Bungacast

FROM THE VAULT: PHIL'S PICK (1) On British decline. Much ink has been spilled over the Britain’s fate since the end of its empire. Could it be that decline has been overstated? And what will happen to Britain as it leaves the European Union? We discuss how the history of the Industrial Revolution and Cold War militarism still shapes British politics today, as David Edgerton joins us to talk about...

FROM THE VAULT: PHIL'S PICK (2) The third in our Neoliberal Breakdown series. In which we discuss the late Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism, 10 years on. Does his analysis still hold? The mood music of the time - the age of 'TINA' and the end of history - was acutely described by Fisher. But did it only really describe Britain? And has the world now entered a new period? Readings: Capitalist Reali...

FROM THE VAULT: GEORGE'S PICK (1) On “culture”.   We discuss who produces culture and who consumes it – and what those inequalities reveal about culture today. Also, we ask what’s the ploblem with culture anyway and end up defending “low culture” from Red Hot Chili Peppers (well, sorta) to food guys.   Reading: Culture is Bad for You , Orian Brook, Dave O'Brien and Mark Taylor, Manchester UP

FROM THE VAULT: GEORGE'S PICK (2) On the unexpected origins of neoliberalism. We talk to Quinn Slobodian, author of Globalists, about how neoliberals look back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the League of Nations. Why does neoliberalism talk about freedom, but promote order? Is neoliberalism about more or less state - or is it about what kind of state? Plus why the genuine neoliberals didn’t c...

FROM THE VAULT: ALEX'S PICK (1) In which we lay the liberal establishment down on the shrink's sofa. It's a systematic analysis of liberal derangement: of the inability to accept, explain, or respond to the breakdown of the current order. Why can't the liberal establishment accept that the 2008 crisis would eventually have political consequences? Why can't liberals explain why they keep losing? Wh...

FROM THE VAULT: ALEX'S PICK (2) On The Economist and the contradictions of global liberalism. Alexander Zevin joins us to discuss his work on the 176 year history of the magazine that has accompanied liberalism's global expansion. Has it just reflected the world or has it actually influenced politics? How has The Economist balanced democracy against the interests of finance and the needs of empire...

On contemporary art.   Critic and editor at Art Review, JJ Charlesworth, joins us to talk about why so much contemporary art is bad. We discuss: Why is art no longer about beauty? Are we stuck between art that is either superficial or hyperpolitical? Why has there been a turn towards the mystical and irrational in art? How are ideas of the indigenous and the ecological represented in art today? Is...

On Ridley Scott's Napoleon.   [Patreon Exclusive]   We couldn't avoid discussing the new biopic about the "world soul" himself, Napoleon Bonaparte. The film isn't great, but what can we learn from it? And how does it sit in a context in which most biopics today are about musicians, business leaders and scientists?   We discuss: Why did Scott choose to focus on Napoleon's relationship with Josephin...

On taking control.   The Netherlands has elected an anti-EU rightist, but he won't take the Netherlands out of the European Union. Britain left the EU, but net migration to the UK has soared to its highest levels. What's going on?   In this special episode, Alex treats Phil and George as interview guests and grills them over their book, Taking Control: Sovereignty and Democracy after Brexit . We d...

On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century   [ Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive ]   We discuss the Part 2 of this landmark book from 2008, debating theories of Western economic decline: Robert Brenner's, and Arrighi's critique of it.   Points discussed: Are you 'Team Brenner' or 'Team Arrighi'? Was neoliberalism a counter-revolution? A passive revolution? A restor...

On Australia's lockdown.   We welcome back Shahar Hameiri and Tom Chodor to talk about their new book, The Locked-Up Country , to try to learn some lessons from Australia's response to Covid-19. We also talk about the country's recent Indigenous Voice referendum and ask whether it was Oz's "Brexit Moment".   In the episode we ask: Was the pandemic another success for the 'lucky country'? How was t...

On your criticisms.   [ Patreon Exclusive - subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast]   We respond to your points made in the comments on Patreon over the past few months. The first section is of course dedicated to the Gaza war, followed by discussion on hyperliberalism, neutrality, big tech, outsourcing, and drugs.   Now available also as video on Patreon.

On John Gray's The New Leviathans.   [ Patreon Exclusive - for the full episode, follow the link]   We discuss the British post-liberal philosopher's new book, looking at his background, ideological journey, and why he might be of interest. We also ask: How does John Gray use Hobbes and the idea of a Leviathan? What is a "state of nature", and what would an artificial state of nature be? Is Gray r...

On a decade of protest around the world.   Journalist Vincent Bevins is back on the podcast to talk about his new book, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution . We discuss the 2010s protest wave across countries as varied as Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Chile, Bahrain, Yemen, South Korea and Tunisia.   We ask: Why were protests in places that were so different...

On NATO expansion and the end of neutrality   [ Patreon Exclusive - for the full episode, sign up @ patreon.com/bungacast ]   Lily Lynch is back on the pod to talk about Northern and Eastern Europe and growing hawkishness. We discuss: Why did Sweden and Finland give up decades of neutrality - and why now? What happens with an enlarged alliance in light of the conflict in Ukraine? How does the curr...

On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century   [ Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive ]   We discuss the Introduction and Part 1 of this landmark book from 2008 and ask if Arrighi's vision of China, the West and the structure of the global economy was correct.   Points discussed: What's at stake in thinking of East Asian growth as a renaissance, or correction of the his...

On Argentina's historic election.   Historian of populism and anti-populism Ernesto Seman tells us what is happening in Argentina amidst severe economic crisis. The radical libertarian madman Javier Milei failed to win, and a second-round runoff will be needed, but politics has changed irreparably. The establishment right has been outflanked, while the left-populism of 'Kirchnerismo' is in crisis....

On violence and the lack of political resolution.   Regular guest Alex Gourevitch joins us to discuss why the Israel/Palestine conflict is so intractable – and why it draws so much attention. Alex then explains why, lamentably, there is no side worth choosing.   We then delve into various key points:  why Hamas was becoming irrelevant and how the 7 October attack was an attempt to combat that;  wh...

On the war on disinformation and the war in Gaza.    Jacob Siegel, senior editor at Tablet, joins us to talk about Hamas's attack on Israel and Israel's assault on Gaza. We also discuss how the US crusade against 'disinformation' has led it to apply counterinsurgency tactics to its own citizens.   Why did Hamas attack when it did? Has it been successful in stopping Israeli-Saudi rapprochement? How...

On sovereign debt and taking back control.   The leading candidate in Argentina's election this month wants to avoid defaulting on the country's debt at all costs. But back in 2001, after a mass revolt, Argentina reneged on its debts – one of the very rare cases over the past 70 years of unilateral default.    Why are nations so eager to pay back creditors nowadays, especially when it means endles...

On polycrisis.   [ Patreon Tier II and III Exclusive -  subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast ]   We reflect back on Jurgen Habermas' Legitimation Crisis as a whole, having gone through it section by section in previous episodes, before exploring what the idea of 'polycrisis' is about. Everyone from Adam Tooze to the FT to the World Economic Forum think we're in a polycrisis. How does this notion com...

On the end of politics.   Is the craziness of the past years, since 2016, ebbing away? Is the establishment back in charge? Journalist Ryan Zickgraf joins us to argue that, yes, the period of 'hyperpolitics' has passed.    Trump has lost his edge, BLM has imploded, boring Biden rules, the Proud Boys are nowhere to be seen. Fewer protests, fewer small campaign donations, fewer news articles shared....

On US politics being stuck.   [This was originally a subscriber exclusive. Sign up now at patreon.com/bungacast ]   We talk to political theorist Benjamin Studebaker about his new book,  The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way is Shut . Studebaker holds that hope is a problem because it's used by professionals to keep people engaged in a system that simply doesn't deliver. Hence the cult...

On satire of the bourgeoisie.   [ Patreon Exclusive . Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast ]   We discuss Luis Buñuel's "deranged masterpiece" from 1972, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and debate the social ritual of dinner, and why the guests in the film never get to eat theirs.   How does this early 70s surrealist film – which in many ways set the template for cinematic satires of the bourge...

On the radical right in the global periphery.   [This was originally a  Patreon Exclusive ]   Erdogan, Modi, Orban, Bolsonaro, Duterte. Though the latter two are gone, the first three are still going strong, in government for a decade or more. What unites these figures? They’re all right wing and authoritarian, but also popular and anti-establishment.   How similar are these politicians to their a...