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DSA regularly sends large delegations of members to Cuba to distribute aid and learn about Cuban politics, government, and society. Last fall, National Political Committee (NPC) members Cliff and Daniel went on one such delegation. They join us to share their individual perspectives on the value of this trip for a socialist political education.

Note: We recorded this episode a week and a half before its release, just prior to the American invasion of Venezuela, which is why it is unmentioned here. Solidarity with the working classes resisting US imperialism in Latin America and beyond! ¡Cuba sí, bloqueo no!

Che: A Memoir by Fidel Castro. Open Library link. Buy on bookshop.org

Season Two of Blowback

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Why is the right so fixated on whoever or whatever it is they think is Marx or “Marxism”? Why do they conflate Marx with everything else they don’t like? We are starting our second semester of Capital this week, and joining Michaela is fellow NPEC comrade Ed, who shares his perspectives on a formal and political education under Reagan, and how socialist struggle has prepared him for yet another age of repression under Trump.

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Michaela speaks with Ashwin, a River Valley DSA member and current researcher in Mexico City, about the social movement running UTOPIAs: experiments in providing services, education, and pleasure in the poorest district of the city backed by MORENA, the current ruling party, which promotes “Mexican Humanism” as a core principle of governance.

“Mexico City’s UTOPIAs” by Ashwin R https://socialistforum.dsausa.org/issues/fall-winter-2025/mexico-citys-utopias/

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Edward and Michaela share their experiences as long-time readers and guides to Capital Volume One, at a time when socialism is on the rise, and curiosity about this difficult but key work is growing.

Join NPEC’s current Capital group (familiarity with Part One of the text is highly recommended, but you can get caught up): https://actionnetwork.org/events/capital-reading-group-fall-semester-2025/

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In this episode, Michaela and Darren talk about socialist perspectives on archival research. DSA's next Archives Training Project is on Wednesday, the 29th. You can register here. Whether you're a chapter chair or secretary wondering how best to approach records, a comrade with a lot of socialist swag and no idea what to do with it, or just someone curious about how archives work, you're welcome to come to this online workshop where we discuss why we care about archives as socialists, best practices for starting an archive, and how institutions take in materials for socialist, left and labor archives.

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This is a recording of NPEC's panel event with Aziz Rana and Matt McManus about the left's approach to the Constitution. Topics include how the left navigates terms like “bourgeois democracy," and how it should approach the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with its promises of equality and universal rights. The conversation asks us to push beyond conventional framings of constitutionalism and question what a genuinely democratic politics should look like today. A question-and-answer period follows the conversation.

Aziz Rana is a professor of law at Boston College. He is the author of The Constitutional Bind: How Americans Came to Idolize a Document That Fails Them and The Two Faces of American Freedom.

Matt McManus is an Assistant Professor at Spelman College. His books include Against Post-Liberal Courts and Justice and The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism.

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Since at least 2015 in the US, American Socialism has been growing again, and DSA is currently the largest organized socialist formation in the country, by far. But what about the vast majority of… well, everyone else, of all different inclinations? What role does political education have in bringing non-socialists into DSA to build our party — or at least, bringing them closer to us, or not in opposition?

Michaela and Guy chat about the current political moment and how it’s affecting this basic but crucial task. They also give a preview of NPEC’s upcoming training, “Talking to Non-Socialists.”

Sign up for Talking to Non-Socialists, Part 1, on October 9th. https://actionnetwork.org/events/talking-to-non-socialists-training-fall-2025/

Sign up for NPEC’s monthly newsletter, Red Letter! https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-red-letter/

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Libraries are quintessentially public goods and common spaces in the US, and are generally appreciated, if not beloved, by the vast majority. As a store of human knowledge and a free site of learning and literacy access supported and funded by the state, they often become ideological battlegrounds, especially in times of political strife. What role can a socialist librarian play as a worker and advocate, particularly at a moment when broad swathes of the public education infrastructure in America, including the public library, are under relentless attack by the right?

In this episode, Michaela speaks with Ella T about her socialist journey and what has led her to librarianship. Ella shares her perspective on the political and social struggles bearing upon and within libraries at this crucial time. Michaela is a member of North New Jersey DSA and is chair of DSA’s National Political Education Committee (NPEC). Ella is a member of Seattle DSA and was recently elected to DSA’s National Political Committee (NPC).

Before we dive in, a reminder that Class is available on all major podcast platforms. Please consider becoming a DSA member by following the link in the podcast description. You can also send us a message about the episode and sign up for Red Letter, NPEC’s monthly newsletter, using the provided links.

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