Media

A teach-in on the New Deal by Clint Montgomery, reflecting on the recent European elections and the rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the U.S. As the present crisis of neoliberalism sees calls from the left for a “Green New Deal” and a return to the post war welfare-state, what was the New Deal and why is its specter returning now?

On this episode, we tackle cancel culture and the legacy of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. Sophia Freeman, London member of Platypus, joins us to discuss the feud between beauty influencers, James Charles and Tati Westbrook, and what it might tells us about the exhaustion of cancel culture. In the second segment, Marco Torres, Chicago Platypus member, and Pamela Nogales interview Alejandro Velasco, the author of Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela, and contributor to the New York Times, In These Times and Jacobin Radio, on the passing of Chavismo and the future of Venezuela. [Read More]

A panel discussion held at Oregon State University on April 25, 2019. The discussion was moderated by Andony Melathopoulos. Speakers: Charles Maughan, Our Revolution Corvallis Allies Nathaniel Owen, Heart of the Valley DSA William Smaldone, author of \“European Socialism: A Concise History With Documents\” Description: Reform, Revolution, Resistance - how do these relate for the Left historically, what do these terms mean today, and how can they help us understand the obstacles and opportunities for building a Left adequate to the 21st Century? [Read More]

Teach-in on Ireland and the Left by Padraig Macguire, held April 20, 2019 at Goldsmiths, University of London. This is the third in a series of three recordings.

Teach-in on Ireland and the Left by Padraig Macguire, held April 20, 2019 at Goldsmiths, University of London. This is the second in a series of three recordings.

A teach-in on Ireland and the Left given by Padraig Macguire at Goldsmiths, University of London, on April 20, 2019. This is the first of three recordings in a series.

Held April 19, 2019 at the University of Houston. Speakers: nard Sampson (CPUSA) Ryan Booker (Socialist Alternative) Duy Nguyen (Assistant Professor of World Cultures and Literatures, UH) Danny Jacobs (Platypus Affiliated Society, Houston) Panel Description: “The conquest of the governmental power by an hitherto oppressed class, in other words, a political revolution, is accordingly the essential characteristic of social revolution in this narrow sense, in contrast with social reform. [Read More]

Held at the University of Sheffield on April 12, 2019. Description: From Brexit and the French yellow-vests to the AfD in Germany, the present centre of political attention is the crisis being expressed through democratic politics both within the nation-state and at the level of the EU. How should the Left understand and relate to this crisis? More broadly speaking, what is the history informing the demands for greater democracy today, and how does the Left adequately promote - or not - the cause of popular empowerment? [Read More]

Held at Columbia University on April 11, 2019. The discussion was moderated by Erin Hagood.

Panelists:

• Dan Driscoll, Direct Outreach Coordinator for Columbia’s Housing Equity Project

• Andy Gittlitz, writer for the New Inquiry and the New York Times

• Jennifer Wenzel, Associate Professor in English and Comparative Literature, and Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, at Columbia University

• Frederico of the Revolution Club

A teach-in by Platypus member Jensen Suther on Hegel\’s Science of Logic and its relationship to Marxism, given April 6th, 2019 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as part of the 11th annual international convention of the Platypus Affiliated Society.