Jacobin Radio w/ Suzi Weissman: Protest in Iran

Suzi talks to Iranian scholar and activist Yassamine Mather about the growing protest movement in Iran, sparked by the brutal murder of Mahsa Amini in police custody for wearing a loose hijab. The demonstrations have spread across the country and world with women chopping off their hair in solidarity and protest. The Islamic regime has violently cracked down on protestors but has failed to quell the movement. This is the biggest challenge the government has faced in more than four decades of theocratic rule – and as Yassamine asserts, the protests are not just about the hijab, but a woman’s right to choose what she does in every aspect of her life.

Suzi also talks to political economist Pedro Paulo Zahluth Bastos in Brazil to get his analysis of the October 2nd Presidential election results. Lula won with 48.4% to President Bolsonaro's 43.2% of the votes, but failed to eliminate Bolsonaro outright in the first round. The results reveal the level of polarization in Brazil, despite Bolsonaro's disastrous rule. We get Pedro Paulo's analysis of Brazil's geographical, social, political, religious and racial divisions, and his assessment of the second round to come on October 30th.

Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, protest movements.