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Podcast Series

Socialism Conference

The Socialism Conference is a four-day conference bringing together thousands of socialists and radical activists from around the country to take part in discussions about social movements, Marxism, abolition, working-class history, and the debates and strategies for organizing today. Every year, the Socialism conference aims to be a place where activists can share lessons from their struggles—from the BDS campaign for Palestine to the fight for gender liberation, from strike organizing and support to the struggle to stop the destruction of the planet, the fight against racism, and more. Socialism 2025 took place in Chicago over July 4th weekend, July 3-6. Recordings from many sessions at Socialism 2025 will be released here. Socialism 2026 will take place in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more: socialismconference.org

Episodes

All Seasons Season 0
Oct 21, 2025

Under Death Squads and a Dictator's Son: Organizing a Left Alternative in the Philippines

Pang Delgra speaks in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Partido Sosyalista.

From the weaponization of Facebook to successive elections of authoritarian leaders; the Philippines has been a testing ground for the Far-Right. How have the left been able to fight back under such conditions? Hear insights and perspectives from a representative from the newly formed Partido Sosyalista of the Philippines.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 21, 2025

Fascists Are Trying to Recruit You!: Antisemitism, Conspiracism, and the Anti-Woke Left

Naomi Bennet and Danny Katch speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

As Trump persecutes migrants, trans people, and other scapegoats, the left faces a choice: echo his anti-woke populism, or fight for collective liberation. This session will look at the dangers of antisemitic, conspiracist politics in movements across the political spectrum – and how we keep the focus on capitalism, not cabals.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 20, 2025

How to Democratize Everything

Michael A. McCarthy speaks in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

If you’re a socialist, what do you know about democratic planning? Socialism isn't bigger state bureaucracies, endless meetings, or even turning out votes. Instead, it is empowering ordinary people to have a greater say over the institutions that affect us all. Join social theorist Michael A. McCarthy to explore how the working class can be empowered by introducing new forms of democracy into our most important investment decisions.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 20, 2025

Labor and the Struggle for Higher Education

Jason Wozniak, Gabriel Winant, Sherry Wolf, and Chenjerai Kumanyika speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

Repression of student protests on campuses and existential defunding threats from the White House have combined to change the face of higher education and call into question its very future. Join us for a discussion of the current state of the movement to save and transform higher education through the power of labor and community activism.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 18, 2025

Gulf to Gaza: No Sacrifice Zones

Chloe Torres and Jenny Espino speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

BIPOC communities along the Gulf South have long been treated as sacrifice zones by corporations like Chevron and Valero who have also been instrumental in fueling genocide in Palestine. This panel will explore what it means to build solidarity in communities often overlooked and seldom seen as crucial sites of struggle.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 18, 2025

Ukraine Betrayed: Trump, Putin and the Struggle for Self-Determination

Howie Hawkins, Tanya Vyhovsky, Elias Seidel, Dianne Feeley, and Suzi Weissman speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Ukraine Solidarity Network-US.

Trump’s political alignment with Russia’s Vladimir Putin is reshaping international politics while posing a serious threat to the Ukrainian people’s resistance to colonial domination and occupation. This panel will discuss how we can generate further solidarity with Ukraine and other ongoing struggles for self-determination given this global turning point.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 17, 2025

Socialist (Humanism) or Barbarism: On Political Education, Democratic Rights and Where We Go Next

Michaela Brangan, Steve Fraser, Sarah Hurd, and Mie Inouye speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by DSA.

In the wake of the state’s anti-left attacks on the university, public education, and access to knowledge in general, liberals have failed to uphold their own institutions through neoliberal decline and the new right’s aggressive encroachment. It’s time for socialists to step in like never before, reviving our tradition of defending and expanding education for democracy and collective human flourishing, and for the embrace of socialist humanism for the freedom and uplift of the entire working class.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 17, 2025

Left-Internationalism from the Imperial Core: Then and Now

Audrey Nicolaides speaks in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research.

This lecture will retrace the theoretical and historical evolution of left-internationalism from the mid-19th century onward, paying particular attention to the problem of practicing international solidarity from within the imperial core. What is left internationalism? How has it evolved over time? And how should we practice it in the present?

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 16, 2025

Gender, Sexuality, Reproduction and the State: Fighting Back Against the So-Called Law

Sophie Lewis, Melissa Gira Grant, and Beatrice Adler-Bolton speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Death Panel.

As the state intensifies its assault on gender, sexuality, and reproduction—criminalizing abortion, trans care, and pregnancy outcomes, dismantling government functions to fight "gender ideology," and defining "real women" under the guise of protection—how do we endure and resist? Under the shadow of a second Trump administration, the erosion of rights is not a glitch but a feature of a broader regime of privatization and control. Journalist Melissa Gira Grant, and authors Sophie Lewis and Beatrice Adler-Bolton discuss how today's attacks are part of a longer history of state repression, and how we can build resistance in an era of hyper-austerity and rising fascism.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Oct 16, 2025

No New Cages: Lessons from Organizers Resisting Carceral Infrastructure

Silky Shah, Mon Mohapatra, Hannah Riley, Stevie Wilson, Maha Hilal, and Zhandarka Kurti speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Community Justice Exchange.

The new, authoritarian, administration has promised to expand prison infrastructure, requiring remobilizations of efforts against expansion, construction, entrenchment, and net-widening. Alongside the release of a new resource on undertaking fights against carceral infrastructure, a panel of organizers who have organized against prisons, jails, detention centers, and cop cities will offer reflections and strategic recommendations on what these fights will look like in coming years.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!