestamps: 00:00 The Backroom Preview: How Immigration Stops Socialism 03:17 1Dime Radio Intro 04:17 Introducing Ted Reese 06:37 Abundant Material Wealth For All 09:13 Can Socialism Happen Peacefully? 14:22 International Revolution, National Politics, and Capitalist Breakdown 16:23 Automation, AI, and Why Capitalism Becomes Obsolete 23:53 Falling Profit Rates and Capitalist Decline 27:00 Monopoly, Mergers, and the “Final Merger” 30:09 AI, Robots, Neo-Feudalism, and Capitalism’s Demand Problem 36:53 Technology, Progress, and the Anti-Luddite Left 42:47 Palantir, Militarized Tech, and State-Capitalist Dependency 49:01 Why AI Will Get More Expensive 55:46 Is Marxism Obsolete in the Age of AI? 58:21 Capitalism, Food, Health, and Human Decay 01:03:50 Get the Second Half in The Backroom GUEST: Ted Reese • X/Twitter: https://x.com/Grossmanite • Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/grossmanite • Linktree: https://linktr.ee/grossmanite • Abundant Material Wealth For All: https://grossmanite.medium.com/new-book-abundant-material-wealth-for-all-out-now-7d1ec5e9ac05 FOLLOW 1Dime: • Substack (Articles and Essays): https://1dimereview.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: instagram.com/1dimeman • Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.
#144
May 8 · 1 hr 20 min
The Right After Trump (Ft. Benjamin Teitelbaum)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime Professor Benjamin Teitelbaum joins 1Dime Radio to discuss the right after Trump. Teitelbaum is an ethnographer, scholar of radical politics, and author of War for Eternity and Lions of the North. In this episode, we discuss Steve Bannon, Alexander Dugin, Traditionalism, the tech right, Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin, Nick Land, Nick Fuentes, the abuse of the word “fascism,” and whether a coherent post-Trump right is emerging from the ruins of MAGA. In this episode of The Public, Benjamin gives his analysis of the different factions on the political Right. In The Backroom on Patreon, Benjamin and I discuss the FUTURE of the “dissident right” and populism AFTER Trump. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Backroom Preview: The Far Right Is Not Going Away 00:03:26 1Dime Radio Intro 00:04:28 Experience Interviewing Steve Bannon and Studying the Far-Right 00:11:26 What Does Steve Bannon Actually Believe? 00:15:10 Bannon vs Dugin 00:25:13 Ideology, Geopolitics, and Opportunism 00:29:40 What Is Traditionalism? 00:39:07 The Conservative Right vs the Futurist Tech Right 00:42:42 Curtis Yarvin, Hierarchy, and the Tech Right 00:48:41 Democracy, Socialism, and the Distribution of Power 00:55:12 Is “Fascism” a Useful Label? 01:07:13 Nick Fuentes 01:17:31 What Is MAGA Without Trump? Continue in The Backroom GUEST: Benjamin Teitelbaum Associate Professor of Musicology and International Affairs at the University of Colorado Boulder • Benjamin Teitelbaum at CU Boulder: https://www.colorado.edu/center/benson/benjamin-teitelbaum • War for Eternity: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/315812/war-for-eternity-by-teitelbaum-benjamin-r/9780141992037 • Lions of the North: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/lions-of-the-north-9780190212605 FOLLOW 1Dime: • Substack (Articles and Essays): https://1dimereview.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: instagram.com/1dimeman • Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.
#143
May 1 · 1 hr 8 min
The Transhumanist Tendency (Ft Ashley Frawley)
Get access to The Backroom, 100+ exclusive episodes, on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I am joined by Ashley Frawley, sociologist, senior editor at Compact, COO of Sublation Media, visiting researcher at the University of Kent, and author of Semiotics of Happiness and Significant Emotions. We discuss her Compact essay “How Society Got a Sex Change,” the rise of the “trans subject” as the ideal subject of contemporary capitalism, and why gender ideology should not simply be understood as a culture war distraction, but as part of the class war itself. This conversation covers the politics of vulnerability, therapy culture, indigenous identity, “healing” discourse, the feminization of the ideal worker, faux feminism, the role of NGOs and international institutions, the EU’s promotion of gender ideology, and why the contemporary ruling class increasingly prefers subjects who are fluid, dependent on institutions, and detached from tradition. We also discuss the parallels between today’s gender panic and past moral panics, including the Satanic Panic and multiple personality disorder, and why social distress often takes culturally specific forms. The second half of this conversation is available in The Backroom on Patreon. Timestamps: 00:00:00 MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA (The Backroom Preview) 00:04:00 Introduction to Ashley Frawley 00:09:00 How Society Got a Sex Change 00:13:00 From the Masculine Subject to the Feminine Subject 00:19:00 Women, Work, and the New Spirit of Capitalism 00:25:00 Faux Feminism and the War on Motherhood 00:30:00 The Trans Subject as the Ideal Capitalist Subject 00:37:00 Institutions, IVF, and the Managed Self 00:40:00 Is Gender Ideology Being Pushed? 00:45:00 NGOs, the EU, Canada, and Progressive Policy Diffusion 00:48:00 Happiness, Therapy Culture, and Psychological Solutions to Economic Problems 00:50:00 Multiple Personality Disorder and the Satanic Panic 00:58:00 Why Some Moral Panics Travel Across Countries 01:03:00 Gender Ideology, Power, and the Good Subject 01:06:00 Preview of The Backroom on Patreon GUEST: Ashley Frawley • Ashley at Compact: https://www.compactmag.com/contributor/ashley-frawley/ • “How Society Got a Sex Change”: https://www.compactmag.com/article/how-society-got-a-sex-change/ • Ashley on X/Twitter: https://x.com/AshleyAFrawley • Ashley at Sublation: https://sublationmedia.com/author/ashley-frawley/ • Ashley’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AshleyAFrawley FOLLOW 1Dime: • Substack (Articles and Essays): https://1dimereview.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: instagram.com/1dimeman • Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.
#142
April 27 · 1 hr 19 min
The Chinese Economy (Ft. Jane Hayward)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDimeThis is a Backroom episode being released publicly as a window into what 1Dime patrons get regularly. Dr. Jane Hayward, Lecturer in China and Global Affairs at the Lau China Institute, King's College London, joins for an honest accounting: Trump's tariffs, labour conditions, the real estate collapse, Belt and Road, and why decades of “China is about to collapse” coverage keeps ageing poorly. Most conversations about the Chinese economy talk past the real questions. The Western press cycles through collapse predictions that never land. The online left points at high-speed rail and calls it socialism. Neither camp is seriously reckoning with what China's model actually is, what it costs workers, or what it implies geopolitically. If you have never heard a Backroom episode before, this is what over 100 exclusive conversations sound like. Become a patron for full access.Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro / 1Dime Radio Bumper00:03:22 Welcome to the Backroom00:07:01 Why So Many on the Left Romanticize China00:17:06 Labour Conditions, State-Controlled Unions, and Worker Rights00:26:22 Trump’s Tariffs: Reindustrialization Rhetoric vs. Geopolitical Containment00:39:28 Belt and Road — Is “Debt Trap Diplomacy” Real?00:52:59 China’s Real Estate Collapse Explained01:00:14 Why “China Is About to Collapse” Keeps Getting It Wrong01:09:25 Hukou Reform, Urbanization, and the Urban-Rural Divide01:13:42 Civil Society, NGOs, and Internal Policy Debate Under XiGUEST: Dr. Jane HaywardLecturer in China and Global Affairs, Lau China Institute, King’s College London• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@janehaywardchina• Website: https://www.janehaywardchina.co.uk/FOLLOW 1Dime:• Substack https://1dimereview.substack.com/• X https://x.com/1DimeOfficial• IG https://www.instagram.com/1dimeman• Channel https://www.youtube.com/@1DimeeLeave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.#China #ChineseEconomy #ChinaEconomy
#141
April 17 · 1 hr 6 min
Nationalist Internationalism (Ft. Cadell Last)
Get access to The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime This week on 1Dime Radio, I’m joined once again by Dr. Cadell Last, founder of Philosophy Portal, for a deep discussion on *nationalist internationalism*, the idea that genuine internationalism actually requires nationalism as a precondition. We explore why national sovereignty, taxing the rich, immigration control, labor power, and democratic self-determination often cannot be secured by isolated states alone, but instead require serious international coordination between nations. This episode was originally a patron-only bonus episode. In the Backroom preview at the start, we also get into Nick Fuentes, the return of repressed contradictions, and the increasingly unavoidable questions around race, gender, immigration, and identity that mainstream liberals and much of the left have struggled to confront directly. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Backroom preview, race, white culture, and repressed contradictions 00:03:53 Immigration, demographic change, and the Nick Fuentes phenomenon 00:10:49 A different critique of immigration 00:14:23 Nationalist internationalism 00:18:05 Why Marxist internationalism lacks a real libidinal anchor 00:30:56 Marxism’s cultural blind spot 00:37:13 Global capitalism, assimilation, and the nation-state 00:43:03 Borders, capital flight, and international coordination 00:48:48 Religion, depoliticization, and politics as substitute faith 00:52:01 What kind of socialism can answer the meaning crisis? 00:59:27 The EU, the UN, and stronger unions against fragmentation 01:03:25 Final thoughts on nationalism and internationalism as a dialectical process GUEST: Dr. Cadell Last, Philosophy Portal • Website: https://cadelllast.com/ • Philosophy Portal: https://philosophyportal.online/about • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PhilosophyPortal • Substack: https://philosophyportal.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/cadellnlast FOLLOW 1Dime: • Substack: https://1dimereview.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: instagram.com/1dimeman • Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this. Tags: #Nationalism #Internationalism #Immigration
#140
April 10 · 1 hr 55 min
The Supranational Federation: A New World System (Ft. Benjamin Studebaker)
Get access to Part 2 & The Backroom (100+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime In this episode of 1Dime Radio, Benjamin Studebaker returns to lay out his case for a *supranational federation*, his answer to a problem that keeps resurfacing across both left and right politics: the limits of the nation-state in a world shaped by capital mobility, capital flight, interstate competition, and war. We break down Benjamin’s six-part “Why Federalism” series, why he thinks national governments cannot meaningfully tax capital or secure lasting peace on their own, and what kind of political system he thinks would actually be necessary to move beyond today’s global deadlock. In The Backroom on Patreon, Benjamin gives his take on the phenomenon of Clavicular, looksmaxxing, dating culture, and the broader social collapse behind both. Part 2 of our conversation on the Supernational federation will also be available only on Patreon, in which I challenge Studebaker on some issues I have with his proposal. Timestamps: 00:00:00 The Backroom preview: looksmaxxing, Clavicular, and modern dating 00:03:11 Benjamin Studebaker returns, Why Federalism, and the limits of the nation-state 00:07:31 How competition makes political systems converge 00:10:37 From military competition to commercial competition 00:15:24 Why fear-based internationalism fails 00:20:20 Why even nationalist goals now require supranational politics 00:29:58 The democratic vs technocratic split 00:35:18 The Chamber of Labor and the Chamber of Status 00:42:25 Tribune, First Citizen, and global executive power 00:45:31 How could a supranational federation actually emerge? 00:51:01 Healthcare, universities, and organizing around concrete issues 01:08:56 Capital mobility, tax competition, and why national solutions get undercut 01:19:55 Medicare for All, capital, and the limits of monetary sovereignty alone 01:25:01 Why China has to be part of the project 01:30:04 Can nation-states build this, or would they sabotage it? 01:40:30 Why the left needs a positive vision, not just critique 01:48:24 Issue-based organizing, consumer unions, and a new political framework GUEST: Benjamin Studebaker, political theorist, PHD from Cambridge, author of The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way Is Shut and Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies • Website: https://benjaminstudebaker.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/BMStudebaker • The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: https://link.springer.com/book/9783031950087 • Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-legitimacy-in-liberal-democracies.html • Why Federalism, Part 1, The Problem that Needs to Be Solved: https://www.streitcouncil.org/post/why-federalism-the-problem-that-needs-to-be-solved • Why Federalism, Part 2, Creating the Cataracts: https://www.streitcouncil.org/post/why-federalism-creating-the-cataracts • Why Federalism, Part 3, The Unit Question: https://www.streitcouncil.org/post/why-federalism-the-unit-question • Why Federalism, Part 4, On Citizenship: https://www.streitcouncil.org/post/why-federalism-on-citizenship • Why Federalism, Part 5, On the Role of China: https://www.streitcouncil.org/post/why-federalism-on-the-role-of-china • Why Federalism, Part 6, The Conclusion: https://www.streitcouncil.org/post/why-federalism-the-conclusion FOLLOW 1Dime: • My Substack (Articles and Essays): https://1dimereview.substack.com/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/1DimeOfficial • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1dimeman • Check out my main channel videos: https://www.youtube.com/@1Dimee Leave a like, drop a comment, and give the show a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen to this.

Showing 1–20 of 23 episodes