Macrodose

"The only time people notice what a cleaner does is when she doesn't do it." They disinfect hospital wards, scrub office floors, and sanitise the spaces we all rely on. Yet cleaners are among the most invisible workers in Europe. In this first episode, we pull back the curtain on a typical day in the life of a cleaner. From the marble corridors of the European Parliament to a high-de...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how heatwaves are breaking data centres (0:33), how Trump is refusing to renew his own North American trade deal (5:44), and a listener question all about Modern Monetary Theory (9:50). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the cost of extreme heat requires urgent attention from our political leaders (0:36), if Andy Burnham’s speech this week laid out more of his economic vision (4:43), and how the straight of Hormuz may well be reopening, but the impacts are still to come (10:30). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your ple...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at likely next prime minister Andy Burnham and his economic agenda for Britain (0.43), the current heatwave gripping the UK and large parts of the rest of Europe (9:30), and the daft idea of putting data centres in space (13:00). Heatstrike: heatstrike.notion.site Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge i...

James is away this week so we have for you an event recording from Norwich Transformed, a festival of socialist ideas and culture. Joining James is Jonas Marvin, author of the forthcoming book, the Breaking of the English Working Class. Together, they discuss the economics affecting food in a changing global climate, why so many are struggling to eat well, and what to do about it. Subscribe to sup...

Last night, after more than 100 days since the US and Israel went to war against Iran, the US and Iran reached a partial framework for peace. When the war began at the end of February, it was all but impossible to make sense of the irrational explosion of violence. In the months since, that sense of irrationality has hardly ebbed, not least as the economic impacts of the war and resulting closures...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the first signs of the incoming “Godzilla” el nino (6:29), how the big tech market crash could finally be arriving (0:47), and a listener question on what public investment looks like in a high-interest world (12:17). Chuang (18 May 2020), “Free to move, forced to move: The present state of the hukou system”. http://chuangcn.org/2020/05/free...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how tech firms are cutting back AI spending after blowing budgets on it (0:42), how progressives are taking on the UK political culture of bond market fear (6:23), and how a recent change in China’s welfare system will have global consequences (10:06). Chuang (18 May 2020), “Free to move, forced to move: The present state of the hukou system”. http:...

We're celebrating the launch of The BREAK—DOWN's spring issue, Airborne! On May 6th, The BREAK—DOWN hosted a live podcast where editor Adrienne Buller was joined by  Geoff Mann ,  Daniela Gabor  and  Oliver Eagleton  to discuss climate crisis through and beyond the contents of AIRBORNE. ISSUE #3: Airborne The engines of industrial production that power the modern economy release vast quant...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the question of adaptation to our changing climate has returned amidst Britain experiencing another heatwave (0:58), and how market-led solutions to adaptation will only entrench further inequality (6:48). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks a...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how talk of the bond markets is back after Andy Burnham announced his byelection candidacy and ambitions for Number 10 (0:44), a note on “Godzilla El Nino” - as the world is set to be hit by the mother of all weather disruptions (5:49), and reports that the UK government is pushing to cap the price of essential foods (9:36). Subscribe to support...

Today's episode is the final in Season One of AFTER ORDER. It was recorded as a live show in collaboration with the Alameda Institute at the Art House in Bethnal Green, East London, earlier this week. The conversation is hosted by Juliano Fiori (Alameda), featuring James Meadway (Macrodose), Clara Mattei (University of Tulsa), and Aditya Chakrabortty (The Guardian). Together they explore the idea...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the political turmoil around Starmer's ailing premiership is affecting the UK’s economic outlook (0:38), and how governments around the world will respond to the current chaotic state of the global economy (7:04). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks...

Event Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters (May 12th)  Welcome back to After Order - a series from Macrodose and the Alameda institute exploring power, sovereignty, and crisis in today’s unstable world. This week, James is joined by Juliano Fiori, Director at Alameda, to look back at the series so far, and discuss its core premise: that we’re not living through what Antonio Gramsci cal...

While James Meadway is away for the local elections, this week's Macrodose is guest-hosted by Kojo Koram - author of the upcoming book 'The Next Fix: The Winners & Losers In The Future Of Drugs'. For today's episode, Kojo explores the changing world of psychedelics - and how we’re on the cusp of a wave of corporate interests ready to sweep in to monopolise a new market. Subscri...

⁠⁠Event Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters⁠ (May 12th) Welcome back to After Order - a series from Macrodose and the Alameda Institute - exploring power and crisis in today’s unstable world. In this week’s episode, we’re turning to the concept of Popular Sovereignty. At a moment when the old order is breaking down - when states are less able to guarantee rights, stability, or even th...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at BP's mega-profits - this time as an inevitable result of the war on Iran (0:42), whether or not we could be on the verge of another 2008-style financial crisis (3:26), and the shock announcement that the UAE is leaving OPEC (9:57). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free p...

Event Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters Welcome back to After Order - a series from Macrodose and the Alameda Institute - exploring power, sovereignty, and crisis in today’s unstable world. In this week’s episode, we turn to Digital Sovereignty in the age of Big Tech. What does it mean that the infrastructures underpinning our everyday lives - from search and cloud computing to comm...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how Europe now has only six weeks’ worth of jet fuel supplies left (1:52), how the big six investment banks are making record profits on the back of the Iran War (7:22), and some positive news around the decline of fossil fuels, and the future of our energy markets (11:48). James also pays tribute to the life and work of economist and biographer...

Welcome back to After Order - a series from Macrodose and the Alameda Institute - exploring power, sovereignty, and crisis in today's unstable world. ⁠⁠Event Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters ⁠⁠ In this week’s show, host James Meadway is joined by Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla - political strategist, activist, Co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International, and Executive Se...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at some changing rhetoric from Keir Starmer on the changing world we live in, and how it affects our economy. But does he really get it? (1:02), And second: how the surge in energy prices is prompting a jump in home installations of renewable energy generation (5:52). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge i...

Event Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters Welcome back to the After Order podcast - a series from Macrodose in collaboration with the Alameda Institute . In our opening episode, host James Meadway spoke with Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff about their book Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, using Elon Musk as a lens to examine the intellectual contours of our emerging post-liberal mo...

TICKETS: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at a surprising side effect of the war on Iran. As shares in arms manufacturers take an unexpected dip, has this conflict actually damaged the Western arms industry? Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks a...

Welcome to the After Order podcast - a new series from Macrodose and the Alameda Institute . This series emerges from Alameda’s ongoing After Order research project, which begins from a simple but unsettling proposition, that we may no longer be living through an interregnum between stable systems, but in a period defined by recurring crises - a time after stable orders. Over the coming weeks, hos...

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at the latest economics fall-out from the war on Iran (2:25), oil thieves in East Anglia, and how they are a harbinger of the near future (11:14), and Verdant - a new think tank launched by James himself (14:22). Subscribe to support the show at  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are...