Bungacast

Excerpt: /105/ The Lorax & the AK-47 ft. Leigh Phillips

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On ecofascism.

Both the shooters in the Christchurch and El Paso massacres were declared 'ecofascists'. Now, a new governing coalition in Austria brings together Greens and the hard right in an unconventional union.

How does Malthusianism link the far right and ecology? What are the dangers of 'lifeboat politics', and how can the Left resist this logic? Is the Green New Deal a solution?

Readings:

• Eco-fascism: The ideology marrying environmentalism and white supremacy thriving online, Sarah Manavis, New Statesman
• First as Tragedy, Then as Fascism, Alex Amend, The Baffler
• Austria’s new government includes the pro-environment Greens. That’s a first., The Washington Post
• Why White Supremacists Are Hooked on Green Living, Sam Adler-Bell, TNR
• What Is Eco-Fascism, the Ideology Behind Attacks in El Paso and Christchurch?, Luke Darby, GQ
• Only a Green New Deal Can Douse the Fires of Eco-Fascism, Naomi Klein, The Intercept

/104/ The Aristocracy of Finance ft. Alexander Zevin

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? And is the magazine suffering from N.O.B.S.? 

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Running order:

• (06:02) Overview & early days
• (29:52) 19th century & empire
• (34:18) 20th century, esp 1930s and '40s
• (48:08) End of the Cold War and NOBS
• (01:02:19) Liberalism & its enemies

 

Excerpt: /103/ Three Articles: The Future!

This episode is for Patrons only. Go to patreon.com/bungacast for access.

On forecasts for the next decade.

 

In this month's 'Three Articles' - in which we each bring to the table a key article to unpick and unpack - we take apart mainstream predictions of the future, over the next decade, the next couple of years, and 2020.

Readings:

• 25 Ideas That Will Shape the 2020s, Various, Fortune
• Boris Johnson is reinventing one-nation Conservatism, Bagehot, The Economist
• Forecasting the world in 2020, Various, Financial Times

[UNLOCKED] /77/ CaliBunga: Tech, Drugs & Capitalist Soul, Pt. 2

On drugs and mental health. 

In part two, we chat about recreational drugs and mental states in a Hollywood bar with friends of the podcast, Amber A'Lee Frost and Alex Gendler. But mostly, we delve deeper into capitalism and depression with the 'States of Wellness' group at UC Irvine (Catherine Liu, Thomas Williams, Michael Mahoney, Benjamin Kruger-Robins).

#CaliBunga is a special multipart series on the Californian Ideology: the seemingly paradoxical hybrid of New Left and New Right ideas - the synthesis of hippies with yuppies, all tied together with the promise that technology might liberate us.

Thanks to UC Irvine School of Humanities for sponsoring this series.