Boondoggle

In an episode recorded before Trump raised the stakes in LA, and before Israel kidnapped the crew of the Madleen, Jim and Chris discuss the recommendations by some Democratic strategists to play possum and not react to Trump's outrages. We explain why we think that is a terrible idea. We also discuss whether socialists in the UK should join the Green party, where leadership candidate Zack Polanski is adopting some very encouraging policies.

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After a brief introductory foray into fashion, Jim and Chris return to the topic of artificial intelligence. What is the situation with the regulation of AI systems? How transformative is the technology going to be? Will AI save humanity or condemn us to oblivion? 

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In a busy news week (is there any other kind these days?), in this episode, recorded on Tuesday evening, Jim and Chris discuss first the terrible ongoing situation in Gaza, and the shamefully belated way in which the genocide is finally being acknowledged by political leaders. They then move on to talk about a chilling article equating protest and dissent in the UK with subversion, and the frightening repercussions that could have.

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Where was the episode last week? Jim confesses to participating rather too enthusiastically in Oxford's May Day celebrations and him and Chris swap musical stories before getting into criticisms of Labour's approach to immigration in the UK.

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In this episode, Jim and Chris discuss whether the Russia-Ukraine war could have been avoided, in the course of which they cover the history of NATO expansion and the wrong turn taken in relations between Russia and the West in the early years of this century.

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Has the much anticipated constitutional crisis finally arrived? Chris puts this question into a historical context by remembering some of the egregious actions of the Bush administration, which was, let us not forget, basically installed in a judicial coup that bypassed the will of the people.  Still, even against that dreadful standard, there is something extraordinary about the Trump regime, currently encouraging a confrontation with the judicial branch over the question of whether it can send people to lifetime incarceration in a foreign country without any due process.

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Talking just a few hours after Trump had announced a 90-day pause of tariffs, Jim and Chris discuss the purpose of his roller coaster tariff policy, which has very little to do with economic policy. 

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In this episode, Jim and Chris discuss the woeful response of Columbia University to Trump's aggressive attempt at control and crackdown on academic freedom and free speech. They discuss the letter organised by friend of the podcast and journalist for The Nation, Sasha Abramsky, recently published in the Guardian and available here. (Incidentally, the question was raised in the episode as to the level of Columbia's endowment. It is $14 billion.)

Other institutions are also crumbling, with major law firms and media organisations also bowing down before the Trump administration's threats. Where are the much vaunted guardrails of democracy now?

Jim and Chris also discuss the seeming incompetence of the Trump administration. Whilst they are incompetent at governing, they are proving very competent at bending the federal government to their will, which is of course what their actual job is.  As a thought experiment, think about what circumstances you can imagine Attorney General Pam Bondi resigning under. Weaponising the federal government to go after political opponents? Of course not! Failing to express sufficient loyalty to Trump? Failing to go after Trump's political opponents? That's the ticket! Now you know what her job is.

Jim and Chris finish by noting how, throughout the whole Signal scandal, very few people, including amongst the Democratic opposition in Congress, have pointed out the fact that the US bombed an entire residential building in order to take out one Houthi leader, expressly waiting until he entered his home. This might indicate what the jobs of Democratic members of Congress are too of course.

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Freedom of speech is a fundamental right, but it is not unrestricted. There are things that you do not have a right to say, even when a broad free speech right is in place, as in the US. The classic example is shouting 'fire' in a crowded theatre when there is no fire. But how is this restriction to be understood in a democratic society? Jim and Chris discuss a possible answer to this, that speech that seeks to prevent others from participating in the discourse, from speaking, should not be permitted. They also discuss the recent depredations of the Trump administration with respect to free speech.

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Free speech is, supposedly, a right-wing issue and yet the Trump administration is engaging in the most severe crackdown on political speech since McCarthy, and they may shortly surpass even that dismal nadir.

Jim and Chris discuss freedom of speech, and how the right, even when they are nbot cracking down on it, often misunderstand what it is. They enjoyed their discussion so much that we've had to split it into two parts. In this first part, the strange story of when the Heterodox Academy came to Birmingham, and why trigger warnings and racial epithets have nothing to do with free speech. In part two, a left-wing view of free speech and its limits, plus a discussion of the recent shocking detention of Mahmoud Khalil in New York.

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