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
313 episodes
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...
Talking MAGA’s Intellectuals with Laura Field and Matt McManus
Ben Burgis and Matt McManus chat with Laura K. Field about her excellent new book "Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right."Order the book::https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691255262/furious-mindsF...
Curtis Yarvin Stops Being Coy About Fascism
Deep State Kuba and New York Cynthia join Ben Burgis to talk about Curtis Yarvin's demented new essay "The Situation and the Solution."Follow Kuba on Twitter: @DrKuba2Follow Cynthia on Twitter; @c_cook1988Follow Ben on T...
Why Everyone Should Read Vivek Chibber
Marxist Twitter has been fighting about Vivek Chibber lately. Ben Burgis takes the opportunity to address the immediate controversy but also the much broader value of Chibber's work.Read the Jacobin Chibber interview on the origins of c...
Is "Elite Capture" the Problem with Identity Politics?
Ben Burgis talks about why he doesn't buy Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò's defense of identity politics in Táíwò's book "Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)."Check out the book:https://www.haymar...
Are Service Workers and Public Sector Employees Part of the Proletariat?
Are service workers part of the "productive" part of the working class? And what does that mean? How about public sector employees--if they're not productive workers, does that mean that their interests don't align with productive workers and s...
Ana Kasparian Tries to Teach Bill Maher Basic Things About Palestine
Many-time GTAA guest Ana Kasparian went on Bill Maher's podcast Club Random. Ben Burgis watches the part where they argue about Gaza and breaks it down.Read Ben's article "The “Human Shields” Defense of Bombing Gaza’s Civilians Is Moral...
