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Start giftingHealth Communism
A Surplus Manifesto
Narrator
Sarah Welborn
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Length
7 hours 55 minutes
Language
English
A searing analysis of health and illness under capitalism from hosts of the hit podcast Death Panel
Written by cohosts of the hit Death Panel podcast and longtime disability justice and healthcare activists Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie, Health Communism first examines how capital has instrumentalized health, disability, madness, and illness to create a class seen as "surplus," regarded as a fiscal and social burden. Demarcating the healthy from the surplus, the worker from the "unfit" to work, the authors argue, serves not only to undermine solidarity but to mark whole populations for extraction by the industries that have emerged to manage and contain this "surplus" population. Health Communism then looks to the grave threat capital poses to global public health, and at the rare movements around the world that have successfully challenged the extractive economy of health.
Ultimately, Adler-Bolton and Vierkant argue, we will not succeed in defeating capitalism until we sever health from capital. To do this will require a radical new politics of solidarity that centers the surplus, built on an understanding that we must not base the value of human life on one's willingness or ability to be productive within the current political economy. Capital, it turns out, only fears health.
Beatrice Adler-Bolton is an artist and writer, currently completing an MA in CUNY's disability studies program. She is disabled and chronically ill, a subject position which made clear to her how untenable the American left's approach to health care legislation was. She, Artie Vierkant, and social scientist Philip Rocco started the Death Panel podcast in 2018, a popular twice-weekly podcast on "struggles over healthcare, economic inequality, social justice, and the people, policies, and media narratives that stand in the way." Death Panel has a listener-initiated reading group on disability justice and has become a "cult hit" in the art world.
Artie Vierkant is an artist and writer. He, Beatrice Adler-Bolton, and and social scientist Philip Rocco started the Death Panel podcast in 2018, a popular twice-weekly podcast on "struggles over healthcare, economic inequality, social justice, and the people, policies, and media narratives that stand in the way." Death Panel has a listener-initiated reading group on disability justice and has become a "cult hit" in the art world.
Sarah Welborn has been acting for the past twenty-five years, and her credits include theatrical and film productions in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Las Vegas. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA. Sarah has trained at some of the best acting schools in the country, including The School at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, The Groundlings School, and The Second City. Sarah graduated cum laude as a film production major at CSUN, one of the top twenty-five best film schools in the country. She brings the creative and technical skill set necessary for seeing projects through from pre- to post-production. Sarah has an engaging, warm, and dynamic vocal range. As a lifelong storyteller, avid reader, and lover of bringing characters to life, she is thrilled to collaborate on your project!
