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Bungacast (Patreon feed)

The global politics podcast at the end of the "End of History". Join us as we chart a course beyond the age of "bunga bunga". [Listeners on Spotify and other apps will only be able to access episodes in line with the tier you are subscribed to]

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/390/ The Biggest Country No One Talks About ft. Vedi...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/02/09

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 old oligarchy manage to retain much of its power? How has Indonesia become "Islamified", and what is

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/389/ Betting on Bukele (II) ft. Juan Rojas

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/02/06

On security and democracy in Latin America.[Patreon Exclusive]We continue our conversation with Juan Rojas, Latin America columnist at Compact Magazine, by looking at how the 'Bukele model' would work – and not work – across the region: Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and beyond.There is less and less support for democracy in Latin America, which is seen not to deliver the goods. Much of the Left lacks a serious security policy in a context of rising crime. And evangelical Christianity's

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/388/ Betting on Bukele (I) ft. Nelson Rauda / Juan...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/02/06

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 Faro about the mood in El Salvador, what the state of emergency has been like, who the main gangs are and whether

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/387/ Get Fungal to Save Culture ft. Lias Saoudi (Fat...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/01/30

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 revival going on? Why is Lias interested in Ivan Illich? If living cheaply in big cities is now very difficult

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/386/ Reading Club: Globalisation (III & IV)

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/01/29

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-cons' Project for a New American Century? What were the long-term consequences of the Iraq invasion? What do we

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/385/ Global-Elite Vibe-Shift? ft. Amber A'Lee Frost

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/01/23

On the World Economic Forum.We continue our talk on the US left and Amber fills us in on DSA's collapse and the resignation of its head. We then move onto Davos and indications that the WEF is moving away from DEI, ESG, and other left-liberal concerns. Javier Milei gave a speech saying the West was in danger, that socialism was coming in the back door. What was that all about? If there's less wokeness this year, does that mean there's a change in ideas, a changing of the guard, or are business

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/384/ Millennial Rule ft. Amber A'Lee Frost

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/01/23

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 around? Bernie Sanders did not leave an organizational legacy – why? After the failure of left-populism, in

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/383/ Stare into the Abyss with Us ft. Juliano Fiori

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/01/16

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 generated by the prevailing sense of anxiety and melancholia? If modernity is over, do we need to reject all

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/382/ Death of the Millennial Left ft. Chris Cutrone

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2024/01/09

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 capitalism make us more optimistic? How will the 'lawfare' used against Trump play out?Links: The Millennial Left is

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/381/ Contemporary Art: Inane Spectacle & Pompous...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/12/19

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 there a romantic revolt against reason and is it new?Links: Criticism, Art and Theory in 1970s Britain:

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/380/ Josephine's Body Count

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/12/12

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 Josephine? What is Scott trying to say, if anything, about Napoleon and the Napoleonic wars? Where are the depictions of

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/379/ Sexy Pictures of Taylor Swift (Not Brexit)

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/12/05

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 discuss: Why all the fuss for Brexit, when things have ended up the same as they were before? Why Brexit when

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/378/ Reading Club: Globalisation (II)

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/12/02

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 restoration? How does the depression of the 1870s compare to that of the 1970s or the post-2008 period? What are the

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/377/ The Locked-Up Country ft. Shahar Hameiri & Tom...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/11/28

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 the Australian state transformed from the 1970s to the 2020s? Why was Australia's pandemic planning inadequate

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/376/ AufheBonus Bonus - Nov 2023

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/11/20

On your criticisms.[Patreon Exclusive]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.

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/375/ From Hyperliberalism to the Grayzone

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/11/14

On John Gray's The New Leviathans.[Patreon Exclusive]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 right in this characterization of liberalism? Is hyperliberalism the product of liberalism's decay? What is postliberalism and how does Gray’s project

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/374/ You're Gonna Need Representation ft. Vincent...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/11/07

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 all look so similar? Why was there such a focus on spontaneity, leaderlessness, peformativity, and

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/373/ Take a Stand: Be Neutral! ft. Lily Lynch

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/10/31

On NATO expansion and the end of neutrality[Patreon Exclusive]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 current moment compare to the apogee of the Non-Aligned Movement? Why were the realists right? How is tech mythology helping to build 'digital nationalism'? Why is there

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/372/ Reading Club: Globalisation (I)

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/10/30

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 historical blip of European ascendency? How compelling is the account of East Asian success as a fusion of industrious

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/371/ The Milei Massacre Didn't Happen ft. Ernesto Seman

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/10/24

On Argentina's election.Historian of populism and antipopulism Ernesto Seman tells us about Argentina's historic election. 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.We discuss: What is 'Peronism' and how does it occupy so much political space? How does Milei appeal to informal workers using market

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Bungacast (Patreon feed)

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