In this first segment of a series on ecology and materialism, John Bellamy Foster explains how Marx, who was not a natural scientist, learned from chemists, physicists, biologists, and the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Marx then garnered a unique theoretical approach that identifies the causes of the societal and ecological crises we face today. Lynn Fries interviews John Bellamy Foster on GPEnewsdocs.

In part three, filmmaker and journalist Paul Jay turns to the film that brought this conversation full circle: How to Stop a Nuclear War. Jay traces the bomb\'s origins to a lie — the U.S. and Britain knew by 1944 there was no German nuclear program, yet built one anyway to secure postwar hegemony. He argues the Cold War was never really about defense; it was a protection racket that justified permanent militarization, purged the American left, and convinced generations that annihilation was the price of safety. Jay makes the case that nuclear winter research has been buried for decades because acknowledging it would mean admitting there is no such thing as a winnable nuclear war — only a lucrative one.

In part two, filmmaker and journalist Paul Jay argues that American politics runs on kayfabe — pro wrestling’s term for the fiction that the staged drama is real. The battles themselves are real enough: the fights in Congress over legislation, the billions spent to win elections. But what’s said publicly — the messaging, the narrative, the story sold to voters — is mostly fiction. The power of finance, the military industrial complex, and the billionaire class as a whole are rarely talked about in mainstream media or politics.

In part one, filmmaker and journalist Paul Jay joins host Shalaj Lawania for a personal reflection. Jay argues that Canadian and American identity sit on a foundational lie: stolen land, slavery, and corporate rule masked as liberal democracy. He says most mainstream journalism focuses on the actors, but rarely on who owns the stage.

He traces his “red diaper” upbringing, the Cold War myths he didn’t internalize, and the way mainstream and algorithmic media turn politics into a billionaire-run wrestling show while keeping us on the brink of nuclear war. Any honest account of personal identity, Jay says, has to start with knowing the society we live in, how we got here, and the brutal history that continues today.

This summer, theAnalysis.news is revisiting some of our best episodes. Today’s pick, The Significance of the “Shit Show” Debate, originally published on September 30, 2020.

Paul Jay is joined by Prof. Leo Panitch, Jacobin writer Meagan Day, and historian Gerald Horne to break down the presidential debate and the deeper reasons behind the dysfunction in U.S. politics. They also discuss how a people’s movement might respond if Trump attempts a coup after losing the election.



Leo Panitch passed away on December 19, 2020, at the age of 75.

Rank-and-file delegates amended the UAW Constitution at the union\'s 39th Constitutional Convention, requiring the union to divest from Israel Bonds after a grassroots campaign led by auto workers, academic workers, and graduate employees.

In the second part of Barry Stevens\' conversation with international law expert Michael Byers, the focus shifts to the \"tragedy of the commons\" unfolding above our heads. As thousands of satellites are launched by companies such as Elon Musk\'s SpaceX and millions of pieces of debris accumulate in orbit, the risk grows of a collisional cascade—known as the Kessler Syndrome—that could render parts of near-Earth space unusable for generations. Byers says that the rapid commercialization of space is linked to US military priorities and great power competition, as satellite networks sold as civilian infrastructure become essential tools of modern warfare and domination. The pace of expansion is outstripping the ability of international institutions to protect and govern the orbital environment. In the process, the spirit of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty is being steadily eroded. Space was envisioned as a realm of peaceful cooperation and a province of all humankind. This analysis shows how one of its last great global commons is being stolen and squandered.

Gerald Horne joins Paul Jay to break down how the U.S. war on Iran has isolated Washington on the world stage, fractured the political right at home, and handed Tehran leverage it never had before. From anti-Trump summits in Barcelona to Jamie Dimon urging the elites to "finish the job," they examine whether the American establishment has any real exit strategy, or whether it's heading toward another Iraq War.