Episode 65 comes in two parts: In the first segment, Andreas talks with Platypus members Clay (Chicago) and Ethan (Philadelphia) about the upcoming Platypus International Convention, taking place in Chicago April 4-7 under the title "What is Left after Trump?". They discuss the various panel topics of this year's 16th Platypus Convention as well as why we keep hosting them. More information can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/whatisleft2024 In our second segment we welcome a...

In this episode of Shit Platypus Says, we introduce the first segment of Reds, a series examining the growth of new communist organizations around the world. Hosts Tamas, Lisa, and Rebekah discuss the impetus for such a series: the sudden growth of self-styled communist organizations after a decade of social democratic activity on the Left and a dissatisfaction with liberal politics; a related revision occurring within Trotskyist organizations; and the historical echoes and discontinuities...

Andreas sits down with Berlin-based members Jakob and Tamas to discuss the upcoming sixth annual Platypus European Conference, set to take place January 25th through the 27th. Further info can be found at: https://100yearsafterlenin.com --- A century after Lenin’s death, the Platypus Affiliated Society aims to critically examine the legacy of the failure of world revolution. Our sixth annual European Conference provides the time to reflect on the nightmare of the twentieth century through...

This special holiday episode of SPS comes in three parts: (1) In order to make sense of the present, Platypus is hosting an international series of panels "Left Perspectives on the Israel-Palestine Conflict". In the first segment, member Gabe G. and Pamela N. reflect on the first panel of the series, which took place at the University of Chicago. They take up disagreements as well as the assumed agreement and the response from the audience. (2) In the second segment you'll hear soundbites and...

We discuss this year's protests in France around police brutality, pension reform, and cost of living with our members Lucas from Bretagne and Paul from Vienna, as well as check in with Parisian protestors with Kristian. Weekly Coffee Breaks in Paris are held at Le Grand Breuget 17 rue Breuget 75011 Paris To stay up to date with Platypus France, get in touch here: https://www.platypusfrance.org

On this special back-to-school episode of SPS, Pamela & Laurie discuss the recent Russell Brand controversy. Brand has been in the news lately, under some heat, as a result of public allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. We take this up in the context of the ongoing sex panic and the ongoing transformation of feminism after #metoo, which leads us to discuss the Barbie movie. On the second part of the episode, our members Evan and the current president of Platypus, Erin, sit down...

In this episode of SPS, Tamas sits down with Aram Shakkour (@ShaqArama) of the Szikra Movement (@SzikraMozgalom), an oppositional movement based around Budapest, Hungary. They discuss the state of leftist politics in Hungary after the oppositional coalition which Szikra supported, United for Hungary, failed to stop Viktor Orbán’s FIDESZ from winning a two-thirds parliamentary majority. With over 54% of the vote, FIDESZ received the highest vote share of any party since the fall of communism....

In this episode, the Editor-in-Chief of the German Platypus Review, Tobias Rochlitz, sits down with Platypus members Stefan H, Jan BH, and our co-host Lisa M, all of whom contributed to the content of the special PR issue on Gender, to discuss an reflect upon the interview with Koschka Linkerhand, Tove Soiland and the panel discussion 'Gender and the Left‘ with Platypus member Stefan H, Roswitha Scholz and Sara Rukaj. They talk about how the ideas of the New Left survived and continued in the...

In this episode Pamela and Laurie discuss the Trump indictment, DeSantis, and the conservative “resolution” to the crisis of neoliberalism through the Culture Wars. In our main segment, Platypus members from Vienna, Berlin, Melbourne and Chicago reflect on the Platypus panel, "A Century of Critical Theory: The Legacy of György Lukács,” (April 1st, 2023), the closing plenary of the 15th Platypus International Convention. The centenary marking the publication of his magnum opus, History and...

In the first part of this episode, Lisa is joined by our German members Jakob, Nezam and Sebastian to discuss the crisis and history of DIE LINKE. They reflect on Platypus panels, interviews, and PR articles to think about the recent manifestations of the crisis within DIE LINKE and the radical Left's relation to the party. They talk about the international influence of the party and its impact on the entire Millennial Left generation. 
The second part of this episode features interviews...

On this episode of SPS, Pamela & Andreas interview Spencer Leonard. Spencer is a founding member of Platypus and has recently published a two-volume selection of Marx & Engels journalism. The first volume focuses on Bonapartism, with selections from 1851–1859, and the second focuses on their writings on imperialism, with selections from 1856–1862. He speaks to us about the democratic revolution, liberalism, and the self-contradiction of bourgeois society. Spencer challenges the thesis...

On this episode of SPS, we first focus on our Annual International Convention (March 29–April 1), which will take place in Chicago, at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, & the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Planning committee members, Ryan & Ethan introduce the convention theme, panels, and historical concerns across the upcoming events. Our second segment is a deep dive into the Platypus archives on the question of imperialism & anti-imperialism,...

This episode includes an interview with Platypus founding member Chris Cutrone, who was interviewed by Johannes K. and Lisa on his article “The end of the Gilded Age: Discontents of the Second Industrial Revolution today”. They talked about the history of progressivism, the deferred problems of the Gilded Age that still impact us today, the unfulfilled task of the Left, as well as the things that led Chris to write this article back in 2017. Links: > 2017: Chris Cutrone, The end of the...

In the first part of this episode, Lisa & Rebekah are joined by members, Laurie R. & Jasper to talk about how Platypus has captured the relationship between the Left & the elections. They have gone into the archives of the Platypus Affiliated Society, and have asked how our work can help us to think about these inflection points on the Left across the elections, namely, 2008 (Obama); 2016 (Brexit; Trump; AfD); 2020 (Trump & Biden, Corbyn & Boris); and the coming 2024...

On this special holiday episode, SPS brings to you reports from protests in the USA, Germany and Austria. We include shotgun interviews with participants and reflections by our members. In the first segment, our West Coast members interview the academic workers part of the strikes at the University of California. They ask the strikers at the LA and Santa Barbara campuses about their participation in the strike and their views on the relationship between this labor struggle and the long-term...

On this episode of SPS, Pamela first sits down with Platypus Brazilian members Paulo & Rosa. They comment on the election results, how the Left is responding to the return of Lula, and what the election of the Brazilian Workers Party means for the future of a socialist Left. In the second part, Platypus Oregon member Andony hosts a roundtable conversation on the U.S. Midterm elections with members from around the country. From New Hampshire, Walla Walla, Washington, Philadelphia, to...

Our 50th anniversary SPS episode comes in two parts. First, we cover the on-going cost of living protests organized by the Left in the U.K, Germany and Austria. Co-hosts Lisa and Andreas attended protests in Leipzig and Vienna, where they recorded soundbites and interviews with several leftist activists. Later, they discuss these interviews and the current crisis on the Left with SPS co-host Rebekah and former president of Platypus, Efraim C. -- both based in the U.K. In our Shit Platypus...

In the first segment, our European Correspondent, Andreas W. interviews Emanuel Rota, a leftist historian from Italy who published extensively on the history of the Italian Communist party. He currently lives in the US and is the director of the European Union Center at the University of Illinois. They discuss the aftermath of the "Long '68" in Italy, the current crisis of the Italian government as well as the impact and outlook of the Millennial Left during the crisis of neoliberalism. The...

This is a stand alone SPS segment to promote and introduce our fifth Platypus European Conference in Vienna, from 8 - 10 September, 2022. Lisa and Rebekah interview the lead organizers of the conference, Victor and Andreas. They talk about the different events of the conference and how they relate to its title "The Crisis of Society and the Left" as well as to our current historical moment of the death of the left. Here you can find all the information about the conference, the different...

On this episode of SPS, our resident financial guru sits down with Pamela to discuss the so-called Great Resignation, or “Big Quit”. They take up the concerns over birth rates & mental illness, as well as how social democratic policies naturalize the crisis of capital. In the second half of the episode, Pamela interviews Andy Gittlitz, cohost of the Antifada podcast and author of I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism. They discuss the trajectory of the millennial...

On this episode of SPS, Pamela and Sophia discuss the Depp v. Heard and the exhaustion of #metoo. Andreas and Platypus members, Sebastian Vogel interview Boris Kagarlitsky on the war in Ukraine and the Russian Left. Finally, Lisa and Rebekah sit down with Chris Cutrone to discuss the Platypus Summer Reading Group on classical social theory, titled "What is Society?" The reading group is happening at a Platypus chapter near you, as well as online for those who are unable to join us in...

In this episode of SPS, Pamela sits down with Platypus member Tana F. to discuss the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade and the responses by the Left, including Marxist Humanist member, Mike Dola, and the Socialist Workers Party's newspaper, The Militant. They talk about what it means to defend constitutional rights absent an independent working class movement and a socialist party. In the second part, Rebekah and Lisa sit down with Clay M. from Chicago, Lucas B. from Frankfurt and Conrad...

In the first part of the episode our co-hosts Lisa Müller und Rebekah Parlar sit down with Platypus member Clint Montgomery to talk about our annual international Platypus Convention. Our international Convention, which is sort of the highlight in your platypus calendar, will take place in Chicago from the 31st of March until April the 3rd. In the segment Lisa, Rebekah and Clint talk about why this year's convention will be held under the overarching theme of “Marxism and the ends of...

On this two-part episode of SPS, Pamela sits with Leila Mechoi, the co-host of Red Star Radio podcast. They reflect on the Left's reaction to the late trucker protest in Canada, and discuss the role of civil liberties in the organization of the working class, as well as what sort of missed political opportunity -- if any -- did the protest present. In the second part of the episode, Andreas and Berlin-based Platypus member, Tamas talked to Peter and Noemi, both members of Szikra, a leftist...