Bungacast

On Germany, the hegemon of Europe. We are joined by leading German public intellectual Wolfgang Streeck to discuss the role of Germany at the end of the End of History. How is it and the EU faring under the assault of Covid-19? We cover Germany’s economic miracles - postwar and post-2008 -, Merkel’s tactical brilliance and strategic ignorance, and how France retains more of a sense of history. Also: why democracy sometimes needs an AK47. Readings: Critical Encounters, Wolfgang Streeck, Verso (2020) Letters from Europe, Wolfgang Streeck (in EN & ES)

On the US election, a huge turnout and the end of Trump. We survey the results of the presidential and legislative elections, peer through the exit polls and discuss some counterintuitive facts: Florida goes Trump but opts for a $15 minimum wage; California goes Biden while Uber gets its way; Trump did protectionism but it didn't help him win the Rustbelt; the Republicans win over more Latinos – but do Latinos even exist? And the big questions: Will Biden and the Democrats have any authority now that they don't have anti-Trumpism to drive them? Is a Biden administration to be a Silicon Valley dictatorship? And will the GOP be Trumpism without Trump? Readings: Are the Democrats losing on purpose? Amber Frost & Daniel Bessner, Jacobin

Full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast In this latest Three Articles, we discuss cosmopolitanism, the end of austerity (maybe?) and social control in the pandemic. Readings: Is cosmopolitanism our destiny?, Aris Roussinos, Unherd Meet the Philosopher Who Is Trying to Explain the Pandemic, Christopher Caldwell, NYT Global economy: the week that austerity was officially buried, Chris Giles, FT

On why anti-fascism is a problem. The Trump presidency and the current protests in the US have led many to argue this is just like the 1930s. The implication is that fascism is rising and the Left must join up with liberals to oppose this evil. Why is this historical analogy so wide of the mark? Was the Left really culpable for the fascists rise to power? And anyway, our age is vastly different to interwar Europe. So what is the real function of calls to anti-fascism? Readings: We Don’t Live in Weimar Germany, David Broder, Jacobin The Trap The Democrats Walked Right Into, Andrew Sullivan The End of Anti-Fascism, David Broder, Jacobin What Is Trump?, Dylan Riley, NLR

This is a sample. For full access, go to patreon.com/bungacast This month we discuss Todd McGowan's Emancipation After Hegel: Achieving a Contradictory Revolution - an introduction to, defence and radical re-interpretation of Hegel emphasising the importance of contradiction to thought and being. We try to tease out the political consequences of the book, focusing on authority, freedom, and identity.

Internationalism used to be a defining characteristic of the Left. Globalism is a defining characteristic of neoliberal capitalism. Both seem to be characteristic of Islamist jihadism. How did Islamist reaction become globalised? How far does Islamist globalism connect to radical legacies of Third Worldism, internationalism and radical solidarity? Political anthropologist Darryl Li, author of The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity joins us to discuss the transnational history of jihad over the last 30 years. Reading: The Universal Enemy - Book Forum, The Immanent Frame, Various Authors

On the Covid election. Trump has made himself deeply unpopular while the Democrats have tried to demobilise the electorate. What, if anything, are the two parties selling? Are they coherent entities? And what is likely to happen? Plus: we discuss a potential political realignment in process and what foreign policy would look like under a Biden presidency.