Jacobin Radio: NYT Bias, "Junkie Communism," and Deaths of Despair

  Suzi does three stories on this episode of Jacobin Radio, beginning with Katie Halper (https://katiehalper.com/bio/)'s expose in Jacobin (https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/07/bernie-sanders-sydney-ember-new-york-times) of the New York Times's problem with Bernie Sanders, evident in their coverage. The problem is their correspondent Sydney Ember, who has a long record of unfairly attacking Sanders — while neglecting to mention that the sources she quotes as objective authorities are corporate lobbyists and austerity ideologues. Suzi then looks at two articles in the new journal Commune (https://communemag.com/about/), first with M. E. O’Brien. Her article, “Junkie Communism” questions how the socialist project emphasizes the dignity of work as its basis, but leaves out those who are unable to maintain stable employment — and posits a politics that includes those whose lives have been broken by the cruel conditions imposed on us all. Suzi then talks to Chloe Watlington (https://communemag.com/contributor/chloe-watlington/) about her powerful piece “Who Owns Tomorrow (https://communemag.com/who-owns-tomorrow/),” a devastating and revealing look at deaths of despair — from opioids, alcohol, and unemployment in crumbling neoliberal America, an all-too-familiar story that has hit Watlington personally.