Radio Free Humanity: The Marxist-Humanist Podcast

Co-hosts Andrew Kliman and Gabriel Donnelly dive into the archives! This is the first of a two-part discussion of the text of a presentation that Raya Dunayevskaya gave in the early 1950s, titled “Form and Plan.” She argues that the alternatives are not whether or not to plan, but the “despotic” plan of capital vs. the cooperative plan of “freely associated men.” The despotic plan is a form of capitalism that reveals its despotic essence. Thus, Dunayevskaya sees “form” in a new light, not as something opposed to and less important than “essence,” but as something that forms and reveals essence. This insight gives her a new appreciation of volume 3 of Capital, which deals with the forms that capitalism takes in the market and in thought. She argues that “we” (the Johnson-Forest Tendency) “have greatly underestimated” that volume, because the JFT focused on counterposing form and essence in order to combat opponents who regard private property and markets, not capitalist production, as capitalism’s distinctive feature. Plus current-events segment: On Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo piece, “Trump’s Already Lost.” The co- hosts discuss the kind of loss that Marshall has in mind, and the great distance between it and the total, thoroughgoing loss that is needed, They also discuss the Canadian election results, and the fact that Polievre’s loss does not equate to an outright rejection of Canadian Trumpism. Radio Free Humanity is co-hosted by Gabriel Donnelly and Andrew Kliman, and sponsored by Marxist-Humanist Initiative (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/ ).

The co-hosts and guest discuss the need for a critique of the internet with a firm foundation. Current-events segment: the co-hosts discuss the Trump and Bukele press conference.

Co-hosts Andrew Kliman and Gabriel Donnelly dive deep into Henryk Grossman’s model and theory of capitalist breakdown. They discuss Andrew’s upcoming new article on Grossman, and Andrew’s dialogue with a Grossman defender. MHI has recently published an article by Michael Rednitz, “Grossman’s “Correction” of Marx’s Law of the Tendential Fall in the Rate of Profit,” and the co-hosts also discuss its contributions to the critique of Grossmanism. This episode is a continuation of MHI’s prior engagements with Grossmanism, including two prior episodes of this podcast series. In episode 53 we first discussed Grossman’s model and theory of capitalist breakdown, and in episode 69 we interviewed author Ted Reese about his book on Grossmanism. Additionally, Andrew led three class sessions on Grossmanism last fall. Plus current-events segment: The co-hosts discuss the Trumpist tariffs, and the conspiratorial, outdated economic thinking that inspired it. They consider the serious risk of a Trump-induced global recession.

Co-hosts Andrew Kliman and Gabriel Donnelly welcome Franz Schaefer, a Communist and political activist in Austria, on the show to discuss Trumpism and the rise of the far-right. The discussants consider how Trumpism in America threatens democracy everywhere. They also discuss the rise of the Freedom Party in Austria. Franz explains the fascist roots of the Freedom Party and how a coalition government was formed to keep the far right out of power and the chancellorship. Plus current-events segment: The co-hosts discuss the latest Trumpist assault on the civil liberties of immigrants—including the illegal arrests of Mahmoud Khalil and Dr. Rasha Alawieh, and the mass deportations to an El Salvadorian prison—and the lackluster response from Democrats. Radio Free Humanity is co-hosted by Gabriel Donnelly and Andrew Kliman, and sponsored by Marxist-Humanist Initiative (https://www.marxisthumanistinitiative.org/ ).

Co-hosts Andrew Kliman and Gabriel Donnelly discuss Karl Marx’s 1852 book “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” written soon after French president Louis Napoleon—or, as Marx refers to him, Louis Napoleon—staged an auto-coup in 1851, replacing a parliamentary republic with “rule by bayonet.” Shortly thereafter, he declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. Much of the discussion focuses on how Marx considered history, political struggle, and parties in relationship to the broader class struggle. The co hosts focus especially on his claim that French political parties and figures “represented” social classes. While they note striking similarities between the assaults on democracy in Louis Bonaparte’s France and in Donald Trump’s US (and elsewhere) today, they also discuss the pitfalls of trying to draw simple comparisons between substantially different political, economic, and cultural situations. Plus current-events segment: Trump administration chaos creating macroeconomic chaos. The co-hosts discuss how Trump’s on-again, off again tariffs and other chaos have led to widespread economic uncertainty, and the likely consequences of that uncertainty.