154 episodes
Give Them An Argument Ben Burgis
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4.7 • 116 Ratings
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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
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Season 5 Episode 17: Matt McManus on Matt Walsh + A Dialogue w/Christine Sypnowich
In the first half of the main show, Political Science prof and Jacobin contributor Matt McManus joins Ben Burgis to discuss his new article about another, much more unpleasant Matt--Matt Walsh. In the second half, we replay Ben's dialogue at a Boston Review event last week with socialist philosopher Christine Sypnowich about equality of opportunity vs. equal flourishing. Last but not least, Zac and Gavin from The Vanguard join Ben and Andy--it's Jake's birthday, so he was reluctantly given the night off--in the postgame for GTAA patrons.
Read Matt's article ("Matt Walsh’s Vitriolic Anti-Trans Christianity Is Distinctly Anti-Christian"):
https://jacobin.com/2023/05/matt-walsh-anti-trans-christianity-gender-lgbtq-philosophy-review
Read Ben's Substack about Christine Sypnowich ("What We Talk About When We Talk About Inequality"):
https://benburgis.substack.com/p/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about
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 patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com -
Season 5 Episode 16: Lillian Cicerchia on Marx, Materialism, and the Poverty of Philosophy
Left-wing academic philosopher, Jacobin contributor, and "What's Left of Philosophy?" co-host Lillian Cicerchia comes back on the show to talk to Ben Burgis about Karl Marx's book "The Poverty of Philosophy" and, more broadly, different ways of construing materialism vs. idealism debates and the sometimes vexed relationship between moral critiques of capitalism and Marxist thought. Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew get into the recent strike victory at Rutgers, Bernie vs. Chris Wallace on whether there should be billionaires, and Gad Saad's objections to a 32-hour workweek. In the postgame for GTAA patrons, Jason Myles and Deep State Kuba from This is Revolution podcast join Ben and the crew to watch a expose recently done by intrepid journalists on....the fact that leftists sometimes got to each other's weddings. Don't worry, everyone holds Ben to account for this important transgression.
Become a GTAA patron or sign up for the Marx/Proudhon class:
patreon.com/benburgis
Follow Lillian on Twitter: @classreductress
Follow Jason on Twitter: @J_Myles_TiR
Follow Kuba on Twitter: @DrKuba2
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com -
Season 5 Episode 15: Happy May Day & Goodbye to Tucker Carlson
Naomi Karavani, RM Brown, and Branko Marcetic join Ben Burgis to say goodbye to Tucker Carlson's show on Fox. You can read Ben's article "Tucker Carlson Is a Repugnant, Pseudo-Populist Fraud" here:
https://jacobin.com/2023/04/tucker-carlson-populism-ruling-class-minimum-wage-medicare-for-all-war/
...and Branko's article "Tucker Carlson Isn’t an Anti-Imperialist — He’s a Rabid China Hawk" here:
https://jacobin.com/2023/04/tucker-carlson-imperialist-china-hawk
Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew talk a bit about May Day and the (ongoing) struggle for a shorter workweek, play a clip of Kyle Kulinski talking about Ben's article on that, and promote the class on Proudhon's "Philosophy of Poverty" and Marx's "Philosophy of Poverty" starting on the GTAA Patreon in May. In the postgame for patrons, Producer Jordan joins us to talk about Slavoj Žižek's mutlipolarity article in Compact.
Follow Naomi on Twitter: @naomikaravani
Follow Branko on Twitter: @BMarchetich
Follow RM on Twitter: @xrmbrownx2
Follow Producer Jordan on Twitter: @jayohardeeayen
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com -
Season 5 Episode 14: The Philosophy of Dinesh D'Souza (ft. Victor Bruzzone & Ethan)
Conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza has, as it turns out, made a LOT of videos covering philosophical topics like John Rawls's veil of ignorance and abortion rights, Hume's argument against belief in miracles (D'Souza isn't convinced), and.....something or other about how Nietzsche helps us understand why tech companies censor conservatives? Or something? Anyway, we're on the job. Debate-breakdown regulars Victor Bruzzone and Ethan (from the Confronting Capital channel) join Ben Burgis to subject themselves to some of these videos. For you.
Before that, Ben and the GTAA crew watch and break down a recent friendly debate Ben had w/Briahna Joy Gray on Rising about the Pentagon leaks, and in the postgame for patrons Producer Jordan joins the gang to talk a Compact article that dismissed the mass protests in Israel (where Jordan lived for man years) as a "color revolution." A fun episode all around.
Watch Ethan's channel Confronting Capital:
https://www.youtube.com/@confrontingcapital5080
Follow Ethan on Twitter: @anontwtuser11
Follow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzone
Follow Jordan on Twitter: @jayohardeeayen
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com -
Season 5 Episode 13: Being, Time and Hitler (Matt McManus on Heidegger)
The main event is fan-favorite recurring guest Matt McManus doing a deep dive on the philosophy and politics of Martin Heidegger. Before that, Ben Burgis and the GTAA crew talk about Ben's pilgrimage to New Jersey to walk the picket line in the Rutgers strike (just before that strike ended with massive concessions by management) and watch some footage from a recently-released debate he did with a Starmer-ite British parliamentarian. In the postgame for patrons, Matt sticks around to talk about his review of Florida Governor Ron DeSanctimonious's new book "The Courage to Be Free."
Get Tickets to the Hay Festival, May 26--29:
https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay
Read the most recent of Matt's many articles about Heidegger:
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/heideggers-critique-of-liberalism/
Read his review of Meatball Ron's book:
https://jacobin.com/2023/04/ron-desantis-courage-to-be-free-book-review-elites-conservatism-ruling-class
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 patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com -
Season 5 Episode 12: Norman Finkelstein Came Here To Chew Bubblegum & Burn Bridges (He's Out of Gum)
Norman Finkelstein makes his debut appearance on GTAA to talk about his book "I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom." Norm is a lifelong, deeply committed leftist who's faced real consequences in his own career for his advocacy on behalf of the Palestinians, so when he says the Left is f*cking up, perhaps it's a good idea to hear the man out.
Before the interview (and later in the postgame for patrons) Ben and the GTAA crew talk about the Rutgers strike, Clarence Thomas, Peter Hitchens, and Gene Epstein.
Buy Norm's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Heretical-Thoughts-Identity-Politics-Academic/dp/B0BSJXB7WN
Contribute to the Rutgers strike fund:
https://rafup.betterworld.org/donate
Read Ben's article on Clarence Thomas:
https://jacobin.com/2023/04/clarence-thomas-ruling-class-elite-ron-desantis-ideology
Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis
Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show
Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:
patreon.com/benburgis
Read the weekly philosophy Substack:
benburgis.substack.com
Visit benburgis.com
Customer Reviews
Foolhardy Ross & Ryan
Seems Abortion Rights and January 6 Election Denial were much more significant issues to voters than Red Wave prophets Ross & Ryan assured us. With Fetterman heroically flipping Pennsylvania,Democrats will gain an extra seat to balance Manchin. IF Democrats do lose the house it will only be because a Republican judge replaced their gerrymandered map with a map gerrymandered by a Republican Special Master. But don’t worry Ross and Ryan. James Carville and Jake Tapper made fools of themselves as well. Just don’t underestimate the popularity of Joe Biden. In the real poll he got 81 million votes!
It’s good
I’ve have not, not been fascinated or learned something from a episode yet. Ben and Forest are grounded in their beliefs enough to talk to anyone.
Ben is awesome
Get a better microphone for Ben for sake of your listener’s. The content is really good. Please treat it, yourselves and your listeners with better sound