Breht discusses recent events in Minneapolis...

------------------------------------

Outro Song: Song for Alicia by Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia Conover

In this episode, Breht is joined by Kristen R. Ghodsee to dig into her provocative essay on the political economy of love under capitalism. Using Marx's distinction between use value and exchange value, Ghodsee argues that love is not just a private feeling but a material necessity for human flourishing -- and that our economic system systematically depletes the time, energy, and security required to sustain it. Together, they explore how capitalism commodifies two core components of love, attention and affection, turning them into scarce resources bought and sold in everything from therapy and childcare to the attention economy and the market for professionalized intimacy.

But the heart of the conversation is the one thing capitalism can't truly monetize: reciprocal flow -- the non-transactional rhythm of giving and receiving that emerges in long relationships, cooperative play, music, community, and solidarity itself. Breht and Ghodsee discuss how inequality and insecurity train people into transactionalism, why loneliness is not an individual failure but a structural outcome, and what a genuine politics of love might look like beyond mere self-help or lifestyle fixes.

Learn more about Dr. Ghodsee and her work HERE

Check out AK-47, Kristen's podcast dedicated to Alexandra Kollontai here: https://kristenghodsee.com/podcast

----------------------------------------------------

Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio

Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio

Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio https://revleftradio.com/

In this episode, Breht is joined by philosopher, author, and cultural critic Gabriel Rockhill to discuss his new book Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism? The Intellectual World War: Marxism vs. the Imperial Theory Industry.

Rockhill argues that the Cold War was not only fought with bombs, coups, and sanctions -- but with ideas, institutions and intellectuals. Drawing on extensive archival research, Rockhill shows how U.S. imperial power built a vast apparatus of foundations, universities, media outlets and cultural organizations to shape what kinds of Marxism were allowed to exist in the West.

Rather than simply repressing Marxism, empire promoted a "compatible left"; a version of critical theory and Western Marxism that rejected actually existing socialist struggles and experiments, detached theory from mass struggle, and helped neutralize anti-imperialist politics. Together, they explore the role of the Frankfurt School, Herbert Marcuse, Cold War cultural warfare, and the long shadow this history still casts over today's left.

This episode was recorded in the immediate wake of the U.S.'s invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of President Maduro and his wife, which they discuss at the beginning of the conversation.

Check out Critical Theory Workshop HERE

Follow Rockhill's work on his Substack HERE

----------------------------------------------------

Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio

Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio

Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio https://revleftradio.com/