Best Steven D Grumbine Podcasts (2025)

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Ep 357 - Socialism with Chinese Characteristics with Yan Liang 1:11:33

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3d ago1:11:33

1:11:33

In today’s world, anyone serious about anti-imperialism, global development, and monetary sovereignty needs to break through the well-funded US propaganda machine and develop a fact-based, nuanced understanding of China. To this end, Steve asked Yan Liang to come back to the podcast to look at China through the MMT lens, analyzing its economic mana…

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Ep 356 - Scotland's Economic Suicide Pact? with Will Thomson 1:07:01

10d ago1:07:01

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Steve and his guest, Scottish political economist William Thomson, use the fight over Scotland’s independence to dissect how class power hides inside “neutral” economic rules. Will, founder of SCOTONOMICS, talks about his journey from neoclassical training to a heterodox, political-economy perspective grounded in MMT, ecological economics, and clas…

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Ep 355 - Dialectics of Dominance with Aaron Good 1:06:33

17d ago1:06:33

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“We’re at an inflection point – a civilizational crisis. Western imperial dominance is ending, and its dying spasms are only accelerating the collapse.” Aaron Good Aaron Good, author of American Exception: Empire and the Deep State, is back to talk with Steve about the crisis of the US-led imperial order and the manufactured “common sense” that kee…

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Ep 354 - The Fed As a Weapon of Class Power with L. Randall Wray 55:39

24d ago55:39

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Randy: “We’re supposed to believe the central bank manages inflation by using interest rates?" Steve: “It’s ridiculous.” L. Randall Wray, one of the original MMT economists, recently wrote a paper with Yeva Nersisyan entitled, No, the Fed is NOT Independent – It is a Creature of Congress. Steve invited Randy for a conversation about how the Federal…

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Ep 353 - Dollars for Oligarchs, Austerity for Argentina with Daniel Kostzer 1:00:01

1M ago1:00:01

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** Want to take a deeper dive into this podcast? Join us on Tuesday evenings for Macro ‘n Chill, where we listen to the most recent episode together. Ask questions, share your insights, or just hang with us. 8pm ET/5pm PT. Find the registration link at realprogressives.org. And while you’re there, sign up for book club. It’s not too late – there ar…

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Ep 352 - Nothing to Hide with Heidi Boghosian 1:00:02

1M ago1:00:02

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Heidi Boghosian is an attorney, author, and co-host of Law and Disorder podcast and radio show. She joins Steve to discuss how the US surveillance state is a tool of class discipline and repression. From the Federalist Society pipeline to post-9/11 “safety” theater, both parties helped build a digital police state that criminalizes poverty, protest…

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Ep 351 - Born on Third Base with Steve Hall 59:54

2M ago59:54

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"The self-made man is a lie that we have taught people to keep them from complaining, to keep them from whining, to keep them from asking for better from their government, to keep them from asking for better from their employer." The two Steves – Hall and Grumbine – get together to dismantle the myth of the self-made man, exposing it as a centuries…

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Ep 350 - Naked Corruption with Bill Black 1:00:29

2M ago1:00:29

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Do you know what kakistocracy means? You’ll find out in this episode with guest Bill Black. Because, yeah, this is an educational podcast. A lot of us learned the term ‘elite control fraud’ from Bill in past episodes and you’ll hear more about it here. Bill is a great storyteller. His experience as a regulator trying to enforce laws against the gre…

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Ep 349 - Cultural Syndromes of Capitalism with David Fields 57:59

2M ago57:59

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**This week’s Macro ‘n Chill gathering should be a lively one. Whenever we dive into the topic of cultural hegemony, it sparks a thoughtful discussion. Join us on Tuesday, October 14, 8pm ET/5pm PT. Click here to register This is the 349th episode of our podcast. Just sayin’. Steve’s guest is David Fields, talking about his recent article, The Cult…

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Ep 348 - Gaza: Digital Colonialism & Resistance with Omar Zahzah 59:10

2M ago59:10

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The Palestinian liberation struggle is a fundamental class and anti-colonial issue. First-time guest to the podcast, Professor Omar Zahzah, talks with Steve about the active collaboration of Silicon Valley tech giants with the US and Israeli governments to censor and suppress anti-Zionist narratives. "What these companies are doing is digitally amp…

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Ep 347 - Libertarianism vs. Reality with Brett Scott 56:26

2M ago56:26

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Economic anthropologist Brett Scott, the author of Cloud Money, talks with Steve about libertarianism’s big lie. Or lies – plural. From a class perspective, libertarianism is largely an ideological tool that protects elite power by promoting a false narrative of individualism and "free" markets. It serves as a smokescreen, concealing the mechanisms…

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Ep 346 - MMT: Why Our Allies Ignore Us with Yeva Nersisyan 1:07:53

3M ago1:07:53

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** You are invited to attend Macro ‘n Chill, our community building online gathering where we discuss the current episode of the podcast. Tuesday, September 23 at 8pm ET/5pm PT Click here to register. Our friend, MMT economist Yeva Nersisyan, joins Steve to discuss the struggle to communicate MMT's core principles in a media landscape filled with m…

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Ep 345 - Argentina: IMF, MMT, Class Warfare with Daniel Conceição 1:07:33

3M ago1:07:33

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Our friend Daniel Conceição is back for his sixth(!) time on Macro N Cheese. He and Steve share their critique of "neutral" or academic MMT that avoids class analysis. Understanding a government's monetary capacity is meaningless without using that knowledge as a weapon for class struggle against an oppressive economic system. Daniel shares his exp…

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Ep 344 - The Unstable Genius Act with Bob Hockett 1:14:00

3M ago1:14:00

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** Tuesday evening, Bob will join our weekly online gathering where we’ll listen to the podcast together and discuss. Bring your questions for him. September 9 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Use this link to register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1HA3nd_5QFSFzBe_cGiHpw This is Bob Hockett’s 12th visit to Macro N Cheese. Back in 2022, in an episode d…

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Ep 343 - Imports Are A Benefit, Exports Are A Cost? with William Mitchell 58:04

3M ago58:04

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In our 14th episode with Australian economist Bill Mitchell, the conversation focuses on the MMT perspective on international trade. Bill explains what is meant by the statement “imports are a benefit, and exports are a cost,” where it fits into the history of economic thought, and some of its implications. A significant portion of the conversation…

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Ep 342 - From Corbyn to Palestine: an MMT Analysis with Chris Williamson 1:13:02

4M ago1:13:02

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**Be sure to subscribe to our Substack. It costs you nothing to have all our new content delivered to straight to your inbox! https://realprogressives.substack.com/ Remember Labour's stunning defeat in the 2019 UK general election? When, under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, they won the lowest number of seats since 1935? Steve’s guest, Chris Williamso…

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Ep 341 - AI's Hidden Thirst with Erald Kolasi 1:07:28

4M ago1:07:28

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Our friend, physicist and economist Erald Kolasi, stops by the Macro N Cheese clubhouse to talk with Steve about the profound effects of AI on the energy grid, water resources, and societal infrastructure. The discussion focuses primarily on large-scale corporate AI, such as generative AI. Erald’s work bridges physics, economics, and ecology, revea…

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Ep 340 - Humanode: One Person, One Vote with Victor Vernissage 52:35

4M ago52:35

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**Our weekly online gathering, Macro ‘n Chill is the perfect place to discuss this week’s episode, especially since it includes terminology you might not be familiar with. Or there may be someone who needs your help understanding it. Community-buidling on Tuesday, August 12 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Use this link to register What do you know about blockcha…

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Ep 339 - Sociocide with Charles Derber 1:04:58

4M ago1:04:58

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Charles Derber, a sociology professor at Boston College, talks with Steve about his book, 'Bonfire: American Sociocide, Broken Relations and the Quest for Democracy.' Steve suggests the book aligns with his own assessment that US sociocide (social disintegration) demands revolutionary change. Electoral politics are a distraction and a dead end. The…

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Ep 338 - Can Deliberation Cure the Ills of Democracy? with James Fishkin 1:01:02

5M ago1:01:02

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If we had the power to design our own political system, what would it look like? Stanford Professor James Fishkin talks with Steve about deliberative democracy, a method that brings together diverse, representative groups to weigh policy trade-offs in a fact-based, civil environment. He maintains that when people get the chance to discuss issues in…

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Ep 337 - The Overdose Economy with Charles LeBaron 1:04:42

5M ago1:04:42

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Dr. Charles LeBaron is a retired CDC scientist and the author of Greed to Do Good: The Untold Story of CDC's Disastrous War on Opioids. He talks with Steve about the ill-considered response to the opioid crisis and the tragic and preventable consequences of the CDC’s 2016 guidelines. Restricting prescriptions without providing treatment (whether fo…

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Ep 336 - MMT101 with Jim Byrne 57:11

5M ago57:11

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**You’re invited to join us Tuesday evening for Macro ‘n Chill, an online gathering where we can listen to and talk about this episode. Tuesday July 15, 8pm ET/5 pm PT Click here to register This week we're releasing an interview Steve did as a guest of Jim Byrne, host of MMT101 podcast. Steve and Jim have much in common, so it’s interesting to hea…

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Ep 335 - Bonding Against Austerity: Can States Offset Federal Cuts? with Ben Wilson & Scott Ferguson 1:13:55

5M ago1:13:55

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**Tuesday evenings, we host an online listening party, Macro ‘n Chill, to discuss the current episode. It’s a great way to get to know other members of the community and talk about the ideas expressed in the podcast. Join us this Tuesday, July 8th, at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT Click HERE to register Scott Ferguson and Ben Wilson of the Money on the Left coll…

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Ep 334 - MMT for the Proles 1:16:27

5M ago1:16:27

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Part of our mission is to introduce MMTers to socialism and socialists to MMT. We’ve had a few metaphorical doors slammed in our faces along the way. Former friends from the MMT community now delight in slinging accusations worthy of a HUAC hearing, while some socialists suspect modern monetary theory is just a sideshow of bourgeois economics. So, …

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Ep 333 - DisElderly Conduct with Judy Karofsky 57:53

6M ago57:53

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If civilizations are judged by how they care for their elderly, our report card is already written. Should there be anyone left to judge us – should humanity exist long enough to judge us – we’ve flunked. Steve’s guest is Judy Karofsky, author of 'DisElderly Conduct: The Flawed Business of Assisted Living and Hospice,' who provides a critical exami…