Bungacast

On the UK's working-class unrest.

Sociologist Lisa McKenzie talks to Alex and contributing editor Lee Jones about why the country feels like a powder-keg.

• What's behind protests like Unite the Kingdom? How responsible are far-right agitators?

• Why are threats posed to women and children such an explosive issue?

• What is the type of nationalism that is behind the proliferation of English and British flags?

• What are Farage's Reform promising and will they deliver? What of the immigration question?

• How is Corbyn's "Your Party" going, and why can't the Left seem to speak for or to the working class?

Links:

• Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain, Lisa McKenzie, Bristol UP
• Lockdown Diaries of the Working Class, Lisa McKenzie
• James Treadwell thread on raising of flags, X

On critiques of entertainment.

New contributing editor Ryan Zickgraf joins Alex and George to talk about the history of media critique and contemporary cases.

• How does consensus-age comedy like King of the Hill deal with hyperpolitics today?

• Is the reliance on archetypes a problem, or inherent to all comedy?

• Why is Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death still relevant?

• Is the Gen X critique of 'couch potatoes' and TV-watching similar to today's techlash?

• Have we become insensible to contradiction?

Links:

• We’re still distracting ourselves to death, Ryan Zickgraf, UnHerd 

• King of the Hill reboot is ill-suited to the Trump age, Ryan Zickgraf, UnHerd

On slavery, racism, and the politics of freedom.

Renowned sociologist Orlando Patterson talks to contributing editor Alex Gourevitch about themes brought up by his recent The Paradox of Freedom as well as his works as a whole.

• Why is the study of slavery too affected by the exceptional US American experience?

• In what way is violence a constitutive feature of slave relations that aren’t true of others?

• Are we still mired in a politics of ethnic chauvinism?

• What does it mean for ethnic minorities to engage in self-criticism?

• Is there a politics of freedom that is hopeful today or has it been eclipsed?

The fifth and final part of a series on generational consciousness and conflict.

In this episode, we examine the Millennials and Generation Z. Uniquely, generation war today seems to be a conflict over resources more than over values. Is there any basis for this, and what do Millennials actually want? With generational and class conflict seemingly bound together today, we analyse 'Generation Left' and 'Millennial Socialism'. And we ask what the effect of the pandemic may be on the creation of a Gen Z consciousness.

Guests include:

• Paul Taylor, former director, Pew Research
• Jennie Bristow, senior lecturer in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University
• Helen Andrews, senior editor at The American Conservative
• Clive Martin, journalist who has written for VICE Magazine
• Josh Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow
• Jennifer Silva, assistant professor in sociologist, Indiana University

Original music by: Jonny Mundey

Additional music:

• Cacti / I Will Be Waiting / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
• Filthy the Kid / Vampire / courtesy of epidemicsound.com

The fourth in a special five-part series on generational consciousness and conflict.

In this episode, we examine Generation X – the generation of the End of History. How was this generation overshadowed by the Boomer's failures? In the Eastern Bloc, the fall of Soviet regimes was a traumatic moment – how did this shape consciousness? And how did the Iranian Revolution – and subsequent war – shape the political perspectives of Iranians?

Guests include:

• Maren Thom, film scholar
• Alexei Yurchak, professor of anthropology at Berkeley
• Jennie Bristow, senior lecturer in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University
• Josh Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow
• Arash Azizi, historian of Iran at New York University
• Felix Krawatzek, political scientist at the Centre for East European and International Studies in Berlin

Original music by: Jonny Mundey

Additional music:

• Kit Kruger / Freakin' Freefall / courtesy of epidemicsound.com

The third in a special five-part series on generational consciousness and conflict.

 

In this episode, we examine the Baby Boomers – myth and reality. The revolt of the '60s has been misunderstood in many dimensions. Was it betrayed or did it always express capitalist ideology? Were the Boomers the ones who really did the 1960s anyway? And what world have the Boomers created as they passed through life – and institutions?

 

Guests include:

• Jennie Bristow, senior lecturer in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University
• Helen Andrews, senior editor at The American Conservative
• Josh Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow
• Jeffrey Alexander, professor of sociology at Yale University
• Holger Nehring, chair in contemporary European history at the University of Stirling
• Kristin Ross, professor emeritus of comparative literature at New York University

Original music by: Jonny Mundey

 

Additional music:

• Medité / A Change in My Heart / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
• Ondolut / Blumen / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
• Elliott Holmes / Bull Chase / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
• Kick Castle / Kick Down / courtesy of epidemicsound.com
• T. Morri / Nuthin' but Nuts / courtesy of epidemicsound.com

Other Clips:

• American Pastoral Trailer © 2016 - Lionsgate
• Mai 1968 © France 3 Paris Ile-de-France
• Imitation de Daniel Cohn-Bendit © C'est Canteloup
• Baader Meinhof Complex © 2008

The second in a special five-part series on generational consciousness and conflict.

In this episode, we look at the emergence of 'youth' as political concept in the age following the French Revolution, and its shifting meanings. How important was generational consciousness in the Young Italy movement and its imitators in the 19th century, and how should we understand the so-called 'Lost Generation' of 1914?

Guests include:

• Niall Whelahan, Chancellor’s Fellow in History, Strathclyde University

Original music by: Jonny Mundey

Additional music:

• Leimoti / Don't Leave It Here / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
• Leimoti / The Small Things / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
• Philip Ayers / Trapped in a Maze / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com
• Walt Adams / Dark Tavern / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

Other Clips:

• Black 47 Trailer © 2018 - WildCard Distribution
• Arracht Trailer © 2019 - Break Out Pictures
• The Sun Also Rises © 2019 - 20th Century Fox
• Mr Lloyd George Speaks To The Nation (1931) British Pathé

The first in a special five-part series on generational consciousness and conflict.

In this episode, we look at the current, vexed discourse around generations, and analyse competing theories on how to understand generational cleavages.

Guests include:

• Felix Krawatzek, political scientist at the Centre for East European and International Studies in Berlin
• Jennie Bristow, sociologist at Canterbury Christ Church University
• Joshua Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow

Original music by: Jonny Mundey

Additional music:

Peter Kuli / OK Boomer / courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc.

Liru / For the Floor / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

On disruption, disturbance, decline, decay.

We continue our attempt to conceptualise the present moment by looking at Silicon Valley-style disruption, geopolitical disturbances and 'polycrisis', and decline & decay along two axes: normative vs descriptive, and geopolitical and universal.

Then we deal with your questions and comments over the past month on: religious authority; Russia, imperialism, and the USSR; and the limitations to 'the national interest'.

Subscribe for the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast

[Bungacast is on holiday, so we're unlocking/re-releasing a July 2021 episode that was previously only available to higher-tier subscribers]

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?

On The National Interest.

Aufhebunga Bunga co-founder and contributing editor Phil Cunliffe joins us to talk about his new book about politics after the age of globalisation. We ask questions about his book – and then put him on trial for wrongthink.

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• Who is the 'national interest' good for? Is it a domestic or a foreign policy concern?

• Why did the 'national interest' disappear from our political vocabulary?

• Is the national interest an abstraction anyone can rhetorically claim? Is that not dangerous?

• What happens if leading politicians – or elites in general – adopt the national interest? Would this be good or bad?

• Will Trump's re-assertion of US interests push others to defend theirs?

• Does the national interest stand against class interests? Is this anti-socialist?

• Was Stalin-style socialism-in-one-country actually correct? Has Phil come around to supporting Roosevelt-style social democracy?

Links:

• The National Interest: Politics After Globalization, Philip Cunliffe, Polity

On image-enhancing drugs.

Jason Myles of This Is Revolution is back on, talking to George and Alex H about his article in Damage on increasing steroid use.

• What does the discourse around 'fake natties' tell us about authenticity? Do SSRIs provide "fake happy"?

• If steroids are a short-cut, how do we understand the "work" in "working out"?

• Is the taboo on drug use completely gone?

• Are we medicating to counter the side-effects of other meds?

• How do issues such as steroids and trans reveal contradictory attitudes to the body?

• Have the links between body, image, sex, and eroticism been erased?

For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

Links:

• Self-Catfishing with Steroids, Jason Myles, Damage 

• Shedeur Sanders and the Marketization of College Sports, Jason Myles, Damage 

• /359/ Apollo Gets High ft. Benjamin Fong

On Franz Jakubowski's Ideology and Superstructure in Historical Materialism.

We focus on a very short section from Jakubowski's 1936 book, and delve into wider questions regarding ideology, social totality, and the middle classes.

• Is ideology “false, partial consciousness”?

• Is Jakubowski right that capitalism is the least ideological social form so far?

• Is it true that the middle classes only come into contact with the commodity when it is in circulation?

• How is the middle class' social position reflected in its worldview? How has this changed over 100 years?

For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

Links:

• Ideology and Superstructure in Historical Materialism, Chapter: “Ideology and the Classes of Bourgeois Society” (pp. 49-52)

• OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations (FULL)

• The Middle-Class Leviathan: Corona, the "Fascism" Blackmail, and the Defeat of the Working Class, Elena Lange & Joshua Pickett-Depaolis

• The Rise of the Professionals, George Hoare, Compact

 

On resistance and reform in southeast Asia.

Historian Sean Fear talks to Alex H and Lee Jones about Vietnam on the 50-year anniversary since the end of the war.

• How is Vietnamese identity wrapped up with the notion of resistance?

• Is Chinese influence as great as resistance to China?

• How is the ‘American War’ thought about in Vietnam today?

• How similar is Vietnam to China: defying Fukuyama’s thesis by retaining a state-socialist political system while adopting capitalism?

• Why has Vietnam achieved rapid growth and development while neighbours have failed?

• How is Vietnam reacting to being at the centre of Trump tariff disputes?

For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

Links:

• The Republic of Vietnam, 1955–1975: Vietnamese Perspectives on Nation Building, Sean Fear, Tuong Vu (eds.), Cornell UP

• /115/ Singapore Shangri-La ft. Lee Jones

• Post-Cold War Vietnam: stay low, learn, adapt and try to have fun – but what about the party?, Adam Fforde

On the end of the end of history and what comes next.

Phil is back on the pod, talking with George and Alex about the big themes of the podcast. In particular, we look at a recent essay in Foreign Policy by historian Christopher Clarke called "The End of Modernity".

• To what extent was the 1989 moment as significant in Beijing as Berlin?

• Is Trump actually Stalin (but in a good way)?

• Is Russia the revisionist power? And if so, in what regard and what are the consequences?

• Who says the choice is between "liberal democracy" and "authoritarian populism"?

Then, we take your questions and comments from the past month.

For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

Links:

• The End of Modernity, Christopher Clarke, Foreign Policy

• The End of the End of History: Politics in the Twenty-First Century, Bungacast, Zer0 Books

• Into the Abyss, Ed McNally, Tribune