by Maximillian Alvarez | Nov 2, 2026 | Capitalism, Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Opinion, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Socialism, video
With a global capitalist system that is wreaking havoc on the planet, pushing most of humanity into poverty, and enabling a small number of billionaire and trillionaire oligarchs to accumulate more money and power than nation-states, more people around the US and beyond are asking: “Could socialism be the solution?” But can socialism actually work in the real world? Can it actually help create a better world than the one capitalism has created?
In this live-event discussion, hosted at Red Emma’s Cooperative Bookstore and Coffeehouse in Baltimore, Maryland, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Ben Burgis and Mike Beggs about their new book, co-authored with Bhaskar Sankara, The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World.
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
So we’re here at Red Emma’s Cooperative Bookstore and Coffee House in Baltimore, and I am really excited to be sitting with two of the three co-authors of the vital new book, The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World. Ben Burgis and Mike Beggs. Give it up, everyone. Hell yeah. Welcome to Baltimore, guys. So let’s talk about the S word, right? I mean, we’re here. The world’s on fire. Life continues to get harder and scarier year after year for working people everywhere. The masked jackbooted thugs that we were warned about are in our streets, hunting and disappearing our neighbors. Endless war and genocide and profiteering are ripping our world and our people apart. And everything is being run or taken over by these psychopathic, self-serving, greedy, society destroying, profit seeking, oligarchs, end times,
by Maximillian Alvarez | Nov 2, 2026 | Economy, Economy and Inequality, France, labor, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Unions, Working People
https://www.spreaker.com/show/2952221/episodes/feed
For the past month—led by students and joined by parents, teachers, labor unions, and more—France has been gripped by one of the largest protest waves in modern history. Protestors have faced violent police repression, a recalcitrant government, and rampant misinformation or skewed coverage from rightwing and corporate media. In this special international edition of Working People, we speak directly with a broad range of students and union members across France who are on the front lines of the current protest movement, and we put them in conversation with union workers and leaders in the US.
Editor’s Note: This episode contains an edited-down version of a Zoom webinar panel discussion recorded on Sunday, October 25, organized in partnership with The Real News Network, the Chicago Teachers Union, Haymarket Books, and the French labor union Force Ouvrière. Unless expressed by elected organization leaders, all views shared in this conversation and on the original webinar are those of the speakers alone.
Additional links/info:
Chicago Teachers Union website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Instagram
Force Ouvrière website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Haymarket Books website, YouTube channel, Bluesky page, and Instagram
Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, “Hundreds of thousands march across France in protests over schools and policing”
Featured Music:
Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
Credits:
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alright. Welcome, everyone, to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. My name is Maximillian Alvarez, and today we are taking you to the streets of France, where mass, student-led protests have swept the country for the past month. We’ve gotten so many
by Paul Waldman | Oct 5, 2026 | Economy, Opinion, White House
The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics fell far short of expectations: just 29,000 jobs created in September. Though not many people are losing their jobs, it is a bad time to be looking for one (just ask any graduating senior). And critically, wage growth was again lower than inflation, meaning that on average, Americans continue to fall behind on affording the necessities of life.
To look at President Donald Trump’s poll ratings, one would think we’re in the middle of an outright depression, not just a mediocre economy that isn’t providing the kind of security and opportunity people want. That may be explained by a yawning gap between what Trump promised and what he has delivered — especially for those people, including young men, who put the greatest hope in him to improve their lives.
It was clearly a mistake for Trump to say on the campaign trail in 2024, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.” But that’s not all he hasn’t been able to deliver.
Begin with the big picture, which could hardly be worse for Trump. His average approval on the economy is in the low 30s. On inflation — or “the cost of living” in some surveys — it’s even worse. Last week’s AP/NORC poll showed his approval on the cost of living at just 17%, the same number as in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Perhaps most shocking of all, in both polls, most Republicans said they disapprove of the president’s handling of the issue.
It was clearly a mistake for Trump to say on the campaign trail in
by Joseph Zeballos-Roig | Oct 2, 2026 | Congress, Economy, Opinion
Congress has officially skipped town until after voters cast judgement on the GOP-controlled legislative branch on Nov. 3.
Lawmakers, however, did pull off an achievement that flew under the radar, sandwiched between higher-profile — and sometimes failed — votes on bills concerning data centers and college sports: They tackled government waste on a bipartisan basis. And in doing so, they changed how you’re paying with cash.
For nearly 20 years, the expense of creating a penny has exceeded its face value. In 2024, a penny cost 3.7 cents to produce.
On Monday, the Senate passed the Common Cents Act, which will formally end penny production after a 232-year run. The bill now goes to Trump for his signature, having passed the House two weeks earlier.
The Treasury Department had already stopped penny production last year under Trump’s directives and produced the last batch of the one-cent coins in November. But this bill cements the changes underway at the Treasury. The U.S. Mint estimates calling it quits with the penny will save the government $56 million annually. Countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand scrapped low-denomination coins years ago.
Pennies have long been a drag on the federal budget. For nearly 20 years, the expense of creating a penny has exceeded its face value. In 2024, a penny cost 3.7 cents to produce. Legislative attempts to kill the penny date back to the 1990s and former President Barack Obama once called the failure to do so “a good metaphor for some of the larger problems that we’ve got.”
Play
Midterms ‘going to be an absolutely brutal political nightmare’ for Republicans: GOP strategist
October 2, 2026 / 10:50
As for
by Maximillian Alvarez | Oct 1, 2026 | AI, Capitalism, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Epstein, Politics and Movements: US, video
From the heinous crimes of the Epstein class to the Cornell 7, from the toxic cultures of the “manosphere” to the increase of antisocial relationships with online pornography and AI bots, we need to talk about what is going on with men in our society. We speak with renowned scholar, author, and commentator Dr. Mark Anthony Neal about his new book Save a Seat for Me: Notes on American Fatherhood, and about the ways American capitalism damages everyone and trains boys to become monstrous men.
Credits:
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
I’m here at Red Emmas at the Baltimore Book Festival, and I’m sitting with Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. Brother Mark, it’s so great to have you back here in Baltimore, man. I know I only got you for a second, and we’re talking about your incredible new book, Save a Seat for Me, Notes on American Fatherhood. And I was thinking as another father in America in 2026, I wanted to ask you, it doesn’t take PhDs like we have to know that we’ve got a real fricking crisis in this country with men and masculinity and masculine culture and fatherhood, or we have a whole lot of crises that men are experiencing but aren’t dealing with well. So what do you make of all this? What do we do about it? And how can your book help us get there?
Dr. Mark Anthony Neal:
I think we have tried, America has tried to raise generations of warriors, if you will, to be on the front lines of American imperialism. And you
by Maximillian Alvarez | Sep 30, 2026 | Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Podcast, Unions, Working People
