#55: Bhaskar Sunkara on the Socialist Blueprint

For this week's episode Bhaskar Sunkara joins Amogh and Matt to discuss his new book The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World, co-written with Mike Beggs and Ben Burgis.

We talk about the now decade-long arc of millennial socialism, and the role of the media ecology that Bhaskar helped develop. We ask him to elaborate on the book's position on markets and exploitation within a socialist economy. We consider the relationship between the left-populist tactics of the new wave of DSA-backed candidates, alongside the broader program of building a class conscious social base.

READINGS:

--"Reforming Capitalism Is Not Enough" - Bhaskar Sunkara, 2026: https://jacobin.com/2026/06/socialism-social-democracy-class-rupture

--"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should run for president" - Bhaskar Sunkara, 2026: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/21/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-for-president

--"Zohran Needs to Create Popular Assemblies" - Gabriel Hetland & Bhaskar Sunkara, 2025: https://jacobin.com/2025/12/mamdani-popular-assemblies-democratic-socialism

Bhaskar Sunkara is the president of The Nation magazine, founder and editorial director of Jacobin, and the author of The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality. Sunkara is a Guardian US columnist who has published more than two hundred articles and essays about politics in outlets like the New York Times, The Nation, the Washington Post, and Le Monde.