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Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, But Mostly Conversation

“We Told Him All”: Alan Wieder talks to PopMatters about Studs Terkel

At this writing we Americans find ourselves at the ass end of 2016 after a slog of an election year in which we elected a bankrupted reality TV star as the president elect… The people of the United States have spoken and they do not want progressive, liberal ideas at this time. ¶ For the rest of us, Studs Terkel—the great oral historian, champion of the common man, political activist, radio host, and listener—couldn’t be more relevant now. Author Alan Wieder recently released a timely and engaging biography, Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, but Mostly Conversation. Mr. Wieder and I engaged in some conversation about Terkel’s life and work. | more…

Educational Justice: Teaching and Organizing Against the Corporate Juggernaut

New! Educational Justice: Teaching and Organizing against the Corporate Juggernaut

Educational Justice offers hope that there’s still time to take on corporatized schools and build democratic alternatives. Forcefully written by educator and journalist Howard Ryan, with contributing authors, the book deconstructs the corporate assault on schools, assesses the prevailing teachers union responses, and documents best teaching and organizing practices. Reports from various educational fronts include innovative union strategies against charter school expansion, as well as teaching visions drawn from the social justice and whole language traditions. Bold, informative, clearly reasoned, this book is an education in itself—a democratic one at that. | more…

Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, But Mostly Conversation

Studs Terkel: Politics, Culture, but Mostly Conversation reviewed by Counterfire

Alan Weider has written a biography of Studs Terkel, but in keeping with the man himself, it is not a study of a lone individual, but of the environment and society in which he lived and acted. Studs was what is termed in the US a third-party guy, neither a Democrat nor Republican supporter, an important stand given the current debacle in the US with the election of Trump after Clinton’s lacklustre campaign. He supported all the main third-party candidates from Henry Wallace in 1948 running on a ticket advocating universal healthcare and an end to segregation, to Ralph Nader in his various campaigns. | more…

A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution: How the Working Class Shaped the Guerillas' Victory

“Thinking Past Fidel”: A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution reviewed in Jacobin

In the aftermath of Fidel Castro’s death, and with the blustery threats of the incoming Trump administration, it’s tempting to speculate about the future of Cuba. Yet this may also be an important time to rethink the origins of the revolution, so often seen as the handiwork of one man. ¶ While Fidel Castro’s extraordinary influence and power can never be ignored, we still know far too little about how or why many thousands of ordinary Cubans participated in making the revolution. This is particularly true of the Cuban labor movement. | more…

America's Addiction to Terrorism

“Crucial Critique of Free-Market Fundamentalism”: America’s Addiction to Terrorism review by Counterfire

As well as explaining in detail some of the biggest issues faced by society today, Giroux very eloquently connects the dots between them and highlights their roots within the neoliberal project. Giroux discusses torture, militarisation, surveillance, racism, education and austerity among other things and draws the links to the military-industrial-academic complex. In this review, I will go through some of Giroux’s arguments and his suggestions for working-class resistance against them. | more…

Monthly Review celebrates Fidel Castro and Cuban History

Monthly Review and Monthly Review Press are proud to salute the life and legacy of our longtime friend, Fidel Castro. Our 1960 special edition of Monthly Review, “Cuba: Anatomy of a Revolution,” was one of the earliest reports on the fledgling revolution, and in the intervening years, we’ve published dozens of articles and books on Cuba. For those who would like to learn more about Cuba, Fidel’s revolution, and this amazing history, Monthly Review Press is offering a 30% discount on six of our books about Cuba, from now until midnight, Friday, December 9.

Please note that this discount applies only to paperback and eBbook versions,

NYC Condolences Book for Fidel Castro at Mission of Cuba to United Nations

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations communicates that following the decease of the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba declares nine days of National Mourning, from 06:00hrs on 26 November to 12:00 hrs on 4 December 2016. ¶ The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba informs that a Condolence Book will be placed at the Mission, located at 315 Lexington Avenue, NY 10016, from Monday 28 November until Sunday 4 December, from 9:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. and 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. | more…

Official Statement from the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba

On the occasion of the demise of the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba declares nine days of National Mourning, as from the 06:00 hrs. of November 26 th, until the 12:00 hrs. of December 4th, 2016. For as long as the National Mourning is in place, public activities and shows shall not be held, the national flag shall be flown at half-staff in public buildings and military facilities. The radio and television shall broadcast informative, patriotic and historic programs. | more…

Fidel Castro, Siempre Presente

World leaders have begun to pay tribute to the former Cuban leader and revolutionary Fidel Castro who has died aged 90. ¶ The incumbent Cuban President Raul Castro announced his brother had died at 10:29pm on state television late on Friday night. He ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: ‘Toward victory, always!’ … | more…

A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution: How the Working Class Shaped the Guerillas' Victory

“Offering great surprise”: A Hidden History of the Cuban Revolution reviewed by Toward Freedom

Here is a volume offering great surprise, at least to this presumably well-educated reader, deeply sympathetic to the Cuban Revolution since its inception or at least since a rollout of toys for Christmas 1959 included some kind of Fidel costume (quickly dropped, thereafter, or did they send those props to the East Bloc?). The author of Hidden History, a retired British professor who worked in factories for considerable periods of his life, seems equally surprised. Perhaps, he opines, the cult of the personality around Che and Fidel is the reason for an absence of real social history on this vital subject? We suspect otherwise, but our suspicions hardly detract from our fascination. The material analyzed here is new and essential to any understanding of Cuban revolutionary history. | more…

A World to Build: New Paths toward Twenty-First Century Socialism

“Venezuela: Economic war or government errors?” by Marta Harnecker

Marta Harnecker, author of A World to Build: New Paths toward Twenty-First Century Socialism, recently wrote a piece for Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal, which was translated by Rachael Boothroyd of VenezuelaAnalysis
“1. When Chávez triumphed in the presidential elections of 1998, the neoliberal capitalist model was already falling apart. The dilemma was none other than to either reform the neoliberal capitalist model, evidently with changes, and amongst those a greater for concern for social issues, but still orientated towards the same profit seeking motive, or to move forward with the construction of another model….” | more…