Fiction or Non-Fiction, academic or casual, theory or non-theory, feel free to mention books of any genre and on any topic.
About to read this sick stuff https://archive.org/stream/propaganda_2504_librivox/propaganda_2504_djvu.txt
Corrected. Also can this be added to Books?
The Destruction Of Reason by Georg Lukacs. It is a historical work that peaked my interest due to the Frankfurt school hating it. Ended up learning about the Prussian/German burocrats who completely obeyed and upheld the law, just like how Libshits always obey and uphold the law. Law is also a “quiescent element”, which I find quite fascinating.
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I’ve been reading The Melancholy of Resistance by Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
This week, my comrades and I started and finished Wage, Labor, and Capital. It was a doozy. I think that the reading was hard but not too difficult. I learned some new things, and I know for sure I missed some things too. All in all, I’m glad my group is finally moving out of philosophy and starting economics, even if economics hurts my brain and it’s not my favorite.
I tried starting “The Problem of Recognition in Transitional States, or Sympathy for the Monster (2024)”. I’ve seen a lot of praise heaped on this article, so I want to read it badly, but sometimes the language is too difficult for me to understand. I really want someone with a higher reading comprehension to sit down and read with me. Sadge.
Unfortunately, Frome’s prose does hold back her writings from a pedagogical perspective. As brilliant as they often are, they are written from a more academic perspective, which often makes them difficult to parse.
- The Furies Arno Mayer
- Arab Spring Libyan Winter Vijay Prashad
- The War Conspiracy Peter Dale Scott
- Exodus Leon Uris
Did the twentieth century end in 1973? Or do those unanswered questions fester?
I’m burnt out, comrade. I’ve been busy translating videos for my friends so they don’t fall down the right-wing pipeline so that’s sorta like reading?
Check out my speech to text suite, if you’re not using tools it will speedrun your efforts for your friends. https://codeberg.org/CritBase111/speech-to-text
If you have yt-dlp installed, you can just do:
- stt transcribe youtube.com/watch/etc --target-lang es --format txt,srt
This will pull the video (not just from YouTube), transcribe to a txt and SRT files (subtitles), and translate to Spanish, all locally. Translation has some varying results.
If you have a lot of videos you can pre download them, then run stt with a --batch command on the entire folder containing all your videos.
Or there is also a simple GUI that you launch with ‘stt gui’
Unfortunately codeberg had a server outage and may not be entirely back yet so I’m not sure if its accessible right now. If it’s not back let me know and I’ll upload the files somewhere else temporarily.
Wait
Wait wait wait…
This does translation from English into Spanish?!
For subtitles in a video, correct?
Hopefully, I am following this convo along well enough.
Anyway, a translation tool, preferably one I don’t really have to pay for, is what I want for my YouTube and TikTok channels, and one that can put subtitles I the video and put the subtitles or lines basically where they should be as the video goes along lol
yep, it does everything.
stt transcribe 'file.mp4' --target-lang es,fr,pt,jp --format srtwill transcribe the audio from the video (auto-detects language), then translate the result into their own .srt (subtitles) files. You can chain arguments together such as es,fr,pt,jp -> it will create a different file for each combination. so one .srt for spanish, one .srt for french, etc.stt translate 'file.txt' --source-lang en --target-lang --format txt,srtwill only translate a previously existing text file. you can chain --format (or any argument, including the input files) to output the translation as plain text file, and another .srt fileif you have pandoc and yt-dlp installed, the app integrates with them to provide more input and output formats with pandoc, and yt-dlp to download the video automatically from a web page (so instead of ‘file.mp4’ you can provide a youtube link). It automatically uses them, you don’t have to do anything special.
it also needs python 3.10 or higher and ffmpeg to work. It downloads the models on first use, expect about 5-10 gigabytes of download. Needs I would say around 4GB of Vram at the minimum to work.
translation can be hit or miss in terms of quality, some language pairs work better than others. If it’s bad, just open deepseek web, switch to expert, paste the original subtitles, and tell it to ‘translate these subtitles to [language], output within three backticks for code formatting’.
incredible
my mama taught me to not click links from strangers but I will check it out, securely…in a secure way…
EDIT: ALSO HELL YEAH, pip <3
"If you have a lot of videos you can pre download them, then run stt with a --batch command on the entire folder containing all your videos.
Or there is also a simple GUI that you launch with ‘stt gui
pls pls dont fry my brain, tears are running down my face rn what WHAT DO I DO HOW
run the install command for your OS in a terminal window! They are located here: https://codeberg.org/CritBase111/speech-to-text#quick-install. So if you are on Windows for example it’s the iwr command that’s followed by a link.
After you have installed stt correctly (the installer will tell you “stt installed, Open a NEW terminal window and type: stt --help”), exit the terminal window and open a new one. In the new windowe, run ‘stt gui’ from your terminal (powershell if on windows). It contains all the options the tool offers. By ‘run from the terminal’ I mean literally just open a terminal window and type the command + enter). It opens a window that looks like this:
So for example, since you are translating videos, you can paste the youtube URL to the video in the input field, then change the Target field in ‘Model & Language’ to the language you are translating to. If you scroll down in the graphical interface, you will see output formats, and you can select ‘txt’ to make a simple text file, or also check ‘srt’ for a subtitles file - a subtitles file can be immediately loaded into the video.
Then press the Transcribe button in the bottom left. It can take a while, but it will work. It will save the files on your computer, transcribed and translated!
It’s still a few instructions but I tried to make the app as user-friendly as I could 🙏 the hardest part is installing it - when it’s running it can’t destroy anything on your computer, at most it creates files (the transcriptions) that you can delete.
if you want to use the terminal version, do ‘stt transcribe --help’ and it will show you the commands you can use. But the graphical interface is the exact same as the terminal version, you’re not missing out on anything if you use the interface.
🥺 🥺 🥺 🥺 🥺 ths is like quantum physics to me, but i will try my best to do as instructed
which operating system are you on? I can provide more specific instructions.
The difficult part is installing the program, using it will come naturally once you’ve done it once or twice.
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh i believe it is windows 11
Okay, so, I had to look at the windows flow a bit more in-depth. Winget was a good tool but it’s actually unmaintained and people have been reporting some possible malicious packages. So I redid the entire install script to not use winget anymore. It’s much easier to install stuff on Linux, there the install script would have just done everything for you 😭 but no worries, it is what it is.
What you will need:
- Install the latest Python version here: https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/. Python now offers the ‘install manager’, and they said this is how you will install Python from now on. So it’s probably better to use the install manager, and install the latest 3.12.x version of Python from it. Add it to your PATH if there is a checkbox for it, otherwise it will be pretty much useless (it should just be checked by default but it is what it is).
- ffmpeg: ffmpeg is required for STT to work. On its own website, ffmpeg links to this website: https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/. Scroll down and download ffmpeg-release-full.7z. This is a guide that explains what to do with this zip file afterwards: https://www.wikihow.com/Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows. I’m sorry that ffmpeg is such a mess to install on windows but they don’t provide an installer unfortunately.
- yt-dlp: https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases. The latest as of writing is yt-dlp 2026.06.09, and the file is simply called yt-dlp.exe. Click on it in the list to download, then run the .exe to install yt-dlp on your computer.
- Pandoc: You can install pandoc from here: https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/releases. The latest as of writing is pandoc-3.10-windows-x86_64.msi - it’s also an installer that you just run to install pandoc.
Then you can run the install script provided on my codeberg repo. In Powershell (not cmd):
iwr https://codeberg.org/CritBase111/speech-to-text/raw/branch/main/install.ps1 | iexThe install script is very simple; it just sets up a folder called stt in C:\Users\YourUsername. Everything that STT sets up by itself stays within that stt\ folder. When stt is installed correctly, the installer script will tell you with the words “stt installed. Open a NEW terminal window and type: stt --help”
Open a new cmd or powershell, and simply run the command ‘stt gui’. It will open the user interface in a new window, which is probably easier to use. I find that when I was on Windows I preferred user interfaces, and on Linux I prefer command-line tools lol.
The first time you actually start transcribing or translating a video, stt will automatically download the models. This happens automatically, you just have to wait. But it means the first transcription will take a bit more time to finish.
If you ever want to uninstall stt from your computer, run this in PowerShell:
# Windows (PowerShell) [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $env:Path.Replace("$HOME\stt\.venv\Scripts", ""), "User") Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $HOME\sttffmpeg, yt-dlp and pandoc are pretty nice tools to have on any computer. ffmpeg can convert and compress any video file. yt-dlp allows you to download videos from any website by just running ‘yt-dlp https://link.com/’ in the CMD, and pandoc can convert any text format to any other text format, so you can convert . So they are dependencies, but they are generally good tools to have. Python as well is pretty nice to have as a lot of open-source software uses python. You only install it once then most open-source software is available to you.
🫡
comrade 💞
You need to break your anhedonia and depression too.
Be weary of the burnout.
FOR SURE. sertraline is the glue keeping my mindparts together rn. AND hyperfixating on translating videos
my anhedonia is balancing the uuuuh, i have UUUUUUUUUUUUH orthodox coping mechanisms (taht’s the FORCED catholic & their guilts istg) that soothe my nervous system(s) so i gotta be careful not to travel too far into the Pleasures of the Flesh.
i hast been burntout. i’m a liability. i have to set Hyperfixation on default rn bc of…stuff
I grew up in a mostly Catholic household but never really learned about Islam that much despite father being Turkish.
I have religious trauma, especially since around 2013 to 2014, linked to my OCD. I am currently doing ERP after “toughing it out” for so long.
Same here, it sucks. So I understand where you’re coming from. Are you interested about learning about Islam? I’m just saying, because you mentioned it, do you have family from your father’s side that isn’t catholic? Maybe you can begin your search there, ofc this in context of assuming you are interested in the first place.
Ty for sharing with me, I have the catholic guilt still attached deep within my bones too. I’m happy in the sense that you could pinpoint part of what worsens your OCD, the ERP will def help with alleviating symptoms. It’s gonna work out, I know it will, comrade. You can rest and you can breathe in safety now.
I have read the Qur’an but not the hadiths except maybe a few excerpts.
Also, my dad is literally a Kemalist and hates any Syrian, Qatari, Saudi, Lebanese, Omani, UAE, etc. immigrants to Türkiye.
He is not Catholic lol he is actually pretty atheist last I checked, even if the Ottoman aristocratic nobility that he ultimately hails from (no, I shit you not about that part lol) had at least ostensibly Muslim adherents.
My Mom is Catholic. She is Dominican. My family treats her like shit. 💀💀
Also, I only really “like” (or I guess am somewhat interested in again now) Catholicism due to Pope Frank and now Pope Leo (especially with what he wrote recently)… but honestly? Most Catholics, especially the born-again variety like J. D. Vance, really suck. Tbh, I did really like the baroque stuff and other aesthetics of Catholicism throughout the centuries… but that’s because Protestant churches are so drab in comparison.
Also, Protestant churches have a big problem with not only pedophilia and sex pestery like the Catholic Church but also millennarianism too and other really bad apocalyptic belief systems, especially nowadays.
Tbh, I don’t know what to think about the Catholic Church at this point, but honestly, I look at the Unitarian Universalist church near me and have even thought about attending some events to see what social clubs they have (which I feel like I should at le4do since I may never come back to Virginia).
They also tend to be leftwing or even kinda leftist depending on the area.
And I kinda think “Damn, kinda wish most churches were a bit more like that one.”
But honestly, I am really anti-religion at this point.
I might actually prefer Khruschev’s policy towards religion over Stalin’s ngl 😭😭
And the religious trauma I experienced back in around 2013 or 2014 DURING EXAM WEEK MIND YOU honestly fucked me up more than even I seem to really know.
Filled me with dread, anxiety, raw fear, panic, etc.
Anyway…
I guess I should also say that my Mom is also kind-of a “New Age-y” lapsed Catholic and literally loves the Cathars lol
Ahhhh…
Yes…
Those damn Cathars…
At first, when you read about them in some history book, you’re kinda like “Oh, very cool”
Then one of your friends, your Mom, someone you know, etc. can’t shut up about them and you’re all like:
“Girl, we don’t even know that much about them!!” 😭😭
im just an atheist pagan now. the contradiction serves a purpose.
have you considered uuuuuuh, not needing a church?
yeah, i heard about atheist pagans
I am deeply interested in paganism now
especially since paganism never really dissappeared from 19th century or even 20th century Europe at all.
It’s still there.
The Druidic order in England seems interesting
But honestly, the Turkish groups kinda fascinate me
That said
I agree on the church bit
but I do kinda want a “religion” or “spirituality” or whatever the fuck we call it now
just to experiment
nothing more
Personally I’ve been reading a lot of despondent posts on LinkedIn and wanting to lose it on the C-Suite overlords bringing about the AI jobpocalypse, but that’s more of a personal doom-scroll daily event because they got me in October – and not actual literary works. I just ordered “Bullshit Jobs: A Theory” by David Graeber. I’ll keep you posted on if it’s a good read.
There are a lot of rebuttals to David Graeber’s work and the fact that anarchists kept telling me to read it sucks ngl
I’m not reading “Debt”. It’s more a criticism of specific jobs. Different focus.
Eh, okay
I do appreciate you ngl-ing though.
Thanks ngl
this was the substance I came here for…
Just finished Phenomenology of the Capitalist Eternisation by João Romeiro Hermeto. Overall really enjoyed it, some parts were slightly beyond my understanding but it was definetely the wakeup call i needed to get more involved than i already am in organising. Capitalism isnt this eternal monolith that many perceive it as, and it can be overcome!
Moving on to an easier read in Half Earth Socialism by Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass. I played the game based on it a while ago andordered the book before completely forgetting about it. Its very much a utopian book, so im mostly reading it for fun and less for studying but so far it has quite a lot of useful info about the perils of weather control systems. A good break from theory while i focus more on my last term of uni!
Wait, is Half Earth Socialism a novel?
Yep! I believe the developers made the game while the book was being written to give a simulation of the books concepts. So far very cool, and gives a LOT of info that kinda makes me wish i’d read it first tbh
I’ve been listening to oldhead comrade S4A read Fascism and Social Revolution by Rajani Palme Dutt. It’s been very eye-opening, despite not being super far in. I’m still recovering from burnout and a severe depressive episode, and getting back into “reading” (listening, desk job full-time) both fills me with tremendous hope and despair. I’m in the US, and the state of the left here is so dire. There is so much work to be done, and it all feels so impossible at times.
Can anyone recommend shorter readings by Black American communists? I need a fast faith booster!!
Blood in my eye by George Jackson.
Poems: ‘Lenin’ and ‘Ballads of Lenin’ by Langston Hughes.
Langston Hughes?? I love him and had no idea he was a Marxist. Thank you so much, friend!
The most I know that he was a communist sympathizer who went to USSR and was surprised by the internationalist environment there in contrast to the Jim Crow America.
He had to distance himself from his pro-communist writings during the red scare era when artists and intellectuals were getting arrested without warrants and locked up by the feds.
https://www.cpusa.org/article/langston-hughes-progressive-poet-and-wanderer/
Beware of S4A’s politics though. Blud thinks western marxism doesn’t exist.
Haha, thank you - I only recently started listening to his videos outside of readings and he does come off as jaded and a bit of a crank. That’s the only way I can think to word it. I guess that’s to be expected as someone who has been an American leftist from the Dubya era.
A fun fact about him: he tried to do a Trump-like tea party in the American Green Party to make it into his Vanguard, and colossally failed.
Finished Losurdo’s Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend; started Gerald Horne’s Counter Revolution of 1776; and am in the middle of Rockhill’s Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism.
I find that I can focus more if I’m reading multiple books at once, switching texts after a chapter or so.
Finished Losurdos Stalin book today too myself :)
I’m looking for good books on:
-
logic
-
epistemology
-
Western thought
-
Eastern thought
-
tropes
-
media
-
DIY
-
how to make things
-
how structures work
-
Organizational / Industrial Psychology
-
language and words (not necessarily linguistics but you can throw that in there)
Note: it doesn’t have to be from a Marxist-Leninist or Marxist perspective, but I would like that (but again, to emphasize, it doesn’t have to be).
Note #2: Also, throw in fiction or poetry in there if you have any suggestions.
Anti-Duhring by Friedrich Engels.
You should post this as a stand-alone post on !asklemmygrad@lemmygrad.ml or !books@lemmygrad.ml
oh okay good idea thanks
in case anyone wants to give me anything, idk, suggestions are indeed welcome
-
A lady just sent me an anarchist transfem novel of some sort.
It will come in the mail soon.
Will the next thread (So, what have you been reading recently?) be published today for the current week?
Already did.
awsum
