Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday...
Season 7 Episode 7: Debating Palestine w/Philosopher Spencer Case
Ben Burgis and philosophy professor and "Micro-Digressions" host Spencer Case hash out their disagreement on Zionism. Before that, Ben and the crew watch a fascinatingly strange AI video and Ben gives an Opening Argument on the Trump administration's authoritarianism, whether it's fascism, and why that even matters. Mean Djene Bajalan joins us for the postgame for GTAA patrons to break down GroupChatGate.Tickets to the live show in San Francisco on April 17th:https://www.universe.com/events/is-trump-the-end-of-history-tickets-J30WT9Check out Micro-Digressions:https://www.youtube.com/@Micro-DigressionsFollow Spencer on Twitter: @ADigressionsSpencer’s book recommendations on the Israel-Palestine Conflict:Israel/Palestine by Alan DowtyRise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of The Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace by Einat Wilf and Adi SchwartzRighteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict 1881-2001 by Benny MorrisFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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2:05:15
Season 7 Episode 6: Watching Dugin & Glenn Greenwald w/Deep State Kuba
Far-right Russian thinker Aleksandr Dugin just sat down with Glenn Greenwald for an extensive interview, and we can't look away. Deep State Kuba joins Ben Burgis to watch some of it and discuss. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on the issues raised by the outrageous assault on free speech at Columbia. At the end of the main show, we play some of Daniel Tutt's guest appearance on Ben Burgis's Sunday afternoon Zoom Capital class to talk about the lumpenproletariat and tease Richard Wolff's guest lecture next Sunday. (Anyone who wants can join the class at patreon.com/benburgis and get instant access to all 25 class recordings so far, and of course join live for the approximately one trillion Sundays we've got left in the class (eight more chapters left in Vol. I, plus the entirety of Vols. II + III). Last but very far from least, in the postgame for patrons Ben and the crew chat with Yuri Rashkin, who actually did a Russian-language debate with Dugin a couple of years ago. Ben is accused of spreading "Kremlin propaganda" but somehow everyone parts as friends.Buy tickets for Ben's live show with Jason Myles on April 17th in San Francisco:https://www.universe.com/events/is-trump-the-end-of-history-tickets-J30WT9Follow Kuba on Twitter: @DrKuba2Follow Daniel on Twitter: @DanielTuttFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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2:09:41
Season 7 Episode 5: Conversations with Platypi (Ben & Jason at UC-Irvine)
A couple weeks ago, Ben Burgis and Jason Myles went to UC-Irvine to speak at a panel on neoliberalism at the West coast conference of the Platypus Affiliated Society. It was a pretty interesting conversation, and we're excited to finally be able to share it.Before that, Ben gives us an Opening Argument about Jeff Bezos's diktat the Washington Post will no longer publish anything critical of "free markets" and look back at a moment from Ben's debate with Curtis Yarvin where Yarvin claimed that the Washington Post was so autonomous that Bezos was more like its "sponsor" than its owner. Last but definitely not least, Jason joins us for a debrief at the end of the episode.Read the Jacobin article on Bezos's diktat:https://jacobin.com/2025/03/bezos-washington-post-free-marketFollow Jason on Twitter: @J_Myles_TiRFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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4:36:52
Season 7 Episode 4: Walter Block Calls for Legalizing Sexual Harassment & Privatizing Roads
Last week, Ben Burgis debated libertarian economist Walter Block. Tonight, we're playing you the recording. (The debate was hosted by the magazine Merion West, which will be simultaneously releasing it on their podcast.) This was a continuation of a written debate that started with Ben's article "The Case for Democratic Socialism":https://merionwest.com/2024/12/07/the-case-for-democratic-socialism/...and continued with Walter's reply:https://merionwest.com/2024/12/19/rejoinder-to-ben-burgis-the-case-for-laissez-faire-capitalism/...and concluded with Ben's response to Walter:https://merionwest.com/2024/12/30/in-reply-to-walter-block-defending-democratic-socialism/Before the debate, Ben does an Opening Argument on why libertarianism has nothing to do with freedom, and in the postgame for patrons Jason Myles comes by to hang out and talk shit. A good time is had by all.Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
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2:30:58
Season 7 Episode 3: Vivek Chibber is Done with Your Nonsense
Vivek Chibber is an sociology professor at NYU, the editor the socialist journal Catalyst, and the host of Jacobin's new podcast "Confronting Capitalism." He's written a few books, including "The Class Matrix." Recently, a lot of the most unhinged people on Left Twitter got very mad at him for a "Confronting Capitalism" episode he did trying to analyze the historical origins, material dynamics, and counterproductive consequences for the Left of the phenomenon generally referred to by the imperfect name of "wokeness." He joins Ben Burgis to discuss the controversy, and how socialists can be more effective. Before that, Ben does an Opening Argument on Trump and Gaza. Last but definitely not least, in the postgame for patrons, Ben and the crew chat w/Chris Kerrigan, the creator of "Alan Dershowitz vs. Norman Finkelstein: The Musical" and many other delightful videos.Read a transcript of Chibber's controversial Confronting Capitalism episode at Jacobin:https://jacobin.com/2025/01/elite-identity-politics-professional-classCheck out Chris's YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/@HaterChris2011Follow Chris on Twitter: @KerriganRacketFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisFollow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_ShowBecome a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from patron-exclusive postgames every Monday night to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:patreon.com/benburgisRead the weekly philosophy Substack:benburgis.substack.com
Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday nights with an exclusive postgame for GTAA patrons after the main show. (To become a patron, go to patreon.com/benburgis and sign up for the monthly cost of a milkshake at a 50s nostalgia diner in 1994.) Past guests have included Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, David Pizarro, Gregory Sadler, Glenn Greenwald, Krystal Ball, Bhaskar Sunkara, Sam Seder, Ana Kasparian, Emma Vigeland, Matt Christman, and Amber Frost. The show has also featured debates between host Ben Burgis and opponents ranging from Walter Block to Charlie Kirk.Ben is a philosophy professor, Jacobin columnist, and frequent debater. He did a regular "Debunk" segment on the Michael Brooks Show until 2020. He's appeared on the Debate Night with Charlie Kirk, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, Rising, Krystal, Kyle & Friends, the Majority Report w/Sam Seder & the Joe Rogan Experience.benburgis.compatreon.com/benburgis
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