Red Menace
Red Menace is a podcast that explains and analyzes revolutionary theory and then applies its lessons to our contemporary conditions. Hosted by Alyson Escalante and Breht O'Shea.
Tenant Unions Under Attack by Landlord Lobby
In this episode, Breht welcomes on Seth from Omaha Tenants United for an in-studio discussion about OTU's slate of recent successes organizing several tenant unions, and a subsequent new legal assault on the organization by the local landlord lobby. The legal implications of this attack are truly monumental for virtually all forms of organizing. They also discuss how landlordism is a feudal hangover with modern capitalist dynamics, the differences between tenant organizing and labor organizing, tenant organizing as a particularly potent site of struggle, and the material underpinnings of recent superstructural shifts in many people's views of landlords.
<...Farce, Finance & Fascism: Margaret Kimberley on Empire in Decay
In this powerful and wide-ranging conversation, Margaret Kimberley—senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and a leader in Black Alliance for Peace—joins Breht to dissect the spectacle of American decline and, as usual, Kimberley offers a razor-sharp analysis of late-stage capitalism’s collapse into cruelty, chaos, and confusion.
Together, they explore the Democratic Party’s complicity in ushering in this moment, U.S. weapons transfers to Ukraine in support of their proxy war against Russia, and the genocidal assault on Gaza as a revealing - if disturbing - lens into the true nature of the American empire...
Trotsky on Fascism (and Lessons for us Today)
In this episode, Alyson and Breht welcome Brendan to the show, a close comrade with a bit more sympathy toward Trotsky in order to be as fair as possible and get a fresh perspective. Together, we dive deep into Leon Trotsky’s Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It, a sharp and urgent intervention written in the shadow of the Nazi rise to power. We unpack Trotsky’s class analysis of fascism, the role of the petite bourgeoisie, his searing critiques of both sectarian isolationism and liberal class collaboration, and his insistence on the United Front as the o...
City of Ashes: The Los Angeles Wildfires
Alyson - a lifelong and current resident of Los Angeles - and Breht discuss the wildfires ravaging L.A.
Together they discuss the acute and structural causes of the fires, the role played by Climate Change, the reactionary propaganda surrounding the fires, the class dynamics at play, the self-serving careerist motivations of bourgeois politicans, the organized grassroots community response on the ground, and what it all means for the future of California, the US, and the world.Â
Outro Song: Forest Fire by Mount Eerie
New Years Reflection: Reviewing 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025 & Beyond
It's time for our annual Revolutionary Guerrilla Menace episode, where we crossover with Rev Left and the Red Menace in order to review the past year in world events and look forward to what we think will be coming in the next year. Breht, Alyson, Adnan, and Henry discuss Palestine, BRICS, the Alliance of Sahel States, global capitalism, and much more, so be sure to tune in and share widely! This episode will also be on Guerrilla History and Rev Left.
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Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (Upstream)
Alyson and Breht were invited to join Robbie on the Upstream podcast to talk about Lenin's "Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism".Â
Capitalism, imperialism, monopoly—far from being separate concepts that just happen to take shape parallel to one another or to overlap from time to time, these terms all really refer to the exact same overall process. We call it capitalism because it’s not always practical to call it “monopoly capitalism in its imperialist stage” or something like that, but really, capitalism is, as we’ll see, inevitably monopolistic and imperialist.
The process of capitalism...
The German Revolution
Alyson and Breht finally dive into the German Revolution of 1918! Together they discuss this rather ambigious revolution, give a detailed overview of events, and reflect on what lessons we can learn from it. From the toppling of the Kaiser, to the brutal fight between social democrats and communists (including the horrible murders of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht), to the rise of the Freikorp and the Weimar Republic (and beyond), they help listeners understand the importance, the successes, the failures, and the tragedies, of this often neglected revolution.
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Check out the 3-part series on...
Shattering the Spectacle: Trump, Kamala, and the 2024 Election
Alyson and Breht analyze the results of the recent presidential election and explore its various meanings. Together they discuss the grotesque hollowness of the Democratic Party, the identity crisis of the post-Trump Republican party, dealignment and realignment, the end of neoliberalism, the rise of the illiberal Right around the world, strategies for developing the socialist left as a serious player on the electoral terrain, how Trump might navigate the Israel issue, the end of neoliberal identity reductionism, the importance of solidarity across identities, building power outside of the Democratic Party, neoliberalism and neoconservatism, challenges to liberalism, Tenant Organizing, the...
Yahya Sinwar: Living and Dying for National Liberation
Alyson and Breht reflect on the life and death of the Palestinian resistance leader Yahya Sinwar.
Outro Song "Gaza Strip 2 Detroit" by Sammy Shiblaq
War in West Asia: When A Dying Settler Colony Lashes Out
Alyson and Breht discuss the unfolding regional war between Israel and literally all of its neighbors, the restrained Iranian response to Israeli aggression, US complicity and contributions to the fascist mass murder campaign, Hezbollah and Lebanon, Russia and Syria, the decrepit war criminals littering the US ruling class, who is actually running the Biden adminstration, Kamala and Trump tripping over one another to declare their love and loyalty to Israel, why Democrats and their ardent supporters are thoroughly right-wing, the looming prospect of nuclear war and how it might happen, how this regional war might spill over into a...