Why We Fight (and Podcast): A Green and Red Manifesto

January 30, 2021Posted inUncategorized

cross-posted from Medium

by Scott Parkin and Bob Buzzanco

As we reach the end of the first year of the Green and Red Podcast, we have more clear ideas on what we’ve done both good and not-as-good and where we want to go moving forward.

There are about one million podcasts in America, many of them political and many of them stressing some form of Left or radical politics, at least rhetorically. Finding a place within an independent media and political galaxy of that size is not easy, but we believe we offer information, insight, and even instruction in ways that others don’t.

Comics with Comrades with creator Brian Wood

January 29, 2021Posted inUncategorized
In this episode, we talk with comic book creator Brian Wood and the influence of pop culture on politics. And vice versa. We discuss his work on Channel Zero, DMZ and the Massive. And how his work in those comics has focused on lefty politics and issues like media activism, far right militias, climate change and direct action. We also talk about Marvel’s The Punisher and the obvious connection to today’s fascist movements. 

Capitol Hill Riots and The Ruling Class

January 12, 2021Posted inUncategorized

And we thought 2020 was bumpy. In this fresh episode, we talk about the shocks happening in the liberal democratic capitalist system–How the ruling class is destabilized by Trump and the far right actions at Capitol Hill this week, and how they are responding to maintain order and their own power as quickly as possible.  It’s an analysis you won’t find in many other place, if anywhere.

Listen: https://bit.ly/RiotsRulingClassGandR

Swipe Left on the Democrats and Electoral Politics

January 7, 2021Posted inUncategorized

cross-posted from Afflict the Comfortable

They’re Just Not That Into You

*****

There are currently two feuds dominating the Left—Jimmy Dore vs. AOC  in “The Brawl Over Medicare-for-All” and various segments of the Left vs. The Squad on its vote to re-elect Pelosi as Speaker of the House.

If you want/need better evidence of the futility of the Left, it would be hard to find.  There’s a huge ongoing dispute over whether “The Squad,” a group of about 6 elected officials (hell, throw Sanders and Markey in there and make it 8) out of 535, should force Congress to have a vote on socialized medicine to put everyone on the record, and another argument over whether to vote against the incumbent (and politically inept) speaker of the house.  Social media is still in in an uproar over these issues with “support AOC” and “The Squad is dead to me” opinions seeming to alternate in frequency and intensity.

Alternative Radio’s David Barsamian on the New Media Landscape, ReTargeting Iran and Noam Chomsky

December 9, 2020Posted inUncategorized

Before the internet was a thing, before social media ruled our lives and before there were a million podcasts talking about about left politics, David Barsamian through Alternative Radio brought the voices of radical thinkers like Noam Chomsky, Howard Zimm and Arundhati Roy into our lives through Alternative Radio.

Listen: https://bit.ly/BarsamianGandR

In this episode, we’re over-the-moon excited to talk to Alternative Radio’s founder David Barsamian about his new book ReTargeting Iran, building Alternative Radio over the past 30+ years and working with Noam Chomsky. We discuss the importance of independent media and he tells us that Green and Red is “welcome intervention into the media landscape.” We also talk about the politics around Iran, the middle east and his new book. And since it is the week of Noam Chomsky’s 92nd birthday, we ask David to share some of his favorite recollections of the world’s top public intellectual.

Ruling Class 101 and the Coup That Wasn’t

November 18, 2020Posted inUncategorized

We’re not ones to subscribe to popular world views, even those held on  the left. So, in our latest episode, Green and Red dive deep into the  history and politics of the American Ruling Class, coups at other points  in history,  and the great coup of 2020 (that wasn’t).

Listen here: https://bit.ly/RulingClassGandR

We start off with a conversation about what is a coup and not a coup. We  talk about coups in places like Indonesia in 1965, Chile in 1973, and  in other points of history; and how the end of the Trump regime has yet to constitute what is considered “coup.”    

The Lessons of Aaron Sorkin’s “Trial of the Chicago 7”

November 5, 2020Posted inUncategorized

In this episode, we give a film review of Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” Loosely based on the trial of the Chicago 7 and chairman of the Black Panther Party Bobby Seale, the film is a lightly fictionalized courtroom drama based on the six-month trial of eight men accused of conspiring to cross state lines and incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Listen: https://bit.ly/chicagotrialgandr

Columbus’ Bloody Legacies w/ History Prof. Michael Oberg of SUNY-Geneseo

October 12, 2020Posted inUncategorized

In this episode, we get into the legacies of Columbus and America’s  genocide of Indigenous people with Prof. Michael Oberg (@nativeamtext),  the larger problems of the way Native American History is taught, and  why a 1619 Project is needed for American Indians too.

Listen in: https://bit.ly/MichaelObergGandR

We start off with a clip from the Sopranos highlighting the conflict in the Italian-American community over Columbus Day. And then we deep dive into Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the cultural impact of America’s genocide, the Indian Wars and violence in the U.S. historical narrative. We also talk about whether cultural gains (things like tearing down Columbus statues, changing sports team names, etc.) will result in material gains (economics, health care, etc) for Native Americans, Ruth Bader  Ginsburg and the epidemic of police murder of Indigenous people.