How effective has the Left’s political strategy been since the first Bernie Sanders campaign? And how has our relationship to the Democratic Party changed?

On this special episode of Confronting Capitalism, recorded live at Littlefield in Brooklyn on April 6, Vivek Chibber and Melissa Naschek are joined by Krystal Ball and Matt Karp to discuss how class politics can convert popular anger into durable power — and why rebuilding labor is the precondition for any serious democratic renewal.

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: confronting.capitalism@jacobin.com

Confronting Capitalism with Vivek Chibber is produced by Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy and published by Jacobin. Music by Zonkey.

Suzi speaks with political economist Clara Mattei about her new book, Escape from Capitalism. The title is provocative: What does it mean to escape capitalism? Not reform it, regulate it, or make it kinder, but escape it altogether?

Mattei argues that capitalism is not a system gone wrong but one working exactly as intended. Her core claim is that austerity is not a policy mistake or ideological excess, it is structurally necessary. It is how capitalism reproduces itself: maintaining unemployment, disciplining labor, and foreclosing challenges before they can take shape.

Drawing on both historical analysis and present-day realities, Mattei shows how even hard-won social democratic gains are temporary — rolled back as soon as they threaten profits. From post–World War I Europe to today’s neoliberal order and the resurgence of right-wing authoritarianism, austerity remains the system’s core logic. As Mattei puts it: Unemployment isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. And anti-austerity politics already point beyond capitalism itself.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Mattei and Weissman unpack the “capital order,” the role of the state in enforcing it, and what it would actually mean to break free.

Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

Andrew Cockburn, author of Washington Is Burning, examines “the spectacular greed at the heart of the nation’s political system.” Hadas Thier then discusses crypto in the age of Trump.

Read Hadas’s article for Jacobin: https://jacobin.com/2026/04/crypto-trump-etfs-stablecoins-regulation/

Behind the News, hosted by Doug Henwood, covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.