Rev Left Radio

Through one family's journey from socialist China to the United States, we explore the gulf between the mythology of the American Dream and the realities of American capitalism. From the Cultural Revolution and Voice of America to racial and class hierarchies, liberal academia, and suburban alienation, we examine how Western propaganda manufactures illusions of capitalist superiority.

We connect these experiences to the broader history of US imperialism, anti-communist operations, and contemporary China's challenge to American hegemony. Ultimately, this is a conversation about ideology, class consciousness, and how lived experience can expose truths that even the most highly educated elites fail to grasp.

Check out Zhao's clothing line: https://goodsforthepeople.com/

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Gabriel Rockhill joins Breht to discuss his book Requiem for French Theory, coauthored with Aymeric Monville, and to challenge the radical reputation of thinkers such as Foucault, Derrida, and Deleuze. Situating their rise within the Cold War, Rockhill examines how intelligence agencies, capitalist foundations, universities, and publishers helped elevate intellectual (and broader cultural) currents that appeared radical or revolutionary while undermining the theoretical and political foundations of communism.

Along the way, Breht and Gabriel explore French Theory's rejection of dialectics, its contested relationship to May '68, capitalism's ability to turn rebellion into a consumer product, and the difference between liberal representation and material liberation. They also discuss Western Marxism's retreat from anti-imperialism, the lessons of actually existing socialism, and the necessity of criticism and self-criticism within a living Marxist tradition.

At the heart of the conversation is a practical question: how do we reclaim theory as a collective instrument of working-class liberation rather than another commodity in the capitalist marketplace?(Caliban by Retamer is attached as a full pdf on the free, public post of this same episode over at our patreon; link below)

Check out Critical Theory Workshop HERE

Follow Rockhill's work on his Substack HERE

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Check out Unlearning Capitalism for more political educational resources

October 22 is the National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality (O22), a day of coordinated action across the country demanding justice for those killed and brutalized by police and an end to the epidemic of police violence in the United States.

In this episode, Breht is joined by Mia and Charlotta from Families Demanding Justice (FDJ), a national organization of families and loved ones of victims of police brutality, to discuss the upcoming O22 protests and the broader struggle to build a mass movement against police violence.

Together, they explore the relationship between policing, racism, capitalism, and state repression, the lessons of the 2020 uprisings, Charlotta's heartbreaking and enraging personal experience losing a loved one to police violence, and the importance of centering impacted families in the struggle for justice. They also discuss FDJ's organizing efforts and strategies, the necessity of sustained mass resistance, and how ordinary people can get involved in building a movement capable of confronting police brutality at its roots.

Finally, they discuss how listeners can participate in the October 22 National Day of Protest, connect with FDJ, and contribute to the ongoing fight for justice for all stolen lives.

Get involved and find out more: https://familiesdemandingjustice.org/

Follow them on instagram HERE

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Check out Unlearning Capitalism for more political educational resources

In this episode Alyson and Breht enter the strange and unsettling world of Nick Land: Marx, Nietzsche, Delueze, cybernetics, accelerationism, and the possibility that capitalism is becoming something more than a human social system.

For Land, techno-capital may be an inhuman process using humanity as a temporary vehicle - accelerating through markets, machines, computation, and artificial intelligence toward a future in which we are no longer necessary. We trace this vision from Land's anti-humanism and theory of deterritorialization to the Dark Enlightenment and neo-reaction, asking whether his philosophy is best understood as a kind of inverted Marxism: not humanity escaping capital, but capital escaping humanity. In the process, we discuss consciousness, artificial intelligence, historical and dialectical materialism, Land's influence on the techno-oligarchs, philosophy, and much more.

After explaining and exploring Land's philosophy and politics, Alyson and Breht dismantle it via a Marxist Critique.

Check out our episodes on:

Julius Evola

Louis Althusser

Nietzsche

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Breht reads the speech he recently gave in-person at the 2026 Socialism Conference in Chicago. In the Speech, he analyzes the role of human subjectivity in revolutionary politics, explicates Che's argument in his famous essay "Socialism and Man in Cuba", articulates his notion of the Bodhisattva Revolutionary archetype, and argues in favor of Buddhist meditation as a potent and time-tested tool for the deliberate cultivation of a revolutionary and liberatory subjectivity.

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Breht went on The Deprogram to discuss the philosophical strains and core arguments of his upcoming book from Iskra Books titled "A Letter to Young Revolutionaries" as well as his recent speech at the Socialism Conference (and the subsequent controversy around it). This is the first show Breht has gone on to discuss his upcoming book at length! Enjoy! Check out more from The Deprogram: PODCAST: https://open.spotify.com/show/7tk1sTZDeE8p9lnxYLy4Ky PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheDeprogram YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@thedeprogram9999

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Breht discusses the importance of reading, writing, meditating and spending time alone in nature as essential to a well lived life; as well as mental-emotional protection from the techno-oligarchic assault on our minds, attention spans, and ability to think critically.

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Breht sits down with philosopher Colin Bodayle for a wide-ranging exploration of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, one of the most influential and notoriously difficult works in modern philosophy. Together they unpack Hegel's account of consciousness, contradiction, freedom, recognition, history, and the dialectical movement through which human beings come to understand themselves and the world. Along the way, the conversation traces Hegel's immense influence on Marx and considers why his philosophy remains so important for anyone trying to think seriously about liberation, social transformation, and the development of human consciousness.

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Breht reads, reflects upon, and elaborates on Che Guevara's famous essay "Socialism and Man in Cuba" wherein Che argues that socialism cannot be reduced to changing property relations or economic structures; it must also produce a new kind of human being, less alienated, less governed by private self-interest, and more conscious of themselves as a social being. His central claim is that material transformation and the transformation of consciousness have to develop together, through education, collective struggle, moral incentives, self-discipline, and revolutionary practice.

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Aminah Sheikh joins Breht to discuss the mass resistance that erupted in Minneapolis against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, the subsequent repression of organizers, and the contours of an emerging new Red Scare. They discuss the current political moment, DSA's growing electoral insurgency, and the struggle to build independent working-class power before turning to Islam, Marxism, anti-imperialism, and the role faith can play in revolutionary politics.

DSA Program: Workers Deserve More

Follow Aminah on IG and on X @AminahSheikh

Here are some articles written by Aminah as well: On Rosa Luxemburg HERE On The Canadian Right HERE On Militant Trade Unions and Anti-Communist Reaction HERE On Palestine HERE

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Breht gives details on his upcoming speech and Q and A at the Socialism Conference in Chicago this September, the listener meet-up afterwards, and the patreon raffle for TWO FREE TICKETS!

ENTER THE RAFFLE HERE Check out the Socialism Conference HERE

Join the Patreon for a chance to win free tickets and attend the meet-up HERE

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In this episode, Alyson and Breht examine the Trump administration's emerging campaign against what it calls "far-left terrorism." We begin with NSPM-7, the presidential directive encouraging federal agencies to investigate not only alleged political violence, but the organizations, funders, media networks, and ideological communities surrounding it. We then look at two distinct examples of this framework in practice: the sweeping Prairieland prosecutions in Texas, where defendants received extraordinarily severe terrorism-related sentences, and the separate crackdown in Minnesota following anti-ICE mobilizations and political unrest. From there, we analyze Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller's international counterterrorism summit, the effort to redirect the machinery of the War on Terror toward the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist left, and the State Department's Cuba document, which portrays socialism, anti-imperialism, Palestine solidarity, and antifascism as parts of a foreign-influenced revolutionary network. Finally, we ask whether the United States has entered a new Red Scare, what may come next, and how left-wing individuals, media outlets, and organizations can protect themselves without abandoning their political work.

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Check out Unlearning Capitalism for more political educational resources

In this episode, Breht speaks with his guests Pavin and Jennifer Marley from Total Sovereignty Working Group about George Manuel's Fourth World theory and the Indigenous Marxist traditions of Howard Adams and Lee Maracle. Together, they examine the conflict between land as capitalist property and land as a living relationship; the formation of colonial-racial capitalism; and the limitations of state-recognized self-government, "Red capitalism," and settler socialism. They also explore the tension between Indigenous self-determination as a transitional stage toward universal socialism and as the permanent reconstruction of Indigenous nationhood, territorial authority, and collective responsibility, as well as Maracle's insistence that decolonization must include feminism, rematriation, and the restoration of Indigenous women's governing power. Ultimately, the conversation asks what it would mean to abolish capitalism and settler colonialism together—and to create forms of collective life grounded in reciprocity, land, care, and genuine self-determination.

Total Sovereignty Working Group is a Native focus group dedicated to building a strategy for winning back our land and caring for our nations. Check out their work HERE

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In this unlocked patreon episode Breht traces and explains a subterranean philosophical lineage running from Spinoza through Hegel to Marx and Louis Althusser. Beginning with Spinoza's conception of God or Nature as a single, immanent Substance, he explores how Hegel transforms Substance into a self-developing Subject, how Marx grounds the dialectic in material social life and class struggle, and how Althusser attempts to remove the final hidden Subject from Marxist theory.

Along the way, he examines the concept of immanent critique, Kant's transcendental idealism, Hegel's master-slave dialectic, Marx's materialist transformation of idealism, and Althusser's concepts of overdetermination, interpellation, theoretical anti-humanism, and history as a "process without a Subject."

What emerges is an ongoing struggle over immanence, contradiction, human agency, and whether history possesses either a sovereign author or a guaranteed destination.

Listen to these related episodes to learn more:

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Economics and Philosophical manuscripts of 1844

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Louis Althusser: Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses

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The Nature of All Things: Spinoza's Philosophical Odyssey

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Intro to German Idealism: Kant, Fichte, Schelling, & Hegel

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Hegelian Dialectics: Contradiction, Marxism, & the Freudian Unconscious

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"From each according to their ability, to each according to their need." Steve's guest, Breht O'Shea of Rev Left Radio and Red Menace podcast, believes that dedicating one's life to fighting for this vision, even without knowing the outcome, is more meaningful than pursuing capital's vision of wealth and status. Steve invited Breht to help tackle one of the most misunderstood and weaponized texts in Marxist theory: Vladimir Lenin's Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder, a book sometimes misused as a cudgel to pressure leftists into voting for the Democratic Party. To set the record straight, Breht places the 1920 pamphlet in its proper historical context. It was written after the successful Bolshevik Revolution to advise European socialist movements on how to avoid fatal mistakes. Together, Breht and Steve break down Lenin's dual critique: the ultra-left "infantile" error of purity-spiraled sectarianism, and the right-wing "opportunist" error of liquidating the revolutionary movement into bourgeois liberal politics. Lenin's strategic genius lies in maintaining firm revolutionary principles while remaining tactically flexible. The discussion extends beyond the text to cover the necessity of organization and discipline (democratic centralism), the constant threat of counter-revolution, the failure of social democracy, and how fascism functions as capitalism's immune response to left-wing threats.

Breht O'Shea is the host of Rev Left Radio, the co-host of the Red Menace podcast, and author of the upcoming book "Letters to a Young Revolutionary" published by Iskra Books.

Check out Real Progressives website HERE

Check out Macro n' Cheese podcast HERE

Subscribe to their Substack HERE

Sub to their YouTube page HERE

Chris Alfonso joins Breht to have a wide ranging discussion on the dialectics of our personal and political lives. In the process, they discuss Marxist philosophy, Dialectial materialism, the mass line and its development, Chris's oragnizing and education work in prisons, the profound radicalism of Buddhism, Hegelian Freedom and its unfolding through history, thoughts on pedogogy and organizing, how we can contribute to and participate in human evolution, the importance of putting love and compassion at the center of our lives and work, responding to egoism in ourselves and others, ego/insecurity vs. confidence/humility, and so much more!

Follow Chris and his work on IG HERE

No Casino in Queens HERE

No Brooklyn Jail HERE

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Alyson and Breht reflect on recent Democratic Socialist electoral victories, the ongoing contradiction between the progressive left and the corporate center within the Democratic Party, the principled and strategic approach to this development that Marxists should take, the implications for the near future of american politics, what it all means for the broader socialist left in this country, proletarian internationalism, the anti-imperialist red line, and much more.

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Check out Unlearning Capitalism for more political educational resources

Economist Rob Larson joins Breht to discuss his book Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do With Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More. Together they explore the billionaire class not merely as a collection of rich individuals, but as a ruling class whose ownership of corporations, finance, media, housing, technology, and political access gives them extraordinary power over society. They discuss the staggering scale of wealth inequality, the grotesque lifestyles of the ultra-rich, the myths used to justify their rule, and the psychological and social damage that extreme inequality inflicts on everyone; rich and non-rich alike. They also examine how concentrated wealth makes genuine democracy impossible, why capitalism is structurally incapable of solving the major crises of the 21st century, and why taxing the rich is not enough. Finally, Rob makes the case for socialist expropriation: taking the productive wealth of the ruling class out of private hands and reorganizing society around democracy, human need, ecological sanity, and collective flourishing -- before advancing his positive vision of human civilization after capitalism.

Check out our other two episodes with Rob HERE

Outro Music: "Rich People" by Carsie Blanton

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In this episode, Breht goes on The Left Page podcast as a guest to explore the role that science fiction plays as part of the cultural superstructure of empire: a genre born in the shadow of British and American imperial power, shaped by colonial assumptions, and increasingly haunted by attempts to critique the very structures it once blindly reproduced. From early invasion fiction and dreams of space conquest to modern works like Dune, Blade Runner, The Expanse, and The Three-Body Problem, Leon, Frank and Breht examine how sci-fi imagines the future through the unresolved contradictions of the present: capitalism, colonialism, racial hierarchy, technological domination, corporate sovereignty, and imperial war. Along the way, they discuss the role of Rome in the Western political imaginary, especially for reactionaries and fascists; extend Mark Fisher's concept of capitalist realism into colonial and imperialist realism; and ask why science fiction can so easily imagine interstellar travel, artificial life, alien civilizations, and cosmic catastrophe, yet so often struggles to imagine a future beyond empire and capital.

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Learn more about the Socialism Conference here: https://socialismconference.org/