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A new audio file was uploaded for this episode on 9/23/26. We regret the sound issues with the first version. As DSA has grown to become the largest socialist organization in U.S. history and shocked the leadership of both major U.S. parties, the Democratic Party has trotted out its tired critique of DSA and the left as out of touch with its multiracial base, particularly Black Americans. The party recently reorganized its 2028 presidential primary schedule, putting heavily-Black South Carolina first in an attempt to moderate DSA’s potential influence in the upcoming presidential election.At the same time, how to approach multiracial organizing and the racial class question in the U.S. continues to be a hotly-debated question within DSA and on the left. In observation of Black August, Christina W. interviewed fellow Red Star members John (NPC, New Orleans) and Craig (Metro Atlanta) about liberal and socialist understandings of racism and anti-racism, how social inquiry can help DSA chapters build alliances in communities of color, the fight for abolition, and making DSA an anti-racist organization in practice. Read the transcript, as well as our other articles and newsletters, on our website at redstarcaucus.org/interview-black-august/

In April 2026, Red Star member and DSA co-chair Megan Romer went to the party of the European Left Conference in Brussels. At this conference, she delivered remarks on the issues of militarism and austerity, and participated in discussions with other left parties on important political issues facing our movement around the world. Megan's remarks were published in Democratic Left. She also spent some time with the Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB), and had an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of life in the PTB, and see their political strategy and action. PTB and DSA were the subjects of a detailed comparison study organized by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. Red Star member Matt M sits down with Megan to debrief her experience in Belgium, what she learned from spending time with PTB, and what our similarities and differences can tell us about building a militant revolutionary party.

This special session features dialogue between our 2025 NPC candidates. Take a listen to see what we're looking forward to, what we've learned from our time on the NPC already, and what Red Star is bringing to the NPC in 2025.

This is a reading of Marta Harnecker's "Ideas for the Struggle", read by Red Star member Megan Romer.

Red Star member Zoe interviews outgoing NPC members Jenbo and Jen M along with Red Star NPC candidates Megan R and John L about the past two NPC terms, what they've learned and what they've accomplished, and what our hopes are for the upcoming DSA convention and NPC term.

Red Star member Matt interviews EWOC volunteer and Communist Caucus member Matthew about EWOC, local EWOC, and different approaches to labor organizing in DSA.

00:00 - LeftRoots, "Protagonism, Socialist Leadership, and Socialist Organizing" 49:12 - Harnecker, "Ideas for the Struggle: Convince, Not Impose" 53:50 - Michael Lebowitz, "Protagonism and Productivity"

An audio recording for the 6/21 RED START reading hosted by @hanginoutonline Sam Heft-Luthy. Timestamps: 0:28 - "Dialectical Materialism" from Constructive Criticism 12:30 - Afterword to the Second German Edition of Capital — by Karl Marx 20:15 - Fragments on Dialectics - from "Dialectics of Nature" by Frederick Engels 41:43 - The Principal Contradiction and the Principal Aspects of a Contradiction — From “On Contradiction” by Mao Zedong

This is a book reading of excerpts from Marta Harnecker's "Rebuilding the Left."

An edited live recording of comrade Michael's Red Start session on the second half of Lenin's "Imperialism: Highest Stage of Capitalism" (recorded September 7, 2022). In this session, comrade Michael explains Venture Capitalism from a socialist perspective and extends Lenin's theory to more modern economic developments.

An edited live recording of comrade Joseph's Red Start session on the first half of Lenin's "Imperialism: Highest Stage of Capitalism" (recorded August 31, 2022).

An edited live recording of comrade Greg's Red Start session on George Jackson's "Blood In My Eye" (recorded August, 2022).

An edited live recording of our 7/2022 Red Start session on "Organizing Methods in the Steel Industry" by William Z. Foster.

00:00:03 Introduction 00:24:07 The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women-Introduction 00:31:48 Capitalist Accumulation and the Accumulation of Labor in Europe 00:40:05 Land Privatisation in Europe, the Production of Scarcity, and the Separation of Production from Reproduction 00:44:13 Population Decline, Economic Crisis, and the Disciplining of Women 01:42:49 The Devaluation of Women's Labor 01:12:18        Women: The New Commons and the Substitute for the Lost Land 01:14:27 The Patriarchy of the Wage 01:23:06 Capitalism and the Sexual Division of Labor

R. Palme Dutt was born in the U.K. in 1896, and came of age during the lead up to World War I.  He was a conscientious objector, and after the war ended, he joined the newly-formed Communist Party of Great Britain.  He was a strong supporter of the Soviet Union, and was an important figure in the Comintern, where he eventually rose to leadership of the CPGB and also served as an advisor to the Communist Party of India. In Fascism and Social Revolution Dutt places the emergence of fascism in Europe in the context of the capitalist liberal democracies that spawned it, and carefully lays out the conditions of its emergence and the functions it performs.  Drawing on Leninist ideas about Imperialism, Dutt sees fascism as another step in Capitalism’s degeneration.  Writing well before the Second World War and the atrocities that carved the word Fascism into history, Dutt’s analysis is prophetic, both for his time and our own. This recording covers Part 1 of the reading for the Red Start discussion. TIMESTAMPS (00:03) Introduction (11:26) Chapter 1 Summary (12:23) Chapter 1 (13:41) Chapter 2 Summary (14:27) Chapter 3 (17:22) Chapter 3 Summary (18:27) Chapter 3, Section 3 (21:39) Chapter 3, Section 3 Summary (24:50) Chapter 3, Section 4 (29:58) Chapter 3, Section 4 Summary (32:30) Chapter 3, Section 5 (45:14) Chapter 3, Section 6 (53:22) Chapter 4 (56:55) Chapter 4, Section 1 (58:45) Chapter 4, Section 1 Summary (1:03:45) Chapter 4, Section 2 (1:10:25) Chapter 4, Section 3 (1:21:22) Chapter 4, Section 4