PODCAST · history
What Would Karl Marx Do?
by WWKMD
Imagine if the world’s most influential (and sometimes, most infamous) philosophers, politicians, and personalities could chime in on today's news. Each week, WWKMD? reanimates the minds of history’s sharpest and most opinionated thinkers to interpret modern headlines. Join WWKMD? as it summons philosophers, economists, and thinkers from decades and centuries past to debate capitalism, culture wars, and the debt ceiling. Because sometimes, you need a 19th-century revolutionary to make sense of a 21st-century mess. <span style="font-famil
Episodes
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Flock Cameras (thread 18), Episode 5: Don't Read My Mail: How the Post Office Built Privacy in America
Episode five of Flock takes you through the surprisingly rich history of the U.S. Post Office, from Ben Franklin and the Constitution to the 1878 Ex Parte Jackson decision that said a sealed letter stays private even while the government delivers it. We’ll talk about how a trusted mail system...
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Flock Cameras (thread 18), Episode 4: Madison vs. the Flock: License-Plate Cameras and the Fourth Amendment
We went back to Madison and the founders to figure out what happens when the government can record everywhere you go just because it can. This is about more than finding a stolen car; it’s about whether collecting everyone’s movements is something the state needs to justify in advance. We talk...
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Historic Supreme Courts--Citizens United (thread 20), Episode 5: When Corporations Found a Voice: The Warren Court and the Road to Citizens United
Picture 1963: the Warren Court is grappling with whether organizations like the NAACP can protect members and use money to speak, and those rulings start to blur the line between association and corporate political power. This episode walks through NAACP v. Alabama and Button, shows how justices...
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Historic Supreme Courts--Citizens United (thread 20), Episode 4: When Unions Spoke: The 1948 Clash Over Money, Speech, and Democracy
This episode walks you through the tense shift from the New Deal era to 1948, when powerful unions, new campaign limits, and an emboldened First Amendment collided. Think Taft‑Hartley, the CIO newspaper case, and a Supreme Court that sidesteps a crisis but asks a bigger question: when…
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Historic Supreme Courts--Citizens United (thread 20), Episode 3: How Corporations Discovered the First Amendment
We dig into Grosjean v. American Press, where Huey Long's ad tax tried to choke out critical newspapers—and the Court responded by giving corporations a path to claim press protections. It's the surprising legal pivot that helps explain how Citizens United later became possible. Come along as we...
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Historic Supreme Courts--Citizens United (thread 20), Episode 2: Citizens United in 1907, and How the Fuller Court Might Have Ruled
Imagine taking Citizens United back to 1907, when the Fuller Court, Lochner-era thinking, and the new Tillman Act were all colliding over corporate clout. With Holmes skeptical of judicial interference and Congress already banning corporate contributions, the odds tip against letting corporations...
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Historic Supreme Courts--Citizens United (thread 20), Episode 1: Citizens United, 1886, and the Waite Court on Gilded Age Corporations
Come along as we drop Citizens United into 1886 and see how a Gilded Age Supreme Court would handle corporations, cash, and political speech. Think railroads, booming fortunes, and justices who accept corporations as "persons" for some rights — but would they let corporate treasuries steer...
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Radicals! (thread 19): Episode 2: The Landowner's Paradox: Henry George and the Single Tax
Curious about the thinker who wanted to keep your house but tax the dirt beneath it? This episode unpacks Henry George's simple, bold question—why does progress bring more poverty?—and his famous 'single tax' answer that turned headlines and stirred crowds. Come along for the ride: from booming...
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Radicals! (thread 19): Episode 1: Thomas Skidmore and America's First Property Revolution
This episode pulls a wild thread from early America: Thomas Skidmore in 1829 actually proposed wiping out the existing property map and giving every adult an equal share. It’s one of those stories that makes you realize radicals didn’t just arrive on some foreign ship — they grew right here. We...
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WWKMD?, Episode 24: Marx Meets the Cloud: The Loud, Physical Side of AI
Imagine we dragged Marx into the 21st century and showed him the “cloud”—not fluffy skies but huge, noisy data centers humming with servers, pipes, and power lines. He’d smile: AI isn’t weightless magic, it’s heavy, physical, and made by people. So the next time you type into a clean little chat...
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WWKMD?, Episode 23: When AI Steals the Desk Job: What Would Marx Say?
We’ve been quiet for a minute, but we’re back with a two-part deep dive that drags Karl Marx into the AI conversation. We’ll ask the big questions: sure, AI can write your email and code your script, but who benefits when machines do the work humans used to get paid for? Expect history (Luddites,...
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Flock Cameras (thread 18), Episode 3: When Paper Became a Database: The John Entick Case That Shaped Privacy
Picture agents breaking into your home and reading every scrap of paper for hours: that happened to John Entick in 1762. He sued, won, and a judge insisted the government can’t do useful things just because they’re useful — there has to be law. That old ruling still matters as cameras and…
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Flock Cameras (thread 18), Episode 2: When the Crown Went Fishing: John Wilkes and the Danger of General Warrants
Think of this as the 18th-century origin story for modern surveillance—except with more drinking, scandal, and a pamphlet called No. 45. John Wilkes took on the government’s power to 'just go find whoever wrote it,' and ended up teaching everyone a lesson about limits on searches. It’s surprising...
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Flock Cameras (thread 18), Episode 1: Writs of Assistance 2.0: Why Roadside Cameras Threaten a Founding Principle
We want to take you on a quick thread about flock cameras, surveillance, and why a guy from 1761 (James Otis) still matters. These cameras don’t kick in your door, but they do let investigators look back in time — and that changes what "ordinary observation" even means. It’s not about being...
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The National Debt (thread 17), Episode 4: When Tea Cost an Empire: Burke’s Warning Before Revolution
We're diving into a wild bit of history: Britain’s stubborn push to collect a tiny tea duty and Edmund Burke’s plea to stop burning bridges (and empires) over a principle. It’s a sharp, friendly reminder that money on a ledger always hides choices—wars fought, debts racked up, and loyalties lost....
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The National Debt (thread 17), Episode 3: When Debt Became a Crime: Grenville and the Stamp Act
We dig into how Britain’s massive war debt after the Seven Years’ War pushed George Grenville to impose the Sugar and Stamp Acts—and how that financial squeeze turned into a constitutional fight that helped spark the American Revolution. It’s wild: borrowing won an empire, but paying for it…
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The National Debt (thread 17), Episode 2: When Britain Bought an Empire: Pitt, Debt, and the Seven Years' War
Imagine borrowing a mountain of money to win a global war and then showing up with Canada and a huge bill. That’s exactly what William Pitt did: he turned British credit into cannon fire, bankrolling victories from Quebec to India while leaving the tab for future taxpayers. It worked brilliantly…
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The National Debt (thread 17), Episode 1: How William III and a Pint of Beer Built Modern National Debt
Let me tell you a wild quick story: the national debt doesn’t start with Hamilton or Jefferson, it really kicks off with William III and the 1694 founding of the Bank of England. Parliament began pledging future taxes as real collateral, turning government promises into tradable assets and giving...
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 19: Mission Accomplished? How Bush's Wars Became Two Long Quagmires
This episode walks you through how quick military wins in Afghanistan and Iraq didn’t solve the hard political problems that followed — and why those mistakes still matter with Iran today. Knocking a regime down is dramatic; building a stable peace is messy and slow. If you want a clear, honest...
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 18: When Good Intentions Arm the Enemy: Ronald Reagan and the Iran–Contra Lesson
This episode pulls back the curtain on Reagan’s Iran–Contra saga: how a drive to free hostages and support allies slipped into secret arms transfers, shady intermediaries, and funding for the Contras, with consequences that shook a presidency. It’s a compact reminder that noble motives can lead…
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Immigration (thread 12), Episode 6: Lyman Beecher vs. the Pope: Panic in the 1830s West
This episode walks you through Lyman Beecher’s big, dramatic worry: that Catholic immigrants would reshape American life unless Protestants raced to build schools, churches, and influence first. It’s part-idea history, part-fever dream, and yes, it even ends with a convent burned by a mob. We’ll...
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Immigration (thread 12): Episode 5: John Jay and The Myth of One American People
This episode pulls back the curtain on John Jay’s Federalist No. 2 and how he painted early America as a single, homogenous people to sell the idea of a nation. It’s surprising — and a little ironic — given how mixed the founders themselves and colonial communities really were. We trace how that...
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Immigration (thread 12), Episode 4: When Ben Franklin Panicked: The First American Immigration Scare
In this episode we dig into Benjamin Franklin's surprising 1751 panic about German immigrants in Pennsylvania: industrious newcomers who kept their language, voted, and sparked one of America’s earliest immigration scares. It’s sharp, a little awkward to hear from Franklin, and oddly familiar — a...
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 17: Nixon's Paradox: Escalate to De‑Escalate
This episode walks you through Nixon’s strange logic of using more force to get peace, why it felt so tempting in the Oval Office, and how decisions in Cambodia and Vietnam ended up spiraling beyond control. It’s a sharp, human reminder that ‘just a little more’ often grows into something much...
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 16: When Escalation Becomes a Trap: LBJ’s Vietnam Lesson for Iran
Think of this as a friend pointing out an ugly pattern: LBJ kept stepping up pressure and the war only grew — because the other side had its own reasons to keep fighting. Capability isn’t the same as willingness, and every bit of escalation makes getting out harder. So before the next move, ask…
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 15: When the White House Burned: Madison’s Warning for Trump and Iran
This episode draws a sharp, friendly line from Trump’s claim over the Strait of Hormuz back to James Madison and the War of 1812, showing how big advantages don’t always force the outcome you want. It’s a quick, history-backed reality check: wars can go off-script, enemies get a vote, and...
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WWKMD?, Episode 22: When the GOP Quotes Marx: J.D. Vance's Strange Wake-Up Call
Wild moment: the vice president is basically echoing Marx-era questions about concentrated capital, AI, and disappearing unions. It's not that they're turning socialist; it's that the old labels don't capture what's really happening. Stick around — this conversation digs into who owns the tech…
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Lindsay Clancy (thread 15), Episode 6: When Justice Faces Mercy: Clarence Darrow on the Lindsay Clancy Case
This episode brings Clarence Darrow into the heartbreaking Lindsay Clancy story and forces us to sit with the messy, uncomfortable questions everyone avoids: do we punish, treat, or something in between? Darrow doesn’t give easy answers, but he pushes us to think about why we want someone to…
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Lindsay Clancy (thread 15), Episode 5: When Madness Keeps Its Wits: Isaac Ray and the Clancy Case
This episode pulls Isaac Ray into the Lindsay Clancy trial to remind us that mental illness doesn’t always look like the movies—people can plan, reason, and still be profoundly disordered. Let’s walk through partial insanity, irresistible impulse, and why the law’s tidy rules often fail to…
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Lindsay Clancy (thread 15), Episode 4: No Camera Inside the Mind: The Lindsay Clancy Trial’s Impossible Question
This episode explores the one thing the Lindsay Clancy trial can’t directly show: what was happening inside her head. We bring William James into the conversation to unpack how consciousness can be fragmented, deceptive, and frighteningly private. It’s a tough listen, but we talk through why...
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The Reflecting Pool (thread 16), Episode 5: Nixon's Warning: Don't Turn a Peeling Pool into Watergate
If Nixon could whisper from the afterlife, he'd tell the White House one thing: stop digging. A paint peel isn't worth turning into a full-blown scandal. This episode walks through how tiny missteps become huge crises when you keep trying to defend them, and why sometimes the smartest move is to...
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The Reflecting Pool (thread 16), Episode 4: Spiro Agnew Would Love This: The Canoeist Conspiracy
Crazy how a botched renovation turns into a full-on political circus — Spiro Agnew would be grinning. This episode walks through the reflecting pool fiasco, the blue paint peeling, the dropped charges, and how a single canoeist becomes the perfect distraction. It’s a sharp, witty take on how…
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The Reflecting Pool (thread 16), Episode 3: The Buck Stops Here: Truman vs. the Reflecting Pool Fiasco
Quick take: imagine Harry Truman barging into today’s reflecting pool mess and cutting through all the excuses with a Missouri-sized glare. It’s a sharp, funny reminder that real leadership means owning mistakes, asking for the receipts, and fixing what you broke — not blaming a canoeist.
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The Reflecting Pool (thread 16), Episode 2: Silent Cal and the Blue Pool: A Lesson in Restraint
Picture Calvin Coolidge at the Lincoln Memorial, hands in pockets, quietly cutting through the chaos around a rushed pool repaint — no theatrics, just commonsense: sometimes a bad renovation is just a bad renovation. Walk with me through a wry, intimate take on restraint, responsibility, and why...
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The Reflecting Pool (thread 16), Episode 1: Abe vs. the Blue Pond: A Presidential Reflection
Come sit with me for a minute — we’re starting a new series that channels history into the wildest current events (this episode: the reflecting pool debacle). Imagine Abe Lincoln, briefed on peeling paint and a canoeist suspect, doing what he always did best: reflecting, asking for facts, and...
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Lindsay Clancy (thread 15), Episode 3: Dorothy Dix’s Warning: Who Did We Fail Before the Tragedy?
This piece links Dorothy Dix’s 19th-century crusade to the modern Lindsay Clancy trial and asks a simple, painful question: did the system notice the danger while there was still time? It’s not about excusing or condemning one person so much as wondering what we, as a society, owed someone whose...
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Lindsay Clancy (thread 15), Episode 2: When Knowing Isn't Enough: The McNaughton Rule vs. Lindsay Clancy
Let's take a short jog across the pond to 1843 and meet Daniel McNaughton, the Scottish woodturner whose delusions changed criminal law forever. This episode links his famous insanity rule to the modern questions in the Lindsay Clancy case: not just whether someone knew what they were doing, but...
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Lindsay Clancy (thread 15), Episode 1: Diseased Mind or Criminal Choice? Benjamin Rush on the Lindsay Clancy Dilemma
This episode walks you through the gut-wrenching Lindsay Clancy trial with Benjamin Rush as our unlikely guide, asking the hard question: when does a diseased mind stop being a medical tragedy and start being a criminal act? It’s a calm, close look at postpartum distress, psychiatric evidence…
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Trump Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 21: Who Really Made That Money? Henry George on Tariff Refunds
In this episode we drop Henry George into today’s tariff-refund drama to ask the simple but brutal question: where did that money really come from? He’ll make you follow the money, spot the difference between making wealth and merely capturing it, and wonder whether our rules reward builders or...
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Trump Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 20: T.R.'s Tough Love: When Big Business Forgets the People
Picture Teddy Roosevelt dropped into today's business world: he'd admire big companies, but he'd never let them forget who they serve. He'd ask bluntly whether tariff refunds help the nation or just soften the fall for the richest firms. In short, TR cared about fair rules, public duty, and…
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Trump Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 19: Andrew Jackson vs. the Tariff Refunds: Who's Really Getting the Money?
Picture Jackson back in Washington, cutting through the legal fog with one blunt question: who’s lining up for the checks? He wouldn’t start with arcane rules — he’d want to know whether refunds favor the well-connected while ordinary people get left out. This short take links Jackson’s obsession...
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Trump Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 18: What Adam Smith Really Meant About Tariffs and Power
Imagine Adam Smith showed up in 2026: he wouldn’t just cheer or boo the $100B in tariff refunds. He’d be quietly curious about who actually paid those tariffs, who got the refunds, and whether the rules reward customers or political access. He’d tell you to listen politely to business requests,...
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WWKMD?, Episode 21: Back to the Family Home: Why Grown Adults Are Moving in With Mom and Dad
Did you notice everyone talking about grown kids moving back home? This episode unpacks why multigenerational living isn't a TikTok fad but a predictable result of soaring housing costs, stagnant wages, and homes turning into investment vehicles. We take a wry look at what Marx might have…
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WWKMD?, Episode 20: Why Karl Marx Wouldn't Be Surprised by Big Oil's Profits
Picture telling Marx about today’s gas prices: he’d shrug, smile a little, and point out that corporations are just following the rules of the game. This isn’t about villains; it’s about incentives. The system rewards profit, and the rest is commentary. It’s a bit unnerving, but also kind of…
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Happy 250th! (thread 13), Episode 13: Pat Buchanan: Did America Change Beyond Recognition?
Wrapping up our 250th series with Pat Buchanan, a stubborn, sharp-tongued guy who spent his life warning that America was becoming something else. Whether you agree or roll your eyes, he asked questions about immigration, trade, faith, and national identity that still sting. Many of his...
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Happy 250th! (thread 13), Episode 12: Phyllis Schlafly: The Woman Who Tried to Stop America
This episode dives into Phyllis Schlafly’s life: a fiercely organized, brilliant political force who stopped the ERA but couldn’t stop the broader cultural shifts she warned about. It’s full of ironic twists — she helped shape modern conservatism even as America moved in directions she opposed —...
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Happy 250th! (thread 13), Episode 11: When Science Wore a Tie: The Madison Grant Story
This episode digs into Madison Grant: the wealthy, well-dressed conservationist who also wrote dangerous, pseudo-scientific ideas about race. It's wild and unsettling to see how polite language and data-like footnotes helped spread harmful beliefs. Stick with it — you’ll get a clear, personal…
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Happy 250th! (thread 13), Episode 10: Pitchfork Politics: Ben Tillman and the Battle Over the Vote
This episode digs into the weirdly powerful mix of populism and racism in one man: Ben Tillman. He railed against elites while building systems to stop millions from voting, and the story shows how fragile and contested democracy really was. It’s short, sharp, and oddly timely — you’ll come away...
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Happy 250th! (thread 13), Episode 9: When 'Freedom' Looked Like Chaos: The Strange Case of George Fitzhugh
Come listen as we unpack the baffling, infuriating case of George Fitzhugh, the 19th-century thinker who argued slavery was better than freedom. It's wild, uncomfortable, and a sharp look at how intelligence can still justify awful ideas. We trace his attack on liberty, his unexpected critiques…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Imagine if the world’s most influential (and sometimes, most infamous) philosophers, politicians, and personalities could chime in on today's news. Each week, WWKMD? reanimates the minds of history’s sharpest and most opinionated thinkers to interpret modern headlines.
Join WWKMD? as it summons philosophers, economists, and thinkers from decades and centuries past to debate capitalism, culture wars, and the debt ceiling. Because sometimes, you need a 19th-century revolutionary to make sense of a 21st-century mess.
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WWKMD
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How many episodes does What Would Karl Marx Do? have?
What Would Karl Marx Do? currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is What Would Karl Marx Do? about?
Imagine if the world’s most influential (and sometimes, most infamous) philosophers, politicians, and personalities could chime in on today's news. Each week, WWKMD? reanimates the minds of history’s sharpest and most opinionated thinkers to interpret modern headlines. Join WWKMD? as it summons...
How often does What Would Karl Marx Do? release new episodes?
What Would Karl Marx Do? has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to What Would Karl Marx Do? on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts What Would Karl Marx Do??
What Would Karl Marx Do? is created and hosted by WWKMD.
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