Jacobin Radio: Russia’s Anti-War Political Prisoners w/ Simon Pirani
At the recent Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago, Suzi moderated a panel about political prisoners in Russia and brings it now to Jacobin Radio.
We hear from Ksenia Kagarlitskaya, founder of the Freedom Zone campaign that organizes festivals around the world in support of political prisoners and their families. She plays a recorded message from her father, imprisoned Marxist Boris Kagarlitsky in Penal Colony No. 4. Historian Simon Pirani and exiled scholar Ilya Budraitskis draw attention to the silenced left prisoners of conscience resisting war — both from inside Russia’s prison system and in exile. This is not just about Russia. As authoritarianism surges globally, the criminalization of dissent follows a familiar script.
The day before this panel on July 3, eleven political prisoners, including Kagarlitsky, issued an open letter to world leaders. They called for the mass release of Russian political prisoners and Ukrainian civilian hostages — an estimated 10,000 people — as part of any peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine. As pressure builds for an end to the war, their call must become ours: freedom for all political prisoners!
Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.
--------
1:08:17
--------
1:08:17
Confronting Capitalism: How Iraq Became the Regime Change Playbook
US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last month were a dangerous escalation in the ongoing conflict with Iran. But while a ceasefire has remained in place, there’s good reason to believe that Iranian regime change isn’t off the table just yet.
On this episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber looks back on how the US pursued regime change in Iraq and why that disastrous invasion may wind up being the playbook again in Iran.
Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber is produced by Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, and published by Jacobin. Music by Zonkey.
--------
38:03
--------
38:03
Behind the News: The Case for a Four-Day Workweek w/ Juliet Schor
Juliet Schor, author of the book Four Days a Week, looks at experiments in reducing the workweek. Katherine Moos and Noé Martin Wiener, authors of a paper for the The Economic and Labour Relations Review, discuss the issue of overwork among teachers.
Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global. Find the archive online: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/radio.html
--------
53:01
--------
53:01
Dig: Notes on the New Regime w/ Aslı Bâli & Gabriel Winant
Featuring Aslı Bâli and Gabriel Winant on the emerging conjuncture: the Trump regime’s fascist and authoritarian second coming; the giant vacuum created by the Democratic establishment’s inability to act like an opposition party; and the resurgent dynamism and energy now coming so powerfully from our political forces on the socialist left. Conducted before a live audience at the Socialism 2025 conference.
Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig
Subscribe to a year of Jacobin for only $15— a special offer for Dig listeners! bit.ly/digjacobin
The Dig goes deep into politics everywhere, from labor struggles and political economy to imperialism and immigration. Hosted by Daniel Denvir.
--------
1:32:34
--------
1:32:34
Long Reads: The Legacy of Greece’s Oxi Referendum w/ Yanis Varoufakis
It’s now ten years since the people of Greece voted in a referendum on the austerity program of the European Union. The referendum was called by the government of Alexis Tsipras and his left-wing Syriza party after months of negotiations with the EU. It brought the attention of the world media to what was happening in Greece after years of economic crisis.
To the surprise of many, there was a decisive 61 percent majority for the “no” side. But then, with bewildering speed, Tsipras signed up to a new austerity program that was more punitive than the one voters had rejected a few days earlier. The U-turn triggered the resignation of the Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.
Yanis joins Long Reads for a discussion about the legacy of the 2015 referendum.
You can find a loosely edited transcript of the interview here: https://jacobin.com/2025/07/yanis-varoufakis-on-the-legacy-of-greeces-oxi-referendum
Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s longform writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.
News, politics, history and more from Jacobin. Featuring The Dig, Long Reads, Confronting Capitalism, Behind the News, Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman, and occasional specials.
México