Bungacast

On the long history of involuntary celibates. Alex Gendler talks to us about his essay in American Affairs, "The New Superfluous Men". With growing global concern about incels and increasing anti-terrorism focus on the supposed risks posed by lonely, angry men, we discuss why this discussion has emerged today and why it's gone global. Why do our societies seem no longer to find use for young men? Do they benefit from patriarchy? And how does this all relate to class? The full episode is available to subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On Covid and the end of the end of history. Adam Tooze joins us to discuss his new book, Shutdown. In 2020 everything changed... so that everything might remain the same. What were the reasons behind the global shutdown? Was it a result of over-protection, a policy of repression, or the result of structural tensions? Has China been the winner of the pandemic? How have central banks been victims of their own success? And does this represent the end of neoliberalism? The latter part of the interview continues over on patreon.com/bungacast

On net-zero, CCP nanny state, and optimised dating. We start off discussing the HBO series "The White Lotus" before tackling three articles on middle-class anxieties: climate change and pressures on UK living standards; the Chinese state's crackdown on private tutoring; and women's attempt to avoid crappy men through 'Female Dating Strategy'. The full episode is available to patrons only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast Articles: Boris Johnson’s push for net zero plunged into chaos, Edward Malnick & Emma Gatten, The Telegraph (attached in patreon) China’s nanny state: why Xi is cracking down on gaming and private tutors, Tom Mitchell & Thomas Hale, FT (attached in patreon) ‘Sales funnels’ and high-value men: the rise of strategic dating, Katie Cunningham, The Guardian

On lockdowns, education, and the left. California middle-school teacher and social critic Alex Gutentag (@galexybrane) joins us to talk about the depredations of lockdown in California and the wider world. How has lockdown affected different segments of society, and how damaging have school closures been on education? Why has the professional middle class been so in favour of widespread restrictions – and how did the left go from backing Medicare 4 All to cheering on lockdowns in the space of a few months? Readings: The War on Reality, Alex Gutentag, The Tablet The Great Covid Class War, Alex Gutentag, The Bellows

We discuss Eli Zaretsky's essay, "Psychoanalysis and the Spirit of Capitalism" (also available as a chapter in his book Political Freud). How convincing is Zaretsky’s idea that, as capitalism was becoming more organized and systematic, it also liberated relations between the sexes and enhanced a sense of individual subjectivity? Was Freudianism a victim of its success? Did it ‘win’ and thereby make itself obsolete - socially if not intellectually? And what is today’s "spirit of capitalism"? Are we still within the spirit that was reshaped in the 1960s - the world of the New Left? Reading Clubs are only for patrons $10 and up. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On the Fall of Kabul, plus responding to your questions & comments. On this Aufhebonus Bonus, we take your critical comments on 'positive biopolitics' and authoritarian responses to Covid. Plus, whether neoliberalism is really ending, the usefulness of using 'PMC' or 'clerisy', and much more. We start by discussing what's happening in Afghanistan, the 20 years of failure, and what happens next. The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at pateron.com/bungacast for access.

What comes after neoliberalism - the protective state? We talk to Paolo Gerbaudo about his new book, The Great Recoil, in which Paolo argues we are now turning inwards – globalisation is no longer a sea of opportunity and instead fear dominates. How convincing is his notion of an emerging 'protective state', and do either the left or right variants of it really promise us much at all? Part two of the interview is available for subscribers only. Sign up and listen at patreon.com/bungacast Links: The Great Recoil, Verso Books On the 'digital party', Bungacast

On post-liberalism: loving the state, crushing the individual? For this 3A, articles from different 'conservative' outlets - but how conservative, and of what kind? Articles: The real danger is insurgency on the right, William Hague, The Times (pdf attached in patreon) To curse social media is to exonerate society, Janan Ganesh, FT (pdf attached in patreon) We are all Britney now, Mary Harrington, Unherd Full episode for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

What country best captures 20th and 21st century history? For our 200th episode special, we posed the question: "If you had to study the history of only one country from 1900-2020, and thereby understand the history of the whole world, which would you pick?" You voted on the ten submissions and now we invited the top 3 back on the pod to discuss in more depth: Dominik Leusder on Germany; David Broder on Italy; and David Adler on India. Then Phil and Alex choose a winner (it's a "managed democracy"). Buy our book! Links to retailers

On Chinese investment, Swiss democracy, and fleeing from Afghanistan. In this Three Articles, we discuss flight or departure in various ways: China opening the gates for its huge savings to spill onto world markets; Switzerland leaving (or remaining outside) the EU; and the US's sudden departure from Afghanistan, without telling anyone. 'Three Articles' episodes are normally for subscribers only - but this one's free. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast for regular access. London book launch/bunga party: Register here Articles: What happens if Chinese household wealth is unleashed on the world?, Thomas Hale and Tabby Kinder, FT (pdf in patreon) Swexit, Wolfgang Streeck, Sidecar-NLR US troops abandoned Bagram airport base in the dead of night..., various, Daily Mail

On pandemic & post-pandemic politics. We talk to Benjamin Bratton about his new book, The Revenge of the Real, and its argument for a "positive biopolitics". What does an "epidemiological view of society" look like, and why should we let go of the idea that unmediated social relations are the most authentic kind? We touch on the work of Foucault and Agamben and why they are or aren't relevant to our conditions and critique "boomer theorists". The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast Come to our book launch in London. Readings: The Revenge of the Real, Verso Books The 7th Function of Language, Laurent Binet, Penguin

In our latest 3A, we discuss "the clerisy" and how it relates to the PMC; how the EU is doing forever war just as much as the US; and the hyper-commodification of football. The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast Articles: Did Populism Start A 21st Century Anti-Clerical Revolution?, Angela Nagle, Substack Interview with Wolfgang Streeck: The EU’s war in Africa, Jonas Elvander, Brave New Europe Cursed and compromised but Euro 2020’s irresistible circus rolls on, Barney Ronay, The Guardian

We discuss Michael Lind's The New Class War. Lind identifies new lines in the class war, between working class and managerial overclass, between those in the "heartlands" and those in the "hubs". How convincing is this account? What is his critique of technocratic managerialism and its symptom, populism? How convincing - and realistic - is his solution of "democratic pluralism"? And is this only achievable as a result of a new cold war with China? Reading Clubs are for higher-tier subscribers only. Sign up for $10/mo for full access: patreon.com/bungacast

On world history, 1900-2020. For our 200th episode special, we pose the question: "If you had to study the history of only one country from 1900-2020, and thereby understand the history of the whole world, which would you pick?" We invited 10 contributors to each pitch one country, whose particularities capture the universal sweep of world history from the start of the 20th century till now. Vote for which you think is best, and we'll have the top 3 back on to discuss in more depth: Link to voting page Running order: (18:20) Germany - Dominik Leusder (23:02) Greece - Jonas Kyratzes (27:57) India - David Adler (33:46) Indonesia - Vincent Bevins (38:25) Iraq - Liam Meissner (44:03) Italy - David Broder (49:19) Mexico - Roger Lancaster (54:01) Taiwan - Nic Johnson (59:44) Turkey - Arash Azizi (01:04:32) Yugoslavia - Lily Lynch Buy our book! Links to retailers Come to our London book launch! Event link

We take your questions, comments & criticisms. This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast On this Aufhebonus Bonus, we discuss whether unions are still capable of fighting for their members; the Arab-Israeli conflict at the End of History; a lot more on the 'PMC debate'; plus: whether Phil is "reductionist in the service of his own prejudices".

On secularism, nationalism and identity politics. India is held up as a model developing country: liberal, democratic, multicultural. Renowned Indian writer and activist Achin Vanaik joins us to examine how India has turned away from universalism and secularism. How did Gandhi, Nehru and the Congress as a whole lay the seeds for today's Hindu chauvinism? What are the consequences of defining secularism as merely 'tolerance'? And how has caste come to function a bit like identity politics in relation to the state? Readings: Nationalist Dangers, Secular Failings, Achin Vanaik, Aakar Books The Rise of Hindu Authoritarianism, Achin Vanaik, Verso Books The Rise of Hindu Nationalism and the Failures of the Indian Left, Interview with Achin Vanaik, Jacobin

In the lead-up to our 200th episode later this month, we're exceptionally re-releasing our 100th episode special this week. On the 30 years since 1989. For our 100th episode, we invited our favourite guests to reflect on the question: “What one event, personal or political, most captures for you the past thirty years, since 1989?” Are we still living in the death throes of the 20th century, or is something new emerging? Guests: (00:07:42) - Maren Thom (00:14:14) - David Broder (00:21:33) - Ashley Frawley (00:26:11) - Catherine Liu (00:33:05) - Angela Nagle (00:40:49) - Benjamin Fogel (00:46:25) - Alex Gourevitch (00:51:31) - BungaCast hosts (00:59:22) - David Adler (01:04:05) - Amber A’Lee Frost (01:08:48) - James Heartfield (01:16:17) - Anton Jaeger (01:23:24) - Leigh Phillips (01:30:25) - Lee Jones (01:36:03) - Karl Sharro

We discuss the third and final in the series of Perry Anderson essays on the EU in the London Review of Books, "The Breakaway", and wonder if the EU can - despite its crises - just carry on indefinitely. Reading Clubs are for monthly subscribers $10+. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On atrocity and sovereignty. This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast The disasters of Iraq, Libya, Syria and beyond are there for all to see. Why hasn't an emphasis on Human Rights led to fewer atrocities? How has Western intervention made the world a less safe place? We discuss Philip's book Cosmopolitan Dystopia: International Intervention and the Failure of the West and discover that no one really defends sovereignty today. What's behind the concept of 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P)? And should we understand it as a form of "liberal imperialism"?

On China, economic reform, and the future. While Russia famously succumbed to destructive neoliberal "shock therapy", China managed to avoid it. How and why? Isabella Weber, author of How China Escaped Shock Therapy, tells us about China's opting for gradual reform instead. What did reform mean for understandings of socialism? Do communists make the best capitalists? And is the pursuit of growth and development at any cost China's own version of the End of History?

On global insurrection and identity politics. This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast We discuss an essay by the ultra-left collective 'Endnotes' that deals with the same political questions as we do, but comes up with different answers. Are the fragmented and ephemeral movements that have taken to the streets in France, Chile and the US, for example, the future of politics? Anti-political rejections of the establishment seem radical, but can they overcome their own negativity? And are identity politics the necessary form that re-politicisation has taken? Readings: Essay discussed Onward Barbarians, Endnotes Background The Bleak Left, Tim Barker, n+1 Endnotes no.5: A melancholic goodbye…, Angry Workers of the World On communisation and its theorists, Friends of the Classless Society

On liberal idealism and imperial overreach. Why did the winners of the Cold War turn 'revisionist', undermining their own order? How has utopianism come to dominate the discipline of IR, such that we have lost the means to critique power? We discuss Philip's recent book, The New Twenty Years’ Crisis 1999-2019: A Critique of International Relations, which is both a revisiting of EH Carr's international relations classic The Twenty Years' Crisis as well as an account of the contemporary crisis of the liberal international order. Reading: The New Twenty Years’ Crisis 1999-2019: A Critique of International Relations, Philip Cunliffe, McGill-Queen's UP

On consequences of the pandemic + important local election results in Spain & UK. We start off by discussing the telling results of some recent local and regional elections: in the UK, Labour continues its drift to becoming a middle-class party; while in Spain, Madrid goes to the right. Podemos flops, while voters seem to endorse an anti-lockdown stance. Then we get to our three articles on the consequences of the pandemic: is live-streaming complicit with power? Are liberals now anti-science? Will inflation return? Three Articles: Stayed home, live streamed, got the T-shirt, Lev Parker, The Conservative Woman The Liberals Who Can’t Quit Lockdown, Emma Green, The Atlantic Broad commodities price boom amplifies ‘supercycle’ talk, Neil Hume et al, FT

We discuss the second of Perry Anderson's three LRB essays on the making and unmaking of the EU: "Ever Closer Union?" Our monthly Reading Club is for patrons $10+. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On class reductionism, commodity fetishism, and value theory. To discuss Covid, the state as 'PMC leviathan', and the politics of value theory, we’re joined by philosopher Elena Louisa Lange, who also explains why class reductionism is not a theoretical position or a mere mistake, but a social reality. We also address the value of 'going back to school', take on the new Leftist 'holy trinity' of class-race-gender, and hear from Elena why we need to theorise the world before we change it. Readings: The Middle-Class Leviathan: Corona, the “Fascism” Blackmail, and the Defeat of the Working Class, Elena Louisa Lange and Joshua Pickett-Depaolis, Crisis and Critique, 2020 Marxism and the Crisis of Development in Prewar Japan, Germaine A. Hoston, Princeton, 1987 Lawyer’s Fees, Beetroot, and Music, Elena’s Substack Value Without Fetish, Elena Louisa Lange, Brill 2021 Marxist Class Theory for a Skeptical World, Raju J. Das, Haymarket, 2018

On memes and the counter-culture. Theorist and curator Mike Watson advances the argument for "acid leftism". What is this, and why do we need a new counter-culture? Is contemporary leftism lacking a utopian imaginary? Plus: slow memes and fast memes; the democratisation of art and media; and generations: which ones became conservative, which might not? Running order: (00:04:15) - Interview with Mike Watson (01:02:00) - 'Afterparty' discussion on what a counter-culture might look like today Readings: Can the Left Learn to Meme? , Mike Watson, Zero Books The Acid Left, YouTube channel The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin (pdf)

On Latin America's progressive wave and its discontents. A new book on Latin America argues that 'pink tide' governments tried to treat the symptoms of neoliberal capitalism while allowing the underlying situation to worse. We talk to the author, Fabio Luis, about cases across the region, including the election in Ecuador and Venezuela's disaster, to Bolivia's coup and Argentina's "path of least resistance". How important is regional integration and what does an alternative socialist vision entail? And we ponder a sad question: is the dream of development and modernisation over? Readings: Power and Impotence: A History of South America Under Progressivism (1998-2016), Fabio Luis Barbosa dos Santos, Haymarket /93/ Hot Chile and Other Neoliberal Failures ft. Pablo Pryluka Bungacast

How to address the political problems of leftwing parties today? Liverpudlian historian David Swift argues that the problem is hobbyism - people for whom politics constitutes their identity rather than expressing their interest in social and political change. He joins us to take us through his arguments about hobbyism, and how he thinks the Left might change for the better. Readings: A Left For Itself, David Swift, Zer0 Books How the Left lost all purpose, James Bloodworth, Unherd How not to be a white anti-racist, David Swift, Unherd

On the end of the End of History and neo-feudalism. This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast In a continuation of our discussion on the emerging transfer state, we ask whether the end of neoliberalism entails the end of the 'End of History'. What are the determinate features of the End of History that we are leaving behind? Which are still with us? Also, what to make of arguments that our future is neo- or techno-feudal? Do these terms make any sense? Or is it better to think of two alternate futures: Japanisation or Brazilianisation? The End of the End of History, Bungacast, Zer0 Books Neofeudalism: The End of Capitalism?, Jodi Dean, LA Review of Books Neo-feudalism in California, Joel Kotkin, American Affairs

On cash welfarism and state investment. Plus regionalism in Belgium & the UK. Anton Jäger is back on the pod to discuss the emerging 'transfer state'. We examine Biden's massive trillion-dollar spending plans and ask if this means we're leaving neoliberalism. What are the limitations to the 'cashification of welfare'? Also comparisons with cash transfers or lack thereof in the UK, Brazil and Belgium. Plus Anton talks us through recent Belgian history and why its immobilism and bureaucracy has actually prevented a full-on neoliberal assault. [Part 2 available at patreon.com/bungacast] Readings: “Welfare without the welfare state”: the death of the postwar welfarist consensus, Anton Jäger & Daniel Zamora, New Statesman Joe Biden Is a Transformational President, David Brooks, NYT

On Covid state failure + responses to listeners. The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast We start off by discussing listener points and criticisms – e.g. is PMC a useful category? Is a counterculture a terrible idea? Were we wrong on Deleuze? More on the lockdown debate... – before featuring the second part of our discussion with Lee Jones on the coronavirus and state failure (from 45:30). We look in depth at what went wrong in Western state responses to the pandemic, why they didn't follow their own plans, and compare this to South Korea's relative success. Readings: How the pandemic has exposed Britain’s failed ‘regulatory state’, Lee Jones, Daily Telegraph COVID-19 and the failure of the neoliberal regulatory state, Lee Jones and Shahar Hameiri, Review of International Political Economy

On the uprising in Myanmar, plus Covid state failure. Southeast Asia scholar (and Bunga recidivist) Lee Jones joins us to talk about the coup in Myanmar (and why the word “coup” can be misleading), and explains the nature of the forces opposing the military, in the context of the country’s recent transition to civilian rule. Then, from 40mins, we discuss how the UK failed in dealing with the pandemic, and how this applies across the West. Lee's recent work looks at the neoliberal "regulatory state" and its incapacities, so we compare the UK's failure with Korea's relative success. Readings: Preliminary thoughts on the Myanmar “coup”, Lee Jones, Medium Responding to the Myanmar coup, Crisis Group How the Civil Disobedience Movement can win, Aye Min Thant and Yan Aung, Frontier How the pandemic has exposed Britain’s failed ‘regulatory state’, Lee Jones, Daily Telegraph COVID-19 and the failure of the neoliberal regulatory state (pdf), Lee Jones and Shahar Hameiri, Review of International Political Economy

We discuss the first of Perry Anderson's new essays on Europe published in the London Review of Books, which focuses on Luuk van Middelaar - described as the EU's first organic intellectual. We discuss what that means, as well as the role of the "coup" in forming the EU. Reading Club episodes are for subscribers $10+. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On memes and the counter-culture. This is a sample. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast Theorist and curator Mike Watson advances the argument for "acid leftism". What is this, and why do we need a new counter-culture? Is contemporary leftism lacking a utopian imaginary? Plus: slow memes and fast memes; the democratisation of art and media; and generations: which ones became conservative, which one might not? Running order: (00:04:15) - Interview with Mike Watson (01:02:00) - 'Afterparty' discussion on what a counter-culture might look like today Readings: Can the Left Learn to Meme? , Mike Watson, Zero Books The Acid Left, YouTube channel The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Walter Benjamin (pdf)

In this latest Three Articles, we examine the rise of 'techno-populism', look at the EU's vaccine debacle, and question whether cinema - and popular culture in general - is being desexualised and pornified at the same time. This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast Readings: The rise of the technopopulists, Chris Bickerton, New Statesman (pdf attached) Accelerating Decay, Wolfgang Streeck, Sidecar - NRL blog Everyone is beautiful and no one is horny, RS Benedict, BloodKnife

On the socialist case for Scottish independence. David Jamieson and Cat Boyd, writers and hosts of Conter, the Scottish anti-capitalist website and podcast, join us to to talk about the prospects for Scottish independence in advance of the Scottish parliamentary elections in May. Would an independent Scotland within the EU be a contradiction in term? How would an independent Scotland fare - and what would it mean for the "national question" across Europe? And what's up with the factional strife among Scottish nationalists? Readings: Contercast, podcast hosted by Cat & David Independence Beyond Salmond and Sturgeon, David Jamieson, Conter The Origins of Scottish Nationhood, Neil Davidson, Pluto Press

On gay liberation and sexual politics. After big advances over the past decades, we can now ask, did the gays win? And if so, so what? Mark Simpson in the UK and River Page in Florida join us to discuss whether something was lost in that victory. We ponder whether gay politics was the original identity politics and what happens when a narrow focus on equality triumphs over liberation. Do sexual liberation politics have any future? Plus: how Blairism was the biggest drag act of all. Readings: Anti-Gay, Mark Simpson (Bloomsbury, 1996) Being Gay in the Thirties (Gay Life), documentary mentioned by Mark Trading in the Past: Queer London, Mark Simpson The Standpoint Bureaucracy, River Page, TwinkRev The Woke Resurrection of a Gay Sex Panic, River Page, TwinkRev

How to address the political problems of leftwing parties today? Liverpudlian historian David Swift argues that the problem is hobbyism - people for whom politics constitutes their identity rather than expressing their interest in social and political change. He joins us to take us through his arguments about hobbyism, and how he thinks the Left might change for the better. This is a sample. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast Readings: A Left For Itself, David Swift, Zer0 Books How the Left lost all purpose, James Bloodworth, Unherd How not to be a white anti-racist, David Swift, Unherd

We've exceptionally unlocked one of our recent Reading Clubs. For access to all the monthly Reading Clubs - as well as our ~2 patreon episodes a month - subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast for $10. –– On Richard Tuck's The Left Case for Brexit, a book composed of essays written throughout the Brexit process, providing a diary of Brexit of sorts, as well as political and historical arguments around sovereignty. We also take the opportunity to debate its global implications - what are the possibilities for popular sovereignty in a globalised world? On the final deal and its implications, see: The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Minimum Brexit

We discuss Gilles Deleuze's short essay, Postscript on the Societies of Control and ask whether his understanding, according to which society has changed from one where discipline is exercised in institutions to one where control is implemented across society, holds water. The monthly Bungacast Reading Club is for patrons $10+. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

We respond to your questions and comments from the past two months. Plus a continuation of our chat with Catherine Liu (from 55mins onwards) - on PMC unions, PMC child-rearing and the culture industry. This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast Readings: The PMC Gets Organized, Dominic King, Damage Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional-Managerial Class, Catherine Liu, University of Minnesota Press, 2021

On the Professional-Managerial Class. Catherine Liu joins us to talk about the worst class in history (the PMC), and how and why they hoard all forms of secularised value. We discuss the development of the PMC as a class, figure out when it stopped being "heroic", and debate who the PMC'S leader might be. We conclude by asking whether the Left needs the PMC (or vice versa?). The discussion will continue next week – focusing on recent unionising in professional workplaces, how the PMC brings up its children, and whether the "culture industry" is still a thing – in a subscriber-only episode on our patreon. Readings: Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional-Managerial Class, Catherine Liu, University of Minnesota Press, 2021 Moral Minoritarianism from the Ashes of Left Populism, George Hoare, Damage Saving Britain's Universities report, Lee Jones & Phillip Cunliffe, Cieo

On the relevance of psychoanalysis. In a continuation of our talk with Benjamin Fong, editor of Damage Magazine, we discuss the relevance of psychoanalysis today. What happened to the marriage of Marx and Freud – and what does the decline of both say about our times? We criticise social media as the latest instance of the culture industry as well as the growth of the US as a 'drugged society'. How can psychoanalysis be wielded against therapy culture, against a psychology that just helps us adapt to the world, and in favour one that makes us more free? This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast Readings: The Method and Function of Analytic Social Psychology, Erich Fromm (pdf attached on Patreon) Adorno’s critique of the revisionist psychoanalysis: An introduction to ‘The Revisionist Psychoanalysis’, Nan-Nan Lee, Discussion and translation of Adorno (attached as pdf on Patreon) Therapy Without Therapists, Briana Last, Damage

On American breakdown. Editor of Damage Magazine, Benjamin Fong, joins us to talk about the lack of shared narratives in contemporary America. We discuss QAnon and conspiracy theories, Biden's authoritarian liberalism, and "pro-worker" conservatives. We also interrogate the use of psychological analyses of politics and reaffirm the value of psychoanalysis, in a preview of a more detailed forthcoming discussion on our patreon. Readings: The Siren Song of “Pro-Worker” Conservatism, Benjamin Fong & Dustin Guastella, Jacobin Unpacking the Left's Culture Baggage, Benjamin Fong, Damage Therapy Without Therapists, Briana Last, Damage

On Uber, class war among the rich, and its political consequences Articles: The real class war is within the rich, Janan Ganesh, FT Uber pays to get rid of its self-driving cars, Pluralistic, Cory Doctorow The radical Left is now extinct, Oliver Bateman & Malcolm Kyeyune, Unherd

This episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast If liberal democracy has been dethroned, what next? Francis Fukuyama famously declared the "end of history" in 1989. Has he been misunderstood? Should we understand the declaration in a geopolitical sense - liberal democracy triumphant - or in a more philosophical sense? We discuss what capital-H History means and what Fukuyama's career trajectory can tell us about our times. Is it capitalism realism or the end of history?

This is a sample. Reading Clubs are for patrons $10+. Sign up now at patreon.com/bungacast This month we discuss a book by leading German sociologist and public intellectual, Wolfgang Streeck. Critical Encounters is a compilation of book reviews, discussing neoliberal ideas, politics and economy. We start off by discussing the value of reading books in today's noisy, social media-filled, locked-down climate, as well as what makes a good book review. Then we address five themes: the coming of post-industrial society; popular misconceptions about neoliberalism; German hegemony in Europe; Cosmopolitan delusions; and the future of capitalism. Our interview with Wolfgang Streeck from November 2020 can be found here.

On the Biden administration and Trumpist reaction. We discuss the riot at the US Capitol and why it was not a (failed) coup attempt. How serious was the event, and what next for Trumpist reaction - will it lead to a split in the Republican Party? Our guests - journalist Amber Frost and political science academic Daniel Bessner - help us preview what the Biden administration has in store for the US. With Democratic control of both houses, it should be able to pass legislation - but does it have any substantial plans to do so? In foreign policy, we can expect more foreign adventurism and at home, an ominous anti-domestic terrorism bill. Does the alliance of the Democrats with an increasingly domineering Silicon Valley signal the coming-out moment of authoritarian liberalism? Readings: Riot on the Hill, Mike Davis, NLR Sidecar blog Render unto Ourselves, What is Ours—or Caesar Will Seize It, Alex Hochuli, Damage What Experts on Extremism Want From the Biden Administration, James D Walsh, NYMag Morbid Symptoms Can Persist for a Long Time, Barry Eidlin, Jacobin Violence in the Capitol, Dangers in the Aftermath, Glenn Greenwald, Substack The revenge of the blob, Alex Ward, Vox

On the 'war communism' solution As we enter the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant turmoil, suffering and lockdown, inevitably the search for systemic causes and systemic responses grows more intense. Swedish ecologist and social theorist Andreas Malm joins us to discuss one possible response - a crisis communism modelled on the War Communism of early Soviet rule, as discussed in his new book ‘Corona, Climate Chronic Emergency: War Communism in the Twenty First Century.’ We discuss the nature of our contemporary crises, and how far the left needs its own distinctive form of emergency politics. Readings: “To Halt Climate Change, We Need an Ecological Leninism”, Jacobin interview with Andreas Malm Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency: War Communism in the Twenty-First Century, Andreas Malm, Verso Nature Defends Itself, Dayton Martindale, Boston Review

On freedom, authority and responsibility. Theorist Todd McGowan joins us to talk about the End of History, what Hegel can teach us about emancipation, and why Slavoj Zizek’s reinterpretation of Hegel is so important. If contradiction is the basis of modern politics, what is its link to freedom? And what is the connection between freedom and authority? Are stable sources of authority even possible in modernity? We also put some listener questions to Todd, as we learn that the Right, just as much as the Left, evades authority and is unwilling to take responsibility. Readings: Emancipation After Hegel: Achieving a Contradictory Revolution Review of book in Marx & Philosophy