Red Flag Radio

From incel rebellion to Tate’s hustler grift: how capitalism created the manosphere

This week Emma and Chloe discuss the disturbing world of the manosphere. They discuss leading figures like Andrew Tate and Charlie Kirk, unravel the twisted logic of their talking points, and explain how the rise of the online misogynist right has been enabled by the institutions of mainstream capitalism. Lastly they go into depth on how revolutionary socialist politics are absolutely necessary to confront this vile phenomenon.

Further Reading on the Red Flag Website:

Andrew Tate is a misogynistic monster pimp, by Sarah Garnham

University of Technology Sydney stands with boys with big feelings, by Anneke Demanuele

Capitalism can’t end women’s oppression: we need a revolution, by Louise O'Shea

Exposing university censorship of Palestine solidarity, with James McVicar

This week Emma spoke to James McVicar, the National Union of Students Education Officer and convenor of the People's Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine. James launched the inquiry with other activists to document and report the many cases of censorship directed against the Palestine solidarity movement on campuses around Australia. Emma and James discuss the origins of the inquiry, the evidence it has heard, and the strategies and motives behind these attempts to shut down students' and staffs' free speech on campus.

Register for vote in the Student Referendum on Palestine

More from James on the Red Flag Website:
People’s Inquiry exposes university censorship on Palestine
Students to hold nationwide vote on Gaza

Josh Lees on Why the Harbour Bridge March for Gaza Couldn't Be Stopped

In this special bonus episode, Chloe discusses the historic March for Humanity over Sydney Harbour Bridge with its organiser - lead Palestine Action Group activist and Socialist Alternative member Josh Lees. Josh has been catapulted into the headlines by the runaway success of the protest, which drew a crowd of 300,000 in defiance of NSW government and police attempts to stop it marching. Josh explains what led up to such a massive action, why it had to happen now, and the importance of socialist politics in the struggle for a free Palestine.

Links:

Come to Socialism Conference in Sydney to see Josh speak in person.

Alternatively, get tickets to the Socialism conferences in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Read more on the Red Flag website:

Won't Somebody Think of Poor Israel?, by Josh Lees

Making history on Sydney Harbour Bridge: massive March for Humanity, by April Holcombe,

Who's to Blame for the Housing Crisis? with Martin Barker

Socialist activist and tenants' rights advocate, Martin Barker, returns to the show in this episode. He and Emma bust the ugly right-wing myths that try to blame immigrants, nimbys, or Chinese investors for the housing crisis, instead of the billionaire Australian developers and their politician buddies who are really responsible. They also discuss the prospects for the socialist politics and activism that could stand up to these forces - just in time to coincide with the launch of The Socialists party around the country!
 
Join up to The Socialists here: https://victoriansocialists.org.au/join

And read the latest Red Flag articles on housing:

NSW Labor builds profits, not housing

Rent freeze? No. Rent, freeze: Australia’s winter housing nightmare

 

The anti-Vietnam War Movement in Australia - with draft-resister Rowan Cahill

Chloe spoke with Rowan Cahill, radical historian and anti-war activist who refused to be drafted into the Vietnam war. They discuss the resistance to the draft in Australia, the forgotten working class resistance to the Vietnam war & its relevance for today’s fight against militarism & imperialism.

 

Links:

• Rowan’s Conscientious Objector statement
• Siege of Sydney University 1968 
• Blog post about Louis Christophedes
• Ken Mansell archives
• Timeline of the Australian anti-war movement
• A people’s history of the Vietnam War - Red Flag

The Israeli-US war on Iran

Red Flag Radio spoke to Tom Bramble about the atrocious imperialist aggression of Israel and the US towards Iran. 

Links

"The human cost of Israel's war on Iran" by Bella Beiraghi in Red Flag 

"West recycles old lies to justify attack on Iran" by Lucan Brunning-Hall in Red Flag 

To join a branch of The Socialists near you: https://victoriansocialists.org.au/join

To register for launch events featuring Jordan Van den Lamb (AKA purplepingers): https://victoriansocialists.org.au/campaigns/pingers-tour 

Trump, ICE and the US War on Migrants

Red Flag Radio talks to Brendan Stanton, an American socialist and trade unionist living in Melbourne. Brendan organised struggles for immigrant rights and worker solidarity for 12 years in Houston, Texas. He explains what's happening in the US right now from the recent LA protests in response to Trump's anti-migrant escalation, to the origins of ICE and the history of the US-Mexico border. 

 

Victorian Socialists goes Australia-wide - an interview with Corey Oakley

After a good result in the federal election, Victorian Socialists is expanding across Australia, bringing sorely-needed socialist politics to the whole country. Emma spoke to the Secretary of Victorian Socialists, Corey Oakley, about the exciting move. Corey gave his thoughts on the federal election and talked about why it's time to expand VS. 

 

Join the Socialists wherever you are:

https://www.socialists.org.au/about 

Live from Marxism Conference 2025

Emma and Chloe had a live conversation about all the things that make them mad in 2025, at the Marxism conference in Melbourne. They talked about Trump, wacky Auspol, bad takes on the left, lesser-known expropriatable billionaires and more, with fantastic audience participation to boot. 

The great antisemitism con job

We spoke to Palestine Action Group leader and socialist Josh Lees about the renewed genocide in Gaza and the disgraceful antisemitism hoax in NSW which has been used to repress pro-Palestine activism. 

In a true-crime scandal for the ages, a criminal hoax in NSW was falsely reported as an antisemitic terror plot intended to cause mass casualties. Both the state and federal Labor governments knowingly lied to the public, using the hoax to ram through draconian anti-protest laws in NSW. 

The NSW antisemitism hoax is just one example of the unscrupulous campaign against pro-Palestine activism worldwide. 

Further reading

Josh Lees on "The great antisemitism con job" for Red Flag

On Josh Lees' constitutional challenge to NSW anti-protest laws in The Guardian

On the People's Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine in Red Flag

 

 

"Political sadism": The war on trans people

We sat down with trans activist April Holcombe to talk about the unrelenting war being waged against trans people. April is a socialist train driver based in Sydney and the co-convener of Community Action for Rainbow Rights. She is the author of many articles for Red Flag newspaper and the Marxist Left Review. 

April describes what is happening to trans people as "political sadism". She unpacks why right-wingers are so obsessed with policing gender, why socialists say gender is socially constructed, and how we can best fight back against these heinous attacks.

Further Reading:

April Holcombe's fantastic article in the Marxist Left Review: "The Freedom to Be": Marxism, gender oppression and the struggle for trans liberation 

"Trump's war on woke is a war on all the working class" - by Sarah Garnham in Red Flag 

Polarisation in the German election: Die Linke, the centre and the fascist AfD

Our guest Rick Kuhn explains the results of the German election. Rick is a socialist economist and political analyst. He is the author of a biography of Marxist economist Henryk Grossman, for which he won the Deutscher Prize. 

In understanding the German election, the key word is "polarisation". The fascist AfD have received their best vote yet, of over 20%. Meanwhile the anti-racist left party, Die Linke, tapped into a movement of young antifascists and picked up 9%. The centre ruling coalition has collapsed after years of economic stagnation and migrant-bashing, and has been replaced by the conservative Christian Democrats who court the far-right. 

Further reading:

• "Far right surges, but left surprises, in German elections" by Sean Larson in Red Flag
• Buy Rick Kuhn's book: Labor's Conflict
• Rick Kuhn on economic crisis: https://marxistleftreview.org/articles/economic-crises-are-unavoidable-under-capitalism/ 

 

The billionaires who run the world (and why they're psychos)

Emma and Chloe dunk on the billionaires who run the world. From Silicon Valley freaks like Peter Theil and Mark Zuckerberg, to Australia's own Gina Rinehart, to the world's richest man, Elon Musk. We explain how they accumulated their wealth (hint: they didn't "earn" it), explore the sickening conspicuous consumption of the ultra-rich, and discuss why they need to be expropriated for every cent. 

We also discuss Trump's outrageous call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. 

Syria after Assad - with Omar Hassan

An interview with socialist journalist Omar Hassan, editor of and contributor to the Marxist Left Review. Omar spent two weeks reporting on the ground from Syria for Red Flag. He visited cities and towns devastated by regime repression, and he spent time with and interviewed left-wing activists. The result of his travels has been some incredible coverage in English of post-Assad Syria. 

This recording was part of a live zoom forum with Omar in January 2025. 

Read Omar's reports on Syria at Red Flag: https://redflag.org.au/category/syria-after-assad 

Trump, Musk and the Sieg-heiling Coronation

We're back for 2025! And we're talking about the fucked new mirror world we have stepped into with the second inauguration of Trump. 

Emma and Chloe talk through Trump's new cabinet, his executive orders and his big special inauguration day and try to explain what the hell is going on. Why have Silicon Valley ex-liberal billionaires binned their corporate wokeness and lined up to kiss the ring? Why is Trump trying to fight Denmark, Canada and Panama? Why is Australia's Penny Wong so "honoured" to have been invited to the inauguration? We answer these questions and more. 

 

2024 in review

Chloe and Emma cap off a terrible year by compiling some of the chattering classes' worst takes. We hand out prestigious awards for Australian journalism, including "Most Tone-Deaf Commentary on the Cost of Living Crisis" and "Most Hapless Middle-Class Guardian Writer." We survey the ups and (mainly) downs of 2024 and discuss reasons to be hopeful about 2025. 

Woolies warehouse workers on strike!

Workers at Woolworths distribution centres are on strike! For the past 2 weeks, workers have been picketing Woolies warehouses across the country to demand a pay increase and to stop a new performance management program, referred to by Woolworths as the “framework”, which is designed to monitor workers’ every move and increase the pace of work. In an already-dangerous industry where injuries are common, Woolworths is attempting to enforce 100% pick rates on workers. This is the same Woolworths that have seen their profits (and board member bonuses) soar over the past few years through price-gouging. 

 

Emma spoke to two working-class legends about the strike: Ryan Stanton and Jerome Small. 

 

Ryan Stanton is an electrician and ETU member based in Melbourne. He worked in warehousing for 5 years where he led a victorious strike at Polar Fresh back in 2016. He’s a socialist and contributor to Red Flag. 

Jerome Small is an industrial organiser of Socialist Alternative. He worked in construction for around 17 years and has been a socialist and union activist since the 80s. He has been covering the Woolworths strike for Red Flag newspaper. 

Picket addresses at the end of this article:

Support striking Woolworths warehouse workers this week (and next) (19 Nov)
https://redflag.org.au/article/support-striking-woolworths-warehouse-workers-this-week-and-next

Jerome's latest article on the strike:
https://redflag.org.au/article/hope-on-the-picket-line 

 

Check Red Flag website for more coverage of the current strike:

https://redflag.org.au/

 

Read about the recent history of class struggle in the logistics industry:

The 2015 Melbourne Liquor Distribution Centre strike:

Inside a Melbourne warehouse strike:

https://redflag.org.au/article/inside-melbourne-warehouse-strike

 

The 2016 Polar Fresh strike:

'Thirty bucks, no trucks!' Warehouse workers strike back against Coles

https://redflag.org.au/node/5410

 

Coles still rattled by Polar Fresh strike, one year on

https://redflag.org.au/node/5933

Purple Pingers for Parliament!

We chatted with two wonderful socialists: Jordan Van den Lamb, A.K.A. PurplePingers, and Roz Ward, the original host of Red Flag Radio. Jordan will be a senate candidate with the Victorian Socialists in the upcoming federal elections, and Roz is his campaign manager. Jordan has amassed a serious following on Tiktok and Intagram thanks to his unflinching honesty about the housing crisis and his advocacy for tenants' rights. We chatted about the housing crisis, the elections, why private schools are shit and much more. 

Check out the Pingers4Parliament campaign here: https://pingers4parliament.com/ 
Pleast volunteer, share and donate! 

Check out the Shit Rentals website, created by Jordan: https://www.shitrentals.org/ 

Understanding Trump's victory - with Lance Selfa

We spoke to Lance Selfa, a long-time socialist based in Chicago, about Trump's re-election. Lance explains how this could have happened, again, and what lessons socialists can learn from the election. 

Lance is the author of The Democrats: A Critical History. He is a member of the International Socialism Project, whose website has published Lance's election coverage and analysis. He has also been covering the election for Red Flag newspaper. 

Further reading

"It's the economy stupid!" - By Lance Selfa and Sharon Smith 

"Return of the Beast" - by Red Flag editors 

A collection of Lance Selfa's articles in Red Flag 

"Why is the US election so close" - by Lance Selfa 

 

Modi and Hindutva: The rise of Indian fascism with Sagar Sanyal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader of India's far-right Hindu nationalist or "Hindutva" movement. Sagar Sanyal, socialist and regular on the pod, delves into the roots of Hidutva in both European fascism and the Indian caste system. He explains how, over the course of 100 years, Indian fascism moved from the margins of Indian politics to the centre of government.

Further Reading

Sagar's previous guest appearance on Red Flag Radio discussing the GFC

"Modi and the Threat to Indian Democracy" by Sagar Sanyal

"India's Farmer Protests: What you need to know" by Sagar Sanyal