Show Notes
In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I explore the striking parallels between the British Labour Party's war on Jeremy Corbyn and the Democrat establishment's growing fear of Zohran Mamdani – a new kind of left politics that refuses to be bullied.
We begin with the uncomfortable truth that much of what passes for "liberalism" in American politics – and "moderation" in British politics – is a defence of wealthy interests dressed up in progressive language. The Democrats and the post-Thatcher Labour Party share a common DNA: they believe in markets, they court Wall Street and Silicon Valley, and they have systematically abandoned any meaningful commitment to redistributing wealth and power.
Then we turn to the Corbyn story – an object lesson for the American left. Between 2015 and 2020, a genuinely anti-austerity movement swept through the Labour Party, only to be destroyed from within by a coordinated campaign of sabotage. The Labour right, funded by billionaire donors and organised through secretive groups like Labour Together, waged a rolling coup against their own leader – not because they disagreed with his policies, but because he threatened to actually implement them.
Now we see similar dynamics unfolding in New York, where Zohran Mamdani has emerged as a powerful left voice. Mamdani is running on a platform of material issues – rent, childcare, transport – that directly address the crises ordinary people face. Unlike some on the centre-left, he has not thrown marginalised communities under the bus to win elections. He refuses to waver on Palestine. He has shown that a popular left platform is possible – and that is precisely why the establishment fears him.
**Topics covered:** - The ideological collapse of the Democrats and Labour Party - Neoliberalism, austerity, and the abandonment of social democracy - The Corbyn years and the internal sabotage of the Labour left - The rise of Zohran Mamdani in New York - How the centre-left handles the left – the lessons of Corbyn - The fear that democratic socialism might actually work
---
*If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.*
Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper Website: explaininghistory.org
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Explaining History
In this episode of The Explaining History Podcast, historian Ewan Gibbs joins us again to talk about his new book An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class. We discuss the nature of class identity and allegiance in the 20th Century, the almost hegemonic denial of class as a poltiical and historic force in Blair's late 1990s Britain and the effect of mass affluence, home ownership, changing work and aspirations on class identity. We also explore the return of class to the debate, particularly where it has been weaponised by the far right. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper Website: explaininghistory.org
In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Sam Parry of Cardiff Metropolitan University to discuss the concept of stateless nations – nations that have not achieved nation-state status for complex historical reasons.
In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we return to Keith Jeffery's official history of MI6 to examine a question that gets to the heart of how the secret state was built: who became a spy, and why?
China’s war against Japan was one of the largest, bloodiest and most consequential theatres of the Second World War — yet it is still too often treated as peripheral to the wider conflict.
In this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine the American withdrawal from Iraq – the product of Trump's war with Iran, and a strategic defeat of historic proportions. Iraq has been enormously important to the United States since the end of the Cold War. It has served multiple strategic, foreign policy and domestic purposes. Its loss – the effective expulsion of American power from the country – is an epic disaster unfolding in slow motion. It doesn't look like the British retreat from Afghanistan in the 1840s, but it is a catastrophe nonetheless. The war against Iran has achieved the opposite of everything it intended. It has cost America its bases in the Persian Gulf. It has empowered the Houthi rebels in Yemen and threatened control of the Red Sea. It has surrendered the Straits of Hormuz. It has alienated the Gulf states and the Saudis. And now it has forced a strategic withdrawal from Iraq. We trace the long history of American involvement in Iraq – from the use of Saddam Hussein as a bulwark against revolutionary Iran and the Soviet Union, through the first Gulf War and the brutal sanctions regime that followed, to the catastrophic invasion of 2003. We examine the decision not to overthrow Saddam in 1991, the disbandment of the Iraqi army, the failure to understand Iraq's ethnic and religious divisions, and the looting of the National Museum – met with Rumsfeld's infamous remark that "freedom is messy." Drawing on John Gray's critique of liberal interventionism, we consider the argument that there are things worse than tyranny – and that what replaced Saddam's Leviathan was anarchy, a condition that elements of the American right seemed actively to welcome. The withdrawal from Iraq is not the orderly dismantling of empire. It is a rout – and what replaces American influence will almost certainly be Iranian. Trump has defeated his own country. Topics covered: The American withdrawal from Iraq The war against Iran and its strategic consequences Iraq as a Cold War client state The first Gulf War and the sanctions regime The 2003 invasion and its catastrophic aftermath The disbandment of the Iraqi army The looting of the National Museum John Gray on tyranny and anarchy The rise of Iranian influence in Iraq If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper Website: explaininghistory.org