Metapolitics - Conversations

Farhad Dalal is a psychotherapist, group analyst, organisational consultant, and training group analyst and supervisor for the Institute of Group Analysis in London. He convenes a group analytic psychotherapy training programme in Bengaluru, India, and is a former Associate Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire’s Business School. Over the past quarter century, his four books have each challeng...

In this episode of the Metapolitics Podcast, we are joined by Bob Hinshelwood, Emeritus Professor of Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex, Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society, former Clinical Director of the Cassel Hospital, and one of the most influential writers in contemporary psychoanalysis. Drawing on his latest book Unconscious Politics: Alienation, Social Science and...

In today’s episode, we speak with Alison Teal, a clinical psychologist and former Green Party councillor whose journey from celebrated environmental activist to political outcast reveals the fault lines tearing through progressive politics. Alison was arrested defending Sheffield's street trees, survived an attempt to imprison her, and became a Green Party hero, until she raised questions about ge...

In today’s conversation, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst Susie Orbach discusses with us the relationships between psychoanalysis and politics. She points out the problem, in efforts to bring psychoanalytic insights into political discourse, of using technical terms which are esoteric. She stresses the need to transcend the doctrinal disputes and rivalries which can cloud the psychoanalytic world...

In the second episode or our new season, Professor Michael Rustin shares insights from a career spent bridging the worlds of psychoanalysis and social theory, offering a unique perspective on how unconscious processes shape political and social life. Rustin, who has spent years associated with the Tavistock Clinic while maintaining his sociology professorship, explains how British psychoanalysis d...

In the first episode of our new season, sociologist Neil McLaughlin guides us through the life and ideas of Erich Fromm, the psychoanalyst and social theorist whose warnings about modern society’s psychological dangers seem more relevant than ever. McLaughlin, who has spent decades studying Fromm’s work and its reception, explains how this member of the Frankfurt School became simultaneously one o...

In this timely special episode, we examine the dramatic transformation underway in the Green Party of England and Wales through the eyes of Daniel Howard James, a member since the mid-1990s who offers an unvarnished insider’s perspective on a party experiencing profound ideological upheaval. The conversation centres on newly elected leader Zach Polanski’s vision of “eco-populism”—an attempt to bro...

In this episode, we sit down with political scientist Lamprini Rori to unpack Greece's unexpected journey from the brink of collapse to becoming one of Europe's more stable democracies. Dr. Rori, who teaches at the University of Athens, offers an insider's perspective on how Greece defied all predictions of democratic breakdown despite facing conditions far worse than countries that did slide into...

In this continuation of our conversation with Jeffrey Murer , we shift from the specifics of Hungarian politics to examine how violence operates at the deepest levels of human consciousness. The conversation centers on Murer's concept of "psychic violence"—the unconscious processes that precede and enable both symbolic and physical violence. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, particularly the work...

In this episode, we sit down with political violence expert Jeffrey Murer to examine how collective trauma shapes contemporary Hungarian politics. Dr. Murer, who brings a rare psychoanalytic perspective to international relations, guides us through Hungary's complex political landscape—from the 1919 White Terror to Viktor Orbán's current illiberal regime. Our conversation reveals how Hungary's los...

What's it actually like to be an MP? Beyond the theatrical performances of Prime Minister's Questions and the endless media commentary about Westminster drama, how does Parliament really function? Jessica Toale, Bournemouth West's first Labour MP, takes us behind the scenes of an institution that's both deeply traditional and slowly modernising. Jessica's journey from international development con...

His latest book, "Pax Economica: Left-wing Visions of a Free Trade World" (Princeton University Press, 2024), was recognized among the best books of 2024 by both The New Yorker and Financial Times. His research focuses on the political economy of trade, economic nationalism, and the intersection of domestic and international politics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this illuminating...

In this episode, we sit down with philosopher Sasha Mudd to examine the deeper moral currents shaping contemporary politics. Professor Mudd challenges the conventional view of Trumpism as nihilistic chaos, arguing instead that it represents a coherent—if troubling—moral vision that seeks to replace liberal values with hierarchical ones. Our conversation explores how liberal elites have become disc...

In this episode of Metapolitics, hosts Barry Richards and Mustafa Selek welcome Professor Gary Chartier, Distinguished Professor of Law and Business Ethics at La Sierra University, to discuss his provocative book "Christianity and the Nation-State." Chartier presents a radical liberal argument that challenges fundamental assumptions about political authority, state legitimacy, and social organizat...

In this episode, hosts Barry Richards and Mustafa Selek explore a compelling paradox in contemporary politics: the unexpected fusion of authoritarian and libertarian impulses within modern political movements. Barry presents his concept of the "authoritarian-libertarian hybrid" to explain how seemingly contradictory tendencies—submission to strong leaders alongside demands for individual freedom—c...

In this first part of a two-episode series, hosts Barry Richards and Mustafa Selek dive deep into the complex phenomenon of lone actor terrorism and violence. Mustafa shares insights from his intensive research, beginning with why researchers prefer the term "lone actor" over the media-driven "lone wolf" label—a distinction that goes beyond semantics to address how language can inadvertently glamo...

In this foundational episode of Metapolitics, hosts Barry Richards and Mustafa Selek explore the challenging question: Why is liberal democracy so difficult to sustain? The conversation examines how democratic systems place unique psychological demands on citizens that other political systems do not. The hosts investigate what constitutes a functional democracy beyond its formal structures - from...

Demet Lüküslü is Professor of Sociology at Yeditepe University in Istanbul. Her research focuses on Turkish youth, particularly their political engagement and social experiences. Professor Lüküslü has conducted extensive studies on how young people navigate Turkey's complex political landscape and has published widely on youth movements, political participation, and generational identity in contem...

Professor Stuart Allan is a distinguished scholar of Journalism and Communication at Cardiff University. He is the author of the influential book "News Cultures," which has shaped many people's understanding of news production through multiple editions, and editor of the "Routledge Companion to News and Journalism." Professor Allan has published extensively on various aspects of journalism, includ...

Professor Maria Sobolewska is Professor of Political Science at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on the ethnic profile of the British public and how changes in this profile have influenced electoral politics in Britain. She is co-author of the influential book "Brexitland," which examines how two major social trends—the expansion of higher education and increased immigration—have...

Dr. Justin Frank is a renowned psychoanalyst based in Washington DC, where he maintains a clinical practice and serves as a professor at George Washington University. He is the author of a unique series of psychoanalytic studies of American presidents, including "Bush on the Couch," "Obama on the Couch," and "Trump on the Couch." Each book provides a deep analysis of how early experiences shaped t...

Paul Hoggett is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of the West of England, as well as an active psychotherapist and co-founder of the Climate Psychology Alliance. Author of "Paradise Lost," Hoggett has been a pioneering figure in the development of psychosocial studies in UK universities. His notable works include "Politics, Identity and Emotion," a landmark contribution to the...