Bungacast

On resistance and reform in southeast Asia. Historian Sean Fear talks to Alex H and Lee Jones about Vietnam on the 50-year anniversary since the end of the war. How is Vietnamese identity wrapped up with the notion of resistance? Is Chinese influence as great as resistance to China? How is the ‘American War’ thought about in Vietnam today? How similar is Vietnam to China: defying Fukuyama’s thesis...

On the end of the end of history and what comes next. Phil is back on the pod, talking with George and Alex about the big themes of the podcast. In particular, we look at a recent essay in Foreign Policy by historian Christopher Clarke called "The End of Modernity". To what extent was the 1989 moment as significant in Beijing as Berlin? Is Trump actually Stalin (but in a good way)? Is Russia the r...

On the "return of religion" in Britain. [ Patreon Exclusive ] Journalist Lamorna Ash talks to George and Alex about how and why young people might be turning to religion today. Have things moved on from the New Atheists and their critique of religion? What are the divides in Christianity today? How do culture wars over sexuality play out? Why do ritual, quiet, and the 'new monasticism’ hold appeal...

On Arno Mayer's "The Lower Middle Class as Historical Problem". We kick off the third block of the 2024/25 Reading Club, which is dedicated to the question of the middle class: The abatement of class struggle between workers and owners has shone a light on the role of the middle classes. Beyond the resurgence of the debate around the much-maligned professional-managerial class (PMC), what is the t...

We celebrate 500 episodes of Aufhebunga Bunga with a cold, hard look at the decay around us. Alex and George plus contributing editors Lee Jones and Alex Gourevitch wrangle with four principal questions: What does it mean to say our era is one of decay or decline? How does this relate to the non-death of neoliberalism – its intellectual destitution, its practical weakening, but also its mutation a...

On shame, guilt and responsibility. Taylor Hines, an editor at Damage magazine, talks to George and Alex about his essay "Fool Me Twice" in Issue 4 of the magazine, which deals with the theme Responsibility. Remember, subscribers to Bungacast get a complimentary online subscription to Damage! We discuss: Why is Robert Eggers' Nosferatu about shame? What about the Rape of Lucretia? What can Frédéri...

On Iran and its Axis of Resistance. Historian Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi talks to Alex about the leadup and aftermath of the so-called "12-Day War between Iran and Israel and the US. Hamas and Hezbollah have been humbled, Assad is gone from Syria – how weakened is Iran? Did the 12-Day War actually happen? What prevented it becoming a wider war? What is the meaning of Israel's maximalist aims of r...

On technology, transhumanism, and progress. James Hughes (Exec Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies) and Eli Sennesh (postdoc, Vanderbilt) present a futurist approach to Alex and contributing editor Leigh Phillips. What is wrong with the acronym TESCREAL? Why is it wrong to worry about future transhumanism when we need to grapple with the technologies of now? What are the limit...

On the war on Iran that wasn't (yet). Alex and George review the past month in the world and on Bungacast: The crazy will-they-won't-they of a potential US war on Iran The ex post facto justifications on all sides Where does "sanewashing" come from Ways to understand and not understand US political polarisation And we deal with your questions and comments from the past month: Woke Dungeons and Dra...

On land conflicts, MAGA , and the frontier. Journalist James Pogue talks to George and Alex about his book Chosen Country: A Rebellion in the West . The book concerns the events surrounding the 2016 armed occupation of the Oregon Malheur National Wildlife Refuge led by the rancher Ammon Bundy. We discuss: Why were these 2016 events so important and so telling? Is the Jacksonian concept of America...

On the dual crisis of the world. Wolfgang Streeck, renowned economic sociologist, is back on to talk to us about the crisis of capitalist growth and of democracy. We focus on the solutions proposed in his brilliant new book, Taking Back Control? States and State Systems After Globalism. Then, Lee and Alex discuss three key themes emerging from the interview: federalism and small states; the nation...

On the right to protest. [For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ] Contributing editor Alex Gourevitch talks to Alex H and George about restrictions on speech and protest at US universities and beyond – particularly with regard to Palestine solidarity demonstrations. How have uni administrators not just undermined by seemingly attacked the right to protest? Why is Trump going aft...

On Poland's election, its history, its self-conception. Philosopher Maciej Szlinder joins us to talk about Polish politics, society and history. Maciej is a member of the general council of the left-wing political party Razem ("Together"), as well as the president of the Polish Basic Income Network, so we discuss these matters as well as the general context. How did Poland represent a beacon of ne...

On the former Yugoslavia and the ethnography of anti-nationalists. [For the full episode, subscribe: patreon.com/bungacast ] [Reading Club LIVE: Sat 14 June, 9am LA, 12am NY, 5pm London, 6pm Berlin] In the third installment of this block on inter/nationalism in the 21st century, we take a look at the other side of nationalism, through scholar Stefaan Jansen's “Anti-nationalism: Post-Yugoslav Resis...

On the end of the (very) long 1960s. [For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ] Contributing Editor Lee Jones joins Alex and George to talk through the themes and stories of the month, including MAGA's war on universities, right-populists in power, and culture war. Plus we deal with your questions and comments on: lawfare, video games, and the 'new class'. What is TACO (Trump Alwa...

On tech and the last hu-men. [For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ] Writer Alex Gender is back, talking to Alex and George about his recent essay, "Homo Algorithmicus", as well as reflecting on how incel culture has widened and deepened in the past five years. How does healthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione exemplify a “rationalist” worldview? What is "TESCREAL" and how are th...

On what is next for 'PMC theory' [For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ] The social media avatar known as Christopher Lasch's Angry Ghost joins us to unpick the conjuncture: as the Trump administration makes cuts and seeks to do away with progressives in bureaucracies, where does that leave the left-wing critique of the PMC? What would Lasch's ghost be telling us now? Is the PM...

On Romania's annulled election – and the repeat. Academic and housing activist Enikő Vincze talks to Alex about why December 2024's election result was annulled, and how Romanian politics is following the script of European politics: lawfare, misinformation, techno-populism, and "sovereigntists" who provide the same neoliberal solutions. Who are the contenders in the May 2025 election and what do...

On the promise of videos games. [For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ] Pawel Kaczmarski – a literary critic who teaches modern and contemporary Polish literature at the University of Wrocław – talks to George and Alex about his piece in Damage , "The Promise of Video Games". How are things gearing up for Poland's election later this month? Are video games moving culturally "up...

On the charges against France's Marine Le Pen. [For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ] Alex and George discuss some main stories from the past month. After the death of Pope Francis, what's behind left-wing sympathy for the late Pope – and more widespread appreciation for Catholicism? Why do we want a progressive Pope, and would a reactionary one be better for us? Why is the US...

On the mass-production of loyalty. *** We are exceptionally making this episode of the Reading Club freely available. See the full syllabus here: 2024/25 Reading Club . If you'd like to join, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast/membership. *** The second reading in this block on Inter/Nationalism in the 21st Century is The Invention of Tradition (eds. Eric Hobsbawm & Terrence Ranger, 1983), spe...

On Filipino politics and geopolitics. Renowned public intellectual Walden Bello talks to Alex and contributing editor Lee Jones about his recently published memoirs, former president Rodrigo Duterte's arrest, warring political dynasties and more. What's behind Duterte's arrest? Is it lawfare? How did the Philippines comes to be an ‘anarchy of families’? What are the barriers to doing left-wing pol...

On Trump's government, his motives and his modus operandi. Political theorist Corey Robin talks to Alex H and contributing editors Lee Jones and Alex Gourevitch about Trump II from a domestic perspective. We look at the three main things he's done so far: cutting the civil service, imposing economic sanctions domestically, and his immigration terror politics. Is Trump a strong president? Does the...

On Perry Anderson's "Internationalism: A Breviary". [For the full episode subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ] We kick off the second block/theme of the 2024/25 Reading Club on Nations & Internationalism in the 21st Century by looking at a 2002 essay which charts nationalism against internationalism from the Atlantic revolutions through to the age of globalisation. It is particularly apposite...

On Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs and the end of globalisation. [For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ] Contributing editor Lee Jones  talks to Alex about the tariffs, as they try to reconstruct the Trump admin's thinking, and consider avenues and consequences. Why is this a retro-80s moment, and how much does China take the role that Japan used to in Trump's thinking? How mu...