“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned.
I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.”
-- Antonio Gramsci
The old forms of the Left are moribund and the new forms are stupid. We're making a podcast that discusses the need to organize a Dialectical Pessimism and develop a salvage project capable of sparking a new workers' movement for socialism.
A clean, honest, and unsentimental melancholy is required; we are cultivating one and would like to share it with you.
Check us out on Patreon for regular Patron Book Clubs, Regrettable Geopolitics updates, Real Nerd Hours, and more...
Visit the NEW AND IMPROVED Regrettable Century Merch Shop
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 02, 2025
Tuesday Dec 02, 2025
This week, Jason and Ben continued their conversation with Stephan Hammel of The Measures Taken Podcast about his new book Toward a Materialist Conception of Music History.
From the publisher:
"This book argues for the relevance, appropriateness, and usefulness of historical materialism to the musicological project. It interrogates the history of encounters between Marxism and music studies — both within and without the Soviet sphere — before staging the missed encounter between classical musicology and Second International Marxism. It concludes with a framework for understanding style history in terms of changes in the forces and relations of musical production."
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2684-toward-a-materialist-conception-of-music-history
https://www.themeasurestaken.org/
Send us a message (sorry we can't respond on here).
Friday Nov 28, 2025
Friday Nov 28, 2025
Trump Wants to Talk to Maduro, Israel is Still Murdering Children, Zelensky Has Lost Touch With Reality, Ukraine Is Losing and Being Forced Into an Unfavorable Peace Deal...
Tuesday Nov 25, 2025
Tuesday Nov 25, 2025
This week, Jason and Ben got together with friend and comrade Stephan Hammel of The Measures Taken Podcast to talk about his new book Toward a Materialist Conception of Music History.
From the publisher:
"This book argues for the relevance, appropriateness, and usefulness of historical materialism to the musicological project. It interrogates the history of encounters between Marxism and music studies — both within and without the Soviet sphere — before staging the missed encounter between classical musicology and Second International Marxism. It concludes with a framework for understanding style history in terms of changes in the forces and relations of musical production."
https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2684-toward-a-materialist-conception-of-music-history
https://www.themeasurestaken.org/
Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
Wednesday Nov 19, 2025
It's once again time for 'Disaster Nationalism' by Richard Seymour. The gang dives into chapters one and two, which means there is still time to become part of the group. If you would like to join in, go to the Discord!
Tuesday Nov 11, 2025
Tuesday Nov 11, 2025
Another year of podcasting is in the books. Listen to our post-game wrap of the year's events, the podcast, and our lives.
Wednesday Nov 05, 2025
Wednesday Nov 05, 2025
This week we did a close reading of a RAND corporation policy proposal paper called Overextending and Unbalancing Russia: Assessing the Impact of Cost-Imposing Options. It has been argued that this document is the root of America's disastrous foreign policy regarding Russia, which has plunged Ukraine and the Middle East into misery and death.
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/RB10000/RB10014/RAND_RB10014.pdf
Monday Nov 03, 2025
Monday Nov 03, 2025
Trump's Fake Drug War Against Venezuela, Trump's Dumbass Diplomacy Nets Big L vs China, Trump's Protection Racket Only Works on US Allies, Genocide in Darfur Has UAE and Israeli Fingerprints, Kiev Won't Last till Spring?, The Ukrainian Nazi Cult of the Christchurch Shooter, Zelensky Threatens Journalists, The Collapse Speeds Up...
Tuesday Oct 28, 2025
Tuesday Oct 28, 2025
This week, we began (and had to cut short) a close reading of The Concept of Left by Leszek Kolakowski. Kolakowski was a dissident Polish Marxist who later turned against the project altogether. However, before he did, he wrote much that is worth reading.
The Concept of the Left- Leszek Kolakowski
https://danieltutt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/concept_of-_the_left_kolakowskileszek.pdf
Thursday Oct 23, 2025
Thursday Oct 23, 2025
This week, Jason and Ben sat down to acknowledge and resolve all the contradictions that have manifested in our discussions on this podcast. Actually, we don't resolve anything, but we do acknowledge some things. Our listeners will know that we often disagree with the broader left, each other, and our earlier selves. While we don't manage to piece together a solid line for the podcast, we do manage to talk a lot about those contradictions.
Wednesday Oct 15, 2025
Wednesday Oct 15, 2025
This week, the Regrettable Christian Caucus begins Chapter II of Laudato Si, by the late Pope Francis. You can follow along by grabbing the PDF from Verso or from the Vatican website.
This Papal Encyclical calls for urgent action to address the global environmental crisis, critiques consumerism, blind developmentalism, inequality, and profit seeking. The document calls for global political solidarity to transition to a sustainable economy and for the protection of the world's most vulnerable populations.