Give Them An Argument

Ben Burgis
  • 4.5 (140)
  • TV & FILM
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday nights with an exclusive postgame for GTAA patrons after the main show. (To become a patron, go to patreon.com/benburgis and sign up for the monthly cost of a milkshake at a 50s nostalgia diner in 1994.) Past guests have included Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, David Pizarro, Gregory Sadler, Glenn Greenwald, Krystal Ball, Bhaskar Sunkara, Sam Seder, Ana Kasparian, Emma Vigeland, Matt Christman, and Amber Frost. The show has also featured debates between host Ben Burgis and opponents ranging from Walter Block to Charlie Kirk.Ben is a philosophy professor, Jacobin columnist, and frequent debater. He did a regular "Debunk" segment on the Michael Brooks Show until 2020. He's appeared on the Debate Night with Charlie Kirk, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, Rising, Krystal, Kyle & Friends, the Majority Report w/Sam Seder & the Joe Rogan Experience.benburgis.compatreon.com/benburgis

  1. Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisiting G.A. Cohen

    2D AGO

    Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisiting G.A. Cohen

    Last week at York University in Toronto, there was a panel to pre-launch a book of essays called "Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisitng G.A. Cohen" co-edited by Ben Burgis and Matt McManus. Contributors Les Jacobs and Christine Sypnowich spoke first, then Matt and Ben. Q&A includes some spicy exchanges on dialectics and whether analytical Marxism is too academic to be of much use to the workers' movement. In this episode, Ben starts with some context on Cohen's life and the major themes of the work and then we play the full video of the panel. At the end, Ben comes back to chat a bit more about the trip to Toronto and the GTAA episode schedule going forward. Prices in academic publishing being what they are, we can't exactly tell you to go out and buy this thing, but if you want to get your library to order a copy, here's the link for that; https://www.amazon.com/Analytical-Marxism-Democratic-Socialism-Century/dp/3032028930 Prof. Sypnowich's website: https://www.christinesypnowich.com/ Prof. Jacobs's profile at York: https://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/jacobs/ Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com

    2h 34m
  2. RIP Habermas (ft. Matt McManus)

    MAR 17

    RIP Habermas (ft. Matt McManus)

    Matt McManus joins to discuss the complicated legacy of philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who died last Saturday. Read Matt's article "Jürgen Habermas Showed What Philosophy Could Be" in Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/2026/03/habermas-obituary-critical-theory-philosophy Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com

    59 min
  3. Matt McManus Read Nick Land So You Don't Have To

    MAR 9

    Matt McManus Read Nick Land So You Don't Have To

    Returning champ Matt McManus joins us once again, this time to explore a reactionary weirdo who somehow hasn't been the subject of a GTAA episode yet! Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com

    1h 12m
  4. Of All the Dumb Wars, This One is Somehow the Dumbest

    MAR 4

    Of All the Dumb Wars, This One is Somehow the Dumbest

    We're back, baby! Ben Burgis breaks down the idiotic arguments made by the MAGA faithful in defense of Trump's decision to wage an unprovoked, illegal, open-ended war against a country with far more capacity to defend itself than Afghanistan had in 2001 or Iraq in 2003, and makes the case that opposing it isn't just a question of anti-imperialism or harm-minimization (though it certainly is all that) but that there's a basic question of American democracy at stake. Read Ben's article in Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinion Read Branko Marcetic's too while you're at it: https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinion Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best: https://gofund.me/f8ec78c56 Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com

    1h 3m
  5. Talking MAGA’s Intellectuals with Laura Field and Matt McManus

    JAN 16

    Talking MAGA’s Intellectuals with Laura Field and Matt McManus

    Ben Burgis and Matt McManus chat with Laura K. Field about her excellent new book "Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right." Order the book:: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691255262/furious-minds Follow Laura on Twitter: @lkatfield Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com

    1h 36m
  6. Curtis Yarvin Stops Being Coy About Fascism

    JAN 14

    Curtis Yarvin Stops Being Coy About Fascism

    Deep State Kuba and New York Cynthia join Ben Burgis to talk about Curtis Yarvin's demented new essay "The Situation and the Solution." Follow Kuba on Twitter: @DrKuba2 Follow Cynthia on Twitter; @c_cook1988 Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substac

    2h 26m
  7. Why Everyone Should Read Vivek Chibber

    12/22/2025

    Why Everyone Should Read Vivek Chibber

    Marxist Twitter has been fighting about Vivek Chibber lately. Ben Burgis takes the opportunity to address the immediate controversy but also the much broader value of Chibber's work. Read the Jacobin Chibber interview on the origins of capitalism that everyone is freaking out about: https://jacobin.com/2025/12/colonialism-transition-feudalism-capitalism-history-economy Read Ben's essay "Taking the Red Pill: William Clare Roberts vs. Vivek Chibber on the Class Matrix": https://benburgis.substack.com/p/taking-the-red-pill-william-clare Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com

    2 hr
  8. Is "Elite Capture" the Problem with Identity Politics?

    12/19/2025

    Is "Elite Capture" the Problem with Identity Politics?

    Ben Burgis talks about why he doesn't buy Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò's defense of identity politics in Táíwò's book "Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)." Check out the book: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1867-elite-capture Read Ben's review: https://damagemag.com/2025/06/11/uncaptured-identity-politics-is-no-substitute-for-a-politics-of-class/ Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going: patreon.com/benburgis Read the weekly philosophy Substack: benburgis.substack.com

    1h 14m
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Trailers

4.5
out of 5
140 Ratings

About

Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday nights with an exclusive postgame for GTAA patrons after the main show. (To become a patron, go to patreon.com/benburgis and sign up for the monthly cost of a milkshake at a 50s nostalgia diner in 1994.) Past guests have included Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, David Pizarro, Gregory Sadler, Glenn Greenwald, Krystal Ball, Bhaskar Sunkara, Sam Seder, Ana Kasparian, Emma Vigeland, Matt Christman, and Amber Frost. The show has also featured debates between host Ben Burgis and opponents ranging from Walter Block to Charlie Kirk.Ben is a philosophy professor, Jacobin columnist, and frequent debater. He did a regular "Debunk" segment on the Michael Brooks Show until 2020. He's appeared on the Debate Night with Charlie Kirk, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, Rising, Krystal, Kyle & Friends, the Majority Report w/Sam Seder & the Joe Rogan Experience.benburgis.compatreon.com/benburgis

Information

  • Creator
    Ben Burgis
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    298
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Give Them An Argument
  • Show Website
    Give Them An Argument

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