Held June 1, 2018 at the Left Forum at John Jay College in New York.
Panelists:
Spencer Leonard - Platypus Affiliated Society
Terrell Carver - Professor of Political Theory at the University of Bristol
Christoph Lichtenberg - International Bolshevik Tendency
Description:
This year marked the 200th birthday of Karl Marx, than whom, as even his ideological opponent Isaiah Berlin had to admit, "no thinker in the nineteenth century has had so direct, deliberate and powerful an influence upon mankind." This panel seeks to bring together intellectuals committed to exploring Marx’s legacy in this post-Marxist age, those who, once more, seek somehow to bring that legacy to bear upon the world. Accordingly, we want to raise the question: What is the legacy of Marx’s life as a revolutionary intellectual -- that is, the legacy of the political writings and activities he contributed to the workers’ movement for socialism?
Pam Nogales stops by the Zero Books podcast on May 30, 2018 to speak with host Doug Lain on the revolutions of 1848 and the leftist tradition. Pam is a PhD. Candidate of History at New York University, a member
of the Platypus Affiliated Society in Berlin, and a co-host of the Shit Platypus
Says podcast.
On this episode of SPS, we discuss Childish Gambino’s “This Is America;” “50 Years of 1968,” the opening plenary at the International Convention of the Platypus Affiliated Society in Chicago, April 2018; and the recent liberal hysteria over the Irish border, with Platypus members Cam Hardy (Toronto) and Rory Hannigan (Sheffield, UK).
Hosted by Audrey Crescenti, Pam C. Nogales C., Laurie Rojas.
Articles mentioned:
(1) "Up in the air: The legacy of the New Communist Movement, An interview with Max Elbaum" with Spencer A. Leonard, in the Platypus Review 30 (December 2010)
platypus1917.org/2010/12/01/up-in…munist-movement/
(2) "The Cynicism of Childish Gambino’s 'This Is America'" by Israel Daramola, in Spin (May 8, 2018)
www.spin.com/2018/05/donald-glo…is-america-review/
(3) "The ex-IRA men: ‘United Ireland? It’s all guff’" by Simon Carswell, in the Irish Times (Apr 8, 2017)
www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/ir…-guff-1.3041131
(4) Mike Mcnair on Ireland and Brexit, in "Across the board" for the Weekly Worker (April 24, 2018)
weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1200/across-the-board/
Radical Minds co-hosts Erin Hagood and Stephanie Gomez interview Matt Cavagrotti and Greg Lucero on the historical and contemporary relationship between socialism and organized labor.
Greg Lucero is a member of Teamsters, Revolutionary Chicago, and the Socialist Party USA. Matt Cavagrotti is a member of Teamsters and the Platypus Affiliated Society.
Topics discussed include:
- Recent wave of American teachers' strikes
- AFSCME vs. Janus Supreme Court decision
- Upcoming contract negotiations between UPS and Teamsters
- Legacy of the New Communist Movement's failed "turn to industry" in the 1970s
- The nature and problems of revolutionary leadership
- Prospects for reviving unionism and socialism in the U.S.
Radical Minds is a radio show exploring the intersection between politics and economics in the modern world, broadcast on WHPK (88.5 FM Chicago). This episode aired May 24, 2018.
The article referenced by Greg is Radical Minds' interview with Mark Rudd, leader of Students for a Democratic Society and co-founder of the Weather Underground, published in issue 24 of the Platypus Review.
On May 19th, 2018, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted a panel discussion on the 2nd amendment and the Left at Berkeley City College. The discussion was moderated by William Lushbough.
Panel Description:
"Recent school shootings and the ever-recurring instances of police brutality pose acutely the question of gun control today. Should the Left take up the demand for gun control, and if so, how? If not, why not? How is gun control related to the struggle for socialism?"
Speakers (in order of appearance):
- Urszula Wislanka (News & Letters Committees)
- K. Khan (International Marxist Tendency)
- Richard Becker (Party for Socialism & LIberation)
