Norman Finkelstein is a controversial figure on the left and he’s the guest this week. However, while Finkelstein is famous for his books about the Israel/Palestine conflict, we don’t discuss that topic, but instead discuss a book he’s working on entitled On Academic Freedom.

Finkelstein has taught political theory for years. A former Maoist he has, perhaps surprisingly, become an admirer of John Stuart Mill and this admiration informed our conversation and informs the book he’s working on.

Thanks should go out to members of the Zero Books Club. Zero Books Club members receive access to the Inside Zero Books which sometimes consists of unedited or full length interviews from the Zero Squared podcast, sometimes features conversations with Zero Books readers about the state of the left, and sometimes features public lectures from Zero Books authors or staff. This week the Inside Zero Books podcast will feature the second half of this conversation with Norman Finkelstein wherein we discuss his former Maoism, how he thinks Obama was overrated, and Bertrand Russell.

I should also take a moment to ask you to stop by the Zero Books website and purchase a book on critical theory. The title I’d most recommend is Uncertain Futures by Edmund Berger. Berger explains how understanding Marx’s theory of value can help us understand the rise of the far right. Also of interest would be Alfie Bown’s interview with Srecko Horvat and Stephen Lee Naish’s Deconstruction of the 80s film Dirty Dancing in his book Deconstructing Dirty Dancing.