This episode criticises Kirk’s activist legacy, arguing that his aggressive right-wing tactics — including demonisation of queer people, unions, and students — laid the grounds for the backlash that culminated in his assassination. It frames his death not simply as violence against a provocateur, but as the inevitable consequence of a combative ideology that treats politics as warfare rather than debate.

From the October 2025 issue of The Socialist Standard

World Socialist Radio is the official podcast of The Socialist Party of Great Britain. We have one single aim: the establishment of a society in which all productive resources – land, water, factories, transport, etc. – are taken into common ownership, and in which the sole motive for production is the fulfilment of human needs and wants.

To read more news, views, and analysis please visit: worldsocialism.org/spgb

or, for a free three-issue subscription to The Socialist Standard: spgb.net/podcast

Featuring music: 'Pushing P (Instrumental)' by Tiga Maine x Deejay Boe. Source: Free Music Archive, licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0