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Talking Strategy, Making History

Talking Strategy, Making History

Written by: Richard Flacks
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 Each episode will focus on a different aspect or example of the general theme. Our kick-off frame is the awkward position that progressives find themselves in. It seems obvious, at least to a significant portion of Leftists, that “working within the Democratic Party” has to be part of any realistic strategy for making substantive, social democratic or radical change in the United States. What is far less clear is what this means practically, in terms of organization and elections. For many years, the slogan of the Left has been to work both “inside and outside” the Democratic Party. But what does that “inside” part actually look like? The podcast project comes from our experience as progressive activists--and from the urgency of now. Dick Flacks taught sociology at UC Santa Barbara and Umiversity of Chicago for 60 years. He's of the founding generation of Students for a Democratic Society and helped write the Port Huron Statement (along with Tom Hayden and the big Lebowski). He and his late wife Mickey recntly published a memoir of their lives--political and personal. It's called MAKING HISTORY/MAKING BLINTZES: HOW TWO RED DIAPER BABIES FOUND EACH OTHER AND DISCOVERED AMERICA. He's written a lot about the American Left--most notably MAKING HISTORY: THE AMERICAN LEFT AND THE AMERICAN MIND. His weekly radio show called'The Culture of Protest' can be heard 6 pm Thursdays on www.kcsb.org. Daraka Larimore-Hall is vice-chair of the Democratic Party of California and a political and organizational consultant working primarily for social democratic parties and trade unions abroad. A lifelong political activist, Daraka first met Dick when he was in Jr High School, and first getting involved in local progressive politics in Santa Barbara. Since then, Daraka has been a national leader and staffer for DSA, a board member of the International Union of Socialist Youth, an activist and elected officer of United Auto Workers Local 2865, as well as active in the Democratic Party at all levels. He received his PhD, supervised by Dr. Flacks, in 2013. Per Hoel is the producer/director of our effort. Per helped found the DSA chapter in Santa Barbara in the aftermath of the Sanders campaign in 2016. He's a professional videographer and multimedia designer and works in instructional design.© 2020 Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • #51 Talking about Seattle's astonishing mayoral election with union organizer Michael Laslett & Prof Jim Gregory

    #51 Talking about Seattle's astonishing mayoral election with union organizer Michael Laslett & Prof Jim Gregory
    Dec 13 2025

    #51 Talking about Seattle's astonishing mayoral election with union organizer Michael Laslett & Prof. Jim Gregory
    Seattle's mayoral election was, like the Mamdani victory in NY, an important progressive victory. Veteran community organizer Kate Wilson, defeated the incumbent, liberal mayor. We (Dick Flacks & Daraka Larimore Hall) invited University of Washington labor historian Jim Gregory and veteran Seattle union leader Michael Laslett to explore how Seattle's class struggle history, and contemporary grassroots battles with Amazon and other corporate giants, led to this outcome--and, why we need to pay attention to Seattle going forward.
    music: Michael Laslett performs "They All Sang Bread & Roses" by Si Kahn.

    Mixed & Edited by Next Day Podcast

    info@nextdaypodcast.com
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    55 mins
  • #50 Daraka & Dick talking about what the recent election might mean for living in the USA

    #50 Daraka & Dick talking about what the recent election might mean for living in the USA
    Nov 11 2025

    #50 Daraka & Dick Talking About the Recent Election
    Mamdani's astonishing campaign in NYC along with the Democratic sweep last week inspired us to grab our mics for a conversation. How will Mamdani be able to bring the change his supporters are hoping for? How can the electoral repudiation of MAGA be built on and to what ends? We try to go beyond the horse race patter and cynical tone of media and online chatter. We're pushing instead hope to help fuel the hard work ahead.
    Music: "Zohran Mamdani for Mayor" Red Dawn t7
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • #49 Talking with faculty leaders about the Trump assault on the University of California

    #49 Talking with faculty leaders about the Trump assault on the University of California
    Oct 27 2025

    #49: Talking with faculty leaders resisting the Trump assault on the University of California
    Prof. Jessica Taft, co-president of the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA) and Prof. Charmaine Chua, CUCFA director of campus organizing, talk about the new lawsuits challenging the Trump coercive actions against UC, sponsored by a historic coalition of university based unions, CUCFA and the national AAUP. We talk about the nature of the assault on higher education, and ways to organize in response, and the episode is a chance to get to know two outstanding leaders of the rising generation of academics dedicated to democracy.
    Jessica Taft teaches Latin American Studies, and directs the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas at UC Santa Cruz. She's written several books about youth activism. Charmaine Chua has just joined the Geography Department at UC Berkeley, after several years teaching Global Studies at UCSB. One of her multiple current projects is a book she's co-writing on "how to beat Amazon". Daraka, who is also of the new generation, was unable, at the last minute, to be on the call. He was missed...but will be back.
    Music: "I'm going to say it now" by Phil Ochs
    I hope it's possible to correct?
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    1 hr and 5 mins
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