Coming From Left Field (Video)

“Mastering the Universe” with Rob Larson

In this podcast, we talk with Rob Larson about his book, “Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More.” Larson is a professor of economics for the past 18 years and has authored numerous books, including “Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley” and “Capitalism vs. Freedom: The Toll Road to Serfdom”. He writes for Jacobin and Dollars & Sense and is the House Economist for Current Affairs magazine.

 

In this book, Larson delves into the extreme wealth and influence of the ruling class. This includes the problems of wealth distribution, the extravagant lifestyles and moral failings of the ultra-wealthy and their negative impact on societal issues, including environmental destruction and public health crises.

 

Order the book:

Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More: https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9798888900857

 

Mentioned in the podcast:

Current Affairs Magazine:  https://www.currentaffairs.org/

World Inequity Database: https://wid.world/

A New Approach to Measuring Income Inequality Over Recent Decades | RAND: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RBA516-1.html

Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/about

 

#RobLarson#NathanJRobinson#NathanRobinson#BillGates#billionaire#carbon#ElonMusk#ClimateChange#WorldInequityDatabase#CurrentAffairsMagazine#economics#economists#Richistain#masteringtheUniverse#ObsceneWealth#Rand#ClimateCrisis#IncomeInequity#Captial#GuildedAge#ThomasPiketty#UltraWealthy#WealthDistribution#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“The Myth of American Idealism: How US Foreign Policy Endangers the World” with Nathan Robinson

In this podcast, we talk with Nathan J. Robinson about the book he co-wrote with Noam Chomsky, “The Myth of American Idealism: How U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers the World.” In this book, Noam Chomsky and Nathan J. Robinson outline America’s pursuit of global domination, offering an incisive critique of the self-serving myths that dominant elites in the United States continue to push. They discuss Washington's role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the impact of policies on The Global South, and the potential for future conflicts with Russia and China.  They argue that U.S. power poses a significant threat to global security.

 

Noam Chomsky is institute professor emeritus in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and laureate professor in the Agnes Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. His work is widely credited with revolutionizing modern linguistics, and he is equally renowned for his incisive writings on global affairs and U.S. foreign policy. Chomsky is the single most cited and published living author, winner of numerous international awards, and has written over one hundred books,

 

Nathan J. Robinson is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Current Affairs magazine. He is the author of Why You Should Be a Socialist and Responding to the Right, and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Republic, among others. Robinson holds a JD from Yale Law School and a PhD in sociology and social policy from Harvard University.

 

Order the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/

 

Current Affairs Magazine:  https://www.currentaffairs.org/

Nathan J. Robinson’s Website: https://www.nathanjrobinson.com/

Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/about

 

#NoamChomsky#NathanJRobinson#NathanRobinson#TheMythofAmericanIdealism#CritiqueForeignPolicy#globalinstablity#JakartaMehod#VincentVevins#ArmsControl#Cuba#GlobalSouth#IsraeliPalestanConflict#WorldBank#USInterventions#EcomonicDomination#VijahPrashad#ClimateCrisis#DavidFrum#ClimateDisturciont#MythAmercianIdealism#ManufacturingConsent#IndonesianMassKIllings#MediaControl#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“Duty to Warn: May I Tell You What Project 2025 Really Is?” with Frank Schaeffer

In this podcast, we talk with Frank Schaeffer to discuss his recent blog post regarding “Project 2025” and its origins in the theologically conservative Opus Dei and deep-pocket conservative think tanks. Schaeffer is an author, film director, screenwriter, and painter. He is the son of theologian and author Francis Schaeffer, who, with other evangelicals, is responsible for the pro-life movement and the religious-right that emerged in the 1970s. His crisis of faith and disillusionment with the movement led to his departure in the mid-80s.

 

Duty to Warn: May I Tell You What Project 2025 Really Is?
https://frankschaeffer.substack.com/p/duty-to-warn-may-i-tell-you-what

 

Frank Schaeffer’s Substack:
https://frankschaeffer.substack.com/

Frank Schaeffer’s Art
https://www.frankschaefferart.com

 

Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

 

Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/about

 

#FrankSchaeffer#CrazyforGod#HeritageFoundaton#Project2025#ChristianRight#OpusDei#ReligiousRight#FrancisSchaeffer#EdithSeville#FrankSchaefferArt#JerryFarwell#JamesDobson#BillGraham#ReligiousRight#ElonMusk#PatRobertson#TuckerCarlson#PeterTheil#WhyIAmAnAthiest#MandateForLeadership#DutyToWarn#PowellMemo#ChristoFacism#Patriarchy#Evangelical#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“Surveillance Education” with Nolan Higdon and Allison Butler

Nolan Higdon and Allison Butler are specialists in media literacy and, with their book, Surveillance Education: Navigating the Conspicuous Absence of Privacy in Schools, they focus attention on the pervasive use of digital surveillance technologies in schools that often results in a pernicious effect on students.

 

Nolan Higdon is a founding member of the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, a Project Censored National Judge, an author, and a lecturer at Merrill College and the Education Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA.

 

Allison Butler is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Media Literacy Certificate Program in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA. She is also Co-Director of the Mass Media Literacy non-profit organization, where she develops and runs training programs for teachers covering critical media literacy in K–12 schools, Vice President on the Board of the Media Freedom Foundation, and a spokesperson for Project Censored.

 

Order the book:
https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9781032812274

 

Nolan Higdon’s Substack:
https://nolanhigdon.substack.com

 

Mentioned in the podcast
Project Censored
https://www.projectcensored.org/

 

Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/about

 

#NolanHigdon#AllisonButler#MediaLiteracy#SurveillanceEducaton#Privacy#ProjectCensored#DigitalSurveillance#SurveillanceCaptialism#DataBreach#CritialMediaLiteracy#AnatomyofFakeNews#FakeNews#DigitalCulture#TikTokHarm#ChallengeVideo#Secition230#InternetHarm#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“Marx’s Ethical Vision” with Vanessa Wills

Dr. Vanessa Wills is a political philosopher, ethicist, educator, and activist based in Washington, DC. She is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at George Washington University. Her areas of specialization are moral, social, and political philosophy, nineteenth-century German philosophy (especially Karl Marx), and the philosophy of race.  She is a founding editor of Spectre Journal, a biannual journal of Marxist theory, strategy, and analysis.

In her book Marx's Ethical Vision, she presents novel Marxist positions in various philosophical debates and covers a wide range of Karl Marx's writings while giving a holistic account of his views throughout his life.

Order the book:
Marx's Ethical Vision by Vanessa Christina Wills https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9780197688144

Spectre Journal
https://spectrejournal.com/

Vanessa, the Jazz Singer!
From Indiana With Love-Feme (feat. Vanessa Wills)
https://youtu.be/4Ssr_K3EbIA

Mentioned by Greg:
Rhiannon Giddens new version of Peggy Seeger's classic:
https://youtu.be/lmwwqHmwZq8

 

Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/about

 

#VanessaWills#VanessaChristinaWills#AnalyticalMarxism#MarxsEthcialVision#CommunistManifesto#MoralObjectivism#Philosophy#Alienation#HistoricalMaterialst#Captalism#Spectre#SpectreJournal#CapitalismCritcism#MoralPhilosphy#GeorgeWashingtonUniveity#EthicsAngelaDavis#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“On Cuba: Reflections on 70 years of Revolution and Struggle” with Vijay Prashad

Vijay Prashad is a historian, journalist, and executive director of the Tri-Continental Institute for Social Research. He has authored or edited 72 books.  In “On Cuba,” co-written with Noam Chomsky, they trace Cuban history from the 1950s revolution to the present, interrogating U.S. interventions and extracting lessons on U.S. power and influence in the Western Hemisphere.  This book thoroughly analyzes the U.S. government’s long-standing vendetta against Cuba.

 

Order the book:
 On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle by Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad: https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9781620978573

 

Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research:
https://thetricontinental.org/

Call to Action:  a Remarkable Open Letter on US Designation of Cuba as Sponsor of Terrorism:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/09/18/call-to-action-a-remarkable-open-letter-on-us-designation-of-cuba-as-sponsor-of-terrorism/

 

Greg’s Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/about

 

 

#OnCuba#Cuba#CubaHistory#Relectionson70yearsofRevolutionStruggle#VijayPrasad#NoamChomsky#TheWithdrawl#WashingtonBullets#FidelCastro#TriContinentalInstituteforSocialResearch#TriContinentalInstitute#PeaceActivist#Cubahistory#USEmpire#colonialism#SvenLindquvist#ExterminateAlltheBrutes#MonroeDoctrine#economicsanctions#embargo#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“Dynamite Nashville” with Betsy Phillips

Betsy Phillips, a journalist and historian, is the author of the new book about three unsolved bombings by segregationists in the civil rights era, “Dynamite Nashville: Unmasking the FBI, the KKK, and the Bombers Beyond Their Control.”  Phillips not only paints a detailed picture of the social dynamic of the times but reveals how a violent fringe of racists came to national prominence. In Dynamite Nashville, Phillips unmasks "The Confederate Underground," identifying its principal leader, J.B. Stoner, and shines a much-needed historical spotlight on unsung civil rights hero and near martyr Z. Alexander Looby.

 

Order the book:
 Dynamite Nashville: Unmasking the FBI, the KKK, and the Bombers Beyond Their Control
https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9798986614571

 

Greg’s Blog (subscribe!): http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

 

#BestyPhillips#DynamiteNashville#FBI#KKK#JBStoner#ZAlexanderLooby#FreddieOConnel#HattieCotton#HattieCottonBombing#JewishCommunityCenter#1950sSynagoguebombings#TheConfederateUnderground#ConferateUnderground#LoobyBombing#Segregation#BrownVBoard#BrownBoardOrEdcuaton#MLKing#UnsolvedBombing#segregationists#HistoricNashville#CivilRights#JohnLewis#DianeNash#JamesEarlRay#assasinationMLK#NeoNazis#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“Zinnophobia” with David Detmer

Dr. David Detmer is a Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University Calumet and author of numerous books and professional articles.  In his new book, “Zinnophobia: The Battle Over History in Education, Politics, and Scholarship,” Detmer offers an extended defense of the work of radical historian Howard Zinn, author of the bestselling A People's History of the United States, against his many critics. It includes a discussion of the attempt to ban the book in classrooms, a brief summary of Zinn's life and work, an analysis of Zinn's theorizing about bias and objectivity in history, and a detailed response to twenty-five of Zinn's most hostile critics, many of are (or were) eminent historians.

Order the book:
https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9781785356780

 

Greg’s Blog (subscribe!): http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

 

#DavidDetmer#DaveDetmer#Zinnophovia#HowardZinn#NoamChomsky#APeoplesHistory#APeoplesHistoryoftheUnitedStates#Renaissance#NorthernLights#MitchDaniels#BookBann#ZinnEducationProject#MaryGrabar#SamWineburg#DavidGreenberg#WarProtest#BostonUniversity#SpellmanCollege#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“I Hate It Here, Please Vote For Me” with Matthew Ferrence

Dr. Matthew Ferrence is an English professor at Allegheny College.  In 2020, he ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in a deeply red district and lost badly.

In his new book, “I Hate It Here, Please Vote For Me: Essays on Rural Political Decay,” Ferrence chronicles his election defeat to explore how the American political narratives refuse to recognize the existence and value of rural progressive voters and how his election defeat offers insight into the politics of our nation.

In essays focused on living in the countryside, the political power of poetry, and his landslide election loss, Ferrence offers a counter-narrative to stereotypes of rural American voters and emphasizes the misunderstanding of our Red-Blue divide.

 

Order the book:
https://wvupressonline.com/I-Hate-It-Here-Please-Vote-For-Me

Greg’s Blog (subscribe!): http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

 

#MattTerrence#MatthewTerrence#IHateItHere#PleaseVoteForMe#Campaigns#Electons#RuralPoltics#RedBlueDivide#PolticalScience#PolticalDecay#AlleghenyCollege#Meadville#BradleyRose#Poetry#PoetryBan#PennsylvaniaHouseofRepresentatives#ElectionReform#GreenParty#ToxicModeration#RuralRage#TheWisconsinIdea#AppalacihiaNorth#WendellBerry#Fetterman#FlyOverCountry#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday

“Armed Struggle?” with Gerald Horne

Dr. Gerald Horne is Moores Professor of History and African-American Studies at the University of Houston. He is a renowned historian who has extensively researched and written about issues of racism, labor, politics, civil rights, and international relations. He has authored more than thirty books and numerous scholarly articles. Cornel West describes Dr. Horne as " one of the great historians of our time.”

Today, we discussed his new book, “Armed Struggle? Panthers and Communists; Black Nationalists and Liberals in Southern California through the Sixties and Seventies.” This book examines the complex dynamics and interactions of the Black Panther Party, including their communist influences, community social programs, FBI sabotage, and lasting influences.

Order the book:
https://www.intpubnyc.com/browse/armed-struggle/

Follow Dr. Horne on KPFK 90.7 FM, Freedom Now, Saturday 11 AM -12 PM:
 https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/freedom-now/

Greg’s Blog (subscribe!): http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

 

ERATTA at 46:41, the author of the book mentioned on DemocracyNow, "Dynamite Nashville," is Betsy Phillips, not Detinio Wilson.

 

#GeraldHorne#ArmedStruggle#ArmedStruggle?#BlackPantherParty#BP#Communist#Communistparty#CP#GerogeJackson#RedScare#BlackNationalist#Scottsboronine#HeuyNewton#EldridgeCleaverBenDavis#AngelaDavis#SlaveRebellions#Cointerpro#JEdgarHoover#MathewJohnson#PoiiceBrutality#KPFK#FreedomNow#AfricanAmericanStudies#RebeccaMooresChair#MooresProfessor#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast#zzblog#mltoday