The Red Thread

The Mamdani Moment: A Socialist Perspective

With the NYC mayoral elections just two months away, we’re talking about one of the most important developments for the Left right now: Zohran Mamdani’s win in the Democratic mayoral primary and his ongoing campaign to win the election in November.Mamdani’s mostly progressive platform speaks to the aspirations of working-class New Yorkers, and his mayoral primary victory reflects an important progressive shift in a context of right-wing attacks by the Trump administration, revealing broad discontent with an unaffordable city, anger at the Democratic Party establishment, a desire to fight the Far Right, pro-Palestine sentiment, and hunger for new political representation. His win was a rejection of the corrupt, pro-cop mayoralty of Eric Adams, the Zionist lobby, and the racist, multi-million-dollar campaign against him by Andrew Cuomo.But it’s definitely not without its contradictions and limits, and is functioning to rebuild the Democratic Party — the same capitalist party that’s responsible for building up ICE, funding the genocide in Gaza, and advancing the neoliberal austerity project that created the affordability crisis in the first place.We’ll talk about what the “Mamdani moment” means for the fight for socialism, the creeping limits of reformism, the dangers of the Democratic Party, and our ideas for the way forward as revolutionary socialists.Hosts: Emma and MelanieProducer: Luigi MorrisMusic: Griffin BrownStay connected, and solidarity forever.Follow us onInstagram: @theredthreadpodRead more: leftvoice.orgSupport us at patreon.com/leftvoice

Netanyahu’s Genocidal Escalation in Palestine

In this episode, we discuss the dire situation in Gaza and urgent need to end this genocide. Israel is advancing with its recently approved plan to invade and “take over” Gaza City. At the same time, Palestinians in Gaza are starving and being attacked at aid sites by the IDF, and the UN has declared a famine. Official figures say over 60,000 people have been killed since Israel's onslaught began — but the real toll is likely tens of thousands higher than that.We must fight against the starvation, the genocide, the siege, and against Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine. Our fight is for full liberation of the Palestinian people, against the 76 years of dispossession, displacement, apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing. Workers and youth are pointing the way forward in this struggle through protests of thousands all over the world, a historic student movement, and port workers who have used their strategic position to block arms shipments to Israel.To end the genocide, all workers and unions must rise, join the protests and strikes for a free Palestine, and fight until we win.Read more:https://www.leftvoice.org/un-officially-declares-famine-as-israel-ivades-gaza-city/https://www.leftvoice.org/trump-state-department-blocks-lifesaving-visas-for-gazas-wounded-children-after-far-right-smear/Hosts: Emma and MelanieProducer: Luigi MorrisMusic: Griffin BrownStay connected, and solidarity forever.Follow us onInstagram: @theredthreadpodRead more: leftvoice.orgSupport us at patreon.com/leftvoice

ICE, Domestic Militarization, and Trump’s Authoritarian Agenda

As Donald Trump ramps up attacks on immigrant communities, he’s building the machinery for a far-reaching authoritarian project. In this episode of The Red Thread, we unpack how anti-immigrant rhetoric is being weaponized to supercharge ICE, recruit a new wave of agents, and quietly expand the domestic role of the U.S. military.From billion-dollar budget boosts and “Defend the Homeland” recruitment drives to National Guard troops in detention centers and Pentagon land grabs, we trace increased militarization  inside U.S. borders — and why it won’t stop with immigrants.Finally, we discuss what it will take to fight back, why the working class must take coordinated action, and how a mass, working-class movement can confront and dismantle the repressive state — for immigrants, for workers, and for all oppressed people.Read more:https://www.leftvoice.org/ices-recruitment-campaign-is-desperate-and-dangerous-workers-must-lead-the-fightback/https://www.leftvoice.org/trumps-war-on-immigrants-is-a-trojan-horse-for-domestic-militarization/ Hosts: Emma and KillianProducer: Luigi MorrisMusic: Griffin BrownStay connected, and solidarity forever.Follow us onInstagram: @theredthreadpodRead more: leftvoice.orgSupport us at patreon.com/leftvoice

Imperialist Bombs on Iran Reverberate Around the World

This month, we saw one of the most alarming escalations in the Middle East in years: the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, murdering hundreds of civilians in the process. This situation gives us a glimpse at the “Trump and J.D. Vance doctrine:” not stepping back from war, but using military power to bully other nations into submission — or to force them into war on U.S. terms. Trump and Netanyahu’s attacks have nothing to do with peace or democracy. This is about U.S. and European domination of the region — and defending their imperialist outpost: Israel, a state built on ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and genocide.As Lenin wrote more than a hundred years ago, imperialism, as a stage of capitalism, opens the gates for crisis, war, and revolution. And when we look around us, it’s clear that we are living through great upheaval. The ruling class is gearing up for more war. And we need to gear up for more resistance.Read more:https://www.leftvoice.org/permanent-revolution-in-iran/https://www.leftvoice.org/trumps-attack-on-iran-resonates-beyond-the-middle-east/Hosts: Emma and MelanieProducer: Luigi MorrisMusic: Griffin BrownStay connected, and solidarity forever.Follow us onInstagram: @theredthreadpodRead more: leftvoice.orgSupport us at patreon.com/leftvoice

The History of May Day: International Workers' Day!

In this episode, we celebrate International Workers' Day by looking back at how it started: in Chicago, in 1886, where tens of thousands of workers were going on strike and taking to the streets.One of their main demands was for an eight-hour workday, which was also taken up by workers internationally — and it sent capitalists into a panic in May 1886, when it seemed like that struggle might turn into a full-on rebellion.We’ll talk about how this movement grew, and how it was crushed by capitalists and the government, who wanted to ensure their exploitive system would continue unabated. Still, the eight-hour workday demand was taken up internationally, and the workers from this moment in history will never be forgotten. Today, the same exploitation that sparked the events of May 1886 is still as ruthless as ever. Many of us still work 10 or 12 hours a day, if not more. We've seen the U.S. go through wars, waves of class struggle, and mass movements against racism and police brutality, but capitalist exploitation and oppression continue.And therefore, so does the fight for socialism. From Haymarket to Amazon warehouses. From Chicago to Gaza. From gig workers to teachers on strike—May Day reminds us that we have the power to win everything we're fighting for.Read or watch more:https://www.leftvoice.org/may-1-a-day-for-the-workers-of-the-world/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WViBBoDEAC0&t=76s&ab_channel=LeftVoicehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=samhLAyTp0s&t=3s&ab_channel=LeftVoiceHosts: Killian and MelanieProducer: Luigi MorrisMusic: Griffin BrownStay connected, and solidarity forever.Follow us onInstagram: @theredthreadpodRead more: leftvoice.orgSupport us at patreon.com/leftvoice