Coming From Left Field (Video)

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Welcome to Coming From Left Field, a conversation about politics, books, and current events.

  1. 11H AGO ·  VIDEO

    “The Yellow Vests and The Battle for Democracy” with Ida Susser

    In this episode of Coming From Left Field, we sit down with anthropologist Ida Susser to talk about her book “The Yellow Vests and the Battle for Democracy: Taking to the Streets of Paris in the 21st Century.” We dig into how a seemingly narrow revolt against a diesel fuel tax exploded into a nationwide uprising that shook Emmanuel Macron’s government and exposed the deep fractures between France’s urban elites and its abandoned provinces. Susser traces the long build‑up to the gilets jaunes: decades of neoliberal “reform” that closed rural schools and clinics, cut public transport, and hollowed out social services while telling working‑class people to drive farther and pay more. She explains who the Yellow Vests really were—truckers, nurses, cashiers, civil servants, small farmers, grandparents, and first‑time protesters—and how roundabouts and self‑built roadside cabins became spaces of debate, solidarity, and political awakening. We also talk about the brutal police response and the emergence of les mutilés (protesters maimed by so‑called “non‑lethal” weapons), and how that violence pushed many Yellow Vests toward alliances with anti‑racist and Black Lives Matter movements. From there, the conversation widens out: What can we learn from the Yellow Vests about spontaneous uprisings versus organized parties and unions? Why did the movement seem to “fizzle,” and in what ways did it quietly reshape French politics—strengthening mass pension protests, undermining Macron’s legitimacy, and helping set the stage for a new Popular Front that pushed back against Marine Le Pen’s far right? Susser uses Gramsci’s ideas of hegemony, civil society, and “war of position” to argue that these messy, grassroots experiments in “commoning” are slowly building a new democratic culture from below. If you’re interested in French politics, social movements, or the parallels between rural France and the U.S. rust belt, this is a rich, hopeful, and sobering conversation. Author Biography: Ida Susser is an American anthropologist best known for her work on urban inequality, social movements, and the politics of health and welfare. She is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center, and has also held roles as adjunct professor of socio‑medical sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and leadership positions in major anthropological associations. Born in South Africa to epidemiologists and anti‑apartheid activists Zena Stein and Mervyn Susser, she grew up in politically engaged circles, moved with her family to Manchester in 1956, and then to New York City in 1965. She earned her BA at Barnard College (1970), MA at the University of Chicago (1974), and PhD at Columbia University (1980), all in anthropology.    Ida Susser’s book (free PDF): https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781003534518/yellow-vests-battle-democracy-ida-susser Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/    #IdaSusser#YellowVests#giletsjaunes#France#Frenchpolitics#EmmanuelMacron#neoliberalism#welfarestate#socialmovements#grassrootsprotest#workingclass#democracy#authoritarianism#policeviolence#BlackLivesMatter#anthropology#urbaninequality#rustbelt#deindustrialization#leftpolitics#politicaleconomy#labor#pensions#austerity#populism#PatCummings#PatrickCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast #zzblog#mltoday

    1h 1m

  2. MAY 1 ·  VIDEO

    Saving the American Dream: Meditations for Dark Times” with John K. Roth

    In this podcast, we interview philosopher Dr. John K. Roth to discuss his latest book, ”Saving the American Dream: Meditations for Dark Times.” Roth explores the origins of the American Dream, its dual nature as both an aspiration and a nightmare, and the urgent calls to revive it amid authoritarian threats in 2026. Our conversation links Dr. Roth’s Holocaust scholarship to America's ideals. Key topics include the Dream's roots in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, its subversion by individualism and exceptionalism, and intersections with Nazi history as a warning. Dr. Roth shares personal stories: his Fulbright lectures in Austria, Elie Wiesel's influence, and founding Claremont McKenna's human rights center. They critique politicization—from Trump-era rhetoric to Supreme Court decisions eroding voting rights—and debate global contexts like WWII atrocities. About the Book “Saving the American Dream” offers 10 meditations to combat poverty, corruption, and inequality: diminish poverty, grow jobs, empower education, promote pluralism, and more. Roth urges Gen Z resistance, echoing MLK and Marx: understand the world, then change Author Biography Dr. John K. Roth is Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, where he taught from 1966 to 2006 and founded the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights (now Mgrublian Center). A Yale Ph.D. graduate (B.A. Pomona College), Roth has authored/edited over 60 books on Holocaust studies, ethics, and American philosophy. His work spans Fulbright lectures, visiting professorships in Japan and Israel, and awards like U.S. National Professor of the Year.   Purchase the book: https://kingsbookstore.com/book/9798385249206 Link to The Mgrublian Center for Human Rights: https://youtu.be/-UuX1xuaiiE Link to The Avett Brothers - We Americans (Official Music Video): https://youtu.be/0MKm9TB9b6s?si=g3kshHngBHPQd480 Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/   #savingtheamericandream#johnkroth#meditationsfordarktimes#americandreampodcast#americandemocracy#holocauststudies#genocidestudies#humanrights#martinlutherkingjr#trumperapolitics#authoritarianisminamerica#genzactivism#progressivepolitics#politicalphilosophy#ushistory#heathercoxrichardson#claremontmckennacollege#israelgazadiscussion#PatCummings#PatrickCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast#zzblog#mltoday

    1h 5m

  3. APR 21 ·  VIDEO

    "Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage" with Heather Ann Thompson

    Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Heather Ann Thompson joins us to discuss “Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage,” her new book about the 1984 Bernie Goetz subway shooting and how it became a flashpoint in the Reagan-era politics of fear, austerity, and race. Drawing on never-before-seen archival materials, Thompson reconstructs what really happened that day on the train and recovers the lives of the four Black teenagers whose stories were buried beneath the vigilante myth. We explore how right-wing media, urban crisis, and a carefully orchestrated conservative project turned Goetz into a folk hero, helped dismantle the New Deal order, and laid the groundwork for Trump-era white rage and punitive “law and order” politics. Along the way, Thompson highlights the courage of families like Daryl Cabey’s and reflects on what this history can teach us about resisting manufactured fear and rebuilding a more just democracy today. About Heather Ann Thompson Heather Ann Thompson is a historian, activist, and professor best known for “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in History. Raised in Detroit and trained in African American studies at the University of Michigan and Princeton, she has spent her career documenting how prisons, policing, and economic policy shape the lives of marginalized communities and the broader contours of American democracy. Her latest book, “Fear and Fury,” continues this project by uncovering how one violent moment on a New York subway helped ignite a national politics of white rage whose consequences we are still living with today.   Resources: Order the book: https://kingsbookstore.com/book/9780593702093 Webpage: https://www.heatherannthompson.com/   Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/   #fearandfury#heatherannthompson#berniegoetz#bernhardgoetz#subwayvigilante#1984newyorkcitysubwayshooting#reaganeighties#reaganera#whiterage#comingfromleftfieldpodcast#massincarceration#atticauprising#bloodinthewater#waroncrime#warondrugs#ronaldreagan#rightwingmedia#rupertmurdoch#foxnews#brokenwindowspolicing#racialpolitics#racialresentment#newyorkpost#southbronx#vigilantejustice#nra#lawandorderpolitics#trumpera#politicalhistory#americanracism#ushistory#truecrimehistory#urbancrisis#austeritypolitics#PatCummings #PatrickCummings #GregGodels #ZZBlog #ComingFromLeftField #Podcast #zzblog #mltoday

    48 min

  4. APR 15 ·  VIDEO

    "Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?" with Gabriel Rockhill

    Philosopher and activist Gabriel Rockhill joined us today to discuss his new book, “Who Paid the Piper in Western Marxism?” where he lays out how US imperial power has waged an “intellectual world war” through universities, foundations, journals, and cultural institutions—shaping what counts as radical thought inside the imperial core. We talk about Che Guevara’s assassination and the battle over his intellectual legacy, the role of the CIA and major foundations in promoting a safe, anti‑communist “Western Marxism,” and how obscure academic language can function to mystify reality rather than clarify it. Rockhill explains why some prominent left academics have reacted so fiercely to his work, and why he believes their careers are bound up with an intellectual franchise that avoids real opposition to imperialism. The episode also looks forward: how to reconnect with an internationalist, anti‑imperialist Marxist tradition, how to reach a US working class saturated in anti‑communist propaganda, and why building a broad anti‑war, pro‑peace movement is a crucial step toward any serious socialist project today. About Gabriel Rockhill Gabriel Rockhill is a philosopher, cultural critic, and political theorist whose work sits at the intersection of critical theory, intellectual history, and radical politics. He is Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University and the Founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop, an international research and education project that brings together scholars and militants to examine the relationship between theory and practice.   Resources: Order the book: https://kingsbookstore.com/book/9781685901349 Webpage: https://gabrielrockhill.com/   Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/   #GabrielRockhill#WhoPaidThePiper#WesternMarxism#Marxism#AntiImperialism#CIA#ColdWarCulture#CriticalTheory#FrankfurtSchool#LeftTheory#Socialism#CheGuevara#AcademicLeft#Postmodernism#USEmpire#GlobalSouth#AntiWar#WorkingClass#PatCummings #PatrickCummings #GregGodels #ZZBlog #ComingFromLeftField #Podcast #zzblog #mltoday

    57 min

  5. APR 1 ·  VIDEO

    "Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States“ with J. Albert Mann

    In this episode of Coming From Left Field we feature author J. Albert Mann discussing her nonfiction book, “Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States,” and why honest labor history for young people is both urgently needed and systematically suppressed. Mann explains that she wrote the book for middle- and high-school readers using accessible language, drawing heavily on left labor historians such as Philip Foner and on Labor’s Untold Story, to create an easily readable narrative that places working-class struggle at the center of U.S. history rather than at the margins. She talks about the “pyramid of oppression” as a core concept: capitalism maintains power by dividing workers—by race, gender, nationality, citizenship status, and other “bricks in the wall”—so people fight each other instead of the capital–labor relationship that actually determines their conditions. Mann emphasizes that this strategy appears across history, from feudalism through the Gilded Age’s violent strike-breaking (including private armies like the Pinkertons, who at one point employed more armed men than the U.S. Army) to current right-wing media’s focus on scapegoats like welfare recipients and trans youth. The conversation walks through major episodes from the book—indentured servitude, the first Gilded Age, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, the Palmer Raids and Red Scare, the destruction of the IWW, the New Deal and CIO era, wars and the rise of the military-industrial complex, and into today’s gig economy and AI—always stressing that labor history is “working-class history” and should be understood inside the broader political and economic context, not as isolated heroic tales. Mann criticizes how children’s literature usually presents labor as decontextualized, hero-centered vignettes (often returning to “safe” events like Triangle where adults can pretend the problem was solved) while largely erasing radical moments such as Haymarket and the deeper role of communists and left organizers. She also recounts the book’s fraught publication: HarperCollins (owned by Rupert Murdoch) bought the manuscript, then, after legal review, fired her union-editor Stephanie Gordon and tried to kill the book, only relenting after contract pressure—one in-house lawyer reportedly said, “It’s labor. It’ll bury itself.” Mann argues that this reaction, and the near-total failure of contemporary unions to use books like hers as organizing tools for youth, underscores how threatening serious labor education remains to capital, and how essential it is for any future movement that hopes to confront gig work, privatization, and growing inequality J. Albert Mann is an award winning author of fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults, with a focus on working class history, disability, and social justice. She has written six children’s books and has published short stories and poems in Highlights for Children, where she has received both the Highlights Fiction Award and the Highlights Editor’s Choice Award. Mann holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her work is shaped by her own experience with disability and by years of disability rights activism, including involvement in the “We Need Diverse Books” movement pushing for disabled protagonists and histories in youth publishing.   Resources: Order the book: https://kingsbookstore.com/book/9780063273481   Webpage: https://jalbertmann.com/   Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/   #laborhistory# ShiftHappens# J.AlbertMann#unions# workingclass# classstruggle# pyramidofoppression# capitalism# GildedAge# Pinkertons# Haymarket# TriangleShirtwaistfire# RedScare# CIO# PhilipFoner# Labor’sUntoldStory# youthorganizing# laboreducation# gigeconomy# AIandwork# RupertMurdoch# HarperCollins# publishingpolitics# leftpolitics# socialism# solidarity# strikehistory# U.S.history#PatCummings #PatrickCummings #GregGodels #ZZBlog #ComingFromLeftField #Podcast #zzblog #mltoday

    1h 7m

  6. MAR 25 ·  VIDEO

    "Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers " with Caroline Fraser

    Caroline Fraser joins the Coming From Left Field podcast to discuss "Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers," her genre-bending blend of true crime, environmental muckraking, and personal memoir about growing up near Tacoma’s Asarco smelter in the heyday of Ted Bundy and other Pacific Northwest serial killers. Drawing on research about lead and arsenic exposure, brain science, and corporate archives, Fraser argues that heavy metal poisoning, especially from smelters and leaded gasoline, helped shape an era of unprecedented violent crime, while corporations and regulators concealed what they knew to protect profits. The conversation ranges from the company town politics of Ruston and Kellogg, Idaho, to bankruptcy scams that left taxpayers with Superfund bills, to gendered effects of lead on male and female brains, and the cultural fascination with serial killers. Along the way, Fraser and the hosts connect Murderland to earlier work like Prairie Fires, to Frank Herbert’s Dune as an industrial-ecological parable rooted in Tacoma, and to today’s fights over toxic redevelopment and AI-era data centers, which repeat the same jobs-versus-health trade-offs.   Caroline Fraser is an American nonfiction writer and literary critic best known for her Pulitzer Prize–winning biography “Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder.” Born in Seattle to a Christian Science family, she graduated from Mercer Island High School and later earned a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Harvard University, writing her dissertation on the poet James Merrill. Fraser previously worked on the editorial staff of The New Yorker and has written for publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic Monthly, Outside Magazine, and the London Review of Books. She is the author of several major nonfiction books: “God’s Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church,” a critical history and memoir about Christian Science; “Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution,” on global conservation; “Prairie Fires,” which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize and 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography;   Resources: Order the book: https://kingsbookstore.com/book/9780593657225   Webpage: https://www.carolinefraser.net/   Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/   #murderland#CarolineFraser#environmentaljustice#leadpoisoning#serialkillers#arseniccontamination#Asarcosmelter#RustonWashington#TacomaWashington#BunkerHillKelloggIdaho#corporatecrime#latecapitalism#structuralviolence#brainscienceandcrime#frontallobedamage#leadandviolentcrime#Superfundsites#DuneFrankHerbert#LauraIngallsWilder#TedBundy#GaryRidgway#PatCummings#PatrickCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast#zzblog#mltoday

    54 min

  7. MAR 13 ·  VIDEO

    "Fighting Oligarchy" with Charles Derber

    In this episode, we sit down with sociologist and author Dr. Charles Derber to dig into his new book, “Fighting Oligarchy: How Positive Populism Can Reclaim America.” At a moment when most Americans feel one paycheck away from disaster and both major parties seem unable—or unwilling—to confront corporate power, Derber offers a clear, historically grounded argument for why Trump’s far‑right populism has been so successful and why it keeps enshrining the very corporate establishment it claims to oppose. He traces a long U.S. history of “phony” right‑wing populism, from the Confederacy and the Klan to America First and MAGA, and contrasts it with a largely forgotten tradition of democratic, left populism rooted in the 1890s People’s Party, New Deal‑era worker organizing, and movements that linked economic justice to civil rights and peace. Rather than treating populism as a dirty word, Derber insists it is an inevitable response to deep economic crisis; the question is whether it will be channeled into racist authoritarianism or into a broad, multiracial movement that targets oligarchic capitalism itself.   Over the course of the conversation, we unpack Derber’s notion of “positive populism”: a politics that names the oligarchy directly, connects everyday economic pain to structural corporate power, and pushes for something closer to Northern European–style social democracy—strong unions, universal healthcare, and a state that actually intervenes on behalf of ordinary people. Derber argues that simply “going back to normal” or reviving centrist neoliberalism is a trap that will only prepare the ground for the next Trump, because it leaves intact a system most people already know is rigged. Instead, he lays out core principles of resistance and democratic renewal designed to build a sustainable, caring U.S. democracy capable of confronting climate breakdown, militarism, and corporate rule.   This is a conversation for anyone wrestling with how to fight the oligarchy without falling for fake anti‑establishment politics—and how to rebuild a politics of solidarity in a society that has been deliberately fragmented. ​   Charles Derber is a professor of sociology at Boston College and a longtime analyst of capitalism, corporate power, and U.S. political regimes. The author of more than thirty books for general and academic audiences, his works include “Sociopathic Society, Corporation Nation, Bonfire: American Sociocide,” and now “Fighting Oligarchy: How Positive Populism Can Reclaim America.” His research and public writing focus on the intertwined crises of global capitalism, militarism, climate change, and the overwhelming power of multinational corporations, as well as the social movements that might transform them. Derber has been described as a leading critical voice on “corpocracy” and the erosion of democracy, and he advocates for broad, bottom‑up movements that can reclaim economic and political life from oligarchic control.   Resources: Order the book: https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Oligarchy-Universalizing-Resistance-Charles/dp/1041119976/ Webpage: https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/morrissey/departments/sociology/people/faculty-directory/charles-derber.html   Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/   #fightingoligary#howpositivepopulismcanreclaimAmerica#positivepopulism#progressivepopulism#leftpopulism#rightwingpopulism#trumpismexplained#americanoligarchy#usdemocracycrisis#capitalismcritique#corporatepower#workingclasspolitics#americanfascism#bostoncollegesociologist#unionsandlabormovement#PatCummings#PatrickCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

    1h 5m

  8. MAR 4 ·  VIDEO

    "Square UP: Building Labor's Power in the Gilded Age" with Lorri Nandrea, Tony Pecinovsky and special guest Chris Townsend

    In this episode, we welcome Lorri Nandrea and Tony Pecinovsky to discuss the book they edited, “Square Up: Building Labor's Power in the Second Gilded Age”— a vital call to arms for the working class from International Publishers. Square Up is a collection of 16 essays bringing together activists, organizers, and rank-and-file trade union leaders to assess the state of labor in the Trump era and chart a path forward for the working class. Also joining the discussion is returning guest Chris Townsend — veteran organizer, former political director of United Electrical Workers (UE), and a driving force behind the Starbucks Workers United campaign — whose on-the-ground experience adds sharp tactical and historical depth to the conversation. The genesis of Square Up, as Pecinovsky explains, grew directly from International Publishers' deliberate effort to expand its left-labor catalog and to spark a discussion within the progressive trade union movement about fighting back against the attacks of the second Trump administration. The conversation addresses the alarming fact that 40% of union members voted for Trump, with Pecinovsky arguing persuasively that these workers are not ideologically committed to MAGA but are seeking community — something the labor movement has largely failed to provide, as union households, factory towns, and civic institutions have collapsed. Townsend points to the failure of union leadership to politically educate members, contrasting the courage of ATU president Larry Hanley, who endorsed Bernie Sanders against the grain, with today's leaders who simply funnel money to the Democratic Party. The episode also explores private equity's predatory role in mobile home parks and rural communities, the lessons of the 1987 International Paper strike in Jay, Maine, the history of the Communist Party's indispensable role in labor organizing from the 1930s through Trade Unionists for Action and Democracy (TUAD), and the urgent need to frame immigration as a class struggle issue rather than a culture war one. Lorri Nandrea is a writer, organizer, and author. She has a background in wide-ranging working-class experience — having worked as a waitress, barista, pizza cook, punch-press operator, and gas-station attendant before earning a PhD in English from Northwestern University — and has spent her career connecting academic analysis to grassroots activism. She writes regularly for People's World and the Communist Party USA, covering labor, climate, and racial justice issues. Tony Pecinovsky is the President of International Publishers, the storied left-labor publishing house with a century-long history of bringing Marxist and labor literature to American readers. He is the author of "Let Them Tremble: Biographical Interventions Marking 100 Years of the Communist Party, USA," co-editor of "Faith in the Masses," and author of "The Cancer of Colonialism: W. Alphaeus Hunton, Black Liberation, and the Daily Worker, 1944–1946." A community activist and prolific writer, he contributes regularly to People's World, Black Perspectives, American Communist History, and the St. Louis Labor Tribune, and speaks frequently on college campuses across the country. Chris Townsend is a veteran labor organizer with nearly five decades of experience across four unions — UE (United Electrical Workers), the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), the Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). He served as Political Action Director for UE for 25 years before retiring in 2013 and later helped found the Inside Organizer School at ATU, which became the launchpad for the Starbucks Workers United movement — sending the first wave of union salts into Buffalo stores and igniting a campaign that has now organized nearly 700 locations nationwide.   Resources: Order the book: https://www.intpubnyc.com/browse/square-up-building-labors-power-in-the-second-gilded-age/ International Publishers webpage: https://www.intpubnyc.com/ Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/   #SquareUp #LaborPower #SecondGildedAge #UnionStrong #LaborMovement #WorkersRights #OrganizeNow #StarbucksWorkersUnited #AmazonWorkers #TonyPecinovsky #InternationalPublishers #CPUSA #LorriNandrea #ChrisTownsend #GrassrootsOrganizing #TradeUnions #AFLCIO #LaborLeft #SaltingUnions #LaborPodcast #ProgressivePolitics #UnionOrganizing#WageInequality #LivingWage #MobileHomePark #PatCummings #PatrickCummings #GregGodels #ZZBlog #ComingFromLeftField #ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast #zzblog #mltoday

    1h 1m
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Welcome to Coming From Left Field, a conversation about politics, books, and current events.

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  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
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    Coming From Left Field (Video)

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