Bungacast

On infrastructure – who owns and who controls it. Scholar Joscha Abels talks to Lee and Alex about global infrastructure, from satellites to cloud computing to undersea cables. --> For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast What, actually, is infrastructure How has public versus private provision of infrastructure changed? How much do tech oligarchs actually control the infrastruc...

On migration, monarchy, and legitimacy. Merouan Mekouar , professor of development studies at York University in Toronto, gives Alex and Lee an in-depth view of a country at the centre of multiple tendencies. –> Subscribe for more like this, at patreon.com/bungacast What actually happened with the stream of migrants at the Moroccan border with Ceuta (Spain)? How much of a pressure valve does ou...

On dead ends and new beginnings. Socialist writers, teachers and podcasters, Daniel Tutt and C. Derick Varn, talk to Alex and George about their pamphlet, The People Are Not One: Socialist Strategy After Left Populism, which came out this year. Is left populism not dead and buried? What's wrong with trying to unite people against the elite? What is the 'populist method' of class analysis? Are prof...

On sovereignty and Brazil's election. Juliano Fiori, Alameda Institute director, talks to Alex about Lula versus (Flávio) Bolsonaro through the lens of internal and external threats to sovereignty. Is this an election about nothing? What is at stake? How did the Left reappropriate the defence of Brazilian interests? What's behind US interference in Brazil? Is it economic or political? How does the...

A docu-series from Bungacast. This sequence of interviews, conversations and meetings were recorded mostly in New York – the capital of the 20th century – in order to ask what the future of place is in the 21st century. In part four, we finish off by digging into New York itself to look at the great contradictions of modernism. We conclude by asking what the capital of the 21st century is, and who...

A docu-series from Bungacast. This sequence of interviews, conversations and meetings were recorded mostly in New York – the capital of the 20th century – in order to ask what the future of place is in the 21st century. In part three, we explore the political economy of place: what produces the city, and what the city produces. We also ask whether place-based cultural scenes are still possible. Th...

A docu-series from Bungacast. This sequence of interviews, conversations and meetings were recorded mostly in New York – the capital of the 20th century – in order to ask what the future of place is in the 21st century. In part two, we explore "non-places", and ask whether their proliferation presents a challenge to the development of democratic politics. We also inquire into junk spaces and hyper...

A docu-series from Bungacast. This sequence of interviews, conversations and meetings were recorded mostly in New York – the capital of the 20th century – in order to ask what the future of place is in the 21st century. Over this multi-part documentary, we examine public space and non-places; privatisation, gentrification and digitalisation; the role of rent and of local scenes. The ultimate quest...

On oligarchy and the end of reform. Vedi Hadiz is back on to talk to Lee and Alex about Indonesia, amidst severe economic instability in the country. What does the ascendancy of Prabowo Subianto represent? What is going on with the erratic economic policymaking? How is Prabowo bullying other oligarchs, and is it working? What similarities are there between Prabowo and Putin, or even Trump? – For t...

On the complex connections between globalisation and political Islam. The OG Bunga Boys reflect on the quarter-century since that spectacular terrorist attack, and talk about Phil's recent essay on the waning of Islamism. Whatever happened to 'solving' Islamic radicalism through moderate conservatism? Is the end of globalisation also the end of global jihad? Why? Why did Islamism fail in pursuit o...

On Zohran Mamdani. Writer Ross Barkan, author of The Revolutionary on the New York mayor, talks to Ryan Zickgraf and Alex Hochuli about what Mamdani means for the Left. How did Mamdani mute cultural progressivism to focus concentrate on rent, transport, childcare and food? Is municipal socialism part of a strategy to rebuild national power, or is it a retreat to the cities after the failure of Ber...

We deal with your questions, comments and criticisms from the past month. Key issues: How big a deal, historically, is the US's failure in Iran? Is populism rooted in resentment and/or cynicism? Why is fascism not the right label for Trump? How to debate immigration? Are NGOs and international organisations actually relevant? For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast Links: /152/ I...

Taking a short break – back in late August.

On politics and football. Alex is joined by Karl Sharro , Juan David Rojas , Tim Abrahams , and Euan Marshall to pick over the stories of this World Cup. If the World Cup is a branding exercise for the hosts, what exactly is the USA selling here? And Mexico? Canada? Are conspiracy theories good, actually? Is Argentina evil? Should you support the global South against the colonisers? Are evangelica...

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...