PodcastsNewsGive Them An Argument

Give Them An Argument

Ben Burgis
Give Them An Argument
Latest episode

298 episodes

  • Give Them An Argument

    Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisiting G.A. Cohen

    2026/04/01 | 2h 33 mins.
    Last week at York University in Toronto, there was a panel to pre-launch a book of essays called "Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisitng G.A. Cohen" co-edited by Ben Burgis and Matt McManus. Contributors Les Jacobs and Christine Sypnowich spoke first, then Matt and Ben. Q&A includes some spicy exchanges on dialectics and whether analytical Marxism is too academic to be of much use to the workers' movement. In this episode, Ben starts with some context on Cohen's life and the major themes of the work and then we play the full video of the panel. At the end, Ben comes back to chat a bit more about the trip to Toronto and the GTAA episode schedule going forward.

    Prices in academic publishing being what they are, we can't exactly tell you to go out and buy this thing, but if you want to get your library to order a copy, here's the link for that;

    https://www.amazon.com/Analytical-Marxism-Democratic-Socialism-Century/dp/3032028930

    Prof. Sypnowich's website:

    https://www.christinesypnowich.com/

    Prof. Jacobs's profile at York:

    https://profiles.laps.yorku.ca/profiles/jacobs/

    Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf

    Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis

    Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show

    Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet

    Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:

    patreon.com/benburgis

    Read the weekly philosophy Substack:

    benburgis.substack.com
  • Give Them An Argument

    RIP Habermas (ft. Matt McManus)

    2026/03/17 | 58 mins.
    Matt McManus joins to discuss the complicated legacy of philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who died last Saturday.

    Read Matt's article "Jürgen Habermas Showed What Philosophy Could Be" in Jacobin:

    https://jacobin.com/2026/03/habermas-obituary-critical-theory-philosophy

    Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf

    Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis

    Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show

    Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet

    Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:

    patreon.com/benburgis

    Read the weekly philosophy Substack:

    benburgis.substack.com
  • Give Them An Argument

    Matt McManus Read Nick Land So You Don't Have To

    2026/03/09 | 1h 12 mins.
    Returning champ Matt McManus joins us once again, this time to explore a reactionary weirdo who somehow hasn't been the subject of a GTAA episode yet!

    Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf

    Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis

    Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show

    Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-andy-get-back-to-creating-art-jtwet

    Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:

    patreon.com/benburgis

    Read the weekly philosophy Substack:

    benburgis.substack.com
  • Give Them An Argument

    Of All the Dumb Wars, This One is Somehow the Dumbest

    2026/03/04 | 1h 3 mins.
    We're back, baby!

    Ben Burgis breaks down the idiotic arguments made by the MAGA faithful in defense of Trump's decision to wage an unprovoked, illegal, open-ended war against a country with far more capacity to defend itself than Afghanistan had in 2001 or Iraq in 2003, and makes the case that opposing it isn't just a question of anti-imperialism or harm-minimization (though it certainly is all that) but that there's a basic question of American democracy at stake.

    Read Ben's article in Jacobin:

    https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinion

    Read Branko Marcetic's too while you're at it:

    https://jacobin.com/2026/03/trump-iran-war-public-opinion

    Consider donating to Andy's GoFundMe so he can replace his computer and fully go back to doing what he does best:

    https://gofund.me/f8ec78c56

    Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis

    Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show

    Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:

    patreon.com/benburgis

    Read the weekly philosophy Substack:

    benburgis.substack.com
  • Give Them An Argument

    Talking MAGA’s Intellectuals with Laura Field and Matt McManus

    2026/01/16 | 1h 36 mins.
    Ben Burgis and Matt McManus chat with Laura K. Field about her excellent new book "Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right."

    Order the book::

    https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691255262/furious-minds

    Follow Laura on Twitter: @lkatfield

    Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProf

    Follow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgis

    Follow GTAA on Twitter: @Gtaa_Show

    Become a GTAA Patron and receive numerous benefits ranging from occasional patron-exclusive content to access to the GTAA Discord to our undying love and gratitude for helping us keep this thing going:

    patreon.com/benburgis

    Read the weekly philosophy Substack:

    benburgis.substack.com

More News podcasts

About Give Them An Argument

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
Podcast website

Listen to Give Them An Argument, Economist Podcasts and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app

Get the free radio.net app

  • Stations and podcasts to bookmark
  • Stream via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
  • Supports Carplay & Android Auto
  • Many other app features