Verso Podcast

In this bonus episode of The Verso Podcast, Benjamin Kunkel and Lola Seaton delve into debates on how to decarbonise the world economy and build a brighter future. Who Will Build the Ark, edited by Benjamin Kunkel and Lola Seaton is out now: https://tinyurl.com/bdzc56ww

In the latest episode of The Verso Podcast, Nancy Fraser & Gargi Bhattacharyya join our host Eleanor Penny to discuss exploitation, expropriation, and racial capitalism. Together they probe the very edges of capitalism - examining what lies beyond, what's holding it all up, and reflecting on it is a system that constantly undermines the conditions of its own existence. You can find Nancy's book "Cannibal Capitalism: How our System is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet – and What We Can Do About It" here: https://tinyurl.com/45j87f53

On this week's episode of The Verso Podcast, Helen Hester and Sarah Jaffe join Eleanor Penny to discuss the care crisis, and how we might organise care differently for a more equitable and free future. You can find Helen's book "After Work: A History of the Home and the Fight for Free Time", co-authored with Nick Srnicek, on our website at https://tinyurl.com/cb5st6es

This week on The Verso Podcast, Sian Norris and Edna Bonhomme delve into the tactics and goals of fascist ideologies across the globe. They explore how far right movements organise themselves transnationally with the aim of exerting control over individuals' bodies, rooted in a fundamental suspicion of women and their autonomy. You can find Sian's book, Bodies Under Siege: How the Far–Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global, here: https://tinyurl.com/bde3x76 This podcast was produced by Planet B Productions, head over to planetbproductions.co.uk to find out more.

In this fourth episode of the newly relaunched Verso Podcast, Kevin Ochieng Okoth and Robin D.G. Kelley join Eleanor Penny to discuss the radical life and groundbreaking work of Guyanese historian, revolutionary, and guerrilla intellectual, Walter Rodney, who was assassinated 43 years ago this week. You can find a selection of Walter Rodney's books on our website at https://tinyurl.com/4xd5twt6 This podcast was produced by Planet B Productions, head over to planetbproductions.co.uk to find out more.

In this fourth episode of the newly relaunched Verso Podcast, Ben Miller and Amardeep Singh Dhillon join Eleanor Penny for a deep dive on the historical construction and ordering of sexualities into the categories we are familiar with today. You can find Ben's book "Bad Gays: A Homosexual History", co-authored with Huw Lemmey, on our website at tinyurl.com/33655pe7

In this third episode of the newly relaunched Verso Podcast, Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Dalia Gebrial join Eleanor Penny to discuss prison abolitionism, racial capitalism, and critical geography. You can find Ruthie's book "Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation" on our website at bit.ly/3OrC5cu

On the second episode of our new season of the Verso Podcast, host Eleanor Penny is joined by writer and film maker Tariq Ali, and academic and author Priyamvada Gopal to discuss the cult of Winston Churchill and the insidious rewriting of the history of the British Empire. You can find Tariq's book "Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes" on our website at https://bit.ly/414MzBk

On the first episode of our new season of the Verso Podcast, host Eleanor Penny is joined by author Raj Patel and human rights advocate Tina Ngata to discuss the historical roots that tie together the exploitation of nature and people, and how those roots continue to impact our world today. You can find Raj's book, A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, co-authored with Jason W. Moore on our website at https://bit.ly/3mF0SyB

The response to the inflation surge by the UK government has been disastrous for working people. Pushing up interest rates, attempting to keep pay rises down, and trying to cut pensions and other benefits, has exacerbated the devastating cost-of-living crisis. The true causes of the crisis have nothing to do with workers asking for pay rises. Rapid inflation was sparked by a combination of global economic instability, profound weakness of production, and corporate profiteering. The result is a massive transfer of wealth upwards – from working people to the super rich. It is time for a radical economic alternative. Listen to the audio from the book-launch event for The Cost of Living Crisis (and how to get out of it)by Costas Lapavitsas, James Meadway, and Doug Nicholls https://www.versobooks.com/books/4259-the-cost-of-living-crisis Featuring Costas Lapavitsas, James Meadway, and Laura Smith: Labour Party (personal capacity).

In this bumper edition of the Verso podcast we talk to authors Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke De Noronha about their new book Against Borders: The Case for Abolition. In it we explore what a world without borders might look like and the intricacies of imagining or advocating for that world. We then talk to Zehrah Hasan of JCWI about practical ways we can get involved in building a borderless world for today and tomorrow. Against Borders: The Case for Abolition is out now: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3983-against-borders?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=author-videos

Do family abolitionists want to get rid of your Gran? Do they hate love? Are they all killjoys looking to rip the roots of working class resistance apart? Find out all this and more in this episode of the Verso podcast with author Sophie Lewis in conversation with Ben Smoke. Sophie Lewis is the author of Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation https://www.versobooks.com/books/4075-abolish-the-family?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=abolish-the-family-videos Ben Smoke is the commissioning editor of Huck Magazine

How did we come to live in a world dominated by big tech and finance? In this video, Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams explore how these forces have shaped the direction of politics and government as well as the neoliberal economy to benefit their own interests. They discuss the concept of hegemony—the importance of passive consent; the complexity of political interests; and the structural force of technology—and why we need an updated theory of power for the twenty-first century. Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams are the authors of Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (And How We Win it Back) https://www.versobooks.com/books/4015-hegemony-now?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=hegemony-now-videos

Since the 1980s police have been allowed to suppress protests by using aggressive tactics—from batons to horse charges to kettling. New military-style tactics were sanctioned by the Thatcher government, in secret. Over the next forty years those protesting against racism, unfair job losses, draconian laws, or for environmental protection were subject to brutal tactics. As the UK government tries to suppress all forms of dissent, how do the police manage crowds, provoke violence and even break the law? Ben Smoke talks to Matt Foot and Morag Livingstone about their new book Charged: How the Police Try to Suppress Protest. Out 24th May: https://bit.ly/3LxPHy1

What is ecofeminism, and why is it necessary in the fight for climate justice? by Verso Books

In 'Daring to Hope', Sheila Rowbotham looks back at her life as a participant in the women’s liberation movement, left politics and the creative radical culture of a decade in which freedom and equality seemed possible. She reveals the tremendous efforts that were made to transform attitudes and feelings, as well as daily life. In this podcast episode she discusses her latest work with Gary Younge. Daring to Hope: My Life in the 1970s by Sheila Rowbotham is out now: https://bit.ly/3FC1mZV

Who owns these resources, who builds and controls renewable energy infrastructures and ultimately who will access and benefit from them, are key questions to address if we want to understand what is at stake when we speak about the energy transition.  In this discussion David Hughes, Mika Minio-Paluello and Thea Riofrancos focus on the question of wind and how this endless resource can be appropriated to generate a socially profitable energy transformation.

What could direct action look like in the context of COP26? Our second episode, recorded in Glasgow at COP26, is hosted by Kate Aronoff, staff writer at The New Republic, author of Overheated and co-author of A Planet To Win: Why We Need A Green New Deal. Kate is joined by Andreas Malm, author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline and White Skin, Black Fuel with the Zetkin Collective, and Sabrina Fernandes, Brazilian eco-socialist organiser, communicator and fellow at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Climate Crisis: Time for a New Society: Writers and activists discuss radical ideas to move beyond the doom of climate breakdown. A collaboration between the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels and Verso Books.

How can the left build power in times of crisis? Our first episode, recorded by the beach in Brighton at The World Transformed festival, is hosted by writer and journalist Dalia Gebrial. Dalia is joined by Mathew Lawrence, co-author of Planet on Fire: A Manifesto for the Age of Environmental Breakdown, and Harpreet Kaur Paul, human rights lawyer and co-founder of Tipping Point UK. Climate Crisis: Time for a New Society: Writers and activists discuss radical ideas to move beyond the doom of climate breakdown. A collaboration between the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels and Verso Books.

Growing up in the Bronx amongst communists and socialists, Vivian Gornick became a legendary writer for Village Voice, chronicling the emergence of the feminist movement in the 1970s. For nearly fifty years, her essays - written with her characteristic clarity of perception and vibrant prose - have explored feminism and writing, literature and culture, politics and personal experience. In this podcast episode she discusses her latest work with her Verso editor, Jessie Kindig. Taking A Long Look: Essays on Culture, Literature, and Feminism in Our Time by Vivian Gornick out now: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3770-taking-a-long-look This episode is introduced by Caitlín Doherty, Verso Books. Read a transcript of this interview here: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/5034-an-interview-with-vivian-gornick