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We are writers, activists, and leftists who come from two of the reddest states in the country, Oklahoma and Idaho. Red, in this sense, may refer to the indigenous, socialist, and labor histories of these states, as well as the right-wing fascism that they’re known for today. As rebels, we use a class-based, leftist lens to analyze current events and political issues. We talk about the many ways neoliberalism provides a breeding ground for fascism, and we examine revolutionary frameworks and ...
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After a bit of a hiatus, Crawdads & Taters is back to discuss the 2024 Presidential election, the ongoing genocide in Palestine and the limits of real political change under a capitalist, imperialist economic system. While identity politics are being sold to us as a smokescreen for progressive change, duping the public into believing that Kamala (a…
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In this episode, we talk again about Fascism because we have entered into a Primary Election cycle where leftists of all stripes will once again be cajoled, harassed and even trolled by the neoliberal establishment to Vote Blue No Matter Who– in order to avoid Donald Trump and “Fascism.” Many liberals feel entitled to attack leftists at election ti…
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Please consider making an urgently-needed donation to Crawdads & Taters, as we are ramping up coverage during this genocide. As we find ourselves in the midst of an information war, where critical voices are being censored, banned and bombed, we need your support now more than ever. Please become a subscriber for as little as $3/month at patreon.co…
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In Part One one of our series on Palestine, we review the horrific events since October 7th as the death toll in Gaza reaches nearly 6,000. We analyze the US role in funding and providing political cover for Israeli settler colonialism, apartheid and genocide in the occupied territories of Palestine. We explore the history of Israel as a settler co…
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As of recording this episode, the Hollywood Labor Strike is entering its seventh week. It's the first time actors and screenwriters have been on strike together since 1960. And while 87 percent of SAG-AFTRA union members make less than $26,000/year, Barbie and Oppenheimer, together, have so far grossed $1.83 billion at the box office. This is the r…
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In this episode, we explore the manufactured debt-ceiling crisis of June 2023. Sold to the US public as a financial emergency that required immediate action in order to avoid impending doom and "the scourge of default," we look at what the debt-ceiling negotiations actually resulted in: a giant cash giveaway to big business, the war industry, fossi…
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In this episode, we take a deep look at the Norfolk Southern train derailment in Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3rd, and how this incident is connected to the corporate management of the railways– a topic that we dove into, in depth, in our last episode, Off The Rails. The United States averages 1,700 train derailments per year. Since the disaster in East…
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In this first episode of 2023, in the midst of ongoing US wars, pandemics and record inflation, we take a deep look at "the railroad strike that wasn't" in December 2022. In this US political moment, we see an uptick of strikes, walkouts and labor organizing inside the United States. And we feel it's crucial to hear from railroad workers directly i…
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With the midterms coming up in a few days, the Democratic Party is promising to codify Roe v. Wade IF and only IF they win big in the midterms, even though they already have the majority in the House and the Senate, and the Presidency. Meanwhile far-right Christian fascists, in the streets as well as those sitting on the Supreme Court, are threaten…
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As Congress has approved almost $70 billion now in Ukraine spending and a more-than $800 billion US military budget for 2023, we look at the costs of "Forever Wars" - the financial, political, and ecological costs. And we examine how global capitalism, as a political-economic system, is becoming more and more dependent upon war-making to sustain it…
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In Part 2 of our series on Ukraine, we pick up with the history of Ukraine starting with the aftermath of the Maidan Coup in 2014. The post-coup government in Ukraine with hand-picked Prime Minister Yatsenyuk cozied up to the EU, IMF, and US and enacted a law targeting the Russian language. These actions led to widescale protests in predominantly R…
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In Part I of our Ukraine series, we take a deep dive into the history of US interventionism in Ukraine from the dissolution of the Soviet Union to the present. We feel that this history provides essential context for understanding the current US position in reigniting a Cold War with Russia (and China). As leftists, we know that capitalist wars are…
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In this episode, we want to expand on our last episode, where we described what neoliberalism is, and the resulting economic inequality and class resentment that has been brewing across the global political spectrum, following 40-plus years of global capitalism and neoliberalism. Today, we want to make the case for why opposing neoliberalism is nec…
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Crawdads and Taters have an impromptu discussion on the definition of Neoliberalism, a few ways it has played out in the US and global economy, and how it paves the way for modern-day fascism. Episode Notes Border Deaths Operation Gatekeeper and the Birth of Border Militarization From 1994-2014, over 10,000 refugees have died attempting to cross th…
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In this second part of a two-part series on Critical Race Theory, Crawdads & Taters review the way CRT, like many once-radical US social movements, has been largely captured by neoliberalism and its funding institutions, stripping it of its original class politics and its revolutionary potential for broad-based political transformation. We also rev…
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3. Chris Rufo and the Right-Wing are Making Bank off Critical Race Theory while Building a Fascist Movement (CRT Part 1)
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In this first part of a two-part series on Critical Race Theory, Crawdads & Taters discuss what Critical Race Theory is, who's behind the war on Critical Race Theory, who's profiting from it, and how US public education is again being endangered by white-supremacist authoritarian movements to white-wash history. We also discuss how this "white-lash…
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2. HR1's Poison Pills and the Ratcheting of the Overton Window with Boss Tweed and Reagan Democrats
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We look at how Democratic bills like HR-1, while purporting to rescue “democracy” from Republican attacks on voting rights, simultaneously increase the corporate funding of our elections, shifting more power to the ruling-class and further eliminating the chances of third parties to meaningfully participate in the US electoral system. We also talk …
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Crawdads & Taters briefly review the new film Judas and the Black Messiah, as well as recent news revelations about Fred Hampton's assassination. With so much media coverage around the Black Panthers lately, why do we never hear about the Panthers' founding ideology as a Marxist, socialist organization? Fifty-plus years after Hampton's murder, why …
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Your Crawdads and Taters hosts interview each other to answer the question: Why this podcast, and why now? Erin McCarley is an independent photographer, journalist and filmmaker, based in the foothills outside Denver, Colorado. With a master’s degree in photojournalism from UT Austin, her still photography, videos and writing have been published by…
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