Radicals in Conversation

What happens when the police become an army? Since 1997, the US Department of Defense has transferred more than $7.2bn in military equipment to law enforcement agencies. This militarization has, unsurprisingly, been shown to unjustly impact on Black communities and is associated with increased killings by police. The Police Public Safety Training Center in Atlanta - more commonly known as 'Cop City' - is just the latest manifestation of the militarization of policing. It is a costly and controversial endeavor, being forced through by the local Democrat-run administration, in the face of widespread opposition among local communities. Resistance to the project has been met with spurious legal roadblocks, activist intimidation and violent repression. But Cop City is far from being just a local issue; almost every US state now has a Cop City project of their own in some stage of development, and the logic, structures and ramifications of Cop Cities are truly international. In this episode we are joined by Liliana, Joy James and Kalonji Changa to discuss the history of Cop Cities, the parallels with the notorious School of the Americas, and the ways in which the tactics and logic of US imperialism abroad are being brought to bear on working class and racialized communities at home. --- Liliana is an immigrant from Colombia based in Houston, Texas. She is an abolitionist and has worked directly with prisoners on death row and their families. She is the co-host of the radio show 'Voz de La Tierra' on KPFT Pacifica, discussing the geopolitical effects of militarism, policing, imperialism, and racism on Indigenous, Black, and immigrant colonized communities across the globe.  Joy James is an organizer and author. Her recent books include In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love; New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the (After)Life of Erica Garner; and Contextualizing Angela Davis: The Agency and Identity of an Icon. She is the editor of Beyond Cop Cities: Dismantling State and Corporate-Funded Armies and Prisons, and the forthcoming ENGAGE: Indigenous, Black, and Afro-Indigenous Futures. Joy also works with the Guerrilla Intellectual University (GIU) podcast collective on Black Power Media (BPM). Kalonji Jama Changa is an organizer and founder of the FTP Movement. He is the author of How to Build a People's Army and co-producer of the documentary Organizing Is the New Cool. Kalonji is founder of Black Power Media and serves as co-chair of the Urban Survival and Preparedness Institute.

This is episode 1 of ‘Beyond the Ballot Box' - our new mini-series exploring some of the major political currents in US politics.  With the presidential election just around the corner, American politics is increasingly a focus of international attention as well. Electoralism, reproductive justice, the climate crisis, Palestine, a resurgent far right, the criminalization of protest, and the militarization of policing are all swirling in a maelstrom that is unlikely to abate, whatever the outcome on November 5th.  In this episode, series hosts Chris Browne and James Kelly sit down with Mike Wendling. Mike is US National Digital Reporter for the BBC, co-founder of the BBC's disinformation unit and the former editor and presenter of BBC Trending. Based in Chicago, he has decades of experience covering extremism, the American far right, social media and disinformation. He is also the author of Alt-Right: From 4chan to the White House and the new book, Day of Reckoning: How the Far Right Declared War on Democracy, which was published by Pluto earlier this year. We talk about how the movement known as the ‘Alt-Right’ morphed over the years of the Trump presidency, in response to events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and January 6 Capitol riot. We talk about the ways in which conspiratorial thinking has bled from the fringes of the far right into the mainstream Republican movement, and the ways in which Donald Trump has reshaped the party and the wider political terrain. We get Mike’s reflections on the recent Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and the extent to which the assassination attempt on Trump and the substitution of Harris for Biden on the Democratic ticket have changed the electoral calculus, less than 2 months out from the election.

In the early 2010s, reports began to emerge of deaths linked to a government department. Suicide notes, coroners' reports, and research by disabled activists pointed to failings within the Department for Work and Pensions – the DWP – the government body responsible for the disability benefits system. As years passed, and austerity tightened its grip, the death toll mounted, and an even more disturbing picture emerged: bureaucracy, politicians, and the private sector had combined over thirty years to reckless, deadly effect. For the last decade, disabled journalist John Pring has meticulously pieced together how the DWP ignored pleas to correct fatal flaws in the social security system and covered up its role in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of disabled people. Having spent years researching the heartbreaking stories of twelve individuals who died, he describes how their bereaved families have fought for justice and accountability. In this month's episode, we speak to John about the idea of 'slow violence', how the pernicious myth of widespread benefit fraud was instrumentalised, and how a culture of cruelty and cover-up endured within the DWP over the course of successive governments. Content warning: Suicide, traumatic death and severe mental distress --- John Pring is founder and editor of the news agency Disability News Service. He is co-creator of the Deaths by Welfare timeline, and co-editor and specialist advisor on the award-winning Museum of Austerity project. He has written for mainstream publications including the Guardian, Observer, Daily Mirror and Private Eye, and was associate producer on the award-winning Dispatches documentary, The Truth About Disability Benefits. He is also the author of Longcare Survivors: The Biography of a Care Scandal.

At the time of recording, Israel’s relentless bombardment of Rafah continues. Around 1 million people have been forced to flee the city. Condemning the assault on Rafah, Spain, Ireland and Norway have joined 140 other countries in officially recognising a Palestinian state. It is a symbolic action that has undoubtedly damaged diplomatic relations between the three countries and Israel. Nevertheless, the destruction continues, the humanitarian crisis deepens, and people in Gaza have nowhere safe to go.  Many of us around the world have looked on in horror for the last seven months, watching a genocide being carried out, with many of our own governments actively complicit. In this month's episode, we consider the vital role that people in the international labour movement can play, leveraging their unions’ power to intervene directly. We are joined by Rafeef Ziadah, a Senior Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy at King’s College London, and an organiser with Workers in Palestine; Riya Al'Sanah, an organiser and researcher with Workers in Palestine; and Katy Fox-Hodess, a Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations at the University of Sheffield, and a researcher and labour educator with Workers in Palestine. Rafeef, Riya and Katy talk about the history of labour solidarity in the context of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, Palestinian workers’ conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, and how trade unions can move beyond simply issuing statements in solidarity with Palestine. We discuss the ongoing university encampments, dockworkers and 'Block the Boat' actions, and the ways in which the Palestine solidarity movement can build coalitions with arms industry workers, to stop the flow of weapons to Israel. Find out more about Workers in Palestine: workersinpalestine.org

'Whether one is an anarchist or not, the contemporary turn of geopolitical events—from the global phenomena of pandemics, fascistic regimes, and collapsing infrastructure for any sort of social well-being, to capitalist-fueled climate catastrophes and displacement, to occupations spiraling into genocides—has compelled a shift toward prioritizing do-it-ourselves forms of taking good care of each other. Suddenly, the many anarcha-feministic practices that previously felt like “nothing” when people didn’t take the time or care to notice them—or worse, didn’t take the time or care to engage in those practices themselves—now feel like, and indeed are, everything.'—Cindy Barukh Milstein, Constellations of Care: Anarcha-Feminism in Practice We are joined on the show this month by Cindy Barukh Milstein, editor of Constellations of Care, and Shuli Branson, a contributor to the anthology, and author of Practical Anarchism: A Guide for Daily Life. Cindy and Shuli explore the ways in which anarcha-feminist practices and care (in all of its guises) are vital to our efforts to resist militarism, fascism, ecocide, patriarchy and misogyny. They talk about the current wave of Palestinian solidarity encampments on university campuses, the importance of ritual and grief work, and the work being done by groups around bodily autonomy and trans-affirming care in the face of state attacks and abandonment. Constellations of Care: Anarcha-Feminism in Practice is 40% off for podcast listeners on plutobooks.com. Use the coupon PODCAST at the checkout. --- Cindy Barukh Milstein is a diasporic queer Jewish anarchist and longtime organizer. They've been writing on anarchism for over two decades, and are the author of Anarchism and Its Aspirations and Try Anarchism for Life: The Beauty of Our Circle. They edited the anthologies Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work of Grief and Deciding for Ourselves: The Promise of Direct Democracy, among others. Shuli/Scott Branson is a queer/transfemme Jewish anarchist writer, translator, community organizer, and teacher. They translated Jacques Lesage de la Haye’s The Abolition of Prison and Guy Hocquenghem’s Gay Liberation after May ’68, for which they also wrote a critical introduction on his queer anarchism. She coedited Surviving the Future: Abolitionist Queer Strategies with Raven Hudson and Bry Reed for PM Press. They are also a frequent co-host on the anarchist podcast The Final Straw Radio.

Forbes' annual rich list reveals that 2,781 people in the world have fortunes in excess of $1 billion. 141 people joined the list in 2023, with a combined wealth of around $14 trillion -  a $2 trillion collective increase on the previous year. There are now more billionaires than ever before. It is a grotesque state of affairs, when we reflect on the misery and hardship that have been wrought by the cost of living crisis, soaring inflation, and years of stagnating pay and decaying public services. Clearly, amidst such stark inequality, there is an urgent need to do things differently.  That’s the argument made by Luke Hildyard in his new book, Enough: Why It's Time to Abolish the Super-Rich, which is out now from Pluto Press. Luke argues that far from being the hard-working and productive entrepreneurs that they claim to be, the super-rich are an extractive, parasitic force sucking up a vastly disproportionate share of society's resources – making the rest of us all poorer as a result. Politicians make absurd promises about economic growth while ignoring the solution that's staring them in the face: a major programme of progressive taxation and economic reform that could be used to get the wealth of the one per cent flowing instead to the workers who actually create it. Luke Hildyard is also the Director of the High Pay Centre, a UK think tank focused on pay, employment rights and responsible business.  Use the coupon PODCAST on plutobooks.com for 40% off the book.

We’re excited to have H.L.T. Quan on the pod this month, as we publish her new book Become Ungovernable: An Abolition Feminist Ethic for Democratic Living. Joined by Professors Barbara Ransby and Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, the conversation circles the themes of the book, exploring topics such as radical love, transformative justice, and ungovernability in the South African context, including during the struggle against Apartheid. Become Ungovernable reveals the mirage of mainstream democratic thought and the false promises of liberal political ideologies, offering an alternative approach: an abolition feminism drawing on a kaleidoscope of refusal praxes, and on a deep engagement with the Black Radical Tradition and queer analytics. As usual, podcast listeners can get 40% off the book, for the next month. Simply use the coupon PODCAST at the checkout on plutobooks.com.

In our first episode of 2024 we speak to Robert Chapman, author of Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism. Awareness around and diagnoses of neurodiversity have exploded in recent years, but as Robert argues, we are still missing a wider understanding of how we got here and why. In today's episode we discuss the rich histories of the neurodiversity and disability movements, as well as how our understanding of mental and physical health and disability has been profoundly shaped by the development of capitalism. We also explore the origins of the pathology paradigm, the emergence of the anti-psychiatry movement in the 1960s, and the limitations of a liberal rights-based approach to neurodiversity activism today. Podcast listeners can get 40% off Empire of Normality on plutobooks.com, using the coupon PODCAST at the checkout.

Almost two months have passed since Hamas’s October 7th attack, in which it killed around 1,200 Israeli civilians. The retaliatory campaign that has been waged since then by the Israeli state against the Palestinian population—predominantly in Gaza, but also in the West Bank—has been nightmarish to behold. The latest estimates suggest as many as 15,000 people have been killed. For those of us who believe in the cause of Palestinian Liberation, how do we make sense of what is happening? And how can we act to stop it? This month we’re joined on the show by Ghada Karmi. Born in Jerusalem, her family fled Palestine in 1948 during the Nakba. She has lived for several decades in Great Britain, where she trained as a Doctor of Medicine at Bristol University. She established the first British-Palestinian medical charity in 1972 and was an Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute for International Affairs. Ghada is also the author of the best-selling memoir In Search of Fatima and the new book One State: The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel, which was published in 2023 by Pluto Press. We discuss the history of Zionism, the Nakba and the creation of the state of Israel, and the situation in Gaza since October 7th. We also talk about the international response, the importance of language and framing in political discourse, and why any future political settlement must look beyond the rubric of a two-state solution.

From England, France and Germany to Palestine, South Africa and Brazil, the 'beautiful game' has been a powerful instrument of emancipation for workers, feminists, young people and protesters around the world. Football has often found itself at the heart of anti-colonial struggles; a tool of repression and cooptation, as well as liberation and resistance. In October 2023, Pluto published the English language edition of A People’s History of Football by Mickaël Correia. We are joined on the panel today by the book's translator, Fionn Petch, as well as Kevin Blowe, from Clapton CFC, an East London community-owned football club; and Andy Gittlitz, author of the Pluto cult classic, I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism. We talk about the early origins of football in feudal Britain, its role in the formation of working class identity, the repression and resurgence of women’s football, as well as the unique trajectory of soccer in the US. We also talk about fan-owned clubs, and the international response of supporters' groups and clubs to the ongoing destruction in Gaza.  A People’s History of Football is 40% off for listeners of Radicals in Conversation with the coupon PODCAST. Find out more at: plutobooks.com/podcastreading. --- Clapton CFC: https://www.claptoncfc.co.uk/about-clapton-community-fc/ The Reservoir Journal: https://autonomedia.org/product/reservoir-communion/

The subject of immense hope, hype and confusion, crypto has amassed countless headlines in recent years. Right now, one of crypto’s biggest names, Sam Bankman-Fried, is set to go on trial in New York, accused of having defrauded millions of investors at his FTX cryptocurrency exchange, stealing billions of dollars in the process. But with cryptocurrencies, NFTs and metaverse markets crashing, the underlying blockchain technology is still promised to solve global development challenges, and revolutionise every industry. We are joined on the show this month by Peter Howson, author of the new book, Let Them Eat Crypto: The Blockchain Scam That’s Ruining the World. In the book, Peter cuts through the jargon and hyperbole to tell an alarming story of how right-wing libertarian crypto entrepreneurs - often aided by charities, politicians and philanthropists - have sought out and exploited conditions of poverty, oppression, corruption and conflict around the world, in a new front of 'crypto-colonial' extractivism. Far from 'banking the unbanked', saving the gorillas, or freeing people from oppressive governments, blockchain offers only false solutions, surveillance and hi-tech snake oil. We discuss the obscene environmental footprint of crypto, why it endures in spite of a recent negative shift in public perception, and how we might go about getting rid of it. Podcast listeners can get 40% off the book on plutobooks.com, using the coupon PODCAST at the checkout.

For many of us on the left, it would probably be uncontroversial to say that seek a political horizon in which class society, and all of its manifold expressions, has been overcome - wage labour, private property, the capitalist state, white supremacy, settler colonialism and anti-Blackness. But what about the family? In a world that is often bereft of love, compassion and stability, it seems far more controversial to call for its abolition as well. 'Family Abolition' may be an alarming slogan, but this is what M. E. O’Brien argues for in her fantastic new book, Family Abolition: Capitalism and the Communizing of Care. Published by Pluto Press in June 2023, the book traces the changing family politics of racial capitalism in the industrial cities of Europe and in the slave plantations and settler frontier of North America, explaining the rise and fall of the housewife-based family form. From early Marxists to Black and queer insurrectionists to today's mass protest movements, O'Brien finds revolutionaries seeking better ways of loving, caring, and living. Taking us beyond the past and present of family politics, Family Abolition looks also to the future, into a speculative vision of the revolutionary commune, imagining how care could be organized in a free society. M. E. O'Brien writes on gender and communist theory. She co-edits two magazines, Pinko, on gay communism, and Parapraxis, on psychoanalytic theory and politics. Her work on family abolition has been translated into Chinese, German, Greek, French, Spanish, and Turkish. She received her PhD from NYU. She is the co-author of the novel Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072. She tweets @genderhorizon. --- Podcast listeners can get 40% off the book on plutobooks.com with the coupon PODCAST.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical nonfiction being published today. Episode 10 was recorded in May 2023. Sarah Shin talks about her new co-edited collection, Space Crone, which brings together Ursula K. Le Guin’s writings on feminism and gender. The book is published by Silver Press, and offers new insights into Le Guin’s imaginative, multispecies feminist consciousness: from its roots in deep ecology and philosophies of non-violence to her self-education about racism and her writing on motherhood and ageing. Sarah is in conversation with Samantha Walton, an author and Reader in Modern Literature at Bath Spa University. Find out more about the book: bookhausbristol.com/shop

Mental health is a political issue, even though we often discuss it as a personal one. So how is the current mental health crisis connected to capitalism, racism and other social issues? And in a different world, how might we transform the ways that we think about mental health, diagnosis and treatment? These are some of the big questions Micha Frazer-Carroll asks in her new book, Mad World, as she presents mental health as an urgent political concern that needs a deeper understanding, beyond the scope of today's 'awareness-raising' campaigns. Micha joins us on the show for a conversation around the themes of the book. We talk about the history of asylums and psychiatry, the connections with disability justice and neurodiversity movements, art and imagination, abolition, policing, diagnosis and knowledge production. --- Micha Frazer-Carroll is a columnist at the Independent. She has previously edited for gal-dem, the Guardian and Blueprint, a mental health magazine that she founded. Micha has also written for Vogue, HuffPost, Huck and Dazed. She was nominated for the Comment Awards’ Fresh New Voice of the Year Award, and the Observer/Anthony Burgess Award for Arts Criticism. She is invested in using journalism to challenge systems of power.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical nonfiction being published today. Episode 9 was recorded in May 2023. David Broder came to Bookhaus to talk about his new book, Mussolini’s Grandchildren: Fascism in Contemporary Italy, which was published by Pluto Press in March. David is a historian of the Italian far-right and Europe editor for Jacobin. His writing has also appeared in the New Statesman, New York Times, Guardian, Independent, New Left Review and Tribune. He’s joined in conversation by John Foot, Professor of Modern Italian History at the University of Bristol, and author of Blood and Power: The Rise and Fall of Italian Fascism.  David joined us on Radicals in Conversation in September 2022, shortly after Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party won the Italian general election. Now, several months on, David and John discuss how things have panned out for the new fascist government, both domestically and on the international stage. bookhausbristol.com/shop

In the sixth and final episode of Locating Legacies, series host Gracie Mae Bradley speaks to Ruth Wilson Gilmore. Often dismissed or set aside as a US-based movement, Gracie and Ruth sit down together to explore how we can think about the histories, legacies and politics of abolition in the British context and beyond. They map how local instances of political organising express themselves globally, as well as interrogating how past struggles express themselves in the present. Ruth Wilson Gilmore is the Director of the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics and professor of geography in Earth and Environmental Sciences and American Studies at the City University of New York. She is the co-founder of many grassroots organisations, including the California Prison Moratorium Project, Critical Resistance, and the Central California Environmental Justice Network. She is also the author of Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California, and Abolition Geography. About the Series: Locating Legacies is a fortnightly podcast created by the Stuart Hall Foundation, co-produced by Pluto Press and funded by Arts Council England. The series is dedicated to tracing the reverberations of history to contextualise present-day politics, deepen our understanding of some of the crucial issues of our time, and to draw connections between past struggles and our daily lives. Get 40% off books in our ‘Locating Legacies’ reading list: plutobooks.com/locatinglegacies

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical nonfiction being published today. Episode 8 was recorded on 17th May, the same week as Palestinians commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Nakba. Hil Aked came to Bookhaus to talk about their new book Friends of Israel: The Backlash Against Palestine Solidarity. Hil Aked is a writer, investigative researcher and activist with a background in political sociology whose work has appeared in the Guardian, Independent, Sky News and Al Jazeera. They are a contributor to What is Islamophobia?: Racism, Social Movements and the State.  Hil is in conversation with Narzanin Massoumi, senior lecturer in the department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Exeter, and co-editor of What is Islamophobia? They discuss the activities of Israel’s advocates in Britain, showing how they contribute to maintaining Israeli apartheid, as they seek to repress a rising tide of solidarity with Palestinians expressed through the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. They also consider the parallels with apartheid South Africa, and assess the recent protests in Israel around Judicial reform. bookhausbristol.com/shop

In episode 5 of Locating Legacies, series host Gracie Mae Bradley speaks to Sita Balani. They explore the legacies of queer liberation struggles on contemporary class politics, and the ways in which queer radicalism has expanded notions of liberatory politics in the everyday. They also discuss the radical potential of the trade union movement, and unpack the material roots of an ongoing transphobic moral panic. Sita is a Lecturer in English at Queen Mary University of London. She is the author of Deadly and Slick: Sexual Modernity and the Making of Race, and co-author of Empire's Endgame. About the Series: Locating Legacies is a fortnightly podcast created by the Stuart Hall Foundation, co-produced by Pluto Press and funded by Arts Council England. The series is dedicated to tracing the reverberations of history to contextualise present-day politics, deepen our understanding of some of the crucial issues of our time, and to draw connections between past struggles and our daily lives. Get 40% off books in our ‘Locating Legacies’ reading list: plutobooks.com/locatinglegacies

In May 2023, Pluto published Queer Footprints: A Guide to Uncovering London’s Fierce History, by Dan Glass. The book is a groundbreaking guide that takes you through the city streets to uncover the scandalous, hilarious and empowering events of London's 'queerstory'. Accompanied by a chorus of voices of both iconic and unsung legends of the movement, readers can dip into beautifully illustrated maps and extraordinary tales of LGBTQIA+ solidarity, protest and pride, where the shadows of gentrification, policing, homophobia and racism are time and again resisted. We are joined on the show by Queer Footprints author, Dan Glass, and Josh Rivers. Josh is the creator and host of the award-winning Busy Being Black podcast, and Head of Cultural Partnerships at UK Black Pride - the world’s largest pride celebration for LGBTQIA+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern heritage. Dan and Josh discuss the connections and solidarity that has existed over the years between queer, feminist, anti-racist and labour movements; equivocations around celebrating the anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality; and how we metabolise grief - with particular reference to the AIDS crisis. They also talk about the exciting work being done by UK Black Pride, the process of researching, writing and editing Queer Footprints, and much more. Queer Footprints is 40% off for podcast listeners. Go to plutobooks.com/podcastreading for more information.

In episode 4 of Locating Legacies, series host Gracie Mae Bradley speaks to Vijay Prashad. They discuss the legacies of the Cold War from the vantage point of the Global South, to contextualise the global economic, ecological and political crises that we're struggling through today. They also consider the liberatory potential of nationalism, what meaningful solidarity might look like for climate activists in the Global North, and the profound and lasting impact of taking collective action. Vijay Prashad is a Marxist historian and writer. He is Executive Director at the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, a movement-driven research institution based in Argentina, Brazil, India and South Africa, and the chief editor of LeftWord Books. His recent publications include The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power; Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism and Red Star Over the Third World. About the Series: Locating Legacies is a fortnightly podcast created by the Stuart Hall Foundation, co-produced by Pluto Press and funded by Arts Council England. The series is dedicated to tracing the reverberations of history to contextualise present-day politics, deepen our understanding of some of the crucial issues of our time, and to draw connections between past struggles and our daily lives. Get 40% off books in our 'Locating Legacies' reading list: plutobooks.com/locatinglegacies

In episode 3 of Locating Legacies, series host Gracie Mae Bradley speaks to Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò. They discuss how politics moves between the world of ideas and the material world, the process by which radical ideas are co-opted by elite interests, and the importance of organising across difference. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. His public philosophy, including articles exploring intersections of climate justice and colonialism, has been featured in the New Yorker, The Nation, Boston Review, Al Jazeera and more. He is the author of Elite Capture and Reconsidering Reparations. About the Series: Locating Legacies is a fortnightly podcast created by the Stuart Hall Foundation, co-produced by Pluto Press and funded by Arts Council England. The series is dedicated to tracing the reverberations of history to contextualise present-day politics, deepen our understanding of some of the crucial issues of our time, and to draw connections between past struggles and our daily lives. Get 40% off books in our 'Locating Legacies' reading list: plutobooks.com/locatinglegacies

In 1950s suburban England, a friendship bloomed between Jeremy Seabrook and Michael O'Neill - both gay men coming of age during a time when homosexuality was still a crime. Their relationship was inflected by secrecy and fear, and when the prohibition on same-sex relationships was partially lifted in 1967, they were already well into adult life; the shadows that had distorted their adolescent years were never wholly dispelled.  This is the subject of Private Worlds: Growing Up Gay in Post-War Britain, the new memoir by Jeremy Seabrook. Lyrical, candid and poignant, it is a tale of sexual identity, working-class history and family drama. Jeremy joins us on the show this month to talk about life in 1950s Northampton, the advent of Gay Liberation in the 1960s, and what we can learn from a past shadowed by oppression and concealment in relation to today's struggle towards LGBTQIA+ freedom.  Private Worlds is 40% off for podcast listeners. Use the coupon PODCAST at the checkout on plutobooks.com.

In episode 2 of Locating Legacies, series host Gracie Mae Bradley speaks to Françoise Vergès. They explore the connections and disparities between the anticolonial politics of the 1950s and 1960s in relation to today's movements to decolonise educational, arts and heritage institutions. Françoise Vergès is an activist and public educator. She grew up on the island of La Réunion, and worked for many years as a journalist and editor in the women's liberation movement in France. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and is the author of several books, including A Decolonial Feminism and A Feminist Theory of Violence. She regularly works with artists, has produced exhibitions and is the author of documentary films on Maryse Condé and Aimé Césaire. About the Series: Locating Legacies is a fortnightly podcast created by the Stuart Hall Foundation, co-produced by Pluto Press and funded by Arts Council England. The series is dedicated to tracing the reverberations of history to contextualise present-day politics, deepen our understanding of some of the crucial issues of our time, and to draw connections between past struggles and our daily lives. Get 40% off books in our 'Locating Legacies' reading list: plutobooks.com/locatinglegacies

In episode 1 of Locating Legacies, series host Gracie Mae Bradley speaks to Kojo Koram about Stuart Hall's contributions to radical thought and their relevance to present-day politics. Gracie and Kojo discuss some of the themes in Stuart Hall’s work pertaining to empire, neoliberalism and right-wing politics, and consider how Hall’s work might be utilised in the face of economic, ecological and political crises. Kojo Koram is a lecturer at the School of Law at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire, co-author of Empire's Endgame and editor of The War on Drugs and the Global Colour Line. About the Series: Locating Legacies is a fortnightly podcast created by the Stuart Hall Foundation, co-produced by Pluto Press and funded by Arts Council England. The series is dedicated to tracing the reverberations of history to contextualise present-day politics, deepen our understanding of some of the crucial issues of our time, and to draw connections between past struggles and our daily lives. Get 40% off books in our 'Locating Legacies' reading list: plutobooks.com/locatinglegacies

We are excited to announce the Locating Legacies series - a fortnightly podcast created by the Stuart Hall Foundation and co-produced by Pluto Press. The series is dedicated to tracing the reverberations of history to contextualise present-day politics, deepen our understanding of some of the crucial issues of our time, and to draw connections between past struggles and our daily lives. Hosted by writer and organiser, Gracie Mae Bradley, the series explores some of the reoccurring themes in Stuart Hall’s thinking. Gracie, along with some of the most critical voices of our time, examine: the current state of right-wing politics, contemporary decolonial politics, the co-option of ‘identity politics’, how the Cold War has shaped politics today, the relationship between queer radicalism and class struggle, and the politics of abolition in the UK context.   In this trailer for the series, Chris Browne sits down with Gracie Mae Bradley and Orsod Malik, the Stuart Hall Foundation’s Programme Curator, to discuss how this project came to be and what listeners can expect from the episodes to come. Over the next 12 weeks, we are proud to be hosting contributions from Kojo Koram, Françoise Vèrges, Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Vijay Prashad, Sita Balani and Ruth Wilson Gilmore. Find out more about the Stuart Hall Foundation at: stuarthallfoundation.org This project was made possible through funding from Arts Council England.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical nonfiction being published today. Episode 7 was recorded on the 8th March. James Meadway, the Director of the Progressive Economy Forum and former Economics Advisor to John McDonnell, came to Bookhaus to talk about his new co-authored pamphlet, The Cost of Living Crisis (and how to get out of it). Interviewed by Raven Hart, James explains in plain terms what is meant by 'inflation', increases or cuts in ‘real terms’, and phenomena like the ‘wage-price spiral’. He deals with the many myths, misconceptions and misdirections that abound in mainstream reporting on economics, and offers some practical proposals for how to resolve the crisis. bookhausbristol.com/shop

Since the election of Narendra Modi in 2014, India has changed dramatically. As the world attempts to grapple with its trajectory towards authoritarianism and ethnonationalism, little attention has been paid to the linkages between Modi's India and the governments from which it has drawn inspiration, as well as military and technical support. India may once have publicly condemned Zionism as a form of racism, but times have changed, and the state of Israel has increasingly become a cornerstone of India's foreign policy. Looking to emulate Israel in policy and practice, the recent annexation of Kashmir increasingly resembles Israel's settler-colonial project in the occupied West Bank. The ideological and political linkages between the two states are alarming; their brands of ethnonationalism deeply intertwined. This month we are joined on the show by Azad Essa, an award-winning journalist, and author of the new book, Hostile Homelands: The New Alliance Between India and Israel. We talk about the history of the shifting relationship between the two countries, India’s waning commitment to the Palestinian cause and the Israeli military industrial complex. We also discuss the influence of European fascism as well as Zionism on the development of the Hindu nationalist movement in the 20th century. Finally, Azad shares his insights on the significance of the relationship between Modi and Netanyahu, and the deteriorating situation in Kashmir.

In a context in which abolitionist discourse is reaching an ever-wider audience, and people’s trust in the state, as a vehicle through which we can hope to achieve meaningful political change, continues to ebb away, we are seeing a renewed engagement with prefigurative politics across the left. Pluto has always published books from a variety of political tendencies, and that includes anarchism. The label ‘anarchist’ has far from universal appeal, but as Scott Branson argues in their new book, Practical Anarchism: A Guide for Daily Life, the label itself is of secondary importance, and anarchism is something many of us are already practising in our daily lives, whether we realise it or not. From relationships to school, work, art, even the way we organise our time, the book shows us that anarchism can help us find fulfilment, empathy and liberation in the everyday. Scott joins us on the show for a conversation about their vision of a ‘practical anarchism’. We discuss the ways in which it is informed by Black and queer feminisms, how we can work to disidentify from the logic of capital and the state, and why we shouldn’t throw out the idea of ‘utopia’ altogether.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a new podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical fiction and nonfiction being published today. Episode 6 was recorded on 30th November. Darran McLaughlin from Bookhaus interviews Robin McLean, author of the new short story collection, Get ’em Young, Treat ’em Tough, Tell ’em Nothing, which was published by And Other Stories in 2022. Robin worked as a lawyer and then a potter in the woods of Alaska before turning to writing. Her story collection Reptile House won the 2013 BOA Editions Fiction Prize and was twice a finalist for the Flannery O’Connor Short Story Prize. She is also the author of a novel, Pity the Beast, which also came out with And Other Stories in 2021. Here, Robin discusses her background as a union worker and activist, her choice to live in politically ‘red’ states in the US, and the ways in which her writing grapples with themes such as the frontier myth and the American psyche. They also talk about her writing process, and the comparisons that her work has drawn to literary heavyweights such as William Faulkner and Toni Morrison. — Buy the book: bookhausbristol.com/shop

In 2022, workers have taken strike action on a massive scale, and many more are in the process of balloting to take strike action. In Britain, NHS workers, postal workers, criminal barristers, rail workers, university lecturers and many more have all walked out in the face of attacks on pay, pensions and working conditions. Amidst the cost of living and energy crises, spiralling inflation and the grim prospect of another recession, the need to fight such battles is urgent and acute.  In October, Pluto published Workers Can Win: A Guide to Organising at Work. Written by long-time labour organiser Ian Allinson, this nuts-and-bolts guide to organising your workplace argues that organising builds confidence, capacity and collective power - and with power we can win change. Ian joins us on the show this monthto talk about some of the key themes and ideas within the book. We’re also joined on the panel by Siobhan Aston, an NHS nurse based in Scotland, who is involved in grassroots organising within her union, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). We discuss long term grievances around pay and working conditions in the NHS, new developments in anti-union legislation, and how people can show their solidarity with striking workers.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a new podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical nonfiction being published today. In episode 5, Andrew Murray speaks about his new book, Is Socialism Possible in Britain?: Reflections on the Corbyn Years (Verso, 2022). The book analyses Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader and the prospects for parliamentary socialism in a post-Corbyn Britain. A veteran of the Stop the War Coalition, Andrew Murray was seconded to Corbyn’s office from the Unite trade union, and he offers here an insider’s view of the most radical period in Labour’s recent history.  Andrew is in conversation with Darran McLaughlin from Bookhaus. They discuss the difference between the 2017 and 2019 elections, the Labour Party's Brexit woes, and the threat Corbyn posed to the political and economic establishment. In assessing what went right and what went wrong, Andrew also offers his thoughts on what might be done differently next time, if socialism is ever to be possible in Britain. — Buy the book: bookhausbristol.com/shop

Amidst the global pandemic, war, environmental catastrophe, the cost of living crisis, and where victories for anti-capitalist forces are few and far between, it can feel like we are living in well and truly hopeless times. But as Marxist philosopher John Holloway argues in his new book, the times may indeed be hopeless, but we must still have hope. Hope in Hopeless Times is the the final instalment in a trilogy which Holloway began 20 years ago with Change the World Without Taking Power, and which continued with Crack Capitalism. He joins us on the panel this month to discuss hope, identity politics, and the consequences of commodity exchange as a form of social relations. We also talk about COP27, the infamous Liz Truss mini-budget and the case for abolishing money altogether. Hope in Hopeless Times, Change the World Without Taking Power and Crack Capitalism are all available to buy from plutobooks.com. Podcast listeners can get 50% off with the coupon PODCAST.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a new podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical nonfiction being published today. In episode 4, Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke de Noronha are in conversation with Nayya Raza from Bookhaus, about their new co-authored book, Against Borders: The Case for Abolition. They discuss the history and impact of border regimes, 'non-reformist reforms', and offer a utopian vision of the future in which borders - and the logic that underpins them - have been abolished.  — Buy the book: bookhausbristol.com/shop

Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, or Brothers of Italy, emerged from the Italian general election earlier this week with around 26% of the vote. Although it has been a junior partner in previous coalition governments, this is the first time that the party, which traces its lineage back to Mussolini and the post-war fascism of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), has become the largest political force in the country. Surging to prominence in recent years, Fratelli d’Italia has waged a fierce culture war against the Left, polarised political debate around World War II, and sought to redeem historical fascism, legitimise its political heirs and ultimately shift the terrain of mainstream politics to the right. Now poised to take power, many in the international community are asking how this has happened.  We are joined on the show by David Broder, author of Mussolini’s Grandchildren: Fascism in Contemporary Italy, to analyse the situation in Italy in the wake of the election. Mussolini's Grandchildren is published in March 2023. Pre-order it today through plutobooks.com.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a new podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical nonfiction being published today. Episode 3 features Rodrigo Nunes, author of Neither Vertical nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organization (2021), in conversation with Birgân Gökmenoğlu, an Affiliated Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics. Their discussion covers topics including the climate crisis, leadership, network theory and the mobilisation of a rightwing political ecology around Roe v. Wade. — Buy the book: bookhausbristol.com/shop

Recently, U.S. politics has appeared to be very much in a state of crisis. The last president was impeached by Congress, and stands accused of inciting an attempted coup in the January 2021 assault on the Capitol. What's more, in devastating acts of judicial review, The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, throwing out the right to an abortion; and its June 30th ruling on West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency severely curtailed the EPA’s authority under a provision of the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.  But rather than all this pointing to a dysfunctional, or even broken, politics, what we are witnessing is a political system working exactly as it was designed to. This is the position taken by Robert Ovetz in his eye-opening new book, We the Elites: Why the U.S. Constitution Serves the Few, in which he examines the constitution for what it is – a rulebook for elites to protect private property and capitalism from democracy. As Robert argues, social movements have misplaced faith in the constitution as a tool for achieving justice when it actually impedes social change through the many roadblocks and obstructions we call 'checks and balances'. This stymies progress on issues like labour rights, poverty, public health and the climate crisis, ultimately propelling the American people and rest of the world towards destruction. Robert joins us on the show this month to talk about the Constitution - from the historical context in which it was written and what its authors set out to achieve; to the many myths and misconceptions that exist around it; to its legacy today, more than 230 years after its ratification. We the Elites is out in September 2022. Podcast listeners can get 50% off the book via plutobooks.com - just use the coupon PODCAST at the checkout.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a new podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop’s ‘in-haus’ events programme features authors of some of the most exciting radical nonfiction being published today. Episode two features Azfar Shafi and Ilyas Nagdee, co-authors of Race to the Bottom: Reclaiming Antiracism, which was published last month in our Outspoken by Pluto series. Chairing the conversation is Nayya Raza from Bookhaus. They discuss the history of antiracist organising in Britain, from the Black Power movement and the 1981 uprisings, to the emergence of an ‘antiracism from above’ orientated around issues of visibility and inclusion. They also talk about theorising race and racism, the history of policing, and the challenges and opportunities the antiracist movement faces today. — Buy the book: bookhausbristol.com/shop

This month we are joined on the panel by Françoise Vergès, author of A Feminist Theory of Violence and A Decolonial Feminism, and Aviah Sarah Day and Shanice Octavia McBean, co-authors of the forthcoming book, Abolition Revolution.  Our discussion focuses on the connections between carceral feminism, racial capitalism and the structural violence perpetrated by the state. We also talk about the political journey of Sisters Uncut, abolitionism, and formulating alternative approaches to questions of protection and justice that reject the logic and infrastructure of carcerality.

Radicals in Conversation in-haus is a new podcast series collaboration between Pluto Press and Bookhaus, an independent bookshop in Bristol. RIC in-haus is recorded on location at Bookhaus. The bookshop's 'in-haus' events programme features authors of some of the most exciting political nonfiction currently being published. In episode 1, Stacey Clare, author of The Ethical Stripper, is in conversation with Amélie from the Bristol Sex Workers Collective. They talk about why many strippers are identifying with the sex worker label; how workers in the industry are organising through the United Voices of the World (UVW) union; and the challenges they face, from both the mainstream feminist movement, and workplace closures in the wake of the pandemic. --- Buy the book: bookhausbristol.com/shop Find out more about the Bristol Sex Workers Collective: bristolswc.com United Sex Workers crowdfunder: gofundme.com/f/urgent-save-our-strip-clubs-our-workplaces?qid=86f5dfe976298d7352f579429c37af7a

Islamophobia is everywhere. It is a narrative and history woven so deeply into our everyday lives that we don't even notice it – in our education, how we travel, our healthcare, legal system and at work. Behind the scenes it affects the most vulnerable, at the border and in prisons. Despite this, the conversation about Islamophobia is relegated to microaggressions and slurs. At best, we see it as an individual moral failing to be condemned – though amongst the political elite, Islamophobia is more likely to enhance, than hinder careers... In Tangled in Terror: Uprooting Islamophobia, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan scrutinises not just what Islamophobia is, but what it does. Islamophobia not only lives under the skin of those who it marks, but is an international political project designed to divide people in the name of security, in order to materially benefit global stakeholders. We're joined on the show by Suhaiymah to talk about a number of the issues covered in the new book, and to get her thoughts as well on the popular podcast, The Trojan Horse Affair, and the discourse that has emerged around the refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In England today there exist nearly 120,000 miles of public footpath - half what it was 100 years ago and amounting to just 8% of the land in the country. Of England’s 42,000 miles of rivers, we have access to just 3%. The enclosure of common land, and the exclusion of the people who lived upon it, was a violent process that began almost a thousand years ago, and reached its zenith in the 18th and 19th centuries. This ‘accumulation by dispossession', as David Harvey has put it, was frequently met with rebellion, but nonetheless continues to shape the landscape around us today. The story of the loss of the commons and the emergence of private property is not just of historical interest. Today a third of Britain is still owned by the aristocracy, and the rights of the land owner to do what they please with their land are paramount. Property remains inextricably linked to power. We're joined on the show this month by Nick Hayes, author of The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us (2020), and a co-founder of the Right to Roam campaign. We discuss the history of the commons and enclosure, and delve into the power of trespassing as a form of direct action. --- Find out more about the campaign: righttoroam.org.uk

To celebrate Black History Month in the US, we've gone through the Radicals in Conversation archive and curated a series of extracts in which our panellists discuss different aspects of Black history in America. Extract 1: Episode 26 (December 2019) - Bill Mullen and Megan Williams discuss the evolution of the radical politics of James Baldwin, as it was expressed in his writing and in his activism as a public intellectual. Extract 2: Episode 45 (August 2021) - Farah Thompson and Jules Joanne Gleeson talk about transgender experiences, race and organising in contemporary America. Extract 3: Episode 49 (December 2021) - Lorenzo Kom’Boa Ervin and William C. Anderson speak to JoNina Ervin about Black Anarchism in a collaboration with the Black Autonomy Podcast. Extract 4: The New Intellectuals Episode 1 (April 2020) - Jordan Camp interviews Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor for The New Intellectuals - a series produced in collaboration with The People’s Forum. They talk about the history of Black home ownership in the twentieth century. ---- 30% off our Black Reading List for Black History Month: plutobooks.com/black-history-month-reading-list/

Almost two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, and the limits of a neoliberal public health orthodoxy have been well and truly exposed. But instead of pushing for radical change, the left in Britain finds itself stuck in a rearguard action focused on defending the National Health Service (NHS) from the wrecking ball of privatisation. In January 2022, Pluto published The Five Health Frontiers: A New Radical Blueprint, in which public health expert Christopher Thomas argues that we must emerge from the pandemic on the offensive - with a bold, new vision for our health and social care. He maps out five new frontiers for public health and imagines how we can move beyond safeguarding what we have, towards a revitalisation and radical expansion of the principles put forward by Aneurin Bevan, the founder of the NHS, over 70 years ago. Beyond recalibrating our approach to healthcare, this radical blueprint calls for a fundamental redesign of our economy through 'Public Health Net Zero'; a bold new universal public health service that is fit to address the real causes of ill health; and a major recalibration in the efforts against the epidemiological reality of an era of pandemics. Joining us on the panel are: Christopher Thomas, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and author of The Five Health Frontiers;Dr Sonia Adesara, an NHS doctor and campaigner

In October 2021, Pluto published the definitive edition of Anarchism and the Black Revolution by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin. The book first connected Black radical thought to anarchist theory in 1979, and now amidst a rising tide of Black political organising, this foundational classic has been republished with a wealth of original material, including forewords by William C. Anderson and Joy James. This month’s episode of Radicals in Conversation is brought to you in collaboration with the Black Autonomy Podcast, in which JoNina Ervin hosts a discussion between Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin and William C. Anderson about Black anarchism across the generations. Ervin and Anderson discuss the reasons for the continued relevance and increasing popularity of Black anarchism today, what an ‘ungovernable’ radical movement might look like, and the contradictions inherent to single-issue and state-orientated political projects from the left. They also discuss Black nationalism, and put Anderson's recent book The Nation on No Map in conversation with Anarchism and the Black Revolution.   Find out more about the Black Autonomy Podcast: blackautonomy.libsyn.com patreon.com/blackautonomy   The Nation on No Map by William C. Anderson: akpress.org/nationonnomap.html   Anarchism and the Black Revolution by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin: www.plutobooks.com/9780745345819/anarchism-and-the-black-revolution/

Content warning: rape, suicide On 25 May 2018, the Irish people voted to remove the Eighth Amendment from the constitution. This amendment, which had been introduced in 1983, not only made abortion illegal in Ireland, but equated the life of a pregnant woman to the life of a fertilised embryo. Despite this criminalisation, the ban on abortion was always resisted and circumvented. In the years leading up to the 2018 referendum, a grassroots movement pushing for repeal emerged on an unprecedented scale, sending tens of thousands of people out canvassing in villages, towns and cities around the country.  This victory for the Irish Repeal movement set the country alight with euphoria. But, for some, the celebrations were short-lived – the new legislation turned out to be one of the most conservative in Europe. People still travel overseas for abortions and services are not yet commissioned in Northern Ireland. This month Pluto published a new book, Repealed: Ireland's Unfinished Fight for Reproductive Rights, by Camilla Fitzsimons, with Sinéad Kennedy, and a foreword by Ruth Coppinger. We are joined on the show by Camilla, Sinéad and Ruth to discuss the history of the Catholic Church and women’s oppression in Ireland, the introduction of the Eighth amendment in 1983, and the qualitative turning points in the long road to repeal. We also consider the lessons from the campaign, and the challenges that still remain, more than three years later.

The trade union movement in Britain has existed for nearly two centuries: from the Tolpuddle Martyrs, to the 1888 Matchgirls’ strike, to the militant action of Women machinists at the Ford plant in Dagenham in 1968 - organised labour has a rich, if complicated, history. But in the ebb and flow and workers’ power over the decades, we find ourselves at a historic low point. Union membership is declining, with young workers in particular less likely to be part of a trade union than ever. In every year since 1991 the number of strikes has been lower than in any year prior to that point. Much of this decline can be laid at the door of successive rafts of anti-union legislation brought in by Margaret Thatcher, and more recently by David Cameron, raising the legal bar for strike ballots and outlawing secondary action. But as our guests on this month's show argue, reports of the trade union movement’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Not only is the need for unions more urgent than ever as we face our second winter of the Covid-19 Pandemic, but workers are taking action across the economy and winning. And it is women, young people and migrant workers who are leading the charge. We are joined on the panel by: Eve Livingston, author of Make Bosses Pay: Why We Need Unions; Jane Hardy, author of Nothing to Lose But Our Chains: Work and Resistance in 21st Century Britain; and Henry Chango Lopez, General Secretary of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB). --- Find out more about the IWGB: iwgb.org.uk

Throughout 2021 we have witnessed a number of devastating and deeply disturbing extreme weather events across the globe. From flooding and forest fires, to soaring temperatures, it is abundantly clear that global warming is accelerating faster than anticipated, and our window of opportunity to combat its worst effects is shrinking commensurately.  The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) takes place in Glasgow at the end of October, but many of us would question whether the process is capable of delivering the radical emissions reductions we need in the timescale required, or indeed if any process so dominated by the rich nations of the global north is likely to result in an agreement that has the principles of climate justice at its core. Training our gaze elsewhere, this month we consider the framework of the Green New Deal, in its myriad formations: from largely status-quo visions of green capitalism, to the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez GND resolution, to more radical programmes founded on the principles of anti-imperialism, agroecology, and just transition. Joining us on the panel are: Max Ajl, author of A People’s Green New Deal; Chris Saltmarsh, author of Burnt: Fighting for Climate Justice; and Adrienne Buller, a Senior Research Fellow at Common Wealth, and author of the forthcoming book The Value of a Whale: On the Delusions of Green Capitalism (Manchester University Press, 2022).

In May 2021, Pluto published a new edited collection from Jules Joanne Gleeson and Elle O’Rourke, titled Transgender Marxism. The book offers a groundbreaking synthesis of transgender studies and Marxist theory. Exploring trans lives and movements, the collection’s contributors delve into the experiences of surviving as transgender under capitalism. They explore the pressures, oppression and state persecution faced by trans people living in capitalist societies, their tenuous positions in the workplace and the home, and give a powerful response to right-wing scaremongering against ‘gender ideology’. Joining us on the panel to discuss the themes of the book, are: Jules Joanne Gleeson, a writer, comedian and historian who has published essays in outlets including Viewpoint Magazine, Invert Journal and VICE. She has performed internationally at a wide range of communist and queer cultural events, and is co-editor of Transgender Marxism; and Farah Thompson, a Black, bisexual trans woman who lives in San Diego. She advocates for anti-imperialism, LGBT rights, decriminalisation of drug use and sex work, and self-determination of Black and colonised peoples. Farah is the author of one of the book’s chapters, titled ‘The Bridge Between Gender and Organising’. Listeners of Radicals in Conversation can get an exclusive 50% off Transgender Marxism through plutobooks.com. Just enter the coupon PODCAST at the checkout.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill is a far-reaching piece of legislation that would, if passed into law, result in an enormous and unprecedented extension of policing powers, severely curtailing the right to peaceful protest. Over the summer, many people have taken to the streets in #KilltheBill protests to voice their opposition and alarm. One aspect of the Policing bill that is perhaps less discussed is the manner in which it will specifically threaten Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities. In this episode we look at the histories, identities and lived realities of GRT people in Britain today, and the ways in which anti-GRT racism is already manifested institutionally. This episode is structured in two parts. Firstly we have an interview with Jo Clement, Managing Editor and Creative Director of Butcher’s Dog poetry magazine. Jo is also a Roma Gypsy and a member of the Drive2Survive team - a grassroots campaign against Section 4 of the Policing Bill, that threatens Gypsy, Roma and Traveller life in Britain. In the second part of the show we are joined on the panel for a more in-depth discussion with two fantastic guests: Luke Smith, a Romani-Gypsy activist and founder of GRT Socialists; and Ben Smoke, Politics Editor at Huck magazine, and one of the Stansted 15.

'Work hard, get paid.' It's simple. Self-evident. But it's also a lie - at least for most of us. For people today, the old assumptions are crumbling; hard work in school no longer guarantees a secure, well-paying job in the future. Far from a gateway to riches and fulfillment, 'work' means precarity, anxiety and alienation. Discussing everything from the history of work under capitalism, to social reproduction and the trade union movement, our panel are: Amelia Horgan, author of Lost in Work: Escaping Capitalism; Sarah Jaffe, a reporting fellow at Type Media Center and the author of Work Won't Love You Back; and Orlando Lazar, a political theorist and college lecturer at the University of Oxford, whose research focuses on power and domination at work.

Content warning: suicide Academia was once thought of as the best job in the world - a career that fosters autonomy, craft, intrinsic job satisfaction and vocational zeal. And yet you would be hard-pressed to find a lecturer who believes that now. Indeed, there’s a strong correlation between the marketisation and commercialisation of higher education over the last 30 years and the psychological hell now endured by its staff and students. In his new book, Dark Academia: How Universities Die, Peter Fleming delves beyond the glossy brochures of smiling students, and lingering misconceptions of intellectual life in the ivory tower, into the hidden underbelly of the neoliberal university. It is a world dogged by mental illness and self-harm, authoritarian managerialism, students as consumers and ever-more competitive individualism which casts a dark sheen of alienation over departments. We are joined on the panel by Peter Fleming and Simon Lilley, Professor of Information and Organisation at the University of Leicester’s School of Management.

Borders are more than geographical lines - they impact all our lives, whether it's the inhumanity of deportations, or a rise in racist attacks in the wake of the EU referendum. Border Nation, the new book by Leah Cowan, shows how oppressive borders must be resisted. Laying bare the web of media myths that vilify migrants, Leah dives into the murky waters of corporate profiteering from borders by companies like G4S, and the ramping up of everyday borders through legislation. She looks at their colonial origins, and explores how a draconian approach to border crossings damages our communities. This month we are joined on the show by Leah, for a discussion all about borders: their history, whose interests they serve, and how people are actively resisting them today. We also talk about the compelling case for border abolition. Find out more about the book: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745341071/border-nation/ Listen to the unabridged version of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/plutopress

We are in a moment of profound overlapping crises. The landscape of politics and entitlement is being rapidly remade. As movements against colonial legacies and state violence coincide with the rise of authoritarian regimes, it is the lens of racism, and the politics of race, that offers the sharpest focus. The 'hostile environment' and the fallout from Brexit have, over the last few years, thrown the centrality of race into sharp relief, and yet discussions around racism have too often continued to focus on individual behaviours. Empire’s Endgame foregrounds instead the wider political and economic context, and the authors trace the ways in which the legacies of empire have been reshaped by global capitalism, the digital environment and the instability of the nation-state. We are joined on the show this month by four of the co-authors of Empire's Endgame - Gargi Bhattacharyya, Sita Balani, Nadine El-Enany and Luke de Noronha. Our discussion covers the state's deployment of racialised 'folk devils', the persistent allure of nationalism, a collective longing for authoritarian state intervention and the role of gender and sexuality in how the performance and functions of the state. Find out more about the book: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745342047/empires-endgame/ Listen to the unabridged version of the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/plutopress

In the early hours of the morning of the 12th October 1984, a bomb exploded in the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Five people were killed and many more were injured. The bombing was an attempt by the Provisional IRA to kill the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and her cabinet. Patrick Magee, the man responsible for planting the bomb, was eventually apprehended, put on trial and imprisoned. He was released in 1999, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The following year he met Jo Berry, the daughter of Sir Anthony Berry MP, one of the 5 people killed at Brighton. The conversation they started at their first meeting had a profound impact on both of them, and it has continued ever since. Their ongoing dialogue, and their friendship, is now more than 20 years in the making, and an extraordinary example of what is possible, even in the face of profound differences, when there is a genuine commitment to honesty, inclusion and dialogue. This month Pluto publishes Patrick Magee’s memoir, Where Grieving Begins: Building Bridges after the Brighton Bomb. The book recounts the influences and events of Patrick's life, reflecting on his motivations and the political context in which he acted; on armed struggle, the peace process and the legacies of the conflict. The book’s foreword is written by Jo Berry. This month we're joined on the show by Patrick Magee and Jo Berry, to talk about the Troubles, the Brighton Bomb and healing the wounds left by the conflict. --- Building Bridges for Peace: http://buildingbridgesforpeace.org/

In 2019, over 10,000 possible victims of slavery were found in the UK. From men working in Sports Direct warehouses for barely any pay, to teenaged Vietnamese girls trafficked into small town nail bars, we're told that modern slavery is all around us, operating in plain sight. But is this really slavery, and is it even a new phenomenon? Why has the British Conservative Party called it 'one of the great human rights issues of our time', when they usually ignore the exploitation of those at the bottom of the economic pile? In January 2021, Pluto published a new book by writer and activist, Emily Kenway, called The Truth About Modern Slavery, in which she reveals how modern slavery has been created as a political tool by those in power. We are joined on the podcast this month by Emily Kenway; Ella Cockbain, Associate Professor in Security and Crime Science at University College London, and author of Offender and Victim Networks in Human Trafficking; and Molly Smith, co-author with Juno Mac of Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers’ Rights. The unabridged version of this podcast is available via patreon.com/plutopress --- Kalayaan - Justice for Migrant Domestic Workerskalayaan.org.uk SWARM - Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movementswarmcollective.org

For decades we have spoken of the 'Israel-Palestine conflict', but what if our understanding and framing of the issue has been wrong all along?  That’s the argument of a new book published in January 2021, Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine. Joining us in conversation this month is the author, Jeff Halper, former Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and a founding member of the One Democratic State (ODS) Campaign. We discuss the characteristics of a settler-colonial project, the unfeasibility of a two-state solution, Palestinian refugees' right to return, and the ODS campaign's call for a decolonial approach and a single democratic state.  The unabridged version of this podcast is available via patreon.com/plutopress --- Find out more: onestatecampaign.org plutobooks.com/9780745343396/decolonizing-israel-liberating-palestine/

Walk into any European museum today and you will see the curated spoils of Empire. They sit behind plate glass: dignified, tastefully lit. Accompanying pieces of card offer a name, date and place of origin. They do not mention that the objects are all stolen. Few artefacts embody this history of rapacious and extractive colonialism better than the Benin Bronzes - a collection of thousands of brass plaques and carved ivory tusks depicting the history of the Royal Court of the Obas of Benin City, Nigeria. Pillaged during a British naval attack in 1897, the loot was passed on to Queen Victoria, the British Museum and countless private collections. Now, more than 120 years later, the story of the Benin Bronzes sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation and the decolonisation of museums.  In November, Pluto releases a new book on the subject, The Brutish Museums by Dan Hicks, in which he makes a powerful case for the urgent return of such objects, as part of a wider project of addressing the outstanding debt of colonialism. Joining us to discuss the new book and ongoing conversations around decolonisation and cultural restitution, are:  Dan Hicks, Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford and Curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum; Nadine Batchelor-Hunt, a journalist and broadcaster; Chris Garrard, co-director of Culture Unstained; and Diya Gupta, Past & Present Fellow, Race, Ethnicity and Equality in History, Royal Historical Society.

Amazon is the most powerful corporation on the planet. Now with a net worth in excess of $200 billion dollars, its CEO, Jeff Bezos, has become the richest person in history, and one of the few people to profit from the global pandemic. Amazon’s dominance is so profound that it has reshaped the global economy itself: we now live in the age of 'Amazon Capitalism'. Servicing the expansion of its e-commerce empire, Amazon has in turn become one of the world's largest logistics companies as well, and its highly profitable Amazon Web Services (AWS) now accounts for more than half the world’s public cloud infrastructure market. Covering some of the corporation’s uniquely troubling facets - including automation, surveillance and the disruption of local democracy - we also discuss Amazon workers' resistance and organising over issues such as pay and working conditions, and developing networks of international solidarity.  On the panel are: Jake Alimahomed-Wilson, Professor of Sociology at California State University, Long Beach. Jake is the co-editor of Choke Points: Logistics Workers Disrupting the Global Supply Chain as well as the new book The Cost of Free Shipping: Amazon in the Global Economy (Pluto, 2020); Ellen Reese, Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Riverside, and co-editor of The Cost of Free Shipping; Nantina Vgontzas, a labor activist and postdoctoral researcher at the AI Now Institute at New York University. Their research explores the global renewal of the labor movement amid growing crises of public health, climate change and authoritarian ascent; and Christian Zamarrón, a member of Amazonians United in Chicago - an autonomous, worker-based movement fighting for workers’ rights, better conditions and the democratization of their workplaces. --- Podcast listeners can buy The Cost of Free Shipping with 50% off, via plutobooks.com/podcastreading. Use the coupon 'PODCAST' at the checkout. The full, unabridged version of this episode is available exclusively to Pluto Patreon members. Join today and support independent, radical publishing.

Celebrating the launch of her new book, Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power, Lola Olufemi guest hosts this month's episode of Radicals in Conversation. She is joined on the panel by Jade Bentil, a black feminist historian and PhD researcher at the University of Oxford, and author of the forthcoming book, Rebel Citizen: A History of Black Women Living, Loving and Resisting (2021); and Gail Lewis, a black feminist and former Reader in Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck College. Their discussion covers a range of subjects treated in the book, including the history of black feminist organising, grassroots activism, liberal feminism, sex work, the nation state and state violence, gender, trans and queer life, intersectionality, and art. --- Podcast listeners can get an exclusive discount on Feminism, Interrupted and other books related to this episode, at plutobooks.com/podcastreading.

A global pandemic; the onset of a massive economic crisis; and the reinvigoration of a powerful social movement for racial justice - these are just some of the seismic events that have defined 2020, a year that still has several months to run, and yet already has few historical parallels. In July, Pluto launched a new series of short books, 'Vagabonds'. Intended as radical pamphlets to fan the flames of discontent, these books delve into the urgent questions of healthcare, racial injustice and capitalism in crisis, that have come to define 2020. This month we speak to two people who have been instrumental in the creation of Vagabonds: Max Haiven, Research Chair in Culture, Media and Social Justice at Lakehead University in Canada, and director of the ReImagining Value Action Lab (RiVAL). Max is the series editor for Vagabonds and his most recent book is Revenge Capitalism: The Ghosts of Empire, the Demons of Capital, and the Settling of Unpayable Debts (Pluto, 2020). Cassie Thornton, an artist and activist from the US, currently living in Canada. She is the author of The Hologram, one of the first new books in the Vagabonds series. Cassie is also currently the co-director of RiVAL. --- Podcast listeners can buy all the books discussed in this episode with 50% off, via plutobooks.com/podcastreading. Use the coupon 'PODCAST' at the checkout. The full, unabridged version of this episode is available exclusively to Pluto Patreon members. Join today and support independent, radical publishing.

Pristine lawns, tennis whites, strawberries and cream - tennis is synonymous with the upper echelons of society, but scratch beneath the surface and you'll quickly discover a different history, one of untold struggles on and off the courts. From the birth of modern tennis in Victorian Britain to the present day, A People's History of Tennis lays bear struggles around sexuality, gender, race and class that have transformed the nature of tennis and sport itself. In this episode of Radicals in Conversation, we speak to David Berry, author of A People's History of Tennis; Emily Bootle, Editorial Assistant at the New Statesman; David Cohen, Investigations and Campaigns Editor at the London Evening Standard; and Niek van der Spek from Smashing Pink Tennis Club in Amsterdam, Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ tennis club. --- Podcast listeners can buy A People's History of Tennis with 50% off, via plutobooks.com/podcastreading. Use the coupon 'PODCAST' at the checkout. The full, unabridged version of this episode is available exclusively to Pluto Patreon members. Join today and support independent, radical publishing.

In this episode, Jordan T. Camp speaks with popular educator Stephanie Weatherbee Brito about the rightwing turn in Latin America and its connection to U.S. and imperial interests in the region.

'Mutual aid, solidarity and commoning become most visible during periods of deep crisis. This is when the structures of the state and of capitalist markets not only fail to address the emergency situation, but they often show their complicity in making it worse. When solidarity is revealed to the majority as the practice that makes a difference, it is as if society en masse were to whisper in our ear its desire to evolve: "I want to evolve, I want to evolve, but my evolution depends on you," says society. And again: "Make this relational care embedded in solidarity the new gravitational point around which a new world is built."' - Massimo de Angelis This month we are joined by three contributors to the new book, Pandemic Solidarity, about which the above words were written. The book brings together a collection of stories from around the world, revealing what an alternative society could look like, post-pandemic, and what skills and relationships we need in order to create that society. Discussing the book, and with particular reference to experiences in Portugal and Brazil, are:  Lais Duarte, a Ph.D candidate at the Anthropology department of CUNY, who studies solidarity networks, immigrant integration policy and decolonisation praxis. Lais also co-authored the chapter on Portugal in the book; Marina Sitrin, Assistant Professor of Sociology at SUNY Binghamton, New York. Co-editor of Pandemic Solidarity and author or co-author of several books including Horizontalism, Everyday Revolutions and They Can’t Represent Us!; and Vanessa Zettler, a teacher, sociologist, translator and writer living in São Paulo, where she is also an activist building community through music. Vanessa authored the book’s chapter on Brazil.  --- Podcast listeners can buy Pandemic Solidarity with 50% off, via plutobooks.com/podcastreading. Use the coupon 'PODCAST' at the checkout. The full, unabridged version of this episode is available exclusively to Pluto Patreon members. Join today and support independent, radical publishing.

This month Jordan T. Camp talks to actor and director Sudhanva Deshpande about his new book, Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi (LeftWord Books).

This month we join San Francisco-based historian, tour guide and author Chris Carlsson in a discussion centered around his new book, Hidden San Francisco: A Guide to Lost Landscapes, Unsung Heroes and Radical Histories (Pluto, 2020). Chris is in conversation with fellow historians Nicole Meldahl, Liam O'Donoghue and LisaRuth Elliott. They discuss the genesis of the Shaping San Francisco project in the '90s, what it means to engage in 'history from below', the power of podcasting, how to do oral history, and why you should interview your family. They also highlight some of the key grassroots movements in the city's history: from the Save the Bay and Anti-Freeway movements, to the successful 1950's campaign to stop a nuclear power plant being built on the San Andreas fault. --- Podcast listeners can buy Hidden San Francisco with 50% off, via plutobooks.com/podcastreading. Use the coupon 'PODCAST' at the checkout. The full, unabridged version of this episode is available exclusively to Pluto Patreon members. Join today and support independent, radical publishing.

Jordan T. Camp is joined by historian Andrew Zimmerman to discuss his edited volume of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' writings, The Civil War in the United States (International Publishers).

Covid-19 has thrown the idea of class, and class society, into sharp relief, ridiculing many of our economic system’s foundational premises - for one, the idea that as a worker, your pay cheque is a reflection of your value to society. Facing the possibility of economic collapse and a new great recession, the overton window has shifted dramatically on state intervention in the economy, the value of public services, and the credibility of ideas such as universal basic income. But how is the current crisis likely to shift the balance of power between capital and labour? How can working people build class power amidst the lockdown? And how can we express meaningful solidarity, at the community, national and international level? In our latest episode of Radicals in Conversation, these questions are foregrounded, amidst a wider discussion of the meaning of class today. Joining us on the panel are Ben Tippet, author of Split: Class Divides Uncovered; Grace Blakeley, author of Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialisation, and Emily Scurrah, a researcher at the New Economics Foundation. --- Podcast listeners can get an exclusive discount on Split and other books related to this episode, at plutobooks.com/podcastreading. The full, unabridged version of this episode is available exclusively to Pluto Patreon members. Join today and help support independent, radical publishing.

In the first episode of The New Intellectuals, Jordan T. Camp's guest is scholar-activist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, who discusses her new book, Race for Profit: How Banks and Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership (University of North Carolina Press, 2019). --- The New Intellectuals is a monthly interview podcast produced for Pluto Press and The People’s Forum. Hosted by author, editor, and TPF director of research, Jordan T. Camp, it features interviews with intellectuals invested in the struggles of the poor, working class, and the dispossessed in North America and the world. Inspired by Antonio Gramsci, it identifies 'new intellectuals' as the authors, scholars, organizers and permanent persuaders of political and social movements.

The more radical orientation of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership attracted many activists back to the party in 2015. Nearly five years later, with 580,000 registered members, it has become the largest political party in Europe. Yet in spite of this groundswell of grassroots support, the 2019 General Election handed Labour its worst defeat since 1935. Dogged by accusations of antisemitism, attacked for its drifting position on Brexit, and failing to offer a credible, clearly articulated vision through its manifesto, Labour was unable to build on the successes of 2017.  The Party clearly needs to reflect on what went wrong, in order to rebuild. With the Corbyn project arguably at an end, and with the leadership contest underway, the big question is 'what needs to happen next?' Joining us to discuss what went wrong in 2019, and what Labour needs to do differently in 2020, are: James Meadway, former advisor to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, and former chief economist at the New Economics Foundation; Sam Philips, a Labour member who has been active in the party since 2016; and Martin Bowman, a Labour and Momentum member, and Labour for a Green New Deal volunteer, who canvassed in London marginals during the 2019 general election, as well as spending two weeks with Labour Legends in Broxtowe. --- There is 50% off on a number of Pluto books relating to this month's episode, exclusively for podcast listeners. Go to plutobooks.com/podcastreading and enter the code PODCAST at the checkout.

The ‘hostile environment’ - the anti-migrant policy announced by then-Home Secretary Theresa May in 2012 - has extended border policing into universities, healthcare, schools, and other sectors, forcing workers in those sectors to enforce immigration policy. Within higher education, international students and staff now face regular passport checks, and an obligation to report their exact whereabouts daily or weekly. Unis Resist Border Controls (URBC) is a national campaign made up of British, EU, non-EU, migrant students, lecturers and university workers opposed to Home Office surveillance and border controls on UK campuses. Advocating for free movement and free education, in the belief that all migrants matter, and that borders kill knowledge, URBC has been working to resist these increasingly draconian measures. We are joined this month by Sanaz Raji and Caoimhe Mader McGuinness, from URBC, to talk about the impact of border controls in higher education. --- For an exclusive discount on some of our books published on this subject, go to: plutobooks.com/podcastreading

James Baldwin left an indelible mark on the face of Western politics and culture. Novels like Go Tell it on a Mountain, Giovanni’s Room and Another Country were groundbreaking when they were first published in the 1950s and '60s, and Baldwin’s work continues to resonate. The 2018 cinematic release of If Beale Street Could Talk, based on Baldwin's novel of the same name, is the latest testament to his enduring relevance and popularity. Our final episode of the year features Bill V. Mullen, author of James Baldwin: Living in Fire (Pluto, 2019) in conversation with Megan Maxine Williams, a Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at Purdue University. Bill and Megan explore the evolution of Baldwin's radical politics - expressed both on the page, and in his activism as a public intellectual - and consider his renewed relevance in the context of Black Lives Matter and police violence. They consider his early advocacy of an 'indigenous' socialism in the US, his role in the civil rights movement, and his appraisal of Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party. Bill and Megan also discuss Baldwin's sexuality and the influence of Black feminists such as Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni and Lorraine Hansberry on the development of his gender politics. James Baldwin: Living in Fire is available now from plutobooks.com.

Few political projects in recent years have been a source of greater hope and inspiration than Rojava - the Kurdish region of north-eastern Syria. Inspired by the political philosophy of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Rojava embodies a radical ecology, direct democracy and a deep commitment to gender equality. Although always threatened by a hostile regional geopolitics, the Kurdish people’s revolutionary social and political experiment finds itself now under renewed bombardment. On 6th October Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from the region, effectively giving the green light to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to invade, under the auspices of creating a buffer zone in which up to a million Syrian refugees who had fled to Turkey might live. Just a few weeks on and hundreds of Kurds have been killed, and hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes. On 2nd November we spoke to two activists from the Kurdish women’s movement, Dilar Dirik and Elif Sarican, to discuss the situation in Rojava, and what meaningful action is needed in order to safeguard its future. --- For wider reading on the subject, go to plutobooks.com/podcastreading Women Defend Rojava campaign: https://womendefendrojava.net/en/

There are few subjects more personal, and more political, than sex. Sex education, as it’s taught in school, has always been a source of controversy, and amongst the pupils subjected to it, a great deal of embarrassment as well.  But while national contexts may differ, it is perhaps the inadequacy of sex education that emerges as its most defining trait. It is often heteronormative in its assumptions; overly biological in approach. Many young people emerge from formal sex education knowing how to put a condom on a banana, but without a full understanding of what constitutes consent. In March 2017, the UK government ruled that by September 2020, sex and relationship education will be compulsory. But big question marks remain over what it will look like in practice. Joining us this month to discuss how both schools and society could benefit from a radical and inclusive approach to sex education, are: Natalie Fiennes, author of Behind Closed Doors: Sex Education Transformed, Lydia Hughes, a trade union organiser, and Bryony Walker, a social justice activist involved in the Level Up campaign to change the UK curriculum around consent.

On 10th September one of the world’s largest arms fairs returns to London. The Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) will feature hundreds of exhibitors, including many of the world’s biggest arms manufacturers - BAE systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and many more besides. Also attending, at the invitation of the UK government, will be countless national delegations, including those from authoritarian regimes, countries in conflict and countries identified as having major human rights concerns.  This is no ordinary industry event, and the arms fair has faced increasing censure and resistance every time it comes to town. In 2017, this resistance took many forms. One of the most exciting was Art the Arms Fair (ATAF) - a volunteer-run gallery, comprised of donated artworks from a diverse array of artists. With an original work by Banksy among the pieces auctioned off, ATAF raised over £200,000 for Campaign Against Arms Trade.  This year, as the arms fair returns to London’s docklands, so too does the gallery. Alongside artists from Yemen, the Iraqi diaspora and local community groups, the gallery will also feature donated artwork from Anish Kapoor, Guerilla Girls, Darren Cullen, Shepard Fairey and Peter Kennard. Joining us to discuss the arms trade, 'artwash' and the power of political art, are: Rhianna Louise, an organiser at Art the Arms Fair, and Peter Kennard, one of Britain’s foremost political artists, and author of the new book Peter Kennard: Visual Dissent (Pluto, 2019). --- artthearmsfair.com caat.org.uk

History can often feel remote - its subjects separated from us by the barriers of time and geography. And more often than not, those of class, gender, sexuality and race as well. But history doesn’t exist in a silo, and it is hardly remote, if you know where to look. With the prevalence now of People’s History or history-from-below, we have a subject that lives and breathes. And not just in books, but in the architecture around us, the places we meet, and the social movements we build. Nowhere is this intersection of history with geography and with politics more keenly perceptible than right here in London.  This month we are joined in the studio by two people whose work uncovers and celebrates the individuals, communities and movements that have shaped the city: David Rosenberg, an educator, tour guide and author of Rebel Footprints: A Guide to Uncovering London's Radical History; and  Dan Glass, an award-winning activist, mentor, performer and writer, who founded Queer Tours of London in 2017. --- Get your copy of Rebel Footprints with 50% off for the next month at plutobooks.com. Use the coupon code PODCAST at the checkout.

The last 12 months has seen the unprecedented resurgence of public engagement with green politics. Climate Change - although of course it never actually went away - is back. Extinction Rebellion; Greta Thunberg; the Green New Deal - words that would have failed to register only a year ago have become household names.  The urgency with which we need to act in order to prevent the worst effects of runaway global warming is now widely acknowledged. But the big questions remain, of what that action should be.  Is a renewable technology revolution adequate, if the logic of market capitalism remains intact? Are we all in this together? Or does the softness of our governments’ emissions reduction targets point to the expendability of those in the Global South? Joining us to discuss the climate crisis, and a vision of climate justice, are:  Chaitanya Kumar, Senior Policy Advisor at Green Alliance; Simon Pirani, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, and author of Burning Up: A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption (2018); and Asad Rehman, Executive Director at War on Want. We also speak to Anna Taylor, founder of the UK Student Climate Network, and organiser of the first national school climate strike, to get her perspective on the wave of activism that has brought climate change back to the top of the agenda. --- For wider reading on the subject, go to plutobooks.com/podcastreading

In the early hours of the morning on 14th June, 2017, a faulty refrigerator on the 4th floor of Grenfell Tower, situated in the North Kensington area of West London, sparked a fire that quickly grew into an inferno, engulfing the whole building. At least 72 people died - though the number may be higher - and 70 more were injured, as fire fighters attempted to extinguish what was soon to become the deadliest fire in Britain for over a century. But as it transpired in the days and weeks that followed, the fire was no mere tragic, unforeseeable accident: the building had only one stairwell, no sprinklers, and its exterior was encased in a highly flammable cladding material, installed as part of a recent ‘refurbishment’, for no other purpose than to make the tower block more aesthetically pleasing to the borough’s affluent onlookers. In short, the fire, and the terrible extent of its devastation, were the result of a long history of negligence, structural violence and inequality; an embodiment of the contempt with which the British elite holds racialised and working class people. But the story of Grenfell is just as much about the strength of those who survived, and the resistance and solidarity of the local community, in their search for accountability, and meaningful justice. In May 2019, Pluto published a new book, After Grenfell: Violence, Resistance and Response, edited by Dan Bulley, Jenny Edkins and Nadine El-Enany, and featuring over 20 contributors. This month we are joined in the studio by four of them: Gracie Mae Bradley, a writer and campaigner interested in critical human rights, state racism and data/surveillance; Monique Charles, an independent researcher, writing about Black music, music analysis, class, gender and race; Nadine El-Enany, senior lecturer at Birkbeck School of Law, and Co-Director of the Centre for Research on Race and Law; and Daniel Renwick, a videographer and writer who made Failed by the State – the struggle in the shadow of Grenfell with Ishmael Francis-Murray and Redfish, who has also worked as an advocate and youth worker in the North Kensington community. --- After Grenfell is out now. Go to plutobooks.com to find out more. All royalties and 10% of Pluto's profits from sales of the book go to the Grenfell Foundation.

On 18th May, millions of people around the world will tune in to the 64th annual Eurovision Song Contest. Last year, Israel’s Netta Barzilai won the competition with the song ‘Toy’, scoring a comfortable 93 point margin over runner-up Cyprus. As a result, Eurovision 2019 broadcasts from Tel Aviv, and in doing so, wades deep into political controversy. Netta’s victory in 2018 was seen by the Israeli government as something of a diplomatic triumph; reinforcing the narrative of Israel’s LGBT and Queer-friendly credentials. But the Palestinian reality of continued occupation and apartheid has not been elided, and accusations of ‘pinkwashing’ and ‘artwashing’ - along with calls to boycott Eurovision - have gained considerable traction in the last few months. Discussing this unlikely flashpoint in the history of the Palestinian struggle and the BDS campaign, we are joined in the studio by Hilary Aked, a London-based writer, researcher and activist, who is currently writing a book about the Israel lobby in the UK; Salma Karmi-Ayyoub, a criminal barrister, and consultant for Palestinian human rights organisation Al Haq; and Alia Malak, a British-Palestinian from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). To find out more about the BDS campaign, and the numerous alternative events being planned to coincide with Eurovision, go to: https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi https://boycotteurovision.uk --- Go to www.plutobooks.com/podcastreading for 50% off selected books relating to this month's episode. Simply apply the coupon code 'PODCAST' at the checkout.

In March 2017 a group of activists surrounded a plane at Stansted Airport in a peaceful protest, to stop what they believed was the unlawful deportation of 60 people on a charter flight to Ghana and Nigeria. Charged with ‘endangering safety at aerodromes’ - an obscure piece of anti-terror legislation brought in after the 1988 Lockerbie Bombing - the 'Stansted 15' faced maximum possible sentences of life imprisonment. After a protracted and high profile court case they were all found guilty. Sentences were handed down in February 2019 - in the end, all non-custodial. The heavy-handed prosecution of the Stansted 15 feels emblematic of our dark political times. But equally, the group's story shows the importance, and efficacy, of solidarity through direct action. This month we are joined by Lyndsay Burtonshaw and Laura Clayson, two of the Stansted 15. We talk about the government's deportation charter flights, the colonial mentality underpinning the 'hostile environment', and what led them both to take the action they did. We also hear some of the stories of the people who were on the plane bound for deportation and discuss the many ways in which people can offer solidarity and take action. --- Go to www.plutobooks.com/podcastreading for 50% off selected books relating to this month's episode. Simply apply the coupon code 'PODCAST' at the checkout.

As the UK hurtles towards the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, the chaos engulfing Parliament has all but eclipsed any other political issue. And yet there are cruelties being enacted through policy that predate the current political crisis, which demand our attention and our resistance. This month we discuss healthcare and the 'hostile environment' - the 'sprawling web,’ as described by Liberty, ‘of immigration controls embedded in the heart of our public services and communities.’ Covering the Windrush scandal, privatisation, and the impact of Brexit, we unpick the policies and hear the stories of the people most affected by them. We are joined in the studio by three guests who are all working at the intersection of healthcare, human rights and the ‘hostile environment’: Guppi Kaur Bola, Director at Medact; Minnie Rahman, Public Affairs and Campaigns Manager at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants; and Bethan Lant, Casework Manager at Praxis Community Projects. --- Go to www.plutobooks.com/podcastreading for 50% off selected books relating to this month's episode. Simply apply the coupon code 'PODCAST' at the checkout. Find out more about the organisations: jcwi.org.uk medact.org praxis.org.uk

On 1st December, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (or AMLO) was inaugurated as the 58th President of Mexico. A progressive politician often compared to Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, AMLO's campaign for office galvanised people across Mexico. His decisive victory in July speaks volumes about the corrupt state of the Mexican political elite and the temperament of the people, and has potentially huge implications for the country, for the United States, and for the international progressive Left. It remains to be seen, in the coming weeks and months, how much his presidency will mark a rupture, rather than a continuity, with the decline of the ‘pink tide’ in Latin America. Discussing this moment of excitement and hope in Mexico, as well as the realities of the difficult road that lies ahead, we welcome onto the show John Holloway, author of Change the World Without Taking Power and Crack Capitalism among many other books; and Raquel Gutierrez, Professor of Sociology at the Autonomous University of Puebla. López Obrador's new book, A New Hope for Mexico, was published by Pluto in October 2018.

This September, Pluto relaunched the Left Book Club, a project originally founded by Victor Gollancz in 1936. The aim of the Left Book Club was simple, to popularise ideas of the left and combat the rise of fascism. By the eve of the Second World War, the LBC had reached a membership of nearly 60,000 - with 1,200 reading groups scattered around the country.  What made the LBC so necessary in the 1930's are the same things that make its relaunch so important today. In a context of rising ethno-nationalism and an economic system that fuels inequality, we need a space outside the mainstream media that doesn’t simply reinforce the values of the ruling elite and the status quo. Mirroring the story of the LBC, and returning to the fray this Autumn is another revitalised, octogenarian institution of left media: Tribune - Britain’s oldest, democratic socialist publication. This month, we are joined by three members of Tribune's new editorial team: Kheya Bag (Associate Publisher), Owen Hatherley (Culture Editor) and Ronan Burtenshaw (Editor), in a discussion about left media; the value of tradition; Corbynism; Jacobin and graphic design; and the foregrounding of culture in our political movements. Tribune: tribunemag.co.uk Left Book Club: leftbookclub.com

'There were Africans in Britain before the English came here.' In a special Black History Month episode, we are joined by David Olusoga - a broadcaster, historian and author of many award winning books, including Black and British: A Forgotten History (2017), and Civilisations: First Contact / The Cult of Progress (2018). Celebrating the recent re-publication of Peter Fryer's Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain, we discuss questions of racism and identity; the link between the slave trade and the British Empire; and explore the book's enduring legacy in the context of Brexit and the Windrush scandal. Staying Power was first published in 1984. The new edition, featuring a foreword by Gary Younge and a preface by Paul Gilroy, is available now from plutobooks.com as well as all good bookshops.

There are over 11 million private renters in the UK, accounting for 20% of all households. For many, life as a tenant is precarious, unsafe and increasingly expensive. Londoners face some of the highest rents in Europe, beholden to a housing market stacked in favour of landlords and investors. But communities and campaigners are fighting back against the many injustices within the housing sector: from social cleansing and gentrification, to deregulation and ‘no fault’ evictions. We are joined in the studio by Katya Nasim, a founding member of the London Renters’ Union, and Becka Hudson, Co-ordinator of the Radical Housing Network, in a conversation about the current housing crisis, dissecting its origins and offering an alternative vision for tenants across the UK.

In 2015, students at the University of Cape Town demanded the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the imperialist, racist business magnate, from their campus. The battle cry ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ heralded an international movement calling for the decolonisation of the world’s universities. Over the last three years this movement has grown, voicing a radical call for a new era of education, and an end to coloniality both inside and outside the classroom. Unpacking the 'decolonise' framework, and exploring questions of curriculum, neoliberalism and the legacy of empire, we are joined by Gurminder Bhambra, Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies at the University of Sussex, and Dalia Gebrial, a PhD student at the London School of Economics, and an editor at Novara Media, who was formerly involved with the Rhodes Must Fall campaign at Oxford University. Decolonising the University is published on 20th August 2018.

Today’s global economy relies on the steady flow of goods, products and raw materials around the world. Companies like Amazon have become so massive that they now ship as many as 400 packages per second. But this all depends on the labour of millions of workers in docks, warehouses and logistics centres. If the global supply chain is broken, capitalism grinds to a halt… Discussing the power - both potential and realised - of these logistics workers around the world, we are joined by: Jake Alimahomed-Wilson, Professor of Sociology at California State University, Long Beach, and co-editor of Choke Points: Logistics Workers Disrupting the Global Supply Chain (Pluto, 2018); Katy Fox-Hodess, a lecturer in work, employment, people and organisations at the University of Sheffield; and Kim Moody, a founder of Labor Notes and the author of a number of books on US labour, most recently On New Terrain (Haymarket, 2017).

On 22nd May, we held the first ever 'Pluto Live' event with Ben White and Karma Nabulsi. Hosted by Amnesty International in London, the evening comprised of a wide ranging discussion around the themes of the new book Cracks in the Wall: Beyond Apartheid in Palestine/Israel. From the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, to the growing polarisation of US politics over the question of Israel/Palestine, this special episode of Radicals in Conversation explores the emerging 'cracks in the wall' of traditional support for Israel in the Trump era. Recorded shortly after the massacre of protesting Palestinians in Gaza on May 14th, the discussion acknowledges the grim reality on the ground in 2018, as well as reasons for hope.

The Republic of Ireland is one of the last places in the EU in which having an abortion remains a criminal offense. Every day, an average of 12 people in Ireland have an abortion - either by travelling to the UK, or through using illegal abortion pills bought online. On 25th May, voters in the Republic will go to the polls in a referendum to decide whether or not to repeal the eighth amendment to the constitution, which has kept abortion illegal under almost all circumstances since it was first introduced in 1983. The campaign to 'repeal the eighth' has gained a huge amount of traction across the country in recent months. Just a few weeks ahead of the crucial vote, we invited Maev McDaid, an activist with Alliance for Choice, and Lewis Kenny, a Dublin-based artist and activist, to join us in a discussion about the history of abortion in Ireland, and why a 'yes' vote is so crucial. For more information about the campaign to repeal the eighth, go to: https://www.togetherforyes.ie http://www.alliance4choice.com https://www.repealeight.ie

At a time when EU nationals are being deported for sleeping rough; when banks, landlords, schools and even the NHS are deputised in the hunt for 'illegal' immigrants; and when detainees are forced to go on hunger strike to protest the failures and abuses of the Home Office, the issue of immigration has clearly never been more urgent. Chris Browne is joined by Gracie Bradley from Liberty, and Luke Butterly from Right to Remain, in a timely discussion about the UK government's 'hostile environment' policy, the horrors and injustice of the immigration detention system, and the community groups and campaigners who are trying to put an end to it. For more information, and to get involved in the fight to end immigration detention, go to: liberty-human-rights.org.uk/campaigning detention.org.uk

Chris Browne and Emily Orford are joined by special guests Camille Barbagallo and Tithi Bhattacharya, national organisers for the Women's Strike in the UK and US respectively.  Focusing on the upcoming International Women's Strike - which takes place on International Women's Day (8th March) - the episode's discussion covers everything from the limitations of 'Lean In' feminism and the January 21st Women's March, to social reproduction theory and #MeToo. For more information about the International Women's Strike go to: https://womenstrike.org.uk/ https://www.womenstrikeus.org/

Neda Tehrani is joined by Hareem Ghani, National Union of Students (NUS) Women's Officer, in a discussion about sexual violence and misconduct in higher education. We look at the specific case of universities, and the ongoing Staff-Student Sexual Misconduct Survey being conducted by the NUS, as well as the wider international context of the #MeToo campaign. For more information about the NUS's Sexual Misconduct Survey, go to www.snapsurveys.com.

We discuss new forms of union organisation undertaken by workers today – and how new types of employment, from zero-hours contracts to the gig economy can actually pave the way for creative, successful forms of organisation. We also discuss the Picturehouse and Deliveroo strikes, (anti-)trade union law, Corbynism and renters’ unions. With special guests Callum Cant, a former Deliveroo rider and organiser from the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB); Kelly Rogers, one of the key organisers in the ongoing Picturehouse strike; and Jamie Woodcock, author of Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centres. For more information about the Picturehouse strike, go to: picturehouselivingwage.com

We talk to special guests Matt Myers, author, and Malia Bouattia, former president on the NUS, about Student Revolt: Voices of the Austerity Generation - a lively oral history of the '2010 Generation', bringing together activists, students, politicians and workers. We discuss the significance of the 2010 student protests and how, seven years later, they continue to reverberate through UK politics - both in Parliament and on the streets.

We talk to special guests Charlie Gilmour and Luke Billingham about the importance of reading for prisoners. Luke works for Haven Distribution, a charity that provides books to prisoners, and Charlie spent time in prison after protesting at a student demonstration in 2010. We discuss the politics and the pitfalls of the UK's prison system and how books can 'open windows' to those inside. For more information about the important work Haven does, go to havendistribution.org.uk. CW: suicide

This episode features the story of 'Africa' - one of the many people who lived, for a time, in the Calais Refugee Camp - the 'Jungle'.  Africa grew up in Sudan. He tells us about his childhood and adolescence as a student in Africa; his journey across two continents, and ultimately about his experiences of life in the 'Jungle'. It is a story of terror and lost dreams, as well as of solidarity and community. The podcast is narrated by Dr Tahir Zaman. Voices from the Jungle: Stories from the Calais Refugee Camp is available from plutobooks.com

Tom Hall, the author of Footwork: Urban Outreach and Hidden Lives, reads an extract from his book. Footwork is a street-corner ethnography of the homeless living in Cardiff in Wales, drawing on the themes of urban regeneration, lost space and the 24-hour city. It’s an insightful and at times very funny portrait of hidden lives, an ‘erudite book about city life that exudes a deep but irreverent sense of humanity.’