Shows
Give Them An ArgumentAre Service Workers and Public Sector Employees Part of the Proletariat?Are service workers part of the "productive" part of the working class? And what does that mean? How about public sector employees--if they're not productive workers, does that mean that their interests don't align with productive workers and socialists shouldn't support the welfare state after all?Ben Burgis talks about what the Trotskyist leader and Marxist economist Ernest Mandel gets right and wrong in his introduction to Capital Vol. 2.Read Ben's essay:benburgis.substack.com/p/are-service-workers-and-public-sectorWatch the Erik Olin Wright "Understanding Class" lecture:https://www.youtube.com...
2025-12-171h 25
Give Them An ArgumentRichard Wolff and Ben Burgis Address a Socialist Conference in Mexico CityWe're back! This last weekend, Ben Burgis was at an international conference of socialist, communist, and labor parties in Mexico City hosted by the Partido del Trabajo (the smallest but furthest left of the three parties in Claudia Sheinbaum's coalition). He introduced Richard Wolff to the assembled delegates, and Wolff have a barn burner of a talk outlining just what's happened to American society in the last few decades. We share the video + Ben gives some background on the conference and gets into what the new season of GTAA this kicks off is going to look like....
2025-09-2953 min
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 7 Episode 20: We Have Always Had a Union (ft. Shaun Richman)Labor scholar Shaun Richman joins us to talk to Ben Burgis about his book "We Always Had a Union: The New York Hotel Workers’ Union, 1912-1953." Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on the absurd attacks on Zohran that have been made everywhere from National Review to Reason to...Matt Taibbi's Substack. (Goddamnit, Matt.) In the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew get heart-breakingly close to finally being done with "Jordan Peterson vs. 20 Atheists."Read Ben's MSNBC article on the hysteria about city-owned grocery stores:https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/zohran-mamdani-grocery-stores-food-deserts-panic-rcna216332
2025-07-182h 06
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 7 Episode 16: Citizen MarxBruno Leipold joins Ben Burgis to talk about his excellent book "Citizen Marx: Republicanism and the Formation of Karl Marx's Social and Political Thought." Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument responding to Jodi Dean on "neofeudalism." In the postgame for patrons, RM Brown joins Ben and the crew to break down some more of Jordan Peterson's bizarro debate with 20 atheists. And, oh yeah, scattered around all this there's some discussion of the spiraling insanity and authoritarianism going on outside our windows in Los Angeles.Read Ben's review of "Citizen Marx" and Jodi Dean's "Capital's Grave":
2025-06-152h 05
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 7 Episode 6: Watching Dugin & Glenn Greenwald w/Deep State KubaFar-right Russian thinker Aleksandr Dugin just sat down with Glenn Greenwald for an extensive interview, and we can't look away. Deep State Kuba joins Ben Burgis to watch some of it and discuss. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on the issues raised by the outrageous assault on free speech at Columbia. At the end of the main show, we play some of Daniel Tutt's guest appearance on Ben Burgis's Sunday afternoon Zoom Capital class to talk about the lumpenproletariat and tease Richard Wolff's guest lecture next Sunday. (Anyone who wants can join the class at patreon.com...
2025-03-142h 09
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 7 Episode 5: Conversations with Platypi (Ben & Jason at UC-Irvine)A couple weeks ago, Ben Burgis and Jason Myles went to UC-Irvine to speak at a panel on neoliberalism at the West coast conference of the Platypus Affiliated Society. It was a pretty interesting conversation, and we're excited to finally be able to share it.Before that, Ben gives us an Opening Argument about Jeff Bezos's diktat the Washington Post will no longer publish anything critical of "free markets" and look back at a moment from Ben's debate with Curtis Yarvin where Yarvin claimed that the Washington Post was so autonomous that Bezos was more like its "...
2025-03-074h 36
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 7 Episode 4: Walter Block Calls for Legalizing Sexual Harassment & Privatizing RoadsLast week, Ben Burgis debated libertarian economist Walter Block. Tonight, we're playing you the recording. (The debate was hosted by the magazine Merion West, which will be simultaneously releasing it on their podcast.) This was a continuation of a written debate that started with Ben's article "The Case for Democratic Socialism":https://merionwest.com/2024/12/07/the-case-for-democratic-socialism/...and continued with Walter's reply:https://merionwest.com/2024/12/19/rejoinder-to-ben-burgis-the-case-for-laissez-faire-capitalism/...and concluded with Ben's response to Walter:https://merionwest.com/2024/12/30/in-reply-to-walter-block-defending-democratic-socialism/Before the debate, Ben does an Opening Argument on why libertarianism has...
2025-02-212h 30
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 FINALE: Jordan Peterson Wrestles with God/Ben at MSNBC (ft. Matt McManus & Robert Myles)In our last episode before this year's season break, Matt McManus & Robert Myles join Ben Burgis to break down Jordan Peterson's new book "We Who Wrestle with God." (He doesn't seem to have read any more Marx since 2019.) Before that, Ben and the crew take a look at Ben's article at MSNBC about Obama and the various responses it's provoked--a disdainful sniff from uber-popular historian Heather Cox Richardson on her Substack, what can only be described as a right-populist haiku from Steve Bannon, and a whole lot of unhinged reactions from grassroots libs. In the postgame we're joined by...
2024-12-272h 24
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 43: The World is on Fire But Mean Djene & Deep State Kuba Can Talk Us Through It[Many apologies about the delay! Lots going on lately. The other delayed ep will be posted by the end of the week.]Jihadists are taking over Aleppo, US missiles are striking deep into Russia, and the atrocities in Gaza have reached the point that a *former Israeli Defense Minister* (and Likud Party member!) recently accused Netanyahu of "ethnic cleansing." This seems like a good time to bring in the foreign policy duo of Mean Djene Bajalan and Deep State Kuba to help Ben Burgis make sense of what the hell is going on around the world.
2024-12-242h 15
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 38: Talking Palestine w/Deep State KubaDeep State Kuba joins Ben Burgis for a deep dive into the ongoing atrocities in Palestine--both debunking Zionist apologetics and pushing back against the dumb and counterproductive things leftists sometimes say in the name of Palestine solidarity and crafting a better and more effective message.Order Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" from Everyday Analysis:https://everyday-analysis.sellfy.store/p/four-essays-on-palestine-by-ben-burgis-print-and-digital-edition/Follow Kuba on Twitter: @DrKuba2Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from...
2024-11-012h 35
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 37: The Catholic Left (and Also Some Protestants)First-time guest Tony Annett and Matt "I Brought My Own Mic" McManus return for an in-depth look at thinkers like Alasdair McIntyre and Paul Tillich, the relationship between left-wing economic ideas and Catholic social teaching, and more. (Turns out that, while an adamant atheist when "in the streets" arguing about philosophy, Ben is "in the sheets" of political practice extremely friendly to this kind of thing.)The launch event for Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" is going to be in October 22nd at 7:30 PM in Los Angeles (at Lawless Brewing Co. in North Hollywood) w/a...
2024-10-181h 49
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 36: Debunking the Many Bad Arguments Made By Israel’s Apologists in the WestOn the one-year anniversary of Hamas's atrocities on October 7th, which have been used as a pretext for unfathomably worse atrocities for the last year, Ben Burgis does an on-air version of his lecture "Debunking the Many Bad Arguments Made By Israel’s Apologists in the West" which he gave as a teach-in at the encampment at Princeton last April, and before that as a presentation to Metro Detroit DSA & Wayne State University YDSA. (Sadly, we couldn't line up anyone to record either of those!) Before that, Ben and the crew talk about the VP debate, the successful strike th...
2024-10-121h 46
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 34: Inequality Debate w/Will Cooper/Anti-Haitian Racism from Yarvin to TrumpWill Cooper, op-ed columnist and author of "How America Works ... And Why It Doesn't," joins Ben Burgis for a friendly debate on how much economic inequality is too much. In an article for Newsweek, Cooper argued that America is much too unequal but he also said that:"And, importantly, there's nothing necessarily wrong with some people getting rich. A relatively large amount of inequality should even be encouraged. Hard work and ingenuity should be rewarded, as wealth first needs to be created before it can be redistributed. And business success stories motivate others to innovate and take...
2024-09-201h 55
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 33: Norm Finkelstein on Robin DiAngelo/Matt McManus on Charlie KirkStormin' Norman Finkelstein joins us in the first half of the show to talk to Ben Burgis about the rise and fall of Robin DiAngelo. Then for the second half we switch to examining the other side of the aisle with a conversation with Matt McManus about his very funny review of Charlie Kirk's latest....let's just say "book," "Right-Wing Revolution: How to Beat the Woke and Save the West." Last but not least, Matt's sticks around the postgame for patrons, where we may look into Matt Walsh's thoughts about movies.Read Matt's Kirk review:...
2024-09-132h 03
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 32: Debating Palestine w/Walter BlockDo Palestinians have the same rights as everyone else, or have they collectively forfeited these rights by being "criminals"? In an article for Merion West, libertarian economist Walter Block argued the latter:https://merionwest.com/2024/06/07/yes-to-a-palestinian-state-just-not-inside-or-right-next-to-israel/Ben Burgis responded:https://merionwest.com/2024/06/10/in-reply-to-walter-block-relocation-should-be-off-the-table/...and Walter responded to that:https://merionwest.com/2024/07/06/why-i-stand-by-relocation-a-rejoinder-to-ben-burgis/Now here's the debate.Link for Andy's fundraiser so he can keep making art for this show!https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-j-andrew-world-replace-his-ipadFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
2024-09-062h 19
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 30: Is Kamala a Kammunist? Is Vance a Populist? (ft. Nathan J. Robinson)Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson joins us once again to talk about Peter Thiel's favorite "populist," J.D. Vance, the (sadly inaccurate) hysteria from Trump, Musk and the New York Post about Kamala Harris being to the left of Bernie and possibly even a revolutionary communist, and his "anti-socialist bingo" card. Before that, Ben and the crew take a moment to remember Michael Brooks, whose 41st birthday would have been last Tuesday. No postgame this week--sorry about that, it's Ben's neighbor on Podcast Street Jason's birthday today so Ben promised to wrap things up by 7 West Coast time--but...
2024-08-261h 56
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 29: Lukacs and the Destruction of ReasonMatt McManus and Daniel Tutt join Ben Burgis to talk about Marxist theoretician Georg Lukács's analysis of right-wing thought in his book, "The Destruction of Reason."Preorder Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" from Everyday Analysis:https://everyday-analysis.sellfy.store/p/four-essays-on-palestine-by-ben-burgis-print-and-digital-edition/Read Daniel's article on Lukács:https://cosmonautmag.com/2022/02/the-question-of-worldview-and-class-struggle-in-philosophy-on-the-relevance-of-lukacss-worldview-marxism-and-the-destruction-of-reason/Read Matt's article on Lukács:https://jacobin.com/2023/09/georg-lukacs-irrationalism-right-wing-thought-philosophyFollow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Daniel on Twitter: @DanielTuttFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTA...
2024-08-162h 07
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 28: We Have Bernie at Home (ft. Jason Myles)This is Revolution host Jason Myles joined Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew to chat about his new essay "This is What You Want, This is What You Get," which uses the classic Eddie Murphy "We've got McDonalds at home" bit to talk about the election and the overall state of American politics at a moment when hope for anything substantially better than what we've got is rapidly leeching away.Preorder Ben's pamphlet "Four Essays on Palestine" from Everyday Analysis:https://everyday-analysis.sellfy.store/p/four-essays-on-palestine-by-ben-burgis-print-and-digital-edition/Read Jason's essay on TiR's Patreon:
2024-08-102h 37
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 23: What the F*** Was That? (Ben's Debate w/Destiny)Last week Ben Burgis had a debate on Israel/Palestine with YouTube personality Steven Bonnell ("Destiny").It went...oddly.In this episode we break it all down.Watch the debate at MDD:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdMRphk7ij4Follow Destiny on Twitter: @TheOmniLiberalFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing...
2024-07-062h 17
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 18: Ben's Munk Debate w/Jamie Kirchick (ft. David Griscom & Matthew Whalan)David Griscom and Matthew Whalan join Ben Burgis to listen to Ben's debate on the Munk Debates podcast with neoconservative commentator Jamie Kirchick on, "Be it resolved, the campus protesters are on the right side of history."Before that, Ben and the crew talk about Biden's reception by anti-war students at Morehouse (where Ben used to teach) and Ben's Jacobin review of Mark Robert Rank's interesting but flawed book "The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us." Rank stops short of realizing that, if wealth and poverty have as...
2024-05-252h 36
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 13: Who's Afraid of Collectivism?/Ben on MSNBC & SiriusXM[Scheduling: Sorry to be releasing these slightly out of order--things got messed up with traveling and etc. but Ep. 15 should be coming out in a couple days, then Ep. 16 on Saturday and we'll be caught up!]Friend of the show Jordan Peterson recently referred to Luke Savage as an "idiot socialist." This week we talk to Luke himself (as well as actual-friend-of-show Matt McManus) about the article that got Dr. Peterson's attention--"Don't Fear Collectivism":https://jacobin.com/2024/04/collectivism-individualism-socialismWe're also watching GTAA host Ben Burgis's clips from the MSNBC documentary XCLD: The...
2024-05-072h 17
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 14: Alexander Herbert on Lenin/Ben on WABC/Watching Tucker in the PostgameAlexander Herbert, a historian of the Soviet Union, joins us to chat about his Substack essay "Do We Really Need Lenin Today?" Before that, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew listen to some of Ben's recent appearance on the WABC show "The Other Side of Midnight" where he answers some questions from host Frank Marano about objections to his views on Gaza. In the postgame for patrons, we watch Tucker Carlson's deeply strange appearance on the Joe Rogan ExperienceRead Alex's essay:https://alexherbert.substack.com/p/do-we-really-need-lenin-todayFollow Alex on Twitter: @alextherbert
2024-04-262h 10
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 8: Ben Shapiro's Foreign Policy/Ben Burgis on News NationOn a recent episode of his show, professional advocate for the 1% Ben Shapiro lays out his "foreign policy worldview" so we're bringing on one of our favorite foreign policy analysts, Mean Djene Bajalan, onto the show to break it down. Before that, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew watch Ben's recent appearance on News Nation in which Ben and host Dan Abrams argue about whether the Supreme Court is "legitimate." Last but not least, in the postgame for patrons, we get through a few more credits of our education at Prager U.Follow Djene on Twitter: @djenebajalan
2024-03-081h 56
Give Them An ArgumentThursday Night Debate Breakdown: Ben Shapiro vs. Alex O'ConnorVictor and Ethan join Ben Burgis once again for a Thursday Night Debate Breakdown. This week they're watching Ben Shapiro's debate with "Cosmic Skeptic" Alex O'Connor about religion and society.Check out Victor and Ethan's podcast (with Matt McManus and Gordon Katic) "Academic Edgelords"):https://academicedgelords.com/Follow Ethan on Twitter: @anontwtuser11Follow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzoneFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our...
2024-03-051h 56
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 5: RM Brown + Breaking Down the Krystal v .Saagar Immigration Debate w/Matt CameronThe great RM Brown stops by at the beginning of the show to join Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew for some Valentine's Day content with Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro. (They're very concerned about sexual boredom!) After that, we're joined by immigration lawyer Matt Cameron to break down a debate between Breaking Points hosts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on immigration. (Think of it as a rare "Monday Night Debate Breakdown.") Ben wrote about this debate (and other right-populists taking a similar like to Saagar's) here:https://jacobin.com/2024/02/us-border-immigration-right-wing-populism-workersFinally, in the postgame...
2024-02-171h 52
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 6 Episode 1: Debating a Pro-DeSantis Dem/Ben Fong on the History of the CIO (Podcast Version)We're baaaaack!In the first GTAA episode of 2024, host Ben Burgis debates op-ed columnist Will Cooper, a liberal Democrat who nevertheless thinks that Ron DeSantis is more "competent" than Biden or Trump. Ben wrote a Jacobin article a while back responding to Will and arguing that this zany take is an extreme symptom of a much larger problem with mainstream technocratic liberalism. Caucus night in Iowa seemed like an excellent time to revisit the argument!Before that, we talk about Ben's run-in with Red Scare host Dasha Nekrasova and a few other interesting developments that...
2024-01-182h 01
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Finale: Zizek Interview + Ben's Debate w/Kissinger Defender on News NationBen Burgis and Slavoj Zizek talk about everything from Israel/Palestine to quantum physics to the triumph of a libertarian nutjob in Argentina and what kinds of social freedom are worth wanting. It's a *really* good conversation. It had to be prerecorced because of the extreme time difference between Los Angeles and Ljubljana and it went long enough that the last portion couldn't be played on the show. It'll be released next Friday for patrons and we'll probably run it in full for everyone on the YouTube channel a couple weeks after that.Before playing (most of) t...
2023-12-082h 00
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 42: Samuel Moyn & Matt McManus on Cold War LiberalismSamuel Moyn joins us to talk about his fascinating new book "Liberalism Against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times." In it he argues that liberalism today is shaped by the shift made by many liberal intellectuals who turned their backs on the radical aspirations of earlier liberalisms during the Cold War.One of our favorite recurrent guests, Matt McManus, just reviewed Moyn's book for Liberal Currents. Both of them have a lot to say about liberalism, socialism, and how we think about rights and human liberationBefore that, Ben Burgis and...
2023-11-241h 49
Give Them An ArgumentThursday Night Debate Breakdown: Ben Shapiro at the Cambridge UnionBen Shapiro just debated...well, the only people he ever seems to want to debate these days--college students. But this time at a fancy setting!Ben Burgis and Victor Bruzzone break it down.Follow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzoneFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:
2023-11-212h 13
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 41: Ana Kasparian Talks Gaza, Genocide & Her PBD DebateOne of our favorite guests, Ana Kasparian, returns for a conversation about the ongoing ethnic cleansing in Gaza and a variety of related issues. She and Ben Burgis watch some of a recent debate she did on the subject with the hosts of the PBD podcast. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew break down a right-wing video about Rashida Tlaib's censure and talk about "from the river to the sea," and Ben's recent articles in Jacobin. In the postgame for patrons, they watch a video on why "anti-capitalism is anti-vegan" (??) and get into Ben's recent sparring on social...
2023-11-172h 42
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 40: Jordan Peterson Launches His Music Career + Luke Savage vs. Reactionary DoltsJacobin staff writer Luke Savage joins Ben Burgis for a look at (among other things) the sad pointless writing of NYT columnist David Brooks & physicist and science educator Sabine Hossenfelder's late-career pivot toward apologetics for capitalism. Before that, This is Revolution host Jason Myles joins Ben and the GTAA crew to talk about Jason's upcoming show in the San Francisco Bay Area on November 18th (a book launch for Jason's "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" + meet and greet featuring Jason, Ben, and several bands you've heard of!) and take a look at the rapid progression of Jordan Peterson's symptoms...
2023-11-101h 48
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 38: Debate w/Siaka Massaquoi Live In Studio + Matt Lech in the PostgameOn the main show, GTAA host Ben Burgis debates Los Angeles GOP Vice Chair + Prager U and Babylon Bee contributor Siaka Massaquoi. (Note: This was originally scheduled elsewhere but we ended up having to move it to just do it tonight int he studio, which is bad news for LA listeners who wanted to see it in person--sorry about that!--but good news for listeners everywhere else who now get access to it sooner?) Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew talk a bit about Ben's article reporting Joe Biden's "kill all the Canadians if there's terrorism from Canada"...
2023-10-271h 46
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 36: Quick Fixes w/Benjamin Fong + War in PalestineTickets for Ben's debate in LA with Siaka Massaquoi on October 22nd:https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09005F42FFCD2E9BHamas and the Israeli state escalated this weekend into all-out war. We start with some thoughts on that from Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew, and then go to Ben's conversation with his fellow Ben, Benjamin Fong, about Fong's book "Quix Fixes Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge." In the postgame for patrons, Ryan Zickgraf talks about the Trump trials, the end of hyperpolitics, Taylor Swift, and more....
2023-10-132h 07
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 34: Cory Doctorow & Ben's Debate on CRT & Marxism (+ Norm in the Postgame)Journalist, activist, and novelist Cory Doctorow joins Ben Burgis to talk about Cory's new book "The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation." Ben and the GTAA crew play some clips from Ben's debate with Adam Friended & PSA Sitch on anti-CRT laws and "Cultural Marxism." Norman Finkelstein joins us in the postgame for patrons.Buy Cory's book:https://www.versobooks.com/products/3035-the-internet-conBuy Norm's book:https://www.sublationmedia.com/product-page/i-ll-burn-that-bridge-when-i-get-to-it-print-editionFollow Cory on Twitter: @doctorowFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow...
2023-09-302h 01
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 30: Debate with Tibor Rutar on Marx's Theory of History + Nordic Model vs SocialismTibor Rutar is the author of a book called "Capitalism for Realists: Virtues and Vices of the Modern Economy" in which he argues that the best system is a moderate, social democratic form of capitalism. In making that case, he heavily relies on "economic freedom" rankings. In the book, Rutar criticizes an article Ben Burgis wrote for Jacobin arguing that such rankings are worthless and tell us nothing:https://jacobin.com/2021/10/economic-freedom-rankings-frasier-institute-peter-leeson-socialism-capitalismRutar also wrote an article for Areo magazine called "Marxism: The Idea that Refuses to Die":https://areomagazine.com/2023/06/27/marxism-the-idea-that-refuses-to-die/
2023-08-252h 08
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 29: The Return of Freddie deBoerFreddie de Boer is back to talk to Ben Burgis about his new book, "How the Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement":https://www.amazon.com/How-Elites-Social-Justice-Movement/dp/166801601XBefore that, we play Ben's appearance on Monday morning's Majority Report to talk about Michael Brooks (yesterday would have been Michael's 40th birthday) and Ben and the crew talk a little bit about the Nudieland shooting and J. Andrew World's experiences with the Minneapolis punk community. Debunk Song creator Ed Keenan joins us in-studio for the postgame for GTAA patrons to breakdown Michael Knowles and Glenn...
2023-08-181h 54
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 28: Debate w/Brad Polumbo on Forgiving Student DebtBen Burgis debates New York Post writer Brad Polumbo on student debt forgiveness. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew look back at Norm Finkelstein's feud with Christopher Hitchens and talk about Ben's article on the Trump indictment:https://jacobin.com/2023/08/donald-trump-prosecution-election-crimes-justice-departmentFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly...
2023-08-121h 22
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 25: After Black Lives Matter (ft. Cedric Johnson)Cedric Johnson is a professor of African-American studies and political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of, most recently, After Black Lives Matter: Policing and Anti-Capitalist Struggle from Verso Books:https://www.versobooks.com/products/3057-after-black-lives-matterBen Burgis chats with Cedric about his book. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew talk about Ben's most recent Jacobin article on G.A. Cohen ("The Tragic Failure of the Soviet Experiment Doesn't Mean We Should Reject Socialism") and a previous one on human nature arguments against socialism ("Socialism Can Help Contain Humanity’s Wo...
2023-07-241h 47
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 21: Mars Needs Blood Boys (ft. RM Brown, Naomi Karavani & Michele Greenstein)Special guests RM Brown, Naomi Karavani & Michele Greenstein join Ben Burgis to talk about Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Before that, Ben, RM, and the crew discuss Cornel West's response to Ben's article. In the postgame for patrons, the gang breaks down a "Democrat for DeSantis" article.Listen to Naomi and Michele's new podcast "Cargo Cult":https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cargo-cult/id1687043930Read Ben's article about Cornel West:https://jacobin.com/2023/06/cornel-west-democratic-party-2024-presidential-election-biden-primariesFollow RM on Twitter: @xrmbrownx2Follow Naomi on Twitter: @naomikaravani...
2023-06-231h 45
Give Them An ArgumentGTAA Season 5 Episode 20: Heroes of the Fourth Turning (ft. Will Arbery)Playwright and "Succession" staff writer Will Arbery joins the show for the first time to talk about his award-winning play "Heroes of the Fourth Turning"--an intense story about young conservatives set a week after the Charlottesville riots--which came out a few months ago in book form. Before that, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew take on the absurdly empty pseudo-populist candidacy ofd RFK, Jr. In the postgame for patrons, Producer Jordan joins Ben and the rest of the crew to continue delving into the deep lunacy of James Lindsay (and check in about what Max Blumenthal and Aaron...
2023-06-201h 51
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 17: Matt McManus on Matt Walsh + A Dialogue w/Christine SypnowichIn the first half of the main show, Political Science prof and Jacobin contributor Matt McManus joins Ben Burgis to discuss his new article about another, much more unpleasant Matt--Matt Walsh. In the second half, we replay Ben's dialogue at a Boston Review event last week with socialist philosopher Christine Sypnowich about equality of opportunity vs. equal flourishing. Last but not least, Zac and Gavin from The Vanguard join Ben and Andy--it's Jake's birthday, so he was reluctantly given the night off--in the postgame for GTAA patrons.Read Matt's article ("Matt Walsh’s Vitriolic Anti-Trans Christianity Is Dis...
2023-05-231h 58
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 16: Lillian Cicerchia on Marx, Materialism, and the Poverty of PhilosophyLeft-wing academic philosopher, Jacobin contributor, and "What's Left of Philosophy?" co-host Lillian Cicerchia comes back on the show to talk to Ben Burgis about Karl Marx's book "The Poverty of Philosophy" and, more broadly, different ways of construing materialism vs. idealism debates and the sometimes vexed relationship between moral critiques of capitalism and Marxist thought. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew get into the recent strike victory at Rutgers, Bernie vs. Chris Wallace on whether there should be billionaires, and Gad Saad's objections to a 32-hour workweek. In the postgame for GTAA patrons, Jason Myles and Deep State...
2023-05-161h 06
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 15: Happy May Day & Goodbye to Tucker CarlsonNaomi Karavani, RM Brown, and Branko Marcetic join Ben Burgis to say goodbye to Tucker Carlson's show on Fox. You can read Ben's article "Tucker Carlson Is a Repugnant, Pseudo-Populist Fraud" here:https://jacobin.com/2023/04/tucker-carlson-populism-ruling-class-minimum-wage-medicare-for-all-war/...and Branko's article "Tucker Carlson Isn’t an Anti-Imperialist — He’s a Rabid China Hawk" here:https://jacobin.com/2023/04/tucker-carlson-imperialist-china-hawkBefore that, Ben and the GTAA crew talk a bit about May Day and the (ongoing) struggle for a shorter workweek, play a clip of Kyle Kulinski talking about Ben's article on that, and promote the cl...
2023-05-131h 50
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 14: The Philosophy of Dinesh D'Souza (ft. Victor Bruzzone & Ethan)Conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza has, as it turns out, made a LOT of videos covering philosophical topics like John Rawls's veil of ignorance and abortion rights, Hume's argument against belief in miracles (D'Souza isn't convinced), and.....something or other about how Nietzsche helps us understand why tech companies censor conservatives? Or something? Anyway, we're on the job. Debate-breakdown regulars Victor Bruzzone and Ethan (from the Confronting Capital channel) join Ben Burgis to subject themselves to some of these videos. For you.Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew watch and break down a recent friendly debate Ben...
2023-04-291h 57
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 7: Ana Kasparian & RM Brown + Complete Texas Tech Debate w/Libertarian Think TankerTwo weeks ago, Ben Burgis debated Jon Miltimore of the libertarian Foundation for Economic Education at Texas Tech's law school in Lubbock. In this episode, we unlock the full debate (which is about an hour long). Two of our favorite guests, Ana Kasparian and RM Brown, are brought together for the first time (on GTAA anyway) to talk about it. In the postgame for patrons, Ben, Ana and RM discuss Ana's recent encounter with Ben Shapiro. Follow RM on Twitter: @xrmbrownx2Follow Ana on Twitter: @AnaKasparianFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisF...
2023-02-282h 22
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 5: Slavoj Zizek on Hegel, Marx, Ukraine, Political Correctness & His CriticsPhilosopher, psychologist, and commentator Slavoj Žižek comes back to the show to talk with Ben Burgis about....well....everything. The conversation hits on everything from the relationship between Hegelianism and Marxism to political correctness to Ukraine to how to think about what comes after capitalism. Before we play the interview--and in the postgame for patrons w/Russell Sbriglia--we touch on Ben's article on Steven Crowder (and his recent run-in with Matt Walsh) among other fun subjects.Read Slavoj's articles at Project Syndicate:https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/slavoj-zizekRead Ben's Substack essay on...
2023-02-132h 10
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 5 Episode 2: Glenn Greenwald Debate/Marx's Theory of History (ft. Harvey Kaye & Adnan Husain)This ones packed full of podcasty goodness. Professors Adnan Husain & Harvey J. Kaye, both returning GTAA champions, return for a discussion of Marx's theory of history. Before that, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew talk about Tim Pool's latest attacks on socialism. At the end of the show, they go over some clips from the debate Ben hosted on his Callin show between Glenn Greenwald and Branko Marcetic on "the Bernie/AOC left" and address recent attacks on Ben from Jimmy Dore and Briahna Joy Gray. Finally, Matt McManus hangs out in the postgame for GTAA patrons, talking some C...
2023-01-152h 19
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 18: G.A. Cohen, Ben Shapiro, and the Men from Mars (ft. Adnan Husain & RM Brown)Ben Burgis and Professor Adnan Husain break down G.A. Cohen's essay "Historical Inevitability and Revolutionary Agency." Before that, Ben and RM Brown take a look at the right-wing freakout over the Respect for Marriage Act, which has included Ben Shapiro telling Matt Walsh that even "visitors from Mars" would oppose gay marriage. Last but most definitely not least, Matt McManus hangs out on the postgame for GTAA patrons.Follow Adnan on Twitter: @adnanahusainFollow RM on Twitter: @xrmbrownx2Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis...
2022-12-102h 08
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 15: Ana Kasparian Breaks Down Her Debate w/Dennis PragerAna Kasparian recently debated Dennis Prager. She joins Ben Burgis and David Griscom to watch the clips and break it all down. Ben and David talk about the joint GTAA/Left Reckoning/This is Revolution #GIVETHEMAREVOLUTION live show in Sunday in Los Angeles. Jason Myles and Deep State Kuba hang out in the postgame for patrons.**************************Buy tickets now to the VERY FIRST GTAA LIVE SHOW (co-sponsored by This is Revolution and Left Reckoning) at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angels on October 23rd, featuring Ana Kasparian, Nando Vila, Ben Burgis, Jason Myles, Kuba Wrzesniewski...
2022-10-231h 49
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 14: Talking Socialism w/Matt BruenigMatt Bruenig joins Ben Burgis to talk about what a viable fully socialist society might look like and how we could get there. Before that, Naomi Karavani comes on to talk about Bolsonaro's openness to consuming human flesh, Biden's hollow pardon announcement, and a clip of a comedian having a full beer can thrown at her by an angry Trump supporter. In the postgame for patrons, Djene Bajalan discusses how the revolution going on right now in Iran is all the result of every single Iranian being mind-controlled by the CIA. (Or is that his position? ONLY ONE WAY T...
2022-10-151h 50
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 12: Postmodernity + Prager U (ft. Matt McManus)Buy tickets now to the VERY FIRST GTAA LIVE SHOW (co-sponsored by This is Revolution and Left Reckoning) at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angels on October 23rd, featuring Ana Kasparian, Nando Vila, Ben Burgis, Jason Myles, Kuba Wrzesniewski, David Griscom, Matt Lech, Daniel Bessner, C. Derrick Varn, and more:https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09005D19D53D5C6C************************Matt McManus talks about his brand new book "The Emergence of Post-modernity at the Intersection of Liberalism, Capitalism, and Secularism: The Center Cannot Hold." There's a philosophy segment w/Dr. Jennifer Burgis at...
2022-09-252h 15
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 11: Remembering Barbara Ehrenreich w/Micah UetrichtBuy tickets now to the VERY FIRST GTAA LIVE SHOW (co-sponsored by This is Revolution and Left Reckoning) at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angels on October 23rd, featuring Ana Kasparian, Nando Vila, Ben Burgis, Jason Myles, Kuba Wrzesniewski, David Griscom, Matt Lech, Daniel Bessner, C. Derrick Varn, and more:https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09005D19D53D5C6C**************************Ben Burgis and the GTAA chat about the glorious beginning of the reign of "King Charles III", and Ben's article about an Oklahoma teacher pushed out of her job & being denounced by state-wide...
2022-09-172h 06
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 10: Debating Sohrab Ahmari on Social Democracy w/Right-Wing CharacteristicsBuy tickets now to the VERY FIRST GTAA LIVE SHOW (co-sponsored by This is Revolution and Left Reckoning) at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angels on October 23rd, featuring Ana Kasparian, Nando Vila, Ben Burgis, Jason Myles, Kuba Wrzesniewski, David Griscom, Matt Lech, Daniel Bessner, C. Derrick Varn, and more:https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09005D19D53D5C6C*******************************************************Happy Labor Day! Ben Burgis & the GTAA crew start things up by talking a bit about the fairly astonishing number of labor victories around the country since last year's Labor Day, and talk...
2022-09-101h 29
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 9: Ben Shapiro vs History + William Paris on Utopianism (+ Police Abolition Debate)Buy tickets now to the VERY FIRST GTAA LIVE SHOW (co-sponsored by This is Revolution and Left Reckoning) at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angels on October 23rd, featuring Ana Kasparian, Nando Vila, Ben Burgis, Jason Myles, Kuba Wrzesniewski, David Griscom, Matt Lech, Daniel Bessner, C. Derrick Varn, and more:https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09005D19D53D5C6C*******************************************************Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew review Ben Shapiro's video "Marxism Can't Work in America" and correct Shapiro's understanding of American history, Marxism, and socialism, and...well...everything? After that, we play a...
2022-08-272h 01
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 8: Ana Kasparian on Abortion, Crime, Poverty & MoreOur friends Jason Myles & (briefly) Kuba Wrzeniewski from the This is Revolution podcast join Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew to talk about Dick Cheney, Woodstock 99, and a big announcement (LA live show!). The great Ana Kasparian comes on for the second half to talk about subjects ranging from abortion rights to Salman Rushdie to how socialists should talk about crime. The main show is capped off with a philosophy segment w/Dr. Jennifer Burgis. David Griscom and Matt Huber hang out on the postgame for GTAA patrons. Good stuff all around.Watch This is Revolution:
2022-08-192h 24
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 7: Rick Perlstein (+ Sean Hannity Thinks You Should Work 90 Hours a Week)Sean Hannity thinks that if you don't want to be poor you should be willing to work "70, 80, 90 hours a week," so Ben Burgis & the GTAA crew start with that and then review an impromptu debate that Ben & Connor Halbleib (Berniecrat & Democratic nominee in Kentucky's 5th Congressional district) had with a Callin caller on Medicare for All. The main event is Ben's unlocked interview with Rock Perlstein, author of "Before the Storm," "Nixonland," "The Invisible Bridge" and (most recently) "Reaganland," which was previously released to GTAA patrons. At the end of the main show, Dr. Jennifer Burgis joins Ben for...
2022-08-062h 25
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 6: Doomerism, Dead Punditry & Debunking Jordan Peterson (ft. Adam Proctor)Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew start off by talking nuclear war, "doomerism," and cannibalistic mutants. (OK, that last item is just a preview of a conversation w/Jason Myles & Touré Reed on The Hills Have Eyes for GTAA patrons.) "Dead Pundits Society" host Adam Proctor is the main guest, chatting Ben about Jordan Peterson's terrible defense of capitalism and (briefly at the end) Jimmy Dore's odd theory of change. Dr. Jennifer Burgis comes on for a philosophy segment on utilitarianism and rights at the end of the main show and then Ben & the crew get into some spicier P...
2022-07-302h 32
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 5: Let's Talk About Adorno (ft. Charles Wofford) (+ Remembering Michael Brooks)Charles Wofford, who appeared on the show once before to debate Ben Burgis on postmodernism and Marxism, comes back now for a more relaxed appearance to tell us all about the philosophy of Theodore Adorno. Before that, Ben & the GTAA crew talk about the Fetterman/Oz race in Pennsylvania and how Joe Biden apparently got high and forgot about his promise to deschedule cannabis and pardon everyone serving time in federal prisons for non-violent marijuana offense.Bookending it all at the beginning and end of the show, Ben & the crew mark the two-year anniversary of the premature...
2022-07-251h 56
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 4: It's Toasted! (Shaun Richman on Mad Men + Who Funds Project Veritas?)AMC's "Mad Men" came out 15 years ago this month. The main guest this week is labor organizer, writer, and professor Shaun Richman, who wrote an essay for Jacobin Magazine about the show's surprising points of connection to leftist ideas:https://jacobin.com/2022/07/mad-men-15-years-advertising-left-ideas-monopoly-capitalBefore that, Ben Burgis & the GTAA Crew go over an interesting part of Ben's debate with Tim Pool, Tulsi Gabbard & James O'Keefe where O'Keefe repeatedly dodged Ben's question about whether Project Veritas has wealthy donors. (Shockingly the answer is "yes, of course it does.") We also take a look at a...
2022-07-151h 57
Give Them An ArgumentFULL DEBATE! Ben Burgis vs. James O'Keefe, Tulis Gabbard & Tim Pool at the Beacon Theater in NYC (6/25)Ben Burgis faces off against an interesting trio at the Minds.com Festival of Ideas about media manipulation, freedom of speech, and labor unions.Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisVisit benburgis.comImage Credit, Tulsi Gabbard: Gage Skidmorehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/48610003506https://creativecommons.org/licenses...
2022-07-0946 min
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 3: James O'Keefe Smears Ben + Marx's Theory of History (ft. Adnan Husain)Last weekend, James O'Keefe did an ambush interview of Ben Burgis where he tried to claim that the segment Ben, Matt Lech & Producer Jake did last week ("James O'Keefe Hates Free Speech": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKX6tcOZxuQ) was somehow inaccurate. (It wasn't.) He then tried to twist Ben saying that workers who do bad or racist things shouldn't be punished without due process & shouldn't be doxxed to make some stupid anti-union point years later into Ben saying that racism is good. It's asinine, but we have some fun watching it + the part of the debate Ben d...
2022-07-032h 28
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 4 Episode 2: Let's Talk About Tulsi, Tim & James (ft. Matt Lech)Tonight in NYC, Ben Burgis is going to be debating Tim Pool, Tulsi Gabbard & James O'Keefe at the Minds Festival of Ideas at the Beacon Theater. (See festival.minds.com.) This week's GTAA main guest Matt Lech (co-host @ Left Reckoning, producer @ The Majority Report) joins Ben for a hard look at all three of those people. Before that, Ben & the crew go through some of Krystal Ball's appearance on Real Time w/Bill Maher and discuss some extremely odd claims made this last week by Dennis Prager & Jordan Peterson. (Yes, this is a ghoul-heavy episode. Sorry?) Rob Larson hangs...
2022-06-252h 13
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Finale - The Return of Sam SederMajority Report host Sam Seder returns to the show as the main guest for the GTAA season finale. Ben Burgis and his wife Professor Jennifer Burgis talk about Plato's "Crito" for the philosophy segment. Ben, Jenn & the GTAA crew raise a glass to toast all the high points of this season (Rogan! Charlie Kirk! Zizek!) and then good friend of the show Jason Myles (of This is Revolution) hangs out in the postgame for GTAA patrons. We'll be back in a few weeks for Season 4!Watch the Majority Report:https://majorityreportradio.com/Follow...
2022-05-201h 59
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 43: Tuttle Twaddle: Debunking Libertarian Propaganda for Kids (ft. Rob Larson)Economics professor, socialist writer, and Current Affairs magazine "House Economist" Rob Larson joins Ben Burgis for a deep dive on "the Tuttle Twins"--a series of libertarian children's books. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew review some of the best moments from his recent debate in Texas and talk about the value of the debate. In the philosophy segment at the end of the main show Ben and his wife Dr. Jennifer Burgis continue their discussion of Plato's apology by chatting a bit about his (fairly weird) claims about moral motivation. Friends of the show Conan Neutron and...
2022-05-071h 59
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 42: The Right's War on Free Speech (ft. Luke Savage)In the opening segment, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew talk about a Tennessee lawmaker's strange use of Hitler in an argument about the homeless, watch a video about Tucker Carlson's demagoguery and get into Christian Smalls's masterful appearance on Tucker's show. The main event is an interview with Jacobin staff writer Luke Savage about his article "The Republican Party Is Waging a War Against Personal Freedom and Free Expression." Continuing with the free speech theme, Ben and his wife Dr. Jennifer Burgis talk about Plato's apology in the philosophy segment at the end of the main show. Finally...
2022-04-231h 54
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 41: Richard Wolff Debates Branko Marcetic on Vaccine MandatesTwo of our favorite guests (Prof. Richard Wolff and Jacobin Staff Writer Branko Marcetic) return to hash out a disagreement on vaccine mandates. Prof. Wolff is critical of such mandates on workers' rights grounds while Branko has strongly endorsed them in Jacobin. Ben Burgis is, just this once a moderator instead of a participant in a debate.Before the debate, Ben chats with the GTAA crew about his article in The Nation on Daniel Muessig, who's about to head to federal prison for 5 years for non-violent cannabis offenses:https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/muessig-biden-marijuana-pardon/
2022-04-152h 05
Give Them An ArgumentGTAA Season 3 Episode 40: Amazon Labor Victory + Community as a Socialist Value (ft. Jesse Spafford)THE AMAZON LABOR UNION WON! That's huge. Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew celebrate. Then there's a little discussion of Ben's upcoming trip to Toronto (see here for details on be book event at Duke of York and the lecture at Ryerson: https://twitter.com/BenBurgis/status/1509997688162594820) and as the main event we unlock Ben's conversation with academic Jesse Spafford on G.A. Cohen's argument for socialism. In the philosophy segment w/Ben's wife Dr. Jennifer Burgis at the end of show, we talk about the Liar Paradox and Ben's new book. Finally, Matt McMaus hangs out and debunks...
2022-04-081h 58
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 39: Post-Modern Marxists Everywhere! (ft. Two of the Hosts of "What's Left of Philosophy?")Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew talk about The Oscar Slap and the way it perfectly encapsulates the way our weird late capitalist hellscape manages to turn every stupid little thing that happens into a political issue at the sake time as the most important issues are barely mentioned. Ben talks up a class he's teaching at the School for Social and Cultural Change about the arguments in Marx's "Capital" and promotes a couple of upcoming events in Toronto. (For details on those see: https://twitter.com/BenBurgis/status/1509997688162594820 ) The main event is a crossover with one of our...
2022-04-042h 05
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 38: Gregory Sadler Gives All Sorts of Arguments[Before you read the episode description: Listeners in Toronto should check out these upcoming events! https://twitter.com/BenBurgis/status/1509997688162594820 ]Ben Burgis and the GTAA Crew (this week featuring the Prodigal Producer Cale returning to sub for Current Producer Jake) are talk about the latest free speech controversy and Ben's article in Current Affairs about "whataboutism" and the anti-war Left being accused of being Putin apologists. Then Ben's interview with philosophy professor, popular YouTuber and popularizer of neo-Stoicism Gregory B. Sadler, released to patrons late last year, is unlocked as the main event. Gregory talks about subjects...
2022-04-012h 13
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 37: Benjamin Teitelbaum on Steve BannonBen Burgis and the GTAA crew look at some insane responses to Joe Biden's declaration that he won't start World War III and review a mini-debate that Ben and Ryan Lake had with a Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist during Ben's Callin show. Benjamin Teitelbaum, author of "War for Eternity," is the main guest. Ben Burgis tends to think Steven Bannon is just a regular Reaganite Republican (which is bad and dangerous enough!) withe edgy prince-of-darkness branding, while Teitelbaum thinks Bannon is something different and qualitatively more dangerous. At the end the two Bens' positions converge a bit. In the philosophy...
2022-03-221h 51
Give Them An Argument(FIXED) Season 3 Episode 36: Checking in on Jordan Peterson (+ More JRE Recapping & Let's Not Start WWIII)[Many apologies for the earlier release with the wrong file!]Two years ago, Ben Burgis, Matt McManus, Marion Trejo-McManus and Conrad Hamilton co-wrote a book called "Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson." Last year there was a GTAA episode about it. Now that our boy's active again, getting back out into the world and dropping bombs like "climate is just everything so how can we have a scientific model to predict climate change," seems like a good time to check back in on him. All the authors of "Myth and Mayhem" return to check...
2022-03-161h 59
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 36: Checking in on Jordan Peterson (+ More JRE Recapping & Let's Not Start WWIII)Two years ago, Ben Burgis, Matt McManus, Marion Trejo-McManus and Conrad Hamilton co-wrote a book called "Myth and Mayhem: A Leftist Critique of Jordan Peterson." Last year there was a GTAA episode about it. Now that our boy's active again, getting back out into the world and dropping bombs like "climate is just everything so how can we have a scientific model to predict climate change," seems like a good time to check back in on him. All the authors of "Myth and Mayhem" return to check back in on our...
2022-03-142h 31
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 35: Ben's Joe Rogan Experience + Debunking Union Busters w/Valley Labor ReportBen Burgis was on the Joe Rogan Experience last week so a good chunk of this is devoted to going over some clips from that but the main event tonight is a crossover w/the Valley Labor Report podcast to debunk the terrible arguments in employer-sponsored anti-union propaganda. This was a fun one.Watch the full appearance:https://open.spotify.com/episode/0UmjhCbyz0oG6bWUKlnNeFOrder the book Ben was talking about on JRE from worker-owned Red Emmas bookstore:https://redemmas.org/titles/34877-canceling-comedians-while-the-world-burns-a-critique-of-the-contemporary-left...and his new book on...
2022-03-052h 31
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 34: Exploitation (ft. Lillian Cicerchia)Fan-favorite returning guest Lillian Cicerchia (co-host of "What's Left of Philosophy?") comes back to talk to Ben Burgis about Marxist accounts of exploitation--how the concept relates to a useful description of capitalist economies and why it's important to the case for socialism. Producer Jake, whose day job is "union organizer," talks abut the gathering wave of Starbucks unionizations around the country. Professor Jennifer Burgis joins Ben for a philosophy segment on Robert Nozick's theory of property rights. Ryan joins us for the postgame GTAA patrons to talk Mario, turtles, philosophy, and why Biden doesn't just cancel student loans.
2022-02-241h 54
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 32: Naomi Karavani Kicks Ass, Takes Names, and Debunks Prager UBen Burgis and the GTAA crew talk about all the big dumb controversies of the week (Rogan, Whoopi) and try to extract from them at least a couple of things that actually matter. Noami Karavani, a comedian and correspondent for "Redacted Tonight," joins Ben to debunk some Prager U videos. Dr. Jenn comes on for a philosophy segment and the one and only Conan Neutron is on deck t hang out in the postgame for patrons. Good stuff all around.Follow Naomi on Twitter: @naomikaravaniFollow Redacted tonight: @RedactedTonightOrder Ben's new book ("...
2022-02-151h 46
Give Me An Argument - The Ben Burgis Call-In ShowEpisode 16: Jennifer Burgis on Aristotle, “Natural Slaves,” Intro Classes and KantBen’s wife, Dr. Jennifer Burgis, stops by to chat about which philosophers she assigns in her Intro to Philosophy and Intro to Ethics classes and to playfully “defend” Aristotle’s doctrine about “natural slaves.” Ben talks to a caller about idealism vs. materialism and explains Graham Priest’s theory that logical contradictions can be objectively true.
Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also available at callin.com
2022-02-071h 07
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 29: The Return of Slavoj ZizekBen Burgis and the GTAA crew talk about Hitchens and lesser figures who "left the left." Slovenian anti-capitalist philosopher Slavoj Zizek returns to the show to talk about subjects ranging from communism to AOC's boyfriend's feet. There's a preview of the last patron episode w/Conrad Hamilton, Professor Jennifer Burgis comes on for a philosophy segment, and Ethan Hershenfeld comes on to hangout and watch clips of William Lane Craig and Ben Shapiro in the postgame for patrons. This is a very good episode.Order Ben's new book! For much of the last couple weeks it's been...
2022-01-311h 44
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 27: Scott Horton Debated Bill Kristol on America's Forever WarsBen Burgis and the GTAA crew talk about the Democrats rapturous embrace of Dick Cheney. The main guest is Scott Horton, talks about the hlighlights of his recent debate with neocon all-star Bill Kristol. After a quick preview of the patron-exclusive episode from the weekend w/Matt McManus ("Season 3 Episode 26: To Beat the Right We Have to Understand Their Arguments"), Professor Jennifer Burgis returns for another attempt to sort of Sam Harris's deep confusion about meta-ethics.Order Ben's book "Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters" (out now!) from...
2022-01-161h 31
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 25: The Hitchens BrothersBen Burgis wrote a book about Christopher Hitchens--it came out on Saturday! You can snag a copy from worker-owned Red Emmas at this link:https://redemmas.org/titles/36536-christopher-hitchens--what-he-got-right--how-he-went-wrong--and-why-he-still-mattersBen and Djene Bajalan watch and discuss some clips of Christopher, and we unlock Ben's previously patron-exclusive interview with Christopher's thoughtful and entertaining but also terrifyingly ultra-conservative brother Peter Hitchens--who takes the opportunity to say that Margaret Thatcher wasn't "really" a conservative. (Note: The interview was a crossover with The Popular Show.) After that, Ben's wife Professor Jennifer Burgis joins him to talk about Sam Harris's...
2022-01-071h 26
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 23: Emma Vigeland vs. the Right (ft. Paul Prescod and Emma Vigeland)Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew watch Tucker Carlson and a guest talk about how the military should be full of people who want to sit on a "throne of Chinese skulls." Repeat GTAA guest Paul Prescod talks about his campaign for PA State Senate. Emma Vigeland joins Ben Burgis to break down the antics of Jordan Peterson, Josh Hawley, and Ben Shapiro. Professor Jennifer Burgis comes on for a philosophy segment at the end of the main show and we learn that in addition to having terrible political views Shapiro is pretty clueless about Kant. Anders Lee comes...
2021-12-211h 50
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 20: A Very Bad Wizard Gives An Argument (ft. David Pizarro)Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew watch Christopher Hitchens vs. Sean Hannity on the legacy of Jerry Falwell and then transition to a quick debunk of Prager U's "Healthcare is Not a Right" video. For the main event, Very Bad Wizards co-host David Pizarro and philosophy professor Ryan Lake join Ben to talk about some intersections between socialist political philosophy and the issue of free will and determinism, jumping off from G.A. Cohen's book "Why Not Socialism?" Finally, Professor Jennifer Burgis comes on to talk about Galen Strawson's argument against free will before Ben heads off to hang...
2021-12-072h 06
Give Them An ArgumentGTAA Season 3 Episode 19: James Lindsay is a McCarthyite LunaticJames Lindsay is very very worried about communists. He sees "communists," "wokeists," "woke Marxists" and "CRT neo-Marxists" under every bed and stashed in every cupboard and he wants the government to pass laws to stamp out the threat although he also sort of thinks they control the government. (Confusing!) So Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew brought on an actual communist (Sean KB of Antifada) to tell us what's wrong with the dude. We're also joined by (ahem) "world-level James Lindsay expert" (we'll explain that one in the episode) Sam Hoadley-Brill. In the philosophy segment, Ben and his wife...
2021-11-302h 08
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 15 - Ana Kasparian vs. Ben ShapiroBen Burgis and the GTAA crew watch a U.S. Senator say (really) that people who believe that man-made global warming is a serious problem are "Trotsky-like wokesters" and Ben Shapiro says climate change isn't a big deal since only a few thousand people will die. Havey J. Kaye discusses his recent Twitter run-in w/Shapiro. (Actual) friend of the show Ana Kasparian comes on for a deep dive on her Shapiro debate last month at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. Jenn is out sick this week but Georgia State University philosophy professor Ryan Lake subs for her...
2021-11-092h 19
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 13: G.A. Cohen vs. Jason Brennan (and Ben is Co-Teaching a Marx Class with Thaddeus Russell)Marxist analytic philosopher G.A. Cohen wrote a book called, "Why Not Socialism?" Libertarian philosopher Jason Brennan wrote a response called, "Why Not Capitalism?" Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew debunk some claims that Brennan makes in a lecture on all of this. Also: Ben's going to be teaching a three-week class on both books (and his larger critique of Brennan and defense of Cohen) in December.Later in the show, returning GTAA champ Thaddeus Russell comes on the show to talk a little Karl Marx. Thad is a critic of Marx. Ben, obviously, is a big f...
2021-11-072h 09
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 11: The Full Charlie Kirk Debate w/Postgame CommentaryBen Burgis debates Charlie Kirk on "democratic socialism vs. Trumpian populism." Yes, that's right, we can finally air this. Ben and the crew do about half an hour of introductory material, discussing Kirk's role on the contemporary Right and the "platforming debate" as well as showing a classic TMBS clip with Michael Brooks, Matt Lech, and David Griscom weighing in on Charlie's odd way of referencing philosophers. The full first hour of the debate (the part that was filmed as an episode of "Debate Night with Charlie Kirk") is then played without interruption. When it's over, Ben, Professor Jennifer...
2021-10-273h 41
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 9: How to Be An Anti-Capitalist in the 2020s (ft. Meagan Day)Ben Burgis talks to Jacobin's Meagan Day about Erik Olin Wright's analysis in his book Class Counts of all the different (and sometimes contradictory) class positions different people can have under capitalism, and how that analysis helps us understand the current limits of oppositional groups like DSA, the class coalitions defining the PMC-dominated Democratic Party and the Trumpified Republican Party, and how all of this can help us to understand (to tweak the title of another of Wright's books) how to be an anti-capitalist in the 2020s. Also: Ben has a new book coming out! (You can preorder it...
2021-10-192h 11
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 9 - How to Be An Anti-Capitalist in the 2020s (ft. Meagan Day)Ben Burgis talks to Jacobin's Meagan Day about Erik Olin Wright's analysis in his book Class Counts of all the different (and sometimes contradictory) class positions different people can have under capitalism, and how that analysis helps us understand the current limits of oppositional groups like DSA, the class coalitions defining the PMC-dominated Democratic Party and the Trumpified Republican Party, and how all of this can help us to understand (to tweak the title of another of Wright's books) how to be an anti-capitalist in the 2020s.Also: Ben has a new book coming out! (You can...
2021-10-192h 11
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 7 - David Griscom and Matt Lech on CryptocurrencyBen Burgis talks to "Left Reckoning" hosts Matt Lech & David Griscom about cryptocurrency. Ben and his wife Professor Jennifer Burgis unpack Charlie Kirk's confusion about social contract theory and Rawls. Ben and Producer Jake talk about Charlie's "sexual anarchy" rant and Gene Epstein's argument against minimum wage increases. Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and Wosny Lambre, a mo...
2021-10-142h 09
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 7 - David Griscom and Matt Lech on CryptocurrencyBen Burgis talks to "Left Reckoning" hosts Matt Lech & David Griscom about cryptocurrency. Ben and his wife Professor Jennifer Burgis unpack Charlie Kirk's confusion about social contract theory and Rawls. Ben and Producer Jake talk about Charlie's "sexual anarchy" rant and Gene Epstein's argument against minimum wage increases.Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday, access to the Discord server, a “Sopranos” Recap Bonus Episode every month with Mike Recine, Nando Vila, and...
2021-10-142h 09Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 6: Post-Kirk Debate Thoughts & Lillian Cicerchia on Marx's Theory of HistoryBen Burgis is back from Arizona where he debated Charlie Kirk. Sadly the video won't be available for a few weeks but we'll be sharing some thoughts about it now. Ben and Producer Jake talk about that, as well as Sam Harris's conflict with Bret Weinstein. GTAA graphic designer J. Andrew World joins to talk about IATSE's strike vote. (Sign the petition! https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-amptp-to-make-a-deal-with-behind-the-scenes-workers) Also, Lillian Cicerchia from the Free University of Berlin is back on to talk about the materialist theory of history. Ben is teaching an "Analytic Marxism and the Materialist Theory of History"...
2021-10-062h 14
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 6: Post-Kirk Debate Thoughts & Lillian Cicerchia on Marx's Theory of HistoryBen Burgis is back from Arizona where he debated Charlie Kirk. Sadly the video won't be available for a few weeks but we'll be sharing some thoughts about it now. Ben and Producer Jake talk about that, as well as Sam Harris's conflict with Bret Weinstein. GTAA graphic designer J. Andrew World joins to talk about IATSE's strike vote. (Sign the petition! https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-amptp-to-make-a-deal-with-behind-the-scenes-workers) Also, Lillian Cicerchia from the Free University of Berlin is back on to talk about the materialist theory of history. Ben is teaching an "Analytic Marxism and the Materialist Theory of History"...
2021-10-062h 14Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 2 Preview - Joshua Blanchard on Bad Epistemic CompanyBen Burgis has Joshua Blanchard (https://twitter.com/philoshua) on the show, who is currently a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Oakland University in Michigan. Ben and Josh discuss a paper that Josh recently wrote that addresses epistemic peer disagreement, and more specifically, being in bad company when it comes to those who agree with you about something. THIS IS A SEGMENT OF A PATREON ONLY EPISODE. Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus episode every Thursday...
2021-09-2015 min
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 2 Preview - Joshua Blanchard on Bad Epistemic CompanyBen Burgis has Joshua Blanchard (https://twitter.com/philoshua) on the show, who is currently a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Oakland University in Michigan. Ben and Josh discuss a paper that Josh recently wrote that addresses epistemic peer disagreement, and more specifically, being in bad company when it comes to those who agree with you about something.THIS IS A SEGMENT OF A PATREON ONLY EPISODE.Independent creators rely on your support to create the content you want! Support Give Them An Argument on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/benburgis. Patrons get a bonus...
2021-09-2015 minGive Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 1: The Gang Goes to Prager University (ft. David Griscom and Jennifer Burgis)So much good stuff in this episode. One of our favorite people, David Griscom, returns as the main guest. The new weekly philosophy segment with Jennifer Burgis debuts at the end of the episode--she weighs in on Ayn Rand's angry rant about the influence of Immanuel Kant. But here's the bad news: We're spending almost the entire episode watching and discussing Prager University videos. Sorry--but this is happening.Follow David Griscom on Twitter: @DavidGriscomFollow Left Reckoning on Twitter: @leftreckoningLink to the SSCC class on Analytic Marxism and the Materialist Theory of History:https://sscc.teachable.com/p/analytic-marxism-and-the-materialist-theory-of-historyLink to...
2021-09-152h 00
Give Them An ArgumentSeason 3 Episode 1: The Gang Goes to Prager University (ft. David Griscom and Jennifer Burgis)So much good stuff in this episode. One of our favorite people, David Griscom, returns as the main guest. The new weekly philosophy segment with Jennifer Burgis debuts at the end of the episode--she weighs in on Ayn Rand's angry rant about the influence of Immanuel Kant. But here's the bad news: We're spending almost the entire episode watching and discussing Prager University videos. Sorry--but this is happening.Follow David Griscom on Twitter: @DavidGriscomFollow Left Reckoning on Twitter: @leftreckoningLink to the SSCC class on Analytic Marxism and the Materialist Theory of History:
2021-09-152h 00Give Them An ArgumentSeason 2 Finale - Nando Vila and Jason Myles Talk About Charlie Kirk (Plus Some Philosophy)Charlie Kirk has said that democratic socialism is "the greatest scam in history." Ben Burgis has said that "Charlie Kirk is full of shit--like all Trumpists, he pretends to care about working-class people in the heartland but he doesn't want to raise their wages or give them healthcare." Ben thinks he and Charlie should have a discussion about this, and a lot of people seem to agree--enough money has been pledged in charitable donations by people who want to see this conversation happen to pay for more than 7200 meals for people in need. (See https://townsircle.com/events/89 ) The...
2021-08-261h 41Give Them An ArgumentSeason 2 Finale - Nando Vila and Jason Myles Talk About Charlie Kirk (Plus Some Philosophy)Charlie Kirk has said that democratic socialism is "the greatest scam in history." Ben Burgis has said that "Charlie Kirk is full of shit--like all Trumpists, he pretends to care about working-class people in the heartland but he doesn't want to raise their wages or give them healthcare." Ben thinks he and Charlie should have a discussion about this, and a lot of people seem to agree--enough money has been pledged in charitable donations by people who want to see this conversation happen to pay for more than 7200 meals for people in need. (See https://townsircle.com/events/89 ) The...
2021-08-261h 41Give Them An ArgumentEpisode 31 Preview - Is Fauci Dr. Do Little? (Patron-Exclusive Episode)Writer and cohost of Dissent Magazine’s Know Your Enemy podcast Sam Adler Bell joins Ben Burgis for this week’s Patron-only episode. Sam and Ben discuss a piece that Sam wrote for The Drift, “Doctor Do-Little | The Case Against Anthony Fauci“ (https://www.thedriftmag.com/the-case-...). Sam explains the arguments for and against severe criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s role in the government’s Covid-19 response. Find Sam Online:https://twitter.com/SamAdlerBellhttps://twitter.com/KnowYrEnemyPodTo get the full episode and every other patron-exclusive episode, support Give Them An Argument on Patreon...
2021-02-1207 min
Plato's CaveEp. 4 - Ben Burgis: Moral Responsibility in a Determined WorldIn this episode, I speak with Ben Burgis for a second time about free will compatiblism in a deterministic world. We speak about the metaphysics of free will and determinism, and what should constitude ground for moral responsibility. We also discuss my grad school writing sample and Christine Korsgaard's work.
Here's any links you'll need to dive deeper:
https://twitter.com/BenBurgis
https://www.amazon.com/Give-Them-Argument-Logic-Left/dp/1789042100/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2214250
https://soundcloud.com/user-761174326/41-jon-rosen-and-ben-burgis
If you learned something from this episode, please consider supporting me here: https...
2020-03-291h 34
Plato's CaveEp. 2.11 - (ft.) Ben Burgis and Jon Rosen: Do We Have Free Will?Ben Burgis and Jon Rosen join me for a discussion on whether we have free will, or not, and if we do have it, is it the important type of freedom? I very much enjoyed hearing the two of them spar and I hope you find it valuable as well.
Here's any links you'll need to dive deeper:
Ben's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenBurgis
Jon's Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosenbaier
Iona Italia's talk with both: https://t.co/3kEek7BJ8t?amp=1
If you leanred something from this episode, please consider supporting...
2020-03-171h 36