The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

Van Jackson, Matt Duss, Julia Gledhill
  • 4.6 (78)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Global power to the people. A show about the class politics of geopolitics. Hosted by Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill, and Matt Duss. The views expressed are theirs alone (not those of any institution or employer).

  1. 3d ago

    Five Truths About War With Iran They Still Don't Want You To Hear! | Ep. 324

    Dr. Van Jackson revisits his predictions about the start of the Iran war and explains five secrets about war with Iran that account for why the war happened, who benefits from it, and what comes next. Also this episode: Understanding why the student-led riots in France will grow then fail; what Antonio Gramsci tells us about riots; and what makes a riot different from a strike. Watching recommendations: The Drop on Hulu; Netflix's Below; V For Vendetta. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0zI9vqD3y78?si=TpALK2ZcpKVOQWDB Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

  2. Oct 9

    "Greater North America" is Fascist Imperialist Geopolitics | Chris Murphy Banned | Iran War as Oligarchy’s Revenge | Nuking San Diego? | Ep. 323

    The Trump administration's new geopolitical concept of "Greater North America" is fascist imagineering of international relations. It's imperialist, but a variation that differs meaningfully from liberal empire..and the implications are dire. Dr. Van Jackson breaks down his new essay in Foreign Policy magazine, "Trump's Greater North America is Fascist Geopolitics." Also this episode: Why the costs of the Iran War reveals it as a war for oligarchy; on Trump's willingness to sacrifice LA and San Diego to keep fighting Iran; and Senator Chris Murphy was barred from a US military base in the UAE in order for the Trump administration to avoid democratic accountability for the Iran War. Watching/listening recommendations: The Drop on Hulu; the Mother Country Radicals podcast series; and the song "Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan and Rufus. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: @un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

  3. Oct 3

    Pete Hegseth's Counter-Revolutionary Future of War | Ep. 322

    Separating truth from fiction in Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's "State of the Force" speech at Quantico. How is a crisis of capitalism driving a crisis of American militarism? Why is he accusing journalists of treason, lying about the Iran War, or bragging about slashing staff while inflating the military budget? Why are right-wing oligarchs (Elon Musk, Palmer Lucky, and Newt Gingrich) appointed to be the Pentagon's brain trust in charge of "Project Meridian?" And how does Hegseth narrate the role of the military in peripheralizing the imperial core, making Alabama more like the new Guam or Philippines? Julia Gledhill is back with Van Jackson to break it all down, including her new investigation for The Baffler magazine on the role of "autonomous manufacturing" in transferring wealth from taxpayers to venture capitalists via the national security state.  Read Julia’s piece in The Baffler: https://thebaffler.com/latest/up-against-the-wall-gledhill Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

  4. Sep 25

    The Trump-Xi Summit's Imperialist Peace | Data Center Repression | Marco Rubio Rejects Global Order | Secret Society of Democratic Centrists | Ep. 321

    Making sense of the Trump summit with China's Xi Jinping--why MAGA respects Chinese power and why an imperialist peace between the great powers is no peace at all. Marco Rubio rejects international order at the United Nations. Against data centers or A.I.? Then the US security state is coming for you! Russian hybrid aggression has spilled out of Ukraine and into Europe--why the "sandbox theory" of support for Ukraine was always going to be self-defeating. And YouTuber Alec The Pen satirizes the "Secret Society of Democratic Centrists."  Alec The Pen's short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/j5bXSIkpPJk Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

  5. Sep 18

    A.I. Doomerism and "Criti-Hype" | Working-Class Populism Experiment | Drop The Genocide 20 Campaign | New Zealand Independence At Stake | Ep. 320

    A new campaign just launched called Drop The Genocide 20. It demands banning the leading officials from the Biden administration most responsible for Gaza policy since October 7, 2023--and every person with a policy background should sign the pledge to keep these genocidaires away from the halls of power. The Center for Working Class Politics is tracking four key working-class candidates running as Democrats for the mid-term elections--here's how they're doing and what it means for the popularity of economic populism and whether we're really in a left populist moment. Public debate has been consumed with the question of whether artificial intelligence will destroy the world. But that debate distracts from the real ways in which AI is ending the world right now--by destroying critical thinking capacities, by deskilling white-collar workers, by inflating the worst financial bubble in economic history...and according to a new MIT research paper, causing "cognitive surrender" in students who are addicted to using AI to avoid the difficulty of learning. Finally, a new big report in The International Policy Journal makes an airtight case for why New Zealand should become a model for non-offensive defense; avoid acquiring naval frigates; and foreclose on multilateral warfighting with the United States. At stake is whether a small trading nation succumbs to empire or is capable of the independent foreign policy it's prided itself on for decades.  For the Battle of Chile conversation referenced in this episode, as well as part two and three:  https://www.bangbangpod.com/p/the-battle-of-chile-part-i-1975-w Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

  6. Sep 11

    Killing Empire, Abandoning Asia, or Rescuing the Asian Peace? A Radical Rethink of the US in Asia’s Balance of Power | Ep. 319

    A new report from Defense Priorities has a radical proposal: End US alliances with South Korea, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines; drastically cut US military presence in East Asia; declare a non-intervention policy on Taiwan; and shift US military strategy from defending a "first-island chain" defense perimeter to the "second-island chain." Dr. Van Jackson explains the meaning and implications of this proposal and evaluates it from the perspective of anti-militarist anti-imperialism. Based on previous research, he also proposes the standard for "progressive foreign policy," whether progressives and socialists should support this new proposal, and no proposal for changing military strategy has a chance of stabilizing Asia if it does not prioritize the concept of the "Asian Peace." Also this episode: why the 1995 Michael Moore comedy Canadian Bacon explains the US fixation with colonizing Canada in 2026. In the back half of the episode: a mini-lecture on imperialist accounts of World War One, comparing how W.E.B. Du Bois and V.I. Lenin both theorized empire as the cause of World War One but in starkly different ways.  W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Souls of White Folk” (1920), https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Du_Bois_White_Folk.pdf.  V.I. Lenin, “Chapter 1: The Principle of Socialism and the War of 1914-15,” in Socialism and War (1915), https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1915/s-w/ch01.htm.  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

  7. Sep 4

    US Territorial Confession | The Economist Loves Australian Empire | ICE Raids Are Bad for the Economy | Keeping Climate Protest Alive | Ep. 318

    In this episode: Why "purging immigrants" doesn't fix working-class wages—it's a wealth story, not a race story. Attending New Zealand's student-led "School Strike 4 Climate" in Wellington—how the movement's demands have evolved from narrow climate asks (ending fossil fuel exploration, scrapping fast-track approvals) toward linking climate justice with broader political education and youth voter enrollment. The White House's official website is hosting deportation-themed arcade games—fascism makes cruelty a spectacle. Trump's social media post depicting U.S. "territories," which doubled as an admission that Guam, Puerto Rico, CNMI, Washington D.C., Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia function as U.S. colonial holdings—plus a jab claiming the Strait of Hormuz as American territory. The Economist magazine had embarrassing coverage of Australia's Pacific security agreements, which are asymmetric "protectorate" deals that expand Australian sub-imperial influence and destabilize the region more than any Chinese military presence does. Economic pundit Steve Ratner has a chart showing that ICE raid-heavy states have seen the slowest wage growth...and that opens an explainer about fascism, counter-revolution, and who benefits from ethnonationalism (oligarchs!). Labor's share of national income—not immigration—is driving economic insecurity. Non-sequitur: Hulu’s Furious might be the best show on streaming right now.  Also this episode: A crossover conversation with the show Bogan Intelligentsia about US economic war with Canada; our complicated feelings about Mark Carney as Canada’s PM; why Australia is totally misreading American politics and the world’s geopolitics; how different political constituencies interpret multipolarity; the Democratic Party in the US; and more.  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions

  8. Aug 28

    Inside the Tech Worker Movement Against Oligarchy, w/ Clarissa Redwine and JS Tan | Ep. 317

    How has labor organizing of tech workers changed from the early 2010s to today? What has been the tech oligarch playbook for labor repression, and why have tech billionaires mutated into oligarchs? How did Kickstarter become the first company to unionize in the tech sector? How does far-right culture-war politics benefit the oligarchic class? And what makes exercising worker power in the tech sector unique compared to worker power in the economy at large? JS Tan and Clarissa Redwine join Dr. Van Jackson to discuss their incredible new book, Against Tech Oligarchy: Worker Resistance in the World’s Most Powerful Industry. Also this episode: The Trump administration designates Palestine Action a global terrorist organization; fascist geopolitics propels the US toward trying to annex Canada; CIA operations in Mexico; and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces an economic "D-Day" threat on Iran that he can't fully implement.  Buy the book, Against Tech Oligarchy: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2858-against-tech-oligarchy  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions

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4.6
out of 5
78 Ratings

About

Global power to the people. A show about the class politics of geopolitics. Hosted by Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill, and Matt Duss. The views expressed are theirs alone (not those of any institution or employer).

Information

  • Creator
    Van Jackson, Matt Duss, Julia Gledhill
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    325
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2019 Un-Diplomatic
  • Show Website
    The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

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