Coming From Left Field (Audio)

It is hard to describe Peter Serko. He’s been a counselor, IT professional, playwright, filmmaker, museum quality photographer and now, add novelist. After acquiring a tattered cardboard box with old books, photos, and diaries from his great-grandmother, Peter became inspired to research his family genealogy and write a historical fiction novel about Hattie, a 14 year old girl and distant relative trying to make sense of post-Civil War America. We also discuss Peter’s play, “My Brother Kissed Mark Zuckerberg” and film, “Footnote” which is a loving tribute to his brother who died of AIDS in the late 1980’s, and his photography. David Serko Website: https://peterserko.com/ Order the book: Hattie’s War: https://peterserko.com/hatties-war/ Watch Footnote on Vimeo (38 min): https://vimeo.com/203771933 Peter’s Photography: https://peterserko.com/transformation-art-changes-a-city/ #PeterSerko#HattieWar#Hattie’swar#DavidSerko#ActUp#Footnote#AIDS#HIV#ArtChangesACity#Transformation#DavidSerkoProject#Wintrop#VashonIsland#Vashon#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#Photograpy #ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast

Professor and author, Christian Parenti, discusses a wide range of topics today including his article in NONSITE.org, ‘The First Privilege Walk,’ which may be the symbolic origin story of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion industry. We also overview his book 'Radical Hamilton' and how the founding father was more progressive for his time than credited. In a fun, free-for-all exchange, many other topics are covered such as COVID, wokeness, policing, political economy vs capitalist economic development, and the left’s response to the pandemic. References: The First Privilege Walk -NONSite.org Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons from a Misunderstood Founder -Verso Books #ChristianParenti#PrivelegeWalk#RadicalHampilton#FBI#MannyElis#Nonsite#leftpolitics#COVID#NaomiKlein#CharlesBeard#Grayzone#Trumpderangement#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#Marcuse#DEI#DiAngelo#MichaelParenti#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast

Our guest today is award-winning investigative journalist and contributing writer at The Intercept, Trevor Aaronson. His seminal book “The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War On Terrorism” exposed the questionable counterterrorism tactics the Bureau used so they could claim it was winning the “war on terror.” His recent podcast, ‘Alphabet Boys” is a secret investigation of the FBI, CIA, DEA, ATF, and other alphabet agencies. He asks the question, “Are America’s top cops catching criminals -- or creating them?” https://trevoraaronson.com/ Alphabet Boys Podcast: Trojan HearseThe Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War On Terrorism How this FBI strategy is actually creating US-based terrorists by Trevor AaronsonZZs Bloghttp://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #TrevorAaronson#InvesitgativeReporter#PoliticsNews#FBI#ChinookCenter#ChurchCommittee#leftpolitics#TuckerCarlson#survalience#PatCummings#GregGodels#alphabet#alphabetboys#alphabetboyspodcast#snitchjacketing#BLM#blacklivesmatter#blm##blackidentity#ComingFromLeftField#ComingFromLeftFieldPodcast

Our guest today, Alfred de Zayas, is a prominent scholar, lawyer, historian, and human rights expert. He has an impressive academic background, having earned a law degree from Harvard Law School, as well as a Ph.D. in history from the University of Göttingen in Germany. Throughout his career, he has focused on international law, human rights, and the protection of civilians in armed conflicts. Website: http://alfreddezayas.com/ Blog: https://dezayasalfred.wordpress.com/ Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #AlfreddeZayas#DeZayas#UnitedNations#TheHumanRightsIndustry#CounteringMainstreamNarratives#FakeNews#FakeLaw#FakeFreedom#BuildingaJustWorldOrder#rapporteur#humanrights#Ukraine#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast

Bill Ehrhart’s experiences in the Vietnam War have defined his life—first as an enlisted member of a Marine infantry battalion, then as an author, poet, and teacher who has spent fifty years explaining the war and its consequences in books, lectures, and interviews. In this podcast, we discuss his recent book of essays on diverse topics, being a teacher, the VA, coming from Vietnam, and much more. Here is a link to a few supplemental pictures: http://comingfromleftfield.com/ehrhart W.D. Ehrhart home page: https://wdehrhart.com/ Buy the book: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/what-we-can-and-cant-afford/ Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #BillEhrhart#WDEhahart#Poet#ThankYouForYourService#KenBurns#WhatWeCanandCantAfford#PatriotismAmericanLife#Poet#EssayonVietnam#MomsforLiberty#Veteran#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast#mcfarlandbooks

Vijay Prashad is an American-based Indian Marxist historian; he has written over 20 books and is the founder and executive director of the Tri-Continental Institute for social research. In this podcast, we discuss his recent book with Noam Chomsky, "The Withdrawal," and his observations regarding our foreign policy with China. Wenhua Zongheng, Quarterly Journal of Chinese Thought https://dongshengnews.org/en/whzh-vol1-no1/ https://dongshengnews.org/en/whzh-vol1-no2/ The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. by Noam Chomsky (Author), Vijay Prashad (Author), Angela Y. Davis (Introduction) | (2022) https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9781620977606 Greg’s Article on MLToday: "Mired in Opportunism" https://mltoday.com/mired-in-opportunism/ #VijayPrasad#NoamChomsky#Russia#China#Iraq#Libya#Afghanistan#TheWithdrawl#WenhuaZongheng#TriContinentalInstitute#PeaceActivist#zzblog#PatCummings#GregGodels#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast

Daniel Kovalik, is a human rights lawyer, author, and professor. He has focused on issues such as labor rights, human rights, and international law. He has written numerous books that criticize what he sees as U.S. foreign policy agendas and media narratives that demonize certain countries. In this podcast we discuss his recent trip to Russia and Crimea where, as a peace activist, he tries to make sense of the Ukraine conflict and offer context for understanding and resolution. Photo Album (supplement to podcast) https://comingfromleftfield.com/photos Dan’s books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dan-Kovalik/author/B06XZ9ZRSD Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #DanKovalik#RickSterling#Russia#Crimea#Columbia#Venezuela#Nicaragua#AlexSaab#Putin#Ukraine#PeaceActivist#zzblog#PatCummings#GregGodels#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast#

We welcome Norman Finkelstein to our podcast, a prominent political scientist known for his writings, research, and scholarship on the middle east. In 2020, he was named the fifth most influential political scientist in the world. In his new book,” I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom,” he discusses how the Left undermines class politics from within, the misguided legacy of Barack Obama, the censorious culture within US academia and his new book, and the crazy politics of social activists like Kimberlé Crenshaw, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Robin DiAngelo. Norman Finkelstein website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com/ Order the book: I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It!: https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9798986788425 Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Finkelstein#IlBurnThatBridgeWhenIGettoIt#NormanFinkelstein#IlBurnThatBridgeWhenIGettoIt#KimberléCrenshaw#TaNehisiCoates#RobinDiAngelo#AlanDershowitz#BrandyLee#zzblog#PatCummings#GregGodels#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast#Chomsky#Identypolitics#WhiteFragility#Dershowitz#wokeness#cancelculture#academicfreedom#academicfreedom#politicalcorrectness#cancelculture#MattKennard#SilentCoup#WEBDubois#PaulRobeson

Walker Bragman is a journalist, JD, occasional cartoonist, and co-founder of OptOut Media Foundation. He writes for Salon, The Hill, Truth Out, Huffington Post and other publications. His recent reporting involves “Moms for Liberty,” an astroturf organization influenced by right-wing dark money that has been accused of using "parental rights" as a cover for strategically harassing public schools. Links to Walker Bragman’s journalism: Important Context News: https://www.importantcontext.news/ OptOut News: https://www.optout.news/ Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ Walkerbragman#momsforliberty#M4L#MFL#parentrights#astroturf#maskmandates#rondesantis#twitter#matttaibbi#schoolboardharrassmen#concerntparents#InformedParentsofWashington#PeninsulaSchoolDistrict#antivax#sexeducastion#bookbanning#CRT#bookbans#SEL#antiunion#teacherunions#zzblog#PatCummings#GregGodels#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast

Sarah Augustine, a Pueblo (Tewa) descendant, is the founder and co-chair of the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery, a legal principal that originated in the 15th and 16th centuries to justify colonial expansion and domination of indigenous land rights and tribal sovereignty. We discuss impact of this doctrine, native boarding schools, combating the “extractive logic” of exploiting nature for profit rather than social value and rights for indigenous people. Book: The Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Website: The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery Greg's ZZs Blog: SarahAugustine#DoctrineofDiscovery#DoctrineDiscovery#CoaltiontoDismantleDocturineDiscovery#TheLandIsNotEmpty#Tewa#Pueblo#Yakima#BoardingSchools#indigenious#PopeFrancis#zzblog#PatCummings#GregGodels#SIHF#WHO#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast# AnabaptistWitness #NativeAmerican

William Z. Foster was one the most recognized and respected labor leaders in U.S. history. Chris Townsend is his prodigy. A long-time union organizer and, with the support of others, is instrumental in the unionization of Starbucks stores across the country. Book: Working Class Giant by Arthur Zipser https://www.intpubnyc.com/browse/working-class-giant/ Links: The Undercover Organizers Behind America’s Union Wins-Portside https://portside.org/2023-04-04/undercover-organizers-behind-americas-union-wins Secret Union Tactic Fuels Unprecedented Labor Wins- Bloomberg News Original- YouTube: https://youtu.be/6xDlvGn0F6A Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ ChrisTownsendt#WorkingClassGiant#WillamFoster#WillaimZFoster#Salting#Union#Strabucks#Amazon#zzblog#PatCummings#GregGodels#JazBrisack#HowardSchultz#LaborOrganizing3ComingFromLeftField#WorkingClass #ClassStruggle#LaborHistory

The promise that you can “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is central to the story of the American Dream. Not so fast…. Acclaimed journalist Alissa Quart argues that at the heart of our suffering is a do-it-yourself ethos, the misplaced belief in our independence, and the conviction that we must rely on ourselves alone. Alissa Quart website: http://www.alissaquart.com/ Book: Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream by Alissa Quart https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9780063028005 Economic Hardship Project https://economichardship.org/ Podcast: Going For Broke https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-for-broke/id1585501973 Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ AlissaQuart#EconomicHarship#NickelandDimet#GoingForBroker#Bootstrapping#littlehouseontheprairie#BarbaraEhrenreich#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField

Carlos Garrido provides a comprehensive development of his concept of the purity fetish, tracing the outlook to the Eleatic school of Ancient Greek philosophy and showing how it has appeared in 20th and 21st century Western Marxism and contemporary U.S. socialism. Book: "The Purity Fetish and the Crisis of Western Marxism" by Carlos Garrido https://www.midwesternmarx.com/books.html Please subscribe to the Midwestern Marx YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MidwesternMarx Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ CarlosGarrido#MidwesternMarxism#PurityFetisht#FreddieDeboer#Socialism#SovietUnion#Cubanrevolution#China#CrisisWesternMarxism#Socialism#Socialist#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField

Nathan Robinson is the editor of Current Affairs magazine and is a leading voice of millennial left politics. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Nation, Salon, The Guardian, and elsewhere. We discuss his new book where he gives a detailed explanation of how conservative arguments work and why we need to resist them, then goes through twenty-five separate talking points, showing precisely why each one fails. Book: Responding to the Right: Brief Replies to 25 Conservative Arguments by Nathan J. Robinson https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9781250777744 Magazine: Current Affairs: A Magazine of Politics and Culture https://www.currentaffairs.org/ Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ NathanRobinson#NathanJRobinson#Respondingtotheright#CurrentAffairs#Magazine#Brief Repliesto25ConservativeArguments#NoamChomsky#FreddieDeBoer#Woke#Wokism#Right-Wing#ConservativeArguments#Socialism#Socialist#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField

Our “friend of the show,” Bill Ehrhart returns to our podcast to discuss General Smedley D. Butler, one of the most colorful officers in the Marine Corps' long history; he was one of the two Marines who received two Medals of Honor for separate acts of outstanding heroism. Butler and Ehrhart are both cut from the same cloth, Marines, opinionated, and on the correct side of politics. Supplemental pictures and videos: https://ComingFromLeftField.com/sb Books: War Is A Racket by Smedley D. Butler Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire by Jonathan M. Katz Devil Dog: The Amazing True Story of the Man Who Saved America (Pulp History) by David Talbot (Author), Spain Rodriguez (Illustrator) Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #BillEhrart#WDEhart#WarIsARacket#SmedleyButler#MarineCorps#MetalHonor#Ultra#RachelMaddow#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast#BuisnessPlot#BonusArmy#OverthroughRoosevelt#Facisim

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. She is an MSNBC Opinion Columnist and commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and other media outlets about authoritarianism, Fascism, and threats to democracy around the world.. Her latest book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, looks at how illiberal leaders use propaganda, corruption, violence, and machismo - and how they can be defeated. The book: Strongmen- Mussolini To The Present https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9780393868418 Substack: Ruth Ben-Ghiat Lucid Substack https://lucid.substack.com/ Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #RuthBenGhiat#RuthBen-Ghiat#Strongmen#MussolinitoPresent# authoritarianism #Factism#Facist#propaganda#machismo#Trump#illiberal#Putin#Lucid#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast

Tom Hulst was a policy advisor to Washington Governor Daniel J. Evans, an administrator in the State Office of Public Instruction, superintendent of Peninsula School District, and college political science teacher. His book “The Footpaths of Justice William O. Douglas” is a remarkable tribute to Douglas, hiking, place, and family. Tom’s book: The Footpaths of Justice William O. Douglas: A Legacy of Place https://www.kingsbookstore.com/book/9780595330409 Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #TomHulst#TomRHulstl# TheFootpathsofJustice#WilliamODouglas#ALegacyofPlace#Originalist#Yakima#Hiking#PacificNW#FreeSpeech#FreeSpeech#Environmentalism#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast

Anthony Conwright is a writer and educator based in New York City. He contributes to Mother Jones, The Nation, Huffington Post, New Republic, and others. He is a remarkable journalist, always with a refreshingly unique perspective on our modern political economy. Follow his works on: Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/author/anthony-conwright/ The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/authors/anthony-conwright/ Huffington Post: https://www.huffpost.com/author/aconwright-628 Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ ERRATA 20:13 Michael Brown was the young man killed in Ferguson, MO (2014), not Freddie Gray #AnthonyConwright#MotherJonesl#TheNation#HuffingtonPost#Jan6#BigLie#Facism#Journalsit#Commitee10#RobertPape#LostCause#AdamHochshild#Fergeson#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast

Tariq Ali is a writer, activist, and longtime public intellectual. He has authored many books and is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review. He contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books. His most recent book is a critical review that exposes Churchill’s leadership in the context of forgotten Imperial crimes. Book: “Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes” with Tariq Ali https://www.versobooks.com/books/3971-winston-churchill Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #TariqAlil#WinstonChurchill#Empireft#Colonialism#WWII#WarCrimes#ChurchillWarCriminal#TimesHis Crimes#BritishEmpire#BengalFamine#CarolineElkins

Stansfield Smith is a member of Chicago ALBA Solidarity, formerly the Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban 5. Stansfield is a long-time anti-war activist and opposed U.S. interference over the years in Latin America. He is a prolific writer, and his works have appeared in publications such as CounterPunch, Dissident Voice, MLToday, Black Agenda, CovertAction Magazine, and MultiPolarisia. Links: Part 1: National Security State Censoring of Anti-Imperialist Voices the Latest Phase of their Long-Term Strategy to Divide and Control the Left (Jun 23, 2022) https://tinyurl.com/yjpschj3 Part 2: Behind the Decline of the US Left (Nov 28, 2022): https://tinyurl.com/9f63ta9n Greg's ZZs Blog: http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/ #StanSmithl#StansfieldSmith#Behindthedeclineoftheusleft#Leftpolitics#ChicagoALBASolidarity#ChicagoCommiteetoFreeCuban5#Cuban5#LatinAmerica#PinkTide#mediacensorship#Anti-imperialism#DivideLeft#compatibleleft#twitterfiles#matttiabbi#GregGodels#zzblog#PatCummings#ComingFromLeftField#Podcast