Bungacast

On Indonesia's new president and the End of History.   For the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast   Michael Vann, Indonesia expert and history professor at Sacramento State, joins us to talk through the election results. How did Prabowo go from wannabe fascist dictator to cuddly populist grandpa? Why is Jokowi "Indonesia's Obama"? What is Indonesia's Trump/Hunter Biden ticket? What's up with the...

On our '1914 vibes'. And your questions & comments.    [ Patreon Exclusive ]   We discuss the parallels between our age (the end of globalisation, the threat of war) with the end of the Belle Epoque in the early 20th century. What might Lenin have to teach us?    We then turn to your questions and comments on: Palestinians as surplus population Peripheral countries as 'imitators' Whether Brexi...

On Indonesia: a country without a Left.   Foremost scholar of Indonesian politics and political economy, Vedi Hadiz of the University of Melbourne, joins us to talk through the country's politics in advance of the elections next week. What was the authoritarian order that followed the 1965 anti-communist massacres? How did the Asian financial crisis lead towards democratisation – and how did the o...

On El Salvador and mass incarceration.    Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, has just been re-elected on a landslide. His trademark policy is a state of emergency and the locking-up of tens of thousands of suspected gang members. He also made Bitcoin legal tender. What is 'Bukelismo', will it last, and will it spread?    First, we talk to Nelson Rauda , an editor at investigative outlet El Far...

On how to respond to conformity.   Lias Saoudi, frontman of the British band Fat White Family , joins us to talk about rock, popular culture and contemporary unfreedom. We discuss: Why are the kids taking less drugs? Can we respond to our nihilistic times with nihilistic art? What is the nature of conformity today? How to challenge conformity without sneering at the masses? Is there a romantic rev...

Double episode! On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing.   [ Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive ]   We wrap up the 2023 syllabus by taking on the second half of Arrighi's book, in which he analyses the over-reach and decline of the US empire, and whether China's rise and role in world affairs presents a different model, one that might be more peaceful. We discuss: How important was the neo-co...

On Dirtbag and the Millennial Left.   Bungacast regular Amber A'Lee Frost is back to talk about her new book, Dirtbag — part memoir, part critical essays on millennial socialism. In this episode we discuss: Why "millennial"? Does it make sense to talk in generational terms? What are the left's "perversions" as Amber sees them? 'Occupy' was all leaderless, horizontalist crap. Why did Amber stick ar...

On what comes after human rights.   Juliano Fiori, essayist and director of Alameda Institute , joins us to talk about catastrophism and organising around "the end". We discuss: What was humanitarianism, and why was it the "last utopia"? What does humanitarianism look like in an era of multipolarity? Does Western liberal democracy have any gas left in it? What should we defend? What politics are g...

On the missed opportunity of the 2010s.   [ Patreon Exclusive ]   Chris Cutrone of Platypus joins us to talk about his collection of essays, The Death of the Millennial Left. We discuss: Why define it as the "Millennial" Left? Was the anti-Stalinism of leaderless protests a good thing? Did the talk of "winning" from 2015 onwards represent maturity? Should the turn to a more public, statist capital...

On NATO expansion and the end of neutrality   Previously a Patreon Exclusive. For more like this, subscribe at 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...

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...