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Cosmopod

Cosmonaut Magazine

Cosmopod is the official podcast of Cosmonaut Magazine, a project dedicated to expanding the project of scientific socialism in the 21st Century. In our feed we have a combination of podcast episodes and audio articles from our website.

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  • 341 episodes
  • Updated Friday

Episodes341

Newest first
  • Friday · 1 hr 11 min

    [ARCHIVE] The Border is a Mirror: Europe and the politics of migration with Iker Suarez

    In view of the political situation, we have reuploaded a podcast with Iker Suarez on the border situation in Spain. We hope to have an updated episode soon. ------ In this episode, Rudy joins Iker Suárez, author of The Migrant Genocide: Toward a Third World Analysis of European Class Struggle, to delve into the politics of migration and borders in Europe, examining how imperialism, class, and race intersect in what our guest describes as a "genocide at sea." We explore who the people migrating to Europe are, why they move, and how their journeys expose the contradictions at the heart of European liberalism. Our guest argues that immigration today represents the return of Europe's colonial past, and critiques how both the right and the nominal left continue to enforce violent border regimes -from the Tarajal massacre to ongoing state repression- while masking them as "human rights" issues. We also discuss the limits of NGO-led antiracism, the weak state of immigrant organizing across Europe, how the concept of race is undeveloped, and how citizenship itself becomes a new class divide.

  • July 27 · 2 hr 2 min

    The Long Red Scare: Inside the FBI's Secret War on American Communism with Aaron Leonard

    Aaron Leonard and Donald Parkinson sit down for a conversation on Leonard's recent book 'Menace of Our Time: The Long War Against American Communism'. Relating this history to current events, Leonard and Parkinson discuss the various ways that the U.S. government, and in particular the FBI, subverted civil liberties and indulged in state repression according to the ebbs and flows of geopolitics while never abandoning its agenda of surveillance and subversion of the Communist Movement. From the early days of Criminal Syndicalism laws and the Palmer Raids to the rise of the New Left and the marginalization of the Party, the long arc of a campaign of espionage that utilized legal and extra-legal tactics provides an important window into the nature of state repression against left-wing dissidents in a country that is supposedly a bastion of political liberty.

  • June 25 · 1 hr 54 min

    What Was Bolshevism? (Part I)

    Christian, Donald and Parker sit down to discuss Lars Lih's new book What was Bolshevism? They situate the context of the book, and discuss what this new manuscripts adds to Lih's existing oeuvre. Topics discussed include Lih's use of narrative to frame the continuities in Bolshevism from begging to end, the centrality of Vlast and sovereignty to Bolshevism, how Lih exposes the misunderstanding of past historians about war communism, the importance of Bukharin and Preobrazhensky's ABCs of Communism and the nature of Bolshevik policies such as the grain monopoly, requisition, and sowing committees during the Civil War.

  • May 20 · 1 hr 40 min

    Corbynism vs Partyism: the rise and demise of Your Party

    Charlie and Bryce rejoin Donald and Jack for a recap on what has transpired since the Your Party founding conference. We discuss the recent local elections, which show massive losses for Labor and gains for Reform and Greens. Then we go into the challenges around the formation of Your Party, divided between a grassroots left and Corbynism. Was this project a complete failure? Is there any hope that it can be salvaged and the project of building a principled mass socialist party carried forward? Links: Please Support University of Sheffield striking staff! Democratic Socialists – Campaign for a Democratic Socialist Party

  • April 9 · 1 hr 36 min

    Communism = Soviets + Electrification: The Electric Grid

    Matt and Rudy join RK to discuss several facets of the electric grid. We talk about the USSR's and China's attempts at electrification, how a modern grid looks like, the current US grid and its governing authorities, and a discussion on possible futures for electricity. References: RK's thoughts con rural cooperatives: https://jnanayuddha.wordpress.com/2022/08/16/reflections-on-rural-electric-cooperatives-and-socialist-organizing/ Matt T. Huber & Fred Stafford's articles: Socialist Politics and the Electricity Grid, The Utility of Utilities and Won't Somebody Please Think of the Grid? Further recommendations, National: The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future by Gretchen Bakke, 2016 Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States by Leah Stokes, 2020 California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas & Electric, and What It Means for America's Power Grid by Katherine Blunt, 2022 The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won't Save the Planet by Brett Christophers, 2024 International: The Low-Carbon Contradiction: Energy Transition, Geopolitics, and the Infrastructural State in Cuba by Gustav Cederlof, 2023 Recharging China in War and Revolution, 1882-1955 by Ying Jia Tan, 2021 Sinews of Power: The Politics of the State Grid Corporation of China by Yi-chong Xu, 2017 Electrifying India: Regional Political Economies of Development by Sunila S. Kale, 2014 The Electrification of Russia, 1880-1926 by Jonathan Coopersmith, 1992 Electrical Palestine: Capitalism and Technology From Empire to Nation by Fredrik Meiton, 2019

  • March 11 · 1 hr 43 min

    Interview: Oliver Larkin for Congress

    Aliyah and Cliff sit down with Oliver Larkin, who's running for US Congress from Florida's District 23 with revolutionary ambitions such as unseating Jared Moskowitz, abolishing the Electoral College, and Finishing Reconstruction.

  • February 12 · 1 hr 46 min

    The Last Soviet States? Scandinavian Social Democracy

    Brage, Mikael and Rudy sit down to talk about Scandinavian social democracy, with a focus on Norway and Sweden. We discuss the periodization of social democracy, starting from the 1905 independence of Norway, through the first World War period, the rise of social democracy in the interwar period, the golden years and the unraveling. We discuss why social democracy was able to take hold in Scandinavia through several historic compromises, what the economics of the countries were, the limits of the politics and how the parties tried to transcend these limits, before concluding with the unraveling of the politics in the 80s. Bibliography: G. Esping-Andersen - Politics Against Markets: The Social Democratic Road to Power W. Korpi - The Democratic Class Struggle K. Ostbjerg - Rise and Fall of Swedish Social Democracy J. Pontusson - The Limits of Social Democracy: Investment Politics in Sweden M. Rasmussen, C. H. Knutsen - Reforming to Survive: The Bolshevik Origins of Social Policies F. Sejersted, M. Adams - The Age of Social Democracy

  • January 8 · 1 hr 50 min

    An Arduous March: The Development of North Korea's Political Economy

    Amelia, Rudy and Matt sit down to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's political economy, with a focus on the distinct periods. We discuss the "information problem" and how it frames the discussion, before detailing the history of the DPRK's formation after Japanese colonialism and the Korean War. We then discuss the detailed planning period, its unraveling in the mid 80s, and the Arduous March period after the collapse of the USSR, before finishing off with the present periods of market reform and market elimination. References: Charles K. Armstrong - The North Korean revolution, 1945-1950 Ellen Brun, Jacques Hersch - Socialist Korea: a case study in the strategy of economic development Liu Jinlong - Crying Forests: Political Ecology in the DPRK Yang Mun-su - North Korea's Planned Economy and Marketization Daniel Schwekendiek - A Socioeconomic History of North Korea Phillip H. Park - History of Economic Management in North Korea Zhihua Shen, Yafeng Xia - A Misunderstood Friendship: Mao Zedong, Kim Il-Sung, and Sino-North Korean Relations, 1949-1976

  • Dec 12, 2025 · 2 hr 16 min

    Your Party Founding Conference: Fiasco or Triumph? [Stream audio]

    This is the audio of the Cosmostream of December 7th 2025 on Your Party with guests Bryce Bailey and Charlie Porter from the Democratic Socialists of Your Party. We cover the origins of Your Party, why the guests have chosen to intervene in YP and not the Greens and what kind of intervention they are performing and the kinds of politics they are looking towards. We also cover the contested process of formation of YP, the sects and factions involved, the intricacies of the founding conference and what kind of limitations it had as well as DYSP as a group and its principles. Core reading: Archie W commissioned by Novara media Ewan T on DSYP's vision for Your Party Ewan C on DSYP's structure Kieran G on DSYP's strategy Founding conference Background reading: Corbyn argues against a centralised party after the 2024 general election in an Guardian article Guardian article on one of the first of Collective's secret conferences: After Memorandum of Understanding takes over the party-building process from Collective, Andrew Feinstein and Jamie Driscoll outline their vision for a Party The big TWT factions: https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/democratic-socialists/ https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/the-democratic-bloc/ https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/organising-for-popular-power/ https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/trans-liberation-group/ https://prometheusjournal.org/2025/10/22/greater-manchester-left-caucus/ Socialist Unity Platform: https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1562/all-out-for-liverpool/ https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1564/ideas-unity-action/ Inacio on the crowdediting process: https://inacioinvita.substack.com/p/protecting-your-partys-crowdediting Founding Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk0FjNyvfgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UrxGlrFRpg

  • Nov 20, 2025 · 40 min

    Modern Industry and Prospects for Socialism

    Dónal Ó Coisdealbha analyzes the history and results of the management and production system (TPS) developed by the Toyota Motor Corporation, arguing that the cooperative effects the TPS had on Toyota's internal labor relations contain the seeds of a successful model of socialist industrial production. Ó Coisdealbha is the director of process control, smart and digital development at a factory owned by a multinational electrical equipment manufacturer who is currently co-authoring a book with Tom O'Brien on labour time planning. His blog can be found here. Reading: Carlos Campos Jr.

  • Nov 10, 2025 · 1 hr 11 min

    The Border is a Mirror: Europe and the politics of migration with Iker Suarez

    In this episode, Rudy joins Iker Suárez, author of The Migrant Genocide: Toward a Third World Analysis of European Class Struggle, to delve into the politics of migration and borders in Europe, examining how imperialism, class, and race intersect in what our guest describes as a "genocide at sea." We explore who the people migrating to Europe are, why they move, and how their journeys expose the contradictions at the heart of European liberalism. Our guest argues that immigration today represents the return of Europe's colonial past, and critiques how both the right and the nominal left continue to enforce violent border regimes -from the Tarajal massacre to ongoing state repression- while masking them as "human rights" issues. We also discuss the limits of NGO-led antiracism, the weak state of immigrant organizing across Europe, how the concept of race is undeveloped, and how citizenship itself becomes a new class divide.

  • Sep 29, 2025 · 1 hr 47 min

    Protest, Pop Culture and the Alt-Right: Jarrod Shanahan on a Decade of Upheaval

    On this episode of Cosmopod, Isaac and Jack talk with Jarrod Shanahan about his new book, Every Fire Needs a Little Bit of Help: A Decade of Rebellion, Reaction, and Morbid Symptoms. From Occupy to Black Lives Matter to the George Floyd Rebellion, Shanahan reflects on a decade of struggle, and shares his experiences with and analysis of Trumpism and the alt-right. We explore lessons from mass movements, the fate of abolitionist politics, pop culture's apocalyptic turn, the connections between today's cultural landscape and the 1970s, the legacies of Noel Ignatiev, and what it means to build revolutionary organization in a time of crisis. References: Don Hamerquist - A Brilliant Red Thread Elizabeth Henson - Phantom Pheminists The film Betrayed (1998)

  • Sep 26, 2025 · 39 min

    Towards 2026: The Fight for Recognition

    Carlos Campos Jr. analyzes the disunity of electoral campaigns pursued by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), argues for the strategic infrastructural integration of the organization's state-level electoral efforts, and provides a tentative plan for doing so. Reading: Felix Bauer

  • Aug 3, 2025 · 1 hr 56 min

    D. R. Congo after Mobutu to the present with Jeremy Rich

    Rudy joins Jeremy Rich for a discussion on the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the late 80s to the present. We cover the decay of Mobutu's regime, the changes in the 90s, how the Rwandan Civil War prompted an invasion and the first and second Congo Wars, the factions involved in these wars including the special role of Rwanda and Paul Kagame. We discuss the transitions of power, from Mobutu, to the Kabilas, and to the present president Tshisekedi; the role of the U.S. and China, the recent rise in "rebel" activity and the outlook for the future. References: Orgs - Friends of the Congo (www.friendsofthecongo.org). Twitter: Gaeten-Dauphin Nzowo (@GNzowo) and Benedicte Njdoko (@babisema) Readings on the 1990-2020s: Jason Stearns's The War That Doesn't Say Its Name; writings by Kristof Titeca and Judith Verweijen. Cold War in DRC: Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, Patrice Lumumba; Piero Gleijses's books Visions of Freedom and Conflicting Missions; Pedro Monaville's Students of the World; James H. Smith's The Eyes of the World: Mining the Digital Age in the Eastern DR Congo

  • Jul 13, 2025 · 55 min

    Superman Through the Ages: Hero of the Zeitgeist

    Rudy sits down with Hank Kennedy, author of From Champion of the Oppressed to Truth, Justice, and the American Way: Who Took the Socialism Out of Superman? to discuss the surprising political journey of Superman, tracing his evolution from a Depression-era defender of the oppressed to a complex symbol shaped by changing American ideologies. We dive into the roots of Superman's creation by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, how Superman originally tackled social injustices head-on and follow his evolution from his early anti-authoritarian stances to his shifting roles in WWII, the Cold War, and beyond -including his emergence as a "SuperRepublican" in the 1980s and a more progressive figure in the 21st century. We also talk about the broader role of comics as a political tool in the left, and how they correspond to the Zeitgeist and culture.

  • May 14, 2025 · 52 min

    An Introduction To Kojin Karatani with Gabriel Tupinambá

    We join Gabriel Tupinambá from the Subset of Theoretical Practice for a discussion on the Japanese Marxist Kojin Karatani. We discuss what Karatani's project is, why we should care about it, before focusing on his magna opus The Structure of World History. We discuss his approach to modes of exchange, and why it is a novel lens, how communism fits on his scheme before mentioning some weak points. We end up with a discussion of how Gabriel´s reading of Karatani has affected his organizing.

  • Apr 23, 2025 · 1 hr 15 min

    How the US made Global Capitalism with Sam Gindin

    Ira and Rudy sit down with Sam Gindin to discuss the evolving nature of global capitalism through the lens of U.S. hegemony, neoliberalism, and emerging geopolitical shifts. We begin by analyzing Gindin's The Making of Global Capitalism, examining how the U.S.-led global order was constructed and whether it's synonymous with neoliberalism. From there, we delve into current trends—protectionism, supply chain reshoring, and regionalization—to ask whether these signal a break from neoliberal norms or a transformation into something new. We also assess the stability of U.S. dominance in a world where multipolarity is rising, before bringing the conversation home: how these global dynamics impact domestic labor and the potential for cross-border solidarity among labor and socialist movements.

  • Apr 13, 2025 · 1 hr 48 min

    City Time: Life as Political Prisoners on Rikers with Jarrod Shanahan and David Campbell

    Isaac and Jack are joined by David Campbell and Jarrod Shanahan to discuss their new book City Time: On Being Sentenced to Rikers Island, an ethnography of Rikers Island based on the author's experiences as inmates on Rikers. We discuss the unwritten social codes that order life on Rikers, the social function of jails (and some surprising similarities to the New Deal), the differences between urban jails and rural prisons, the relationship between inmates and jail staff, and the labor struggles that play out in jails and prisons. Resources: NY's Prison Guard Strike Has Roots in Decades of Racialized Deindustrialization Andrea R. Morrell - Prison Town Making the Carceral State in Elmira, New York Truthout interview about the Wildcat Strike Hard Crackers "Stick-Up on Rikers Island" piece by David Campbell. Kim Kelly - Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor Revolutionary Affinities: Toward a Marxist-Anarchist Solidarity https://stopcop.city/ https://www.abcf.net/ https://intlantifadefence.wordpress.com/ https://x.com/ab_dac https://www.patreon.com/davidcampbelldac