Burkina Faso is one of Africa’s poorest countries. But it has a powerful tradition of social movements and popular mobilization. In 2014, protesters brought down the regime of Blaise Compaoré, the man who had overthrown Thomas Sankara in the 1980s. Sankara has become an iconic figure in African politics since his death and remains a touchstone in Burkina Faso today. The current leader of the country, Ibrahim Traoré, took power in a military coup in 2022. He became the world’s youngest head of state. Traoré has presented himself as the political heir to Sankara, engaged in a project of national renovation. Bettina Engels joins Long Reads to discuss developments in Burkina Faso from the fall of Compaoré to the present. Bettina lectures in peace and conflict studies at the Free University of Berlin. Read Bettina’s article for Jacobin, “Ibrahim Traoré Would Like to Be Thomas Sankara’s Heir”: https://jacobin.com/2026/09/ibrahim-traore-would-like-to-be-thomas-sankaras-heir Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.

Featuring Alyssa Battistoni on Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. Fossil-fueled capitalism has pushed our planet into a profound set of crises. How Marxists should make sense of this all, however, is unclear. Battistoni offers a Marxist theory of nature that’s simultaneously a brilliant reworking of Marxist theory more generally. The first episode in a two-part interview. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Find recent releases The Anti-Defamation League – A Critical Reader and Decolonizing Money at Plutobooks.com The Dig goes deep into politics everywhere, from labor struggles and political economy to imperialism and immigration. Hosted by Daniel Denvir.

Rodrigo Nunes, author of Anatomy of Disintegration, speaks about Bolsonaro, Brazil, and the global far right. Shawn Gude, author of American Socialist, details the life and legacy of Eugene V. Debs Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

Featuring Yael Bridge, Jeremy Flood, and Erick Stoll on Who Moves America, a powerful documentary about the massive 2023 Teamsters strike against UPS that ultimately did not happen.  Find or request a screening of Who Moves America at whomovesamerica.com Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out The Nation‘s Books & the Arts section at thenation.com/books-and-the-arts Find How to Close a Camp at Haymarketbooks.org The Dig goes deep into politics everywhere, from labor struggles and political economy to imperialism and immigration. Hosted by Daniel Denvir.

From Madrid to Paris, tenants and teenagers are forcing their crises onto the agenda. Suzi talks to Agustín Santos Maraver, Spain’s former UN ambassador and Sumar MP, who explains how the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal ignited a national housing uprising, why the Catalan right sank the government’s rent decrees, and why a general strike on the eve of the November 29 snap election is a first for Spain. Then Verso’s European editor Sebastian Budgen explains why France’s high-school revolt began in the banlieues rather than the city centers, why the government has doubled down on police violence, and what it means for a presidential race that could come down to leftist Mélenchon against the far right’s Le Pen. Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

The Left looks poised to pick up some big electoral wins in the midterm elections. But with virtually all of the Left’s victories since the first Sanders presidential primary coming through elections, are socialists and progressives at risk of devolving into electoralism? On this latest episode of Confronting Capitalism, Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek examine the structural and institutional pressures facing left-wing politicians and how we can build greater power outside the state. Read Vivek’s obituary for Anwar Shaikh here: https://jacobin.com/2026/10/shaikh-obituary-marxism-political-economy The latest issue of Catalyst is out and you can subscribe for just $20 using the code CONFRONTINGCAPITALISM: https://catalyst-journal.com/subscribe/?code=CONFRONTINGCAPITALISM Have a question for us? Write to us by email: [email protected] Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber is produced by Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, and published by Jacobin. Music by Zonkey.

Sam Stein, author of A Right to Housing?, investigates that proposition skeptically. Natasha Lennard, author of On Un/Certainty, talks about how doubt can be a mask for certainty. Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.

After three years of slaughter in Gaza, some leading officials of the Biden administration are trying to justify their record. Figures like Antony Blinken and Brett McGurk have been on media tours recently giving their version of the story. Meanwhile Akbar Shahid Ahmed, diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Sun, has been working to provide a serious account of what really happened. Akbar has been a guest on Long Reads several times before. He returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel’s War in Gaza. Long Reads is a Jacobin podcast looking in-depth at political topics and thinkers, both contemporary and historical, with the magazine’s writers. Hosted by features editor Daniel Finn. Produced by Conor Gillies with music by Knxwledge.

Featuring Chris Brooks on labor’s crisis and the strategic, militant class struggle that can turn it all around. Brooks, former chief of staff to UAW President Shawn Fain, urges organizers to be flexible in their methodology, explains the federal monitor’s anti-left lawfare against the UAW over Gaza—and why labor must build for 2028. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Read more: “Is Labor at the Point of No Return?” by Chris Brooks in New Labor Forum newlaborforum.cuny.edu/2026/01/15/is-labor-at-the-point-of-no-return “Is Labor at the Point of No Return?” by Chris Brooks in New Labor Forum newlaborforum.cuny.edu/2026/01/15/is-labor-at-the-point-of-no-return “Shawn Fain’s UAW Is Facing Strong Headwinds” by Nelson Lichtenstein in New Labor Forum newlaborforum.cuny.edu/2026/05/15/shawn-fains-uaw-is-facing-strong-headwinds “The War on the UAW” by Ella Fanger in The Nation  thenation.com/article/economy/uaw-elections-monitor-gaza Find Bad Energy and Songs My Mother Taught Me at Haymarketbooks.org The Dig goes deep into politics everywhere, from labor struggles and political economy to imperialism and immigration. Hosted by Daniel Denvir.