Jacobin Radio

Ruth First is one of the most celebrated figures to have been involved in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. She was a leading member of the ANC and the South African Communist Party who went into exile during the early 1960s. Her husband Joe Slovo was the leader of the ANC’s military wing. Along with her political activism, First left behind an important intellectual legacy as a creative Marxist writer.

Christopher Lee joins Long Reads to discuss the life and work of Ruth First. Christopher has written widely about questions of decolonization and the history of the South African left. He organized the republication this year of Ruth First’s book The Barrel of a Gun: Political Power in Africa and the Coup d'État, which she composed during her years in exile.

Read Christopher’s article for Jacobin, “Ruth First’s Legacy Has Outlived the Regime That Killed Her” here: https://jacobin.com/2026/09/ruth-first-south-africa-anti-apartheid-communism

Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.

Featuring Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor on this year’s historic US election cycle. A massive blue tsunami repudiated the MAGA right in the wake of a red primary wave from the socialist left that crashed into the Democratic Party establishment.

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The Dig goes deep into politics everywhere, from labor struggles and political economy to imperialism and immigration. Hosted by Daniel Denvir.

Alfredo Saad-Filho discusses Lula’s victory and the challenges facing him in his fourth term. Raj Patel looks at the malign influence of foundations on the food supply.

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Featuring Alyssa Battistoni on Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. This episode is the second of a two-part interview: Battistoni’s account of capitalist class and market rule; what’s hidden behind the mystification of the externality; existentialism and Marxism; why human freedom is the precondition for saving the planet rather than the cause of its destruction; how a theorization of nature clarifies our analysis of care work and reproductive labor — and much more. 

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The Dig goes deep into politics everywhere, from labor struggles and political economy to imperialism and immigration. Hosted by Daniel Denvir.

With the midterms approaching, Suzi talks to Angela Gonzales-Torres, the democratic socialist running against ethics-challenged incumbent Jimmy Gomez in LA’s 34th Congressional District. They discuss her family’s experience with deportation, organizing against ICE raids, and the fight for housing, healthcare, and political representation free of corporate money.

Next, Vermont State Senator Tanya Vyhovsky returns from Ukraine with a firsthand account of intensifying Russian attacks and Ukrainians’ determination to resist. She examines Trump’s concessions to Putin — “blood money” that won’t lower American gas prices — and the challenges facing Ukraine’s left.

Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.