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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Marxist Education Project
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260711T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260711T153000
DTSTAMP:20260619T111731
CREATED:20260616T152445Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260618T153906Z
UID:10008407-1783778400-1783783800@marxedproject.org
SUMMARY:Porn\, Gambling\, and the American Psyche with Dennis Broe
DESCRIPTION:Novelist and film critic Dennis Broe takes a critical look at the pornography and gambling industries – the new bread and circuses\, only without the bread. \nWith the American empire in decline and with working and living conditions worsening for most American workers as prices rise\, wages stagnate and AI comes for their jobs\, these twin “vices” are on offer as diversions. Both have penetrated deeply into US society and have reached astronomical levels of profit. Porn is now four times more profitable than the Hollywood film industry\, though the two have a symbiotic relationship. Likewise\, sports betting is now ubiquitous as many states have thrown off legal restraints and online betting houses like Kalshi and Polymarket are flourishing. Even the Financial Times now quotes Polymarket\, rather than pollsters\, as a predictive service. While these modes of exploitation mainly target the working class\, they also have upper-class expressions\, from the Epstein scandals to insider manipulation of the stock market by figures in and around the Trump regime. \nDennis will address the alure of porn and gambling\, the addictive quality of both\, the ways they intersect with the American family structure\, and how workers in these industries are resisting their bosses and in some cases have formed or joined trade unions. \nDennis Broe is a journalist\, critic and novelist who has taught at the Sorbonne and spoken at numerous MEP events. The latest of his six Harry Palmer novels is Pornocopia\, featuring the porn and gambling industries in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and the confluence of financial capital\, the mob\, and the state.
URL:https://marxedproject.org/event/porn-gambling/
LOCATION:Online Event – Zoom Meeting
CATEGORIES:_Seasons,Alienation,Capital vs. Labor,Class and Gender,Cultural Resistance,featured,Film and television,Labor Organizing,Literature,Media Criticism,Political Economy,Present Moment,Seminars and Talks,Summer 2026
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://marxedproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/vegas-skyline.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260725T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260725T160000
DTSTAMP:20260619T111731
CREATED:20260121T174211Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260616T160904Z
UID:10008389-1784988000-1784995200@marxedproject.org
SUMMARY:Monthly Literature Group: Hammett's 'The Glass Key'
DESCRIPTION:The MEP Literature Group hosts this series\, meeting at 2 pm US ET on or about the last Saturday of each month (however\, we are not meeting in June). We discuss a single book each month. Selections are not limited to fiction – we now include memoir\, biography\, essays\, and other forms that investigate and challenge literary norms. We encourage participants to recommend books and topics. (Note that our weekly series on Peter Weiss’s Aesthetics of Resistance is also ongoing.) \nJuly 25\nThe Glass Key\, by Dashiell Hammett (various publishers). First published in 1930\, Hammett’s novel is a scathing description of small-town corruption and the effects of capitalism on local economies and power elites. The novel has inspired many movies\, all worth watching and worth discussing in this session. \nPrevious discussions: \nMay 30\nFaraway the Southern Sky: A Novel\, by Joseph Andreas. (New York: Verso Press\, 2024\, 82 pages). A narrator walks through contemporary Paris\, identifying the locations where a young Vietnamese refugee/revolutionary lived and worked through a city marked by rebellions and massacres. This novel will resonate with MEP members who read The Sorrow of War. \nApril 4\nMy Country\, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria\, by Andrée Blouin\, in collaboration with Jean MacKellar (Verso Books\, 2025\, 288 pages). We suggest reading this book while streaming Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. The Literature Group has read a number of fictions set in Africa; Blouin’s memoir gives background on the turbulent postcolonial period in Africa and the unrecognized contributions of women to national liberation movements. \nFebruary 28\nVictor Serge: Unruly Revolutionary\, by Mitchell Abidor (Pluto Press\, 2025\, 424 pages). On November 3\, 2025\, Mitch Abidor spoke at the MEP on how his biography of Victor Serge could disturb readers who have a romantic view of Serge’s dissidence. We will discuss how this biography brings out the difficulties of Serge’s living within defeat and poverty and whether Abidor’s reportage changes our assessment of Serge’s novels. \nConvened by Jacqueline Cantwell and the MEP Literature Group. Jacqueline became involved with the MEP’s Literature Group because of her love of Victor Serge’s novels. Participating in an MEP reading group led by Serge translator Richard Greeman eight years ago\, Jacqueline found a community of readers eager to be challenged by the ambitions of international writers devoted to the creative potential of political fiction. Since the death of Michael Lardner\, who hosted and organized the Literature Group for so many years\, Jacqueline has taken the lead in furthering the group’s goals of exploring international fiction and encouraging thoughtful conversation.
URL:https://marxedproject.org/event/literature-group-new-2026-monthly-series/
LOCATION:Online Event – Zoom Meeting
CATEGORIES:Literature,Multi-session Classes,Reading Group,Spring 2026
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ORGANIZER;CN="MEP Literature Group":MAILTO:info@marxedproject.org
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