Episodes

Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
/303/ The Failure of the French Forever War ft. Yvan Guichaoua
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
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Norms, non-combatants' agency and restraint in Jihadi violence in Northern Mali, Yvan Guichaoua and Ferdaous Bouhlel, International Interactions
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The bitter harvest of French interventionism in the Sahel, Yvan Guichaoua, International Affairs

Tuesday May 31, 2022
/267/ South Africa Mafia State ft. Benjamin Fogel
Tuesday May 31, 2022
Tuesday May 31, 2022
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The insurrection in South Africa is about more than freeing Zuma, Benjamin Fogel, Al Jazeera
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Dons have KZN in their grip — and Don of Dons Jacob Zuma has the tightest grip, Chris Makhaye, Daily Maverick
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No two elephants are alike, Ryan Brunette, Africa Is A Country
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Rising vigilantism: South Africa is reaping the fruits of misrule, Landau & Misago, The Conversation

Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
Excerpt: /202/ 3 Articles: Clerisy, War, Football
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
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

Wednesday Jul 08, 2020
Excerpt: /134/ The Call - Afterparty
Wednesday Jul 08, 2020
Wednesday Jul 08, 2020
This is a sample. For the full episode, sign up at patreon.com/bungacast
The three of us discuss some of the themes that emerged from our interview with Krithika Varagur (ep.133) - the entanglement of the US state with Islamism, the Americanisation of the Middle East, and especially the Gulf States, and Wahhabism as religious justification for the Saudi state project.

Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
/133/ The Call ft. Krithika Varagur
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
Tuesday Jul 07, 2020
On Saudi religious proselytism.
Saudi Arabia has actively sought to export Salafism. How has it done this - and what have been its effects, in countries like Indonesia, Nigeria and Kosovo? Why was fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s such a formative experience for jihadists? And why has appeal of secularism faded?
Readings:
- The Call: Inside the Global Saudi Religious Project, Krithika Varagur
- How Saudi Arabia's religious project transformed Indonesia (Long excerpt from the book)
- The Coronavirus Threatens Saudi Arabia’s Global Ambitions, Krithika Varagur, Foreign Affairs
- Saudis and Extremism: 'Both the Arsonists and the Firefighters', Scott Shane, NYT
- China as the New Frontier for Islamic Daʿwah, Mohammed Turki al-Sudairi, Journal of Arabian Studies

Thursday Feb 14, 2019
/61/ Making Plans for Naija ft. Sa'eed Husaini
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
Thursday Feb 14, 2019
On Nigeria's elections. Sa'eed Husaini fills us in on the stakes of this election. President Buhari dismissed the country's top judge weeks before the election, but the former military dictator is meant to be an anti-corruption figure. His main opponent is a neoliberal privatiser. What's behind this contents between two faces of the Nigerian elite? What happens when politics is fought over the grounds of corruption? Can recent trade union mobilisations shake things up? Meanwhile violence associated with Boko Haram still festers...
Readings:
Introductory
Nigeria’s Brutal Decision: Former Dictator or Alleged Kleptocrat, Bloomberg Businessweek
Thatcher-Loving Nigeria Candidate Plans to Overhaul Economy, Bloomberg Businessweek
Election overview by Brookings
More depth
The rebirth of the Nigerian left?, Sa'eed Husaini in Africa Is a Country
Democracy fading in Nigeria, Al Jazeera
On Sowore's programme, Marxist.com
The struggle for a minimum wage, Africa Is a Country
PATREON: Help us grow (pay what you want) patreon.com/bungacast

Wednesday Jan 31, 2018
/27/ After Zuma ft. Sean Jacobs
Wednesday Jan 31, 2018
Wednesday Jan 31, 2018
In which we explore what Ramaphosa's South Africa will be like. Plus BRICS, Pan-Africanism, and @AfricasACountry

Friday Dec 01, 2017
/20/ The Coup in Zimbabwe
Friday Dec 01, 2017
Friday Dec 01, 2017
In which we do the big picture of the coup. With deep context from David Moore & the political goings-on from Chipo Dendere.