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Podcast Series

Socialism Conference

The Socialism Conference is a four-day conference bringing together thousands of socialists and radical activists from around the country to take part in discussions about social movements, Marxism, abolition, working-class history, and the debates and strategies for organizing today. Every year, the Socialism conference aims to be a place where activists can share lessons from their struggles—from the BDS campaign for Palestine to the fight for gender liberation, from strike organizing and support to the struggle to stop the destruction of the planet, the fight against racism, and more. Socialism 2025 took place in Chicago over July 4th weekend, July 3-6. Recordings from many sessions at Socialism 2025 will be released here. Socialism 2026 will take place in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more: socialismconference.org

Episodes

All Seasons Season 0
Sep 19, 2025

Deny, Defend, Depose: Health Struggle After Luigi

Beatrice Adler-Bolton, Artie Vierkant, and Vicky Osterweil speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Death Panel.

With the new administration, the federal government has been actively attacking healthcare funding for the poor and intensified its targeting of trans and disabled people and the immiseration of healthcare workers. Join us for a discussion of what the fight for health communism may look like under this new regime, and what strategies and forms of politics may help us move forward. With Death Panel co-hosts and co-authors of Health Communism Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie Vierkant, joined by writer and organizer Vicky Osterweil.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

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Sep 19, 2025

Gender and the Rising Right

Rae Garringer, Andrea J. Ritchie, Sophie Lewis, Jeanelle K. Hope, and Sarah Leonard speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Lux magazine.

The far-right in the US and abroad has placed gender at the center of fascist politics, obsessing over trans rights, abortion, and the birthrate and attacking the very presence of the word gender in federal administration and universities. How does the right build its power through a focus on gender, and what is the role of gender in a resurgent left?

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Sep 18, 2025

The Border is Everywhere; The Border is the Crisis

Sergio González, Silky Shah, John Washington, and Angélica Cházaro speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Detention Watch Network.

Historically, border enforcement has been a tool of repression and intimidation. While the current administration has shown a cruel escalation in its attacks on the immigrant community, this panel will trace back the roots of these attacks and will make the case for how our side can fight back against immigration policing and border imperialism under authoritarianism.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Sep 18, 2025

Fighting Fascism: Lessons from the Colonies

Robin D.G. Kelley speaks in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

Aimé Césaire cut through mythologies to show that fascism in Europe was no anomaly, it was the boomerang effect of brutal European colonialism abroad coming home. The fight against fascism cannot be successful without understanding powerful struggles against colonialism, from the 20th century to today.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org

Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Dec 4, 2024

Religion at the Encampments

Maryam Abidi, Safear Ness, and Naomi Bennet speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2024.

At Palestine solidarity encampments across the country, religious life as part of revolutionary activity blossomed. Seders invited all to imagine a freer world and communities defended Muslims praying in congregation hand in hand. These religious activities also became lighting poles for violence and repression. Understanding why will illuminate why Marxists ought to sharpen our understandings of comradely religious life.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, July 3-6. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.


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Nov 20, 2025

Migrant Sex Workers Against Fascism: Lessons from 150 Years of Resistance

Chanelle Gallant, Elene Lam, Emi Koyama, and Yves Tong Nguyen speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

Travel bans, ICE abductions and deportations of green card holders are nothing new for migrants in the sex industry. But their lives and struggles also offer us a blueprint for resisting surveillance, criminalization and the “good immigrant” vs “bad immigrant” division. Instead they inspire us to transform fear and uncertainty into creativity, power, empathy and noncompliance.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.

Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org


Nov 9, 2025

All Our Movements in this Together

Silky Shah, Eman Abdelhadi, Mariah Parker, Mikaela Loach, and Scout Bratt speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

Amid relentless authoritarian attacks and power grabs, it will take all our movements to bring down the oligarchs and build a different kind of future. Join us for the Socialism 2025 final plenary as we confront a pivotal political moment and ground ourselves to come out stronger on the other side.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.


Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org


Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Nov 9, 2025

Bottom Up for Liberation: An Anti-Imperialist Strategy for our Movement

Sal Ami, Rebecca John, Carl Redwood, and Sara Roschdi speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Bottom Up for Liberation.

We are an emerging cadre formation of social movement leftists, growing out of the LeftRoots process. Too often internationalism is an obligatory footnote to local and electoral struggles--but for us, anti-imperialism is essential to our daily and long-term work to win ecofeminist socialism, from our communities to the world.


The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.


Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org


Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Nov 8, 2025

The Struggle for Collective Liberation: Class, Oppression, and the Politics of Resistance

Jesse Sharkey, Eric Maroney, and Donna Murch speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Spectre Journal.

In order to build an effective resistance to Trump’s intensified attacks, we must combine the fight against oppression—including against the right's racist attacks, and its transphobia—with the struggle to build resistance to exploitation in the workplace. In this panel, we will discuss attacks by the right and the Trump administration, and strategies to fight back that effectively combine struggles against exploitation and oppression.

The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.


Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org


Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!

Nov 8, 2025

Caregiving Toward Abolition: Workshop and Story Circles

Nadine Naber and Maya Schenwar speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

Caregiving is an integral part of movements for liberation. In this moment of rising fascism, it's especially crucial to uplift this care work, including care for children. Supporting young people and each other in concrete, material ways, day to day and hour to hour, is an essential component of resistance. In this workshop, we will engage with these themes, informed by the anthology We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition. We'll also offer an opportunity to be part of a circle in which we'll share stories of caregiving in a supportive space.


The next Socialism Conference will be held in Chicago, September 4-7, 2026. Learn more about the Socialism Conference at www.socialismconference.org.


Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org


Follow Haymarket on podcast platforms for regular event recordings, book talks, political analyses and poetry readings!