Emancipations Podcast

• Marxism and the Literary Left in America (feat. Alan Wald)

  I am joined by Alan M. Wald to discuss his extensive work on the literary left and the history of intellectuals and the communist movement in America. We discuss Wald's new book of essays called "Bohemian Bolsheviks: Dispatches from the Culture and History of the Left" which features a number of Wald's more recent essays and interventions on the history of US communism, including essays that touch on Richard Wright, James T. Farrell, Mike Gold, Agnes Smedley, John Steinbeck, Lorraine Hansberry and many other writers who incorporated a commitment to the class struggle in their writing, and who were influential propagating socialist and communist ideals. In this interview, we discuss the meaning of "realism" and why it is important to socialist writers, the founding of the communist party of America, the role of Trotskyism on US left intellectuals, the role of Browderism on the cultural development of the communist party in America, the legacy of The Romance of American Communism by Vivian Gornick, Wald's methodology as a researcher and writer, African American literature, the New Left and various individual authors. Alan Maynard Wald is an American professor emeritus of English Literature and American Culture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and writer of 20th-century American literature who focuses on Communist writers; he is an expert on the American 20th-Century "Literary Left." Wald's subjects have included: 20th Century United States Literature; Realism, Naturalism, Modernism in Mid-20th Century U.S. Literature; Literary Radicalism in the United States; Marxism and U.S. Cultural Studies; African American Writers on the Left; Modernist Poetry and the Left; the 1930s (Literature); New York Jewish Writers and Intellectuals; 20th-Century History of Socialist, Communist, Trotskyist and New Left Movements in the U.S.; the 1960s Politics and Culture; Cold War Culture and Resistance; Old Left/New Left in U.S. Politics and Culture; and Film Noir and the Left. Please join our Patreon to get early access to all interviews and to participate in our study groups https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations

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• Socialist Realism and the Communist Ideal: On Mikhail Lifshits (feat. Angela Harutyunyan)

  My guest is art historian and Marxist thinker Angela Harutyunyan, who has joined us to discus the work of the Marxist philosopher Mikhail Lifshits. Lifshits was an important Soviet Marxist thinker who developed a theory of aesthetics that remained committed to the proposition that communism entails the overcoming of alienation. Lifshits offers a critique of modernism and theories on classicism and socialist realism that are deeply relevant to today's time. We discuss Lifshits's major works, key concepts and his wider philosophy of art and aesthetics. We also discuss an important debate on the concept of the ideal that occurred between Lifshits and Soviet Marxist Evald Ilyenkov.  Dr. Angela Harutyunyan is a founding editor of ARTMargins published by MIT Press and has published extensively on post-Soviet art, Marxist aesthetics, and curatorial theory. She is the author of "The Political Aesthetics of the Armenian Avant-garde: The Journey of the \'Painterly Real\'" and co-author of "After Revolution: Historical Presentism and the Political Eclipse of Postmodernity". Harutyunyan has taught at the American University of Beirut and the American University in Cairo. She is currently based at the Universität der Künste Berlin. Please join our Patreon to support our efforts https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations

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• The History of Riots and the Left (feat. C. Derick Varn)

  C. Derick Varn, host of the ‪Varn Vlog‬ is a Marxist theorist, poet and political commentator. Varn joins our show to discuss the protests and riots against ICE in Los Angeles and across the country that popped off in late spring and early summer 2025. We examine the history of riots in the US, the role of the left in the context of a second Trump presidency, how Marxists have theorized the return of riots and uprisings in our time (with a focus on communization theory) and what we might expect moving forward. Please support our work by becoming a Patreon member https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations 

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• A Social History of Analytic Philosophy (feat. Christoph Schuringa)

  Analytic philosophy is the leading form of philosophy in the English-speaking world and most academic philosophy departments are analytic. But what explains this power and what is the history of analytic philosophy. Where did it begin and how did it rise to such prominence? I am joined by philosopher Christoph Schuringa to explore the social history of analytic philosophy. Analytic philosophy tends to think of itself as concerned with eternal questions, transcending the changing scenes of history. It thinks of itself as apolitical. This book, however, convincingly shows that the opposite is true. To this day, analytic philosophy is the ideology of the status quo. It may seem arcane and largely removed from the real world, but it is a crucial component in upholding liberalism, through its central role in elite educational institutions. Learn more about this book and acquire a copy here: https://bit.ly/4lhoHF5 SHOWNOTES: We discuss why Christoph wrote the book, the origin of the analytic/continental divide, the meaning of logical positivism, Wittgenstein's influence and the various schools in Cambridge and Vienna that formed analytic philosophy. The contradictions of the "linguistic turn" and the ways it failed to address social concerns. Whether there are exceptions within analytic philosophy, or philosophers whose methods might offer a more robust engagement with the social and with radical philosophy. The theory of the "colonization" of analytic philosophy in other disciplines, from ethics, to politics, to continental thinkers. Can analytic philosophy shake off liberalism and if not why. If so, how? #EmancipationsPodcast

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• Gramsci's Theory of Bonapartism (feat. Francesca Antonini)

  My guest is Dr. Francesca Antonini, a historian and scholar of Antonio Gramsci. Dr. Antonini teaches at the Ca' Foscari University in Venice Italy. Her latest book is an exhaustive study of Gramsci's theory of Bonapartism, and it is entitled, Caesarism and Bonapartism in Gramsci: Hegemony and the Crisis of Modernity. In this discussion, we examine the Marxist view of Bonapartism and how it differs from liberal theories, the different periods of Gramsci's thinking on the concept, how Bonapartism relates to fascism in Gramsci's thought and why Gramsci retains the idea of Caesarism even though Marx rejected it. Please support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/emancipations

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