News ep! We talk striking nurses, MLBPA drama, SCOTUS vs POTUS, the changing tactics of ICE, looksmaxxing, and more with our cool Social Studies teacher, future governor of New York, the Sigma Marxist, C. Derick Varn!

In part two of our new episode we chat with Varn about his DSA organizing in SLC, the Board of Peace and its plans for Gaza, and read a scene report from a Nick Land/Curtis Yarvin meet-and-greet in SF. For the full episode, Discord access, and all bonus material, support the show at http://patreon.com/thiswreckage

Varn Vlog on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VarnVlog

and Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/varnvlog/posts

Show notes:

NYC Nurse strike ends after considerable drama between union and r&f: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/nyregion/nyc-nurses-strike-reach-deal.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/nyregion/nyc-nurses-strike-union.html https://labornotes.org/2026/02/nurse-strikes-focus-moves-manhattans-richest-hospital-complex-contracts-settle-elsewhere

Tariffs: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/business/economy/tariffs-supreme-court-global-busines-reaction.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Essay from MPLS anarchists claiming no victory with ICE drawdown: https://illwill.com/proto-politics-in-purgatory

(follow up to this phil neel piece: https://illwill.com/lies )

ICE strategy moving to suburbs: https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/ice-minnesota-suburbs-operation-metro-surge/

SONG: The Star-Spangled Banner - Anime Opening Ver.

Abigail Susik is an art historian, vice president of the International Society for the Study of Surrealism, and editor of Resurgence! Jonathan Leake, Radical Surrealism, and the Resurgence Youth Movement, 1964-1967, a compilation of publications by a surrealist sixties' anarchist group in NYC.

For this Armed Love episode, we challenge ourselves to understand the political potency of the interwar avant-garde art movements (Dada, Futurism, Surrealism), their resurgence within the sixties New Left, and the potentials for avant-garde revolutionary praxis to confront political challenges today.

For all bonus episodes and Discord access, support the show at http://patreon.com/thiswreckage

TJ Clark works mentioned: https://archive.org/details/imageofpeoplegus0000clar_q5r5 https://archive.org/details/farewelltoideaep0000tjcl

Andre Breton's surrealist manifestos: https://monoskop.org/images/2/2f/Breton_Andre_Manifestoes_of_Surrealism.pdf

SI's 1957 text mentioning surrealism: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/guy-debord-report-on-the-construction-of-situations

Resurgence Youth Movement's Guerilla Manifesto: https://illwill.com/guerilla-manifesto

Archive of Rebel Worker journal: https://libcom.org/article/rebel-worker-journal

Schizofeminism: https://www.schizofeminism.com/

Iraqi (not Iranian) artist mentioned at the end: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa_Zangana Abigail also recommends David Roediger and Robin DG Kelley

Music: George Antheil - Ballet mècanique, part 1

Sean and Varn tackle the important question regarding the release of the much-vaunted 'Epstein Files': which ones of 'our faves' might be implicated? How do we avoid the 'socialism of fools' after this and Gaza? What does the Epstein story tell us about the rot at the heart of our ruling class? What do the files tell us about the absolute state of barbarism we currently live in and must find some way to work ourselves out of?

N.B. at one point in the main episode Sean, in reference to diversity within Judaism, mentions the Satmar Hasidic community in NYC but neglects to mention why he brought it up which is because they one of the main sects that rejects Zionism on religious principle. To listen to the paywalled section where Sean and Varn elaborate more on these questions become a patron at www.patreon.com/thiswreckage and to watch the video recording of the whole thing become a patron of Varn at www.patreon.com/varnvlog

Those interested in information about the Independent Labor Club can go to ILClabor.com and sign up.

If you are in the Philadelphia area the ILC is having a first meetup for the Greater Philly chapter at Wissahickon Brewing Company on American Street Saturday, February 21st from 7pm to 8:30pm.

For more info you can email ILCofPhilly at gmail dot com. Hope to see you there!

Song: Gary Numan - This Wreckage

The hosts of Blowback Podcast report back from Colombia and Cuba!

For an extended version of this episode, support the show at http://patreon.com/thiswreckage

In Bogota, they attended a conference of the Progressive International that drafted a declaration for countering the Donroe Doctrine. And in Havana, they witnessed immediate results of Trump's full blockade of oil imports, leaving the island with only 3 weeks of fuel before the power grid fails.

Along the way we talk about various forms of ice protests in New York, the lack of internationalist power among the (North) American left, the twisting road of recent US-Cuban foreign policy, the afterlife of the Pink Tide, and some tips on visiting Cuba while you still can.

Show notes: Rubio seeks regime change in Cuba: https://www.bellyofthebeastcuba.com/rubio-no-end-to-cuba-sanctions-without-regime-change

The Progressive International's San Carlos Declaration: https://progressive.international/wire/2026-01-25-nuestra-amrica/en/

Trump says US in talks with Cuban leadership: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/us-is-in-talks-with-cuban-leadership-says-trump-after-blockade-threats

Russia supplying air defenses? https://www.defensenews.com/global/the-americas/2026/02/02/russian-cargo-plane-arrives-in-cuba-echoing-frantic-caracas-buildup/

Song: Celina González - Décimas de la Revolución

Gavin and Hope from the Chicago chapter of the Independent Labor Club join Sean to discuss national news and local chapter news in Chicagoland.

Join us for a conversation about the recent events (pig murders) in Minneapolis, what it means to organize against the state, how not to become fodder in blue vs red politics and what autonomous class self-activity looks like amid general crisis.

For access to the bonus portion of this episode become a supporter of our work

Click on the link for information and to sign up for the Independent Labor Club of North America: www.ilclabor.com

For info on upcoming events from Chicago ILC

Check out Gavin's history podcast: West Bank Robbery

Sean and Andy are joined by Connor Mulhern, lead researcher at the Reactionary International Research Consortium, and Henry Wallace, head honcho at the New International Magazine and Franco-American raconteur, to discuss the networks of power and influence behind the rise of right populist movements across the globe.

How might this reactionary global influence network compare to the unsuccessful 20th century attempt to create a fascist international or the relative successes of the Mount Pelerin Society later on? Where does an increasingly reactionary Silicon Valley fit in? What is the connection between Trumpism and the burgeoning European post-fascist movement? And how might they be confronted and defeated without the working class allying itself with the avatars of a dying liberal order like Keir Starmer and Kaja Kallas?

https://reactionary.international/cases/

https://www.newintermag.com/washington-is-no-ally/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/opinion/national-security-strategy-us-europe.html

To listen to the full episode and all our wonderful bonus content become a supporter of our show at http://patreon.com/thiswreckage

Song: JPEG Mafia - Vulgar Display of Power

Our thoughts on the wars, foreign and domestic, covering Greenland, Canada, China, Venezuela, EU, NATO, Israel, Minneapolis, the consolidation of neo-fascist lumpen imperialism

Support the show at http://patreon.com/thiswreckage

Show notes:

EU’s “anti coercion tool”, the Trade bazooka, turns against Trump https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/world/europe/greenland-us-trade-war.html

Estonia's suppression of Russian minority: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/russia/article/2025/03/26/estonia-s-parliament-bans-local-voting-for-non-europeans-targeting-russians_6739540_140.html

Israeli War Keynesianism:

https://jacobin.com/2025/09/israel-war-economy-reservist-compensation

https://www.972mag.com/israel-genocide-economy-gaza-war/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-rolls-out-tax-benefits-to-lure-back-tech-talent-and-investments-after-gaza-war/

https://www.boi.org.il/en/communication-and-publications/regular-publications/monetary-policy-reports/monetary-policy-report-first-half-of-2025/

Rise of Nazis and a capitalist ‘Dual State’, not dual power: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/opinion/renee-good-ice-immunity.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/05/trump-executive-order-lawlessness-constitutional-crisis/682112/

https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-50/politics/the-fork-in-the-road-2/

Song: Andrew Bird - Dear Old Greenland

Sean and Andy are joined by Marco and Luke of the UK collective Angry Workers of the World, here to discuss their practical activity and intellectual output since the publication of Class Power on Zero Hours several years ago. They also present their relatively new healthcare industry project whose publication Vital Signs seeks to analyze how medical labor, in all its industrial diversity and its day-to-day struggles, might prefigure a world where our class has taken responsibility for production and reproduction of society.

This is a wide-ranging and fascinating discussion with fellow workers who are grappling with the biggest questions facing our class at the moment. If you're interested in their project or starting something similar where you live and work they have asked especially healthcare workers in the US to reach out to collaborate with them at Vital Signs.

To become a patron and support our work go to www.patreon.com/thiswreckage

Song: Megadeath - Angry Again

We discuss PLURIBUS: Vince Gilligan's new show about a misanthropic writer who has to deal with the annoying communist singularity.

for the FULL EPISODE subscribe at patreon.com/thiswreckage

Sean is drunk and angry

Listen to the full episode free and subscribe for our bonus ep about Pluribus at http://patreon.com/thiswreckage

Show notes:

NYE murder in Cali https://abc7.com/amp/post/keith-porter-death-advocates-want-legal-action-man-shot-killed-off-duty-ice-agent-northridge/18359155

Feds block investigation https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/us/minnesota-ice-shooting-news.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Border Patrol attacks school kids: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/08/after-border-patrol-clash-at-roosevelt-minneapolis-schools-cancel-classes

Lessons from Chicago: https://lakeeffect.noblogs.org/post/2025/12/31/chipocalypse-now/

Our initial reaction to Trump's first regime change and some thoughts on the end of the Bolivarian Revolution.

Statement from La Clase: https://laclase.info/content/abajo-la-agresion-yanqui-defendamos-a-venezuela/

Support the show at http://patreon.com/c/thiswreckage

Song: Rebel Diaz - Work Like Chavez