Bungacast

On 'imperialist realism'. Daniel Bessner, historian, is back on to discuss the relation between US foreign policy and ideology. He talks to Alex and Lee about his forthcoming book and other writings. Why has acceptance of imperialism accompanied declining support for empire? What is the US's sense of mission and how does this coexist with cynicism? Is US politics stuck between liberal guilt and co...

On Roland Barthes' Mythologies. (This is an unlocked episode from our Reading Club. Subscribe for more like this.) Alex, George, and contributing editor Catherine Liu delve into Barthes' 1957 classic to understand the form of ideology critique it proposes – and particularly as it relates to left and right. If the bourgeoisie generates myth, is revolution a cathartic act that gets us beyond myth? I...

On writing the history of capitalism. Political theorist Corey Robin talks to Alex H and Alex G about what is wrong with Sven Beckert's monumental new Capitalism: A Global History. Have historians returned to writing about big themes and grand narratives? Why does Beckert date capitalism's emergence to 12th century Arabia? Is capitalism essentially about free markets and free trade – or about the...

On global shortages and their political consequences. Benjamin Bradlow, assistant professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton, talks to Alex and Lee about the world-historic impact of the Hormuz Strait closure. How will shortages – beyond oil and gas – reverberate through global supply chains? Why are markets so sanguine about all this? Are financial economic elites too insulated...

Audio from the live event held at Verdurin, London, on 28 May 2026. The OG Bunga Boys - Alex, George, and Phil - present their takes, followed by responses from contributing editor Lee Jones and friend-of-the-pod Nina Power - and audience questions.

On Roland Barthes' Mythologies. Alex, George, and contributing editor Catherine Liu delve into Barthes' 1957 classic to understand the form of ideology critique it proposes – and particularly as it relates to left and right. If the bourgeoisie generates myth, is revolution a cathartic act that gets us beyond myth? Is the direct producer also unable to speak myth, or is this a romanticisation? What...

On world money and war. Costas Lapavitsas, professor of economics at SOAS, London, talks to George and Alex about financialisation, arrested development, and the Strait of Hormuz. What is the state-led stabilisation of finance capital? How does today's imperialism differ from prior versions – even if they also inhibited development outside the core? What is the "liquidity tribute" that developing...

History’s back, baby!  Thu 28 May, Verdurin, London Tickets: https://verdur.in/store/historys-back-baby-admission/   It is obvious today that the “end of history”, postulated by Francis Fukuyama in 1992, is over. Liberal democracy as the final form of human organisation? Pah! The arc of history tending towards justice? Pah!  Will the end of twentieth-century modernity be the start of something new...

On angry young women. Ashley Frawley, sociologist and senior editor at Compact, joins Alex and George to delve more deeply into young people's political polarisation on gender lines. Why is there a lack of mutual understanding or goodwill between young men and women when we have never been more equal? Why do differing political views on anything from Israel/Palestine to Donald Trump cause such int...

On the gig economy, big tech, and ideology. Sociologist Will Charles talks to Alex about a form of social organisation that has stopped trying to justify itself. How should the gig economy work and how does it actually work? Is any worker in this economy a 'true believer'? Why isn't digital sophistication a proof of economic efficiency? What's the relationship between secular stagnation, value cap...

On political capitalism and divided workers. Sociology professor at UC Berkeley, Dylan Riley, talks to Alex and Lee about economic stagnation, the state propping up capitalism, and class politics. What is "political capitalism"? And is it true that plunder and predation matter more now than exploitation? Why hasn't the ruling class purged the system through mass bankruptcies and unemployment? How...

On postliberalism, MacIntyre and Gray. How was the 1950s "end of ideology" (Bell, Lipset) different from the Fukuyaman 1990s "end of history"? Is John Gray correct in his characterisation of Alasdair MacIntyre as a prelapsarian? Does hyperliberal individualism lead to a search for meaning, and thus to communitarianism?  Is the competition between liberalism and post-liberalism now our political sp...

On Hungary's elections. Hungarian political analyst and editor of Partizan, Szilard Pap , talks to Alex about the end of 16 years of Fidesz in government. What is the scale of Fidesz’s wipeout? Who is Péter Magyar, and is he actually to the right of Orban? What was Orban’s rule built on, and what parts of it have been rejected? Does Orban mark a shift from national-populism to radical conservatism...

On the brave new world we have entered. Historian Arash Azizi is back on the pod, talking to Alex H and Lee Jones about the ongoing war. We try to draw out some firm consequences, beyond the immediate situtation. Why did Trump go to war? Is this Netanyahu's war? And will he continue it regardless of the US? Will the Islamic Republic become more conservative now?  What has the war revealed about as...

On abolishing queer theory. Ran Heilbrunn talks to Lee Jones and Alex Hochuli about his chapter, "Abolish Queer Theory!" in the edited collection Inversion: Gay Life after the Homosexual . What is queer theory and why should it be abolished? What is the meaning behind the shift in terms: invert, to homosexual, to gay, to queer? How does queer theory politicise sex and why is this bad? Do our libid...

We deal with your questions, comments and criticisms from the past month. Key issues: The difference between radical conservatism and the far right Racism in class society in decomposition Tech bro übermenschen (or just Uber men) Who is doing the work of justifying this order? And Ursula, the villainous Cecaelian sea witch, about whom songs must be sung For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.c...

On Amazon, labour & logistics, and trains. Benjamin Fong , of ASU's Center for Work and Democracy, as well as an editor at Damage and co-author of the substack On The Seams, talks to Alex and George about organising workers in locations of corporate vulnerability. We also preview the forthcoming print issue of Damage, Trains, by discussing modernity and its avatars, and development and de-deve...

On "non-hegemony" and world disorder. Tom Chodor, IR & politics scholar at Monash University, joins us to talk about a world that still retains the formal shells of multilateral institutions but whose contents have been hollowed out. What is "multilateralism"? Why is it an important concept to capture the US-led order that is now falling apart? If multilateralism was always in crisis, what is...

On the slowing rate of technological progress. Alex, George and contributing editor (and science writer) Leigh Phillips discuss David Graeber's 2012 essay, Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit . This builds on two of this year's themes: state capitalism (how planning and growth – or their absence – intersect with technology) and the pre-political (how technology shapes •⁠  ⁠Were we righ...

On the operating system of the 21st century. Historian Quinn Slobodian and tech writer Ben Tarnoff talk to Alex Hochuli and Alex Gourevitch about their new book, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, and why we should ask "what is Musk a symptom of?" If Fordism characterised the mid-20th century, are our times those of Muskism? What are the touchstones of Muskism that the authors identify: fortress...

We deal with your questions, comments and criticisms from the past month or so. Key issues this month are: What are the wrongs of the postmodern right – aand left? Will the civilisational paradigm become hegemonic? Is Trump's foreign policy techno-populist? Whether, and how, to protest anti-immigration policing To defend or to smash the professions? For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/b...

On anti-racism, communism, and philosophy. Alex Gourevitch talks to political philosopher Paul Gomberg about his original and deep Marxist arguments for what makes racism wrong, why racism cannot be eradicated without overcoming capitalism, and the limits of many contemporary anti-racist arguments. What does it mean to "alienate" race? What is the harm in racism? How does it harm everyone, not jus...

On postmodern conservatives. Matt McManus talks to Alex and George about a Right increasingly shaped by the parameters of postmodern culture – and his Damage article on this. Who are the key thinkers of postmodern conservatism? Does truth matter anymore? Is "flooding the zone" an act of post-truth politics? Does all that is solid melt into advertising – and is it Charlie Kirk's fault? Is postmoder...

On Trump and Rubio, Venezuela and Cuba. Writer Juan David Rojas talks to Alex and Lee about the abduction of Maduro, what next for Venezuela, and Trump's "hemispheric" foreign policy. What is the Trump administration's policy toward Latin America? Is the attack on Venezuela a war for oil? Or a war vs 'narcoterrorism'? What are the internal divisions in Venezuela, and could it fall into civil war?...

On "thin ideologies" in a postmodern age. The Reading Club kicks off with an exploration of illiberalism, a "new ideological universe" that exists in "a permanent situational relation to liberalism." For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast/membership What are examples of this backlash against liberalism? How is illiberalism different from populism, conservatism, or the far right?...