Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In his new memoir Tariq Ali recounts a life committed to writing and cultural interventions. An eyewitness in Moscow to the fall of the Soviet Union, he was caught up in the intellectual excitement that had gripped the country. In Porto Alegre, Hugo Chávez invited him to visit Caracas, and the two men developed a striking friendship.
Post-2001, as a founding member of the Stop the War Coalition, he became a fierce critic of the War on Terror, visiting many US cities with surprising regularity to engage in debate and discussion, inaugurating a new phase of political activism. Evident in his work is the integral part politics plays in his life. He is one of the most sought-after socialist and anti-imperialist public intellectuals on most continents.
You Can't Please All by Tariq Ali is out now: versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2937-you-can-t-please-all?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=verso_video
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:53 SpyCops, being spied on by the British state.
00:12:01 Childhood and formative experiences
00:19:12 Internationalism, and reporting from Vietnam
00:29:04 Palestine
00:41:42 Mentors and Friends
00:54:02 Blair Peach
01:00:41 Being barred from Labour
01:06:56 Hugo Chavez
01:16:33 Russia in the 90s
01:23:06 The Extreme Centre
In his new memoir Tariq Ali recounts a life committed to writing and cultural interventions. An eyewitness in Moscow to the fall of the Soviet Union, he was caught up in the intellectual excitement that had gripped the country. In Porto Alegre, Hugo Chávez invited him to visit Caracas, and the two men developed a striking friendship.
Post-2001, as a founding member of the Stop the War Coalition, he became a fierce critic of the War on Terror, visiting many US cities with surprising regularity to engage in debate and discussion, inaugurating a new phase of political activism. Evident in his work is the integral part politics plays in his life. He is one of the most sought-after socialist and anti-imperialist public intellectuals on most continents.
You Can't Please All by Tariq Ali is out now: versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2937-you-can-t-please-all?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=verso_video
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:53 SpyCops, being spied on by the British state.
00:12:01 Childhood and formative experiences
00:19:12 Internationalism, and reporting from Vietnam
00:29:04 Palestine
00:41:42 Mentors and Friends
00:54:02 Blair Peach
01:00:41 Being barred from Labour
01:06:56 Hugo Chavez
01:16:33 Russia in the 90s
01:23:06 The Extreme Centre
