Paul Foot on Shelley. posted by Richard Seymour

Those of you who never had a chance to hear Paul Foot speak, or who are simply interested in hearing him again may want to have a listen to this and this . You will need Quicktime to listen - I believe these sound files were recorded at Marxism 1999, and if that's true then you will be able to hear Paul's magnificent rendition of Shelley's Mask of Anarchy.

There is more at Resistance MP3s . I'd like to direct you to some of the finest picks from this literal treasure trove of oration, argument and polemic.

Here, for example, is Terry Eagleton on Marxism and Ethics . Eagleton argues a view which I have long subscribed to - namely that Marx was a classical Aristotelian moralist. Although, as Norman Geras would argue, he did not know that he was.

And here is Gore Vidal on top form, recorded some time in the 1990s.

Here is Michael Parenti in a fantastic discussion of ancient Rome, based on his book The Assassination of Julius Caesar.  Parenti is a Caesarian historian, pitting himself against the tradition of Cicero and 'gentlemen historians' - although, as Neil Faulkner notes in the latest International Socialism, his interpretation involves some skating over the darker side of Caesar's rule.  Never mind that, however - this is a funny, clever and informed 45 minute journey with a man whose voice cannot fail to remind one of Woody Allen.

Finally, here is Mark Steel on the French Revolution.

Enjoy.