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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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/350/ Reading Club: Legitimacy (1)

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/07/04

On Jürgen Habermas' Legitimation Crisis.[Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]We are in crisis, no doubt about that. But what kind? And what is the relation between economic, political and socio-cultural crisis?In this first episode on Legitimacy, we go through part 1 of Habermas' book, to try to understand some key concepts: system integration versus social integration; what Habermas means by social systems and subsystems; and whether growing individuation makes us more or less prone to manipulation

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/349/ The PMC & Their Politics ft. Dan Evans &...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/07/04

Live event at Housman's Bookshop.George Hoare hosts Dan Evans (author of A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petite Bourgeoisie) and Bungacast regular Catherline Liu (author of Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class) in a conversation about the middle class. How should we conceptualise the middle class, how has it come to dominate politics, and what should be done about it?

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/348/ Aufhebonus Bonus: June 2023

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/06/27

On your questions and criticisms.Bumper edition of Aufhebonus Bonus where we discuss whether we're technologically determinist with regard to artificial intelligence; whether the left should be bulding stuff; why criticising wokeness is boring; work, retirement and time; more on family abolition; and everyone's favourite topic – the PMC/new elite, etc. Event: The Professional-Managerial Class and their Politics, London, Wednesday 28 June, 7pm

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/347/ Feminists Touch Grass w/ Amber A'Lee Frost

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/06/20

On reactionary feminism.[Patreon Exclusive]We continue our discussions on contemporary feminism by looking at the diametric opposite of the atomistic vision presented by Sophie Lewis: the conservative, communitarian approach advanced by Mary Harrington.Harrington is critical of 'Progress Theology'. What does that mean, beyond rejecting new orthodoxies on gender – does that mean rejecting progress wholesale? If liberalism has reached a dead end, what intellectual supports should we draw upon?And if

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Silvio Berlusconi: An Oral History

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/06/13

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died on 12 June 2023 at the age of 86. In this special episode, we say goodbye to the towering figure of the End of History, and explore how the contradictions he exemplified spoke to our age. Contributions in order of appearance: Mattia Salvia Alice Oliveri Nadia Urbinati Carlo Invernizzi-Accetti Paolo Gerbaudo Thomas Fazi Pier Paolo Tamburelli The Bungacast Boys: Alex, George, Phil

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/345/ Who Is The New Elite? ft. Matt Goodwin

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/06/06

On power, values and class.[Patreon Exclusive]British professor Matt Goodwin joins us to talk about his recent new book Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics published earlier this year with Penguin. Matt has argued that a new elite has come to dominate public life, leading institutions and the cultural industries in Britain and across the wider Western world, and that they are fixated with issues that divide them from the larger public – to whom they are bitter and hostile. We talk

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/344/ Don't Do The Work ft. Ben Hickman

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/05/30

On work stoppages and work-doings.Ben Hickman, published poet and senior lecturer in English at the University of Kent, joins us to discuss his project on different understandings of work, or rather, The Work. What is The Work and why is it so pernicious? Ben wrote a piece for Compact regarding how the American poet and radical professor Audre Lorde transformed the way we think about work. We talk through the differences between work and The Work, how it impacted radical activism, and how middle

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/343/ Reading Club: Freedom (4)

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/05/29

On Martin Hägglund's This Life.We continue on the theme of freedom by discussing Martin Hägglund's case for 'democratic socialism'. In this episode, we leave the book itself to one side and attempt to "put the concepts to work". We survey the many intelligent responses the book has generated and discuss what their strengths and weaknesses are. Is 'secular faith' just a therapeutic ethos to do with caring about your loved ones? What guarantees that we will use our free time appropriately? Why would

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/342/ Maybe Don't Abolish the Family? w/ Amber A'Lee...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/05/23

On family abolition.[Patreon Exclusive]Amber A'Lee Frost joins us to talk through recent radical proposals to do away with the family as an institution. Author Sophie Lewis claims that "ever since the capitalist victory over the long Sixties, the shout for abolition of the family has been buried beneath a strange kind of shame”, but that now it’s back. Why?What problems does family abolition address? And how do contemporary accounts sit in relation to earlier radical proposals by the Old and New

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/341/ How to Grow a Backbone (II), ft. Russell Jacoby

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/05/16

On whether the individual is becoming weaker.[Patreon Exclusive]We continue the interview by asking intellectual historian and critic Russell Jacoby what is behind the apparent flattening of the individual, and whether Western society is no longer creating subjects adequate to democracy. Is Jacoby being overly conservative in mounting a retreat to the 19th century individual?We discuss consumerism and homogenisation, and the role that 'public opinion' plays – both more fragmented than ever, and yet

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/340/ How To Grow a Backbone ft. Russell Jacoby

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/05/16

On utopia and individualism.Renowned intellectual historian and critic Russell Jacoby joins us to talk about his lifetime of left critique. We discuss his early criticisms of psychology in light of the advance of therapy culture over the past 50 years, before moving on to the question of utopianism.Will the breakdown of the neoliberal era lead to new utopian thinking? Does enthusiasm for a universal basic income signal serious thinking about the nature of work? Or are we still in a world where only

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/339/ Erdogone? People vs Nation in Turkey ft. Alp...

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/05/10

On Turkey's elections.Alp Kayserilioglu joins us to talk about a crucial election. Erdogan’s rule is seriously threatened for the first time, with high inflation biting into living standards. Who are the main candidates and do what they propose? Where does AKP draw its support from, and what has sustained its legitimacy? We discuss the supposed supposed culture war between conservative Islamic values and secular liberal ones. And ask how Erdogan has managed the economic crisis of the past few

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/338/ The Energy Theory of Everything ft. Matt Huber

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/05/09

On who owns the power.Matt Huber joins us to discuss his article, "Socialist Politics and the Electricity Grid", and how organised labour is central to a politics of plenty. What is the grid and who owns it? What are the limitations of a "100% renewables" approach? On the politics of energy, the left is divided in a similar way to the ruling class. How do we move from a strategy of 'blocking' (preventing new infrastructure) to one of 'building'? And why does a movement to limit climate change need

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/337/ Nigeria Rising Downwards ft. Sa'eed Husaini

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/05/02

On Nigeria's 'end of the end of history'.Sa'eed Husaini from The Nigerian Scam podcast joins us to reflect on all things Nigeria: oil, debt, corruption and February's election. What was all that hype about the 'outsider' who wasn't much of an outsider? Has the country's populist moment passed?More Nigerians are falling into poverty due to low economic growth, while the state is due to spend 96% of its income on debt service. How is this sustainable?We also talk about oil and corruption: the

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/336/ Reading Club: Freedom (3)

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/04/27

On Martin Hägglund's This Life.We continue on the theme of freedom by discussing Martin Hägglund's case for 'democratic socialism'. Would we actually work under socialism, or do we need the threat of starvation or the promise of profit to motivate us? And what, if anything, is to structure all that free time we would gain?Why is Hägglund's critique of religion – specifically the critique of 'political theology' – so central to his arguments? And how do we avoid the various temptations to retreat

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/335/ AI & the End of the End of History

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/04/25

On history-ending technology.[Patreon Exclusive]The economist Tyler Cowen recently suggested that radical technological change today marks a turning point in history. Is he right, and how would we evaluate such a claim?Should we be sceptical about these big claims, especially given all the Silicon Valley-driven hype around AI? Or is 'radical agnosticism' the right stance?And what about calls to rein-in the development of artificial intelligence, especially when these calls come from Silicon Valley

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/334/ Cancellation is Cancelled ft. Norman Finkelstein

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/04/18

On the US cultural climate.Renowned/notorious writer Norman Finkelstein joins us to discuss the themes of his latest and last book, I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It!What unites the leading intellectual proponents of wokeness today, people like Ibram X Kendi or Kimberlé Crenshaw? How do they differ from anti-racist and liberationist heroes of the past? What continuities are there between today's cancel culture and the politics of the New Left? We discuss the definition of wokeness and ask

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/333/ Aufhebonus Bonus (April 2023)

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/04/11

On your questions & criticisms.[Patreon Exclusive]Is the Left dead? Did the turn to culture really kill it? Or is the nostalgia for the post-war Left the real problem?We also debate what the function of imperialism in Africa is; the 'pro-worker' conservatives in the US; surveillance of app workers; what economic growth is for; and whether to f**k models.

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UNLOCKED: /306/ AI Capitalism: Inhuman Power

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/04/06

On Inhuman Power.[Unlocked episode from Bungacast 'Reading Club', originally released 6 December 2022]Contemporary capitalism is possessed by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) question – one of the few areas today in which capitalists still seem to have ambition. Why is this so, and is there something about AI that gets to the nub of what capitalism is, as a mode of production?Is capitalism without humanity anything more than a dystopian Skynet nightmare? And would the creation of a surplus humanity

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/332/ The Zone (pt. 2) ft. Quinn Slobodian

Bungacast (Patreon feed) ·

2023/04/04

On cracked-up capitalism.[Patreon Exclusive]We continue our discussion with Quinn Slobodian on his book, Crack-Up Capitalism. Is the movement for police abolitionism a case of left-neoliberalism, and if so would the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) be one of those 'zones' Slobodian analyses?What is the notion of 'soft secession', and is that what everyone is moving towards – or have we passed 'peak zone'? And how best to understand Brexit - a move to create just such a low-tax, low-regulation

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Bungacast (Patreon feed)

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