Bhaskar Sunkara – Changemaker Chat – Jacobin and the US Democratic Socialists
Class, debate and radical ideas in the socialist movements emerging the US
You can download this episode via the ACAST app here, or find it on any podcast app (Spotify, Apple, Stitcher etc) – just search “ChangeMakers Podcast” and look for the Orange Box!
Since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, US politics has polarised sharply – with the rise of Trump and right-wing populism, but also a renewed class-based left around figures like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes and Zohran Mamdani.
Part of what has given rise to these candidates is a Democratic Socialist political movement – and a key part of that movement is the publication Jacobin, which has sought to teach and lead debate about radical class politics, reviving Marxist critiques of capitalism and socialist ideology.
In this chat, the founding editor of Jacobin, Bhasker Sunkara, charts the history of the US democratic socialists and the role of Jacobin in particular. He unpacks the recent New York Mayoral Election campaign with Zohran Mamdani, exploring how the big but simple demands about free buses and rent freezes created a different imagination for what is possible from the state. He also shares a little about his upcoming book The Blueprint (with Mike Beggs and Ben Burgis), and some of the topics he will be talking about when he visits Australia in May and June 2026.
For more information and to buy tickets for Bhasker’s Australian speaking tour: https://www.search.org.au/bhaskar_sunkara_live_in_sydney_get_your_tickets_today
The Jacobin magazine is here.
Bhasker’s earlier book, The Socialist Manifesto, can be bought here.
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