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Give Them An Argument

Ben Burgis

Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday nights with an exclusive postgame for GTAA patrons after the main show. (To become a patron, go to patreon.com/benburgis and sign up for the monthly cost of a milkshake at a 50s nostalgia diner in 1994.) Past guests have included Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, David Pizarro, Gregory Sadler, Glenn Greenwald, Krystal Ball, Bhaskar Sunkara, Sam Seder, Ana Kasparian, Emma Vigeland, Matt Christman, and Amber Frost. The show has also featured debates between host Ben Burgis and opponents ranging from Walter Block to Charlie Kirk.Ben is a philosophy professor, Jacobin columnist, and frequent debater. He did a regular "Debunk" segment on the Michael Brooks Show until 2020. He's appeared on the Debate Night with Charlie Kirk, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, Rising, Krystal, Kyle & Friends, the Majority Report w/Sam Seder & the Joe Rogan Experience.benburgis.compatreon.com/benburgis

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21 episodes
Avg 1 hr 34 min
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Monday · 49 min
Ben Burgis Goes on Israeli TV and DEBUNKS Mayo-Brained Talking Points
Yesterday, Ben Burgis went on English-language Israeli cable channel i24 to argue about the role of Israel/Palestine in the rise of the democratic socialist left in the United States. We'll play the whole segment and break it down! Read the Jacobin article mentioned in the episode ("The Problem With Israel Is So Much Bigger Than Netanyahu"): https://jacobin.com/2025/08/democrats-bernie-netanyahu-zionism-apartheid Pre-order Ben (and Bhaskar Sunkara and Mike Beggs's) new book "The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World" from worker-owned bookshop Red Emmas: https://redemmas.org/titles/52310-the-blueprint-how-socialism-can-work-in-the-real-world/ Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E40
August 3 · 1 hr 12 min
Socialism and Human Nature (ft. Matt McManus)
Matt McManus joins Ben Burgis to talk about Matt’s new article “Socialists Aren’t Naive About Human Nature,” and more generally about why attempts to base anti-socialist arguments on human imperfection miss the point. Read Matt’s article: https://jacobin.com/2026/07/socialism-human-nature-morality Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E39
July 24 · 1 hr 40 min
A Socialist's Dialogue with Liberalism (ft. Matt McManus)
Matt McManus joins Ben to talk about Matt's new article on Marxist philosopher G.A. Cohen's "engagement with the best of the liberal tradition," and to wrap up Matt and Ben's conversation about Cohen from the last time Matt was on the show. Read Matt's article: https://www.liberalcurrents.com/a-socialists-dialogue-with-liberalism/?ref=articles-and-essays-newslettert Read Ben's essay "Justice and Virtue": https://benburgis.substack.com/p/justice-and-virtue Link you can give your library to order Matt and Ben's new book on Cohen: https://www.amazon.com/Analytical-Marxism-Democratic-Socialism-Century/dp/3032028930/ Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E38
July 22 · 1 hr 10 min
The Iran War’s Most Embarrassingly Wrong Pundits (ft. Branko Marcetic)
Branko Marcetic and Ben Burgis count down the commentators who were most embarrassingly wrong about Iran. Read Branko's article: https://jacobin.com/2026/07/iran-war-pundits-fox-trump Follow Branko on Twitter: @BMarchetich Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E37
July 17 · 56 min
Meet Socialist Congressional Candidate Oliver Larkin
Oliver Larkin is a DSA-endorsed candidate running for Congress in FL-25. Check out his campaign website: https://www.oliverforcongress.com/issues Follow him on Twitter: @OliverALarkin Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E36
July 14 · 1 hr 23 min
The Myth of Red Texas (ft. David Griscom)
David Griscom joins us to talk about his excellent new book "The Myth of Red Texas: Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South." Also, happy birthday to our Texan graphic designer J. Andrew World! Order the book: https://redemmas.org/titles/47536-the-myth-of-red-texas-cowboys-populism-and-class-war-in-the-radical-south/ Follow David on Twitter: @DavidGriscom Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E35
July 10 · 2 hr 5 min
Debate Breakdown: Batya Ungar-Sargon vs. Brad Lander (ft. Cynthia Cook)
Pro-Trump pundit Batya Ungar-Sargon sat down with left-wing Congressional candidate Brad Lander to berate him about Israel and other subjects. Ben Burgis and Cynthia Cook give it a watch. Read Ben's article "DSA’s Critics Are Missing the Point About the Working Class" in Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/2026/07/class-politics-dsa-media-criticism Read the Michael Lange breakdown of the exit polling data Cynthia mentioned ("When Narratives Meet Facts"): https://www.michaellange.nyc/p/when-narratives-meet-facts Follow Cynthia on Twitter: @c_cook1988 Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E34
July 2 · 2 hr 16 min
Matt McManus and Ben Burgis Have a New Book on G.A. Cohen, Out Today!
Ben Burgis chats with Matt McManus about Matt's Jacobin article "Gad Saad Is Very Mad That His Books Are Bad and Sad." Read the article: https://jacobin.com/2026/05/saad-empa... Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E33
June 25 · 1 hr 13 min
Gad Saad Is Very Mad That His Books Are Bad and Sad (ft. Matt McManus)
Ben Burgis chats with Matt McManus about Matt's Jacobin article "Gad Saad Is Very Mad That His Books Are Bad and Sad." Read the article: https://jacobin.com/2026/05/saad-empathy-conservatism-book-review Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E32
June 22 · 2 hr 13 min
Debate Breakdown: Medhi Hasan vs. PBD
Victor Bruzzone joins Ben Burgis to break down Medhi Hasan's recent conversation with Patrick Bet-David about Israel, free speech, imperial expansionism, and more. Follow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzone Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E31
June 18 · 1 hr 3 min
Well, That Went Well: Talking Iran with Mean Djene Bajalan
When Trump announced the war at the end of February, he said the goal was to bring "freedom" the people of Iran. Over and over again in the weeks of fighting, he said he'd settle for nothing less than "unconditional surrender." At one point, he said that if Iran didn't bend the knee he would "destroy" their "civilization." So...what happened? And what's going to happen now? Djene Bajalan joins us to break it all down. Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E30
June 11 · 2 hr 13 min
Dialogue on Left and Right Populism w/Sohrab Ahmari (YouTube Version)
Last month in New York City, Ben Burgis and Sohrab Ahmari sat down for an in-person dialogue on left- and right- "populism." Here it is! Follow Sohrab on Twitter: @SohrabAhmari Follow Cynthia on Twitter: @c_cook1988 Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E29
June 8 · 1 hr 23 min
Hegelian Marxism vs. Analytical Marxism (ft. Matt McManus + Michael Lazarus)
Ben Burgis is joined by Michael Lazarus (author of "Absolute Ethical Life: Aristotle, Hegel and Marx") and Matt McManus (who needs no introduction to GTAA fans) for a fun three-way exchange on "analytical Marxism" (the tradition Ben works in), Michael's more Hegel-inflected version of Marxism, and Matt's sympathies with both sides. Order Michael's book: https://www.sup.org/books/politics/absolute-ethical-life Follow Michael on Twitter: @Mblaz39 Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E28
June 7 · 2 hr 33 min
Debate on Socialism with Jillian Michaels
Last week Ben Burgis and Jillian Michaels hashed out their disagreements on socialism in an in-person debate in Michaels's studio in LA. Here it is! Follow Jillian on Twitter: @JillianMichaels Follow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NOTE: The previous account was hacked!] Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E27
April 14 · 1 hr 16 min
Western Marxism Through the Looking Glass (ft. Matt McManus)
Matt McManus discusses his review of Gabriel Rockhill's Temu-Stalinist conspiracy theory of "western Marxism." Read Matt's review of Rockhill's "Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?" in Damage magazine: https://www.damagemag.com/p/western-marxism-through-the-looking Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E26
April 9 · 2 hr 8 min
Philosophers Debate the War in Iran
A day late because Ben had to write a Jacobin article about all this instead of doing the episode (sorry about that!) but there's a lot to cover. Last Friday he recorded a debate on the war in Iran (hosted by philosopher Spencer Case). In this episode, we play the debate and chat a little bit about the truly bizarre developments since it was recorded. Ben argues that it's good to be clear on what TACO Tuesday was, because that strengthens the anti-war case going forward. Watch the debate on Spencer's podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ScPGb91B2k Here's the Jacobin article that delayed the episode a day: https://jacobin.com/2026/04/iran-war-trump-threat-ceasefire Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E25
April 1 · 2 hr 33 min
Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisiting G.A. Cohen
Last week at York University in Toronto, there was a panel to pre-launch a book of essays called "Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisitng G.A. Cohen" co-edited by Ben Burgis and Matt McManus. Contributors Les Jacobs and Christine Sypnowich spoke first, then Matt and Ben. Q&A includes some spicy exchanges on dialectics and whether analytical Marxism is too academic to be of much use to the workers' movement. In this episode, Ben starts with some context on Cohen's life and the major themes of the work and then we play the full video of the panel. At the end, Ben comes back to chat a bit more about the trip to Toronto and the GTAA episode schedule going forward. Prices in academic publishing being what they are, we can't exactly tell you to go out and buy this thing, but if you want to get your library to order a copy, here's the link for that; https://www.amazon.com/Analytical-Marxism-Democratic-Socialism-Century/dp/3032028930 Prof. Sypnowich's website: https://www.christinesypnowich.com/ Prof. Jacobs's profile at York: https://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/jacobs/ Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E24
March 17 · 58 min
RIP Habermas (ft. Matt McManus)
Matt McManus joins to discuss the complicated legacy of philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who died last Saturday. Read Matt's article "Jürgen Habermas Showed What Philosophy Could Be" in Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/2026/03/habermas-obituary-critical-theory-philosophy Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E23
March 9 · 1 hr 12 min
Matt McManus Read Nick Land So You Don't Have To
Returning champ Matt McManus joins us once again, this time to explore a reactionary weirdo who somehow hasn't been the subject of a GTAA episode yet! Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com
S8 · E22
March 4 · 1 hr 3 min
Of All the Dumb Wars, This One is Somehow the Dumbest
We're back, baby! Ben Burgis breaks down the idiotic arguments made by the MAGA faithful in defense of Trump's decision to wage an unprovoked, illegal, open-ended war against a country with far more capacity to defend itself than Afghanistan had in 2001 or Iraq in 2003, and makes the case that opposing it isn't just a question of anti-imperialism or harm-minimization (though it certainly is all that) but that there's a basic question of American democracy at stake. Read Ben's article in Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinion Read Branko Marcetic's too while you're at it: https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinion Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://gofund.me/f8ec78c56 Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com

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