Give Them An Argument
Give Them An Argument is a YouTube show and podcast dedicated to building a smarter, funnier and more strategic Left. New episodes are live on YouTube on Monday nights with an exclusive postgame for GTAA patrons after the main show. (To become a patron, go to patreon.com/benburgis and sign up for the monthly cost of a milkshake at a 50s nostalgia diner in 1994.) Past guests have included Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, David Pizarro, Gregory Sadler, Glenn Greenwald, Krystal Ball, Bhaskar Sunkara, Sam Seder, Ana Kasparian, Emma Vigeland, Matt Christman, and Amber Frost. The show has also featured debates between host Ben Burgis and opponents ranging from Walter Block to Charlie Kirk.Ben is a philosophy professor, Jacobin columnist, and frequent debater. He did a regular "Debunk" segment on the Michael Brooks Show until 2020. He's appeared on the Debate Night with Charlie Kirk, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, Rising, Krystal, Kyle & Friends, the Majority Report w/Sam Seder & the Joe Rogan Experience.benburgis.compatreon.com/benburgis
Episodes
319 episodes
Why We Wrote the Blueprint (Which Comes Out TOMORROW)
Ben Burgis talks about his new book (co-written with Bhaskar Sunkara and Mike Beggs), "The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World," which comes out TOMORROW (Tuesday, September 29th).The book is available for pre-order (or,...
Marxist Analysis of "the PMC" (+ Defending DSA)
In this episode, we play a presentation Ben Burgis gave at UC-Irvine on how to make sense of "elites" in Marxist class analysis (basically, are "the PMC" really a separate class, or part of the working class, or what), and then apply the point ...
What Would a Socialist Foreign Policy Look Like? (ft. Deep State Kuba and Jason Myles) (Podcast Version)
In this crossover with THIS IS REVOLUTION podcast, Ben Burgis and Jason Myles chat with Deep State Kuba about socialist foreign policy and in particular how a post-capitalist society of the kind described in Ben's new book (co-written w/Bhaskar...
Don't RETVRN: Liberal Modernity as the Basis for Socialism (ft. Matt McManus and Florian Maiwald)
Florian Maiwald and Matt McManus join Ben Burgis to discuss Florian's essays in Matt's new book, "What is Liberal Socialism?" (and the larger themes of the collection).Order Matt's book:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/b...
Is Capitalism REALLY the Best We Can Do? (Ben Burgis Lecture in Michigan)
Last Thursday, Ben Burgis gave the first lecture of the new year at the Ethics Center at Western Michigan University, to talk about the themes of his new book (co-written with Bhaskar Sunkara and Mike Beggs), "The Blueprint: How Socialism Can W...
Ben Burgis Goes on Israeli TV and DEBUNKS Mayo-Brained Talking Points
Yesterday, Ben Burgis went on English-language Israeli cable channel i24 to argue about the role of Israel/Palestine in the rise of the democratic socialist left in the United States. We'll play the whole segment and break it down!Read ...
Socialism and Human Nature (ft. Matt McManus)
Matt McManus joins Ben Burgis to talk about Matt’s new article “Socialists Aren’t Naive About Human Nature,” and more generally about why attempts to base anti-socialist arguments on human imperfection miss the point.Read Matt’s article...
A Socialist's Dialogue with Liberalism (ft. Matt McManus)
Matt McManus joins Ben to talk about Matt's new article on Marxist philosopher G.A. Cohen's "engagement with the best of the liberal tradition," and to wrap up Matt and Ben's conversation about Cohen from the last time Matt was on the show....
The Iran War’s Most Embarrassingly Wrong Pundits (ft. Branko Marcetic)
Branko Marcetic and Ben Burgis count down the commentators who were most embarrassingly wrong about Iran.Read Branko's article:https://jacobin.com/2026/07/iran-war-pundits-fox-trumpFollow Branko on Twitter: @BMarch...
Meet Socialist Congressional Candidate Oliver Larkin
Oliver Larkin is a DSA-endorsed candidate running for Congress in FL-25.Check out his campaign website:https://www.oliverforcongress.com/issuesFollow him on Twitter: @OliverALarkinFollow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBe...
The Myth of Red Texas (ft. David Griscom)
David Griscom joins us to talk about his excellent new book "The Myth of Red Texas: Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South." Also, happy birthday to our Texan graphic designer J. Andrew World!Order the book:https:...
Debate Breakdown: Batya Ungar-Sargon vs. Brad Lander (ft. Cynthia Cook)
Pro-Trump pundit Batya Ungar-Sargon sat down with left-wing Congressional candidate Brad Lander to berate him about Israel and other subjects. Ben Burgis and Cynthia Cook give it a watch.Read Ben's article "DSA’s Critics Are Missing the...
Matt McManus and Ben Burgis Have a New Book on G.A. Cohen, Out Today!
Ben Burgis chats with Matt McManus about Matt's Jacobin article "Gad Saad Is Very Mad That His Books Are Bad and Sad."Read the article:
Gad Saad Is Very Mad That His Books Are Bad and Sad (ft. Matt McManus)
Ben Burgis chats with Matt McManus about Matt's Jacobin article "Gad Saad Is Very Mad That His Books Are Bad and Sad."Read the article:https://jacobin.com/2026/05/saad-empathy-conservatism-book-reviewFollow Matt on Twitt...
Debate Breakdown: Medhi Hasan vs. PBD
Victor Bruzzone joins Ben Burgis to break down Medhi Hasan's recent conversation with Patrick Bet-David about Israel, free speech, imperial expansionism, and more.Follow Victor on Twitter: @victorbruzzoneFollow Ben on Twitter @J...
Well, That Went Well: Talking Iran with Mean Djene Bajalan
When Trump announced the war at the end of February, he said the goal was to bring "freedom" the people of Iran. Over and over again in the weeks of fighting, he said he'd settle for nothing less than "unconditional surrender." At one point, he...
Dialogue on Left and Right Populism w/Sohrab Ahmari (YouTube Version)
Last month in New York City, Ben Burgis and Sohrab Ahmari sat down for an in-person dialogue on left- and right- "populism." Here it is!Follow Sohrab on Twitter: @SohrabAhmariFollow Cynthia on Twitter: @c_cook1988Follow ...
Hegelian Marxism vs. Analytical Marxism (ft. Matt McManus + Michael Lazarus)
Ben Burgis is joined by Michael Lazarus (author of "Absolute Ethical Life: Aristotle, Hegel and Marx") and Matt McManus (who needs no introduction to GTAA fans) for a fun three-way exchange on "analytical Marxism" (the tradition Ben works in), ...
Debate on Socialism with Jillian Michaels
Last week Ben Burgis and Jillian Michaels hashed out their disagreements on socialism in an in-person debate in Michaels's studio in LA. Here it is!Follow Jillian on Twitter: @JillianMichaelsFollow Ben on Twitter @JacobinBen [NO...
Western Marxism Through the Looking Glass (ft. Matt McManus)
Matt McManus discusses his review of Gabriel Rockhill's Temu-Stalinist conspiracy theory of "western Marxism."Read Matt's review of Rockhill's "Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?" in Damage magazine:https://www.damagemag.co...
Philosophers Debate the War in Iran
A day late because Ben had to write a Jacobin article about all this instead of doing the episode (sorry about that!) but there's a lot to cover. Last Friday he recorded a debate on the war in Iran (hosted by philosopher Spencer Case). In this ...
Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisiting G.A. Cohen
Last week at York University in Toronto, there was a panel to pre-launch a book of essays called "Analytical Marxism and Democratic Socialism in the 21st Century: Revisitng G.A. Cohen" co-edited by Ben Burgis and Matt McManus. Contributors Les ...
RIP Habermas (ft. Matt McManus)
Matt McManus joins to discuss the complicated legacy of philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who died last Saturday.Read Matt's article "Jürgen Habermas Showed What Philosophy Could Be" in Jacobin:https://jacobin.com/2026/03/habermas-ob...
Matt McManus Read Nick Land So You Don't Have To
Returning champ Matt McManus joins us once again, this time to explore a reactionary weirdo who somehow hasn't been the subject of a GTAA episode yet!Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattPolProfFollow Ben on Twitter: @BenBurgisF...
Of All the Dumb Wars, This One is Somehow the Dumbest
We're back, baby!Ben Burgis breaks down the idiotic arguments made by the MAGA faithful in defense of Trump's decision to wage an unprovoked, illegal, open-ended war against a country with far more capacity to defend itself than Afghani...
