The Jewish Bund w/Molly Crabapple

In this episode of Pod Damn America, hosts Jake Flores and Anders J. Lee explore a range of cultural and political absurdities—from TikTok teens livestreaming infiltrations of the Scientology building in LA to El Salvador’s ban on the 'Edgar' haircut, a move framed as a crackdown on gang recruitment but widely seen as both ridiculous and authoritarian. The conversation then pivots to a deeply researched and moving interview with artist and author Molly Crabapple about her book *Here Where We Live: The Story of the Jewish Bund*, a socialist, anti-Zionist, and Yiddish-speaking organization that fought for Jewish rights and workers' liberation in Eastern Europe from the late 19th century through the Holocaust. Crabapple shares how her great-grandfather, a Bundist artist, inspired her to uncover the Bund’s legacy—a movement that emphasized universalism, cultural pride, and armed resistance, most famously during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The episode draws powerful parallels between the Bund’s struggle against fascism and anti-Semitism and today’s crises in Gaza and global authoritarianism. The hosts reflect on the enduring relevance of historical resistance, the dangers of ideological rigidity even among revolutionaries, and the importance of preserving radical histories in the face of erasure. Key takeaways include: 1) The Bund’s anti-Zionist stance was rooted in a commitment to staying in Europe and fighting for civil rights, not fleeing persecution; 2) The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was a testament to unity across ideological lines, as young Bundists, communists, and Zionists joined forces despite past divisions; 3) Historical memory is not passive—Crabapple’s book is an act of necromancy, resurrecting voices from the past to inform present struggles; 4) The Bund’s internal diversity and emphasis on personal bonds over rigid doctrine offer a model for inclusive leftist organizing; 5) The trauma of the Holocaust and postwar anti-Semitism made rebuilding political life nearly impossible, yet the Bund’s legacy endured through self-published memoirs and summer camps; 6) The episode underscores that revolutionary movements are not monolithic—they can be deeply ideological, contradictory, and human, even in the face of annihilation.