Coming From Left Field (Video)

About Coming From Left Field (Video)

Welcome to Coming From Left Field, a conversation about politics, books, and current events.

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Feb 2021

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

155 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   "Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History” with Benjamin Moser

   Can Jewish identity be separated from support for Zionism? Benjamin Moser argues that Jewish history offers a powerful answer—and that many of its dissenting voices have been pushed out of view. In this episode of Coming From Left Field, we talk with the Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer about “Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History.” Through twelve portraits of religious thinkers, writers, intellectuals, and artists, Moser explores a tradition of Jewish opposition to Zionism stretching from the movement’s beginnings to today. The conversation begins with a family heirloom: the volume of Theodor Herzl’s writings that Moser’s grandfather carried out of Nazi Germany. It moves through Moser’s own political evolution, his experiences in Palestine, and the personal and professional costs of speaking out. About Benjamin Moser Benjamin Moser is an American biographer and translator living in the Netherlands. His biography “Sontag: Her Life and Work” won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. He has also written a biography of Brazilian author Clarice Lispector and “The Upside-Down World,” a book about Dutch painting. In “Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History,” he brings his biographer’s attention to individual lives to a deeply personal investigation of Jewish identity, political dissent, and solidarity with Palestinians. Resources: Order the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/770236/anti-zionism-by-benjamin-moser/ Benjamin Moser Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Moser Greg’s Substack: https://substack.com/@greggodels929536 Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/ #BenjaminMoser#Anti-ZionismAJewishHistory#anti-Zionism#Zionism#Jewishhistory#Palestine#Palestinianrights#IsraelPalestine#TheodorHerzl#HannahArendt#NanGoldin#JacobIsraeldeHaan#settlercolonialism#antisemitism#politicaldissent#bookinterview#PulitzerPrize#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#zzblog#mltoday

2. 

   16 Oct 2026

   "Stalin Over Wisconsin” - The Union They Had To Break with Roger Keeran

   What does it take to build a fighting union—and what does it take to destroy one? Historian Roger Keeran returns to Coming From Left Field to discuss Stephen Meyer’s “Stalin Over Wisconsin: The Making & Unmaking of Militant Unionism, 1900–1950.” Keeran wrote the new foreword to this rediscovered labor history, which follows the rise and dismantling of militant unionism at the Allis-Chalmers manufacturing plant outside Milwaukee. At the heart of the story is United Auto Workers Local 248 and its founding president, Harold Christoffel. Through shop-floor organizing, political education, social activities, and a commitment to defending workers’ rights, the local became more than a bargaining organization: it became a community. Its leaders understood that solidarity had to be built every day—and that fighting for women and Black workers strengthened the entire union. That solidarity faced an extraordinary test during the eleven-month strike of 1946–47. Workers confronted not only a determined employer, but also hostile newspaper coverage, congressional investigations, relentless red-baiting, and opposition from leaders within organized labor. Keeran examines how these forces converged against Local 248, why members continued to support their union, and how Christoffel ultimately became a target of prosecution and imprisonment. About Roger Keeran Roger Keeran is a historian and emeritus professor at SUNY Empire State University whose work examines American labor, Communist organizing, and socialist history. His teaching career included Cornell, Princeton, and Rutgers. He is the author of “The Communist Party and the Auto Workers’ Unions” and coauthor, with Thomas Kenny, of “Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union.” His new foreword to Meyer’s “Stalin Over Wisconsin” draws on decades of research into the relationship between radical politics and working-class organization. Resources: Order the book: https://www.intpubnyc.com/browse/stalin-over-wisconsin/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Keeran Greg’s Substack: https://substack.com/@greggodels929536 Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/ #RogerKeeran#StalinOverWisconsin#StephenMeyer#laborhistory#AllisChalmers#UAWLocal248#HaroldChristoffel#militantunionism#industrialunionism#unionorganizing#workersolidarity#collectivebargaining#classstruggle#CommunistPartyUSA#red-baiting#anticommunism#McCarthyism#WalterReuther#Wisconsinlaborhistory#InternationalPublishers#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#zzblog#mltoday

3. 

   24 Sept 2026

   Black Marxism, Class Politics, and the Questions We Cannot Avoid with August Nimtz

   In this episode, we welcome political scientist and longtime University of Minnesota professor August H. Nimtz to discuss his book, “Black Marxism: A Marxist Critique.” Nimtz revisits Cedric J. Robinson’s 1983 influential “Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition” and explains why he believes Robinson’s account of the Black radical tradition downplays class struggle, revolutionary politics, and the significance of figures such as Malcolm X. Drawing on his own experiences in the Black freedom movement, field research in Tanzania, and decades of study of Marx, Engels, and Lenin, Nimtz makes the case for a Marxism that takes racism, national liberation, and working-class unity seriously. The conversation ranges from the Grenadian Revolution and anti-colonial struggles in Africa to Malcolm X, Black nationalism, identity politics, and the enduring question of whether the left can build an independent political alternative to the Democratic Party. Nimtz also reflects on Lenin’s approach to elections, the meaning of revolutionary parliamentarianism, and why he sees troubling parallels between today’s global conflicts and the period leading up to World War I. This is a wide-ranging, challenging conversation about race, class, imperialism, and the political choices facing the left today. About August Nimtz August H. Nimtz is a political scientist, Marxist scholar, and longtime professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, where he has taught since 1971. Raised in New Orleans in a union-oriented household, Nimtz developed an early interest in the relationship between race, class, labor, and political struggle. His research in Tanzania in 1969–70, including field interviews conducted in Swahili, helped shape his work on African politics, Islam, colonialism, and the class dynamics of postcolonial societies. A longtime socialist activist and member of the Socialist Workers Party from 1972 to 1995, Nimtz has written extensively on Marx, Engels, Lenin, Black liberation, electoral strategy, and anti-imperialism. Nimtz’s work emphasizes confronting racism while building independent, multiracial working-class political movements. Resources: Order the book: https://monthlyreview.org/9781685901752/ Webpage: https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/animtz Greg’s Substack: https://substack.com/@greggodels929536 Pat’s Substack: https://patcummings.substack.com/ #AugustNimtz#AugustH.Nimtz#BlackMarxism#BlackMarxismAMarxistCritique#CedricJ.Robinson#Marxism#Blackradicaltradition#racialcapitalism#Blackliberation#Blacknationalism#revolutionarynationalism#MalcolmX#MarxandEngels#Leninism#socialism#democraticsocialism#SocialistWorkersParty##workingclasspolitics#identitypolitics#labormovement#leftpolitics#progressivepolitics#USpolitics#imperialism#WorldWarI#PatCummings#GregGodels#ZZBlog#ComingFromLeftField#zzblog#mltoday

Who has been a guest on Coming From Left Field (Video)

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Charles Derber
• Judy Karofsky
• Greg Godels
• Stephen Gowans
• Michelle Phelps

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 49 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

70

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

68

Contact Coming From Left Field (Video)

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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