Bungacast

/213/ The Leopard Lockdown ft. Adam Tooze

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

Excerpt: /212/ Three Articles: Middle-Class Anxieties

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 

 

/211/ Unlocking the Lockdown Left ft. @galexybrane

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

Excerpt: /210/ Reading Club: Psychoanalysis & Spirit of Capitalism

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

Excerpt: /209/ Aufhebonus Bonus + Kabul Falls

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. 

/207/ Pangolin vs Lobster, pt 1 ft. Paolo Gerbaudo

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

Excerpt: /206/ Three Articles: Post-Liberalism

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

/205/ The World In One Country: The Final ft. Many Guests

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

/204/ Three Articles: People's Republic of Fleeing

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

Excerpt: /203/ Positive Biopolitics? ft. Benjamin Bratton

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

 

Excerpt: /202/ 3 Articles: Clerisy, War, Football

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

Excerpt: /201/ Reading Club: The New Class War

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

/200/ The World In One Country ft. Many Guests

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

Excerpt: /199/ Aufhebonus Bonus (June)

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".

/198/ Universal India ft. Achin Vanaik

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