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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
Nov 7, 2025

Lessons from Below: Learn from/with Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid (PUMA) and Build your own Abolitionist Network of Care

Ndindi Kitonga speaks in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid (PUMA) is an abolitionist network of care based in Palms, Los Angeles, CA. This interactive workshop is designed for those interested in building their own networks. We will offer insights and missteps from our work at PUMA. We will also explore libertory practices towards community care that centers unhoused and precariously housed persons.


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 7, 2025

Fighting Fragmentation: Building Cross-Sectoral Social Movements

Felix T., Bri M., and Yasser Munif speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation.

Movement organizations often hesitate to engage beyond their immediate focus. This panel highlights organizers who expanded their efforts—a tenant union opposing a police training facility and a labor union joining the fight for a ceasefire in Gaza—demonstrating the power and necessity of a transversal approach to collective action.


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 6, 2025

Hope at the Edge of the Abyss: The Case for Revolution

Natalia Tylim and David McNally speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Tempest Collective.

Amid genocide, Trump’s authoritarian onslaught, climate catastrophe, and the threat of fascism—we are living at the edge of capitalism’s abyss. This meeting will make the case for why revolution is not only necessary, but also why mass struggles of working class and oppressed peoples make it possible. Our approach to the immediate and defensive struggles of today is inseparable from our insistence that ending this nightmare requires the revolutionary transformation of society.


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 5, 2025

Debate and Discussion: Socialists, Independent Politics, and the Democratic Party

Howie Hawkins, Bennett Carpenter, Ashik Siddique, Lee Wengraf speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Solidarity, Groundwork DSA, and Tempest.

Socialists have historically taken quite different postures toward engagement with the Democratic Party. For some, it is the only existing avenue to mass influence and a necessary means to block growing fascist influence in elected positions. For others, the Democratic Party is an institutional barrier to the advancement of social movements and a key factor creating the conditions for growing fascism in the US. Join us for a comradely debate among socialists from various points of view.


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 5, 2025

Putin’s Anti-War Political Prisoners in Russia

Ksenia Kagarlitskaya, Boris Kagarlitsky, Grusha Gilaeva, and Simon Pirani speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

This panel examines Putin’s repression of critical voices, those who have publicly opposed his war of aggression against Ukraine. Boris Kagarlitsky, the well-known Marxist critic of Putin's regime, is currently serving a five year sentence in a penal colony for "justifying terrorism" – a charge stemming from a satirical comment about the Crimean bridge explosion. While Kagarlitsky’s case has drawn international attention, many other leftwing critics remain imprisoned in obscurity, often held in appalling conditions.


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 4, 2025

Debt is a Labor Issue: Unions and Debt Abolition

Jason Wozniak, Lindsey Muniak, Jasson Perez, and Jeannine Woods speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Debt Collective.

In this interactive session audience members will develop a robust analysis and critique of debt and discuss campaigns for debt abolition led by organized labor. Organizing for better wages and benefits is to organize against debt. To organize for debt abolition is to strengthen the power of the working class.

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 4, 2025

United Struggles: Intersectional Resistance to Bodily Autonomy Restrictions

Lyra McMillan and Lyra Spencer speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by DSA.

This panel connects the parallel attacks on reproductive and trans rights within a broader analysis of fascist control over marginalized bodies. Speakers examine effective coalition strategies that center the most vulnerable communities in our resistance movements.

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 3, 2025

Building an Internationalist Left Through Diaspora Mobilization: From South Asian North America

Aman Bardia, Maithreyi Rajeshkumar, Raza Gillani, Mohiba Ahmed speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by SALAM.

What role can and should the diaspora play in left organizing? How do diaspora groups stay accountable to the communities they find themselves in the US, and stay connected and build international solidarity with movements in the Global South? This panel will look at the role of diaspora from South Asia as a point of departure to explore the potential for local and internationalist mobilization from the 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!

Nov 3, 2025

Labor and Community Organizing Against the MAGA Billionaire Agenda

Stacy Davis Gates, Jorge Mujica, Asha Ransby-Sporn, and René Christian Moya speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025.

As workers we have the power to change the course of this country and the world. Unions and community organizations have the organizational muscle to shut down Trump’s attacks and smash the far right. Hear from labor leaders and community organizers on the front lines of the growing coalitions building the power to stop the MAGA billionaire agenda.

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 3, 2025

Build & Fight: A Strategy to Meet the Moment

Kali Akuno, Kamau Franklin, David Cobb, and Johanna Epke speak in this session recorded at Socialism 2025. This session was sponsored by Build and Fight, Community Movement Builders, and People's Network for Land & Liberation.

The Build and Fight strategy is being applied in Jackson, MS. It emphasizes creating autonomous, cooperative institutions (Build) while simultaneously engaging in organized resistance against oppressive systems (Fight). It promotes grassroots economic self-determination, dual power, and mass mobilization to challenge capitalism, white supremacy, and ecological destruction, fostering a just transition. We engage electoral politics on our terms, completely independent of the two corporate parties.

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!