On contemporary art.

 

Critic and editor at Art Review, JJ Charlesworth, joins us to talk about why so much contemporary art is bad. We discuss:

Why is art no longer about beauty?

Are we stuck between art that is either superficial or hyperpolitical?

Why has there been a turn towards the mystical and irrational in art?

How are ideas of the indigenous and the ecological represented in art today?

Is there a romantic revolt against reason and is it new?

Links:

Criticism, Art and Theory in 1970s Britain: The Critical War, JJ Charlesworth

The Return of Magic in Art, JJ Charlesworth, Art Review

Gabriel Massan’s Decolonial Games, JJ Charlesworth, Art Review

The naked truth about Marina Abramović – her ‘art’ is a joke, JJ Charlesworth, Telegraph

On Ridley Scott's Napoleon.

 

[Patreon Exclusive]

 

We couldn't avoid discussing the new biopic about the "world soul" himself, Napoleon Bonaparte. The film isn't great, but what can we learn from it? And how does it sit in a context in which most biopics today are about musicians, business leaders and scientists?

 

We discuss:

Why did Scott choose to focus on Napoleon's relationship with Josephine?

What is Scott trying to say, if anything, about Napoleon and the Napoleonic wars?

Where are the depictions of youth, revolution and modernity?

Are there any redeeming aspects to the film?

What do we make of Phoenix's portrayal?

Are we seeing the return of films about Great Men of History?

On taking control.

 

The Netherlands has elected an anti-EU rightist, but he won't take the Netherlands out of the European Union. Britain left the EU, but net migration to the UK has soared to its highest levels. What's going on?

 

In this special episode, Alex treats Phil and George as interview guests and grills them over their book, Taking Control: Sovereignty and Democracy after Brexit. We discuss:

Why all the fuss for Brexit, when things have ended up the same as they were before?

Why Brexit when the same politicians are still in charge?

Why was no section of society able to lead Brexit with a positive vision of the future?

Did Brexiteers need a more concrete proposal beyond "democracy"?

What lessons can be learned from Brexit by others in the EU?

On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century

 

[Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]

 

We discuss the Part 2 of this landmark book from 2008, debating theories of Western economic decline: Robert Brenner's, and Arrighi's critique of it.

 

Points discussed:

Are you 'Team Brenner' or 'Team Arrighi'?

Was neoliberalism a counter-revolution? A passive revolution? A restoration?

How does the depression of the 1870s compare to that of the 1970s or the post-2008 period?

What are the characteristics of our own Belle Époque (1993-2007)

What matters more in explaining the downturn: inter-capitalist global competition? Upward wage pressure? The role of the global South?

Links:

Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century, Giovanni Arrighi, Verso (2008)

On Australia's lockdown.

 

We welcome back Shahar Hameiri and Tom Chodor to talk about their new book, The Locked-Up Country, to try to learn some lessons from Australia's response to Covid-19. We also talk about the country's recent Indigenous Voice referendum and ask whether it was Oz's "Brexit Moment".

 

In the episode we ask:

Was the pandemic another success for the 'lucky country'?

How was the Australian state transformed from the 1970s to the 2020s?

Why was Australia's pandemic planning inadequate?

What was up with the hotel-based quarantines?

Why did the public largely support these measure?

And what can the rest of the world learn from the experience?

On your criticisms.

 

[Patreon Exclusive - subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast]

 

We respond to your points made in the comments on Patreon over the past few months. The first section is of course dedicated to the Gaza war, followed by discussion on hyperliberalism, neutrality, big tech, outsourcing, and drugs.

 

Now available also as video on Patreon.

On John Gray's The New Leviathans.

 

[Patreon Exclusive - for the full episode, follow the link]

 

We discuss the British post-liberal philosopher's new book, looking at his background, ideological journey, and why he might be of interest. We also ask:

Readings:

The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism, John Gray

Pseudo-Leviathans, George Hoare, Damage

On a decade of protest around the world.

 

Journalist Vincent Bevins is back on the podcast to talk about his new book, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution. We discuss the 2010s protest wave across countries as varied as Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Chile, Bahrain, Yemen, South Korea and Tunisia.

 

We ask:

Why were protests in places that were so different all look so similar?

Why was there such a focus on spontaneity, leaderlessness, peformativity, and horizontalism?

What are some examples of the ways protests rejected representation?

Was class or generation more important in driving these protests?

Why did media becomes so important in pursuing political change?

How can we avoid a repeat of the failures of the 2010s?

Links:

If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution, Vincent Bevins, Public Affairs

The mass protest decade: why did the street movements of the 2010s fail?, Vincent Bevins, The Guardian

The End of the End of History: Politics in the 21st Century, Bungacast authors, Zer0 Books

/121/ Those Murdering Bastards ft. Vincent Bevins

/279/ Society of the Speculative ft. Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou

On NATO expansion and the end of neutrality

 

[Patreon Exclusive - for the full episode, sign up @ patreon.com/bungacast]

 

Lily Lynch is back on the pod to talk about Northern and Eastern Europe and growing hawkishness. We discuss:

Why did Sweden and Finland give up decades of neutrality - and why now?

What happens with an enlarged alliance in light of the conflict in Ukraine?

How does the current moment compare to the apogee of the Non-Aligned Movement?

Why were the realists right?

How is tech mythology helping to build 'digital nationalism'?

Why is there beef over grain between Poland and Ukraine?

And what the hell are the "skin suit of social democracy" and the "Waluigi of neutrality"?

Links:

Joining the West, Lily Lynch, Sidecar

The realists were right, Lily Lynch, New Statesman

The EU’s great power delusions, Lily Lynch, New Statesman

Guns, grain, and history, Lily Lynch, New Statesman

Tech-Mythologies, Lily Lynch, Sidecar

Imperfect Unity, Lily Lynch, Sidecar

On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century

 

[Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]

 

We discuss the Introduction and Part 1 of this landmark book from 2008 and ask if Arrighi's vision of China, the West and the structure of the global economy was correct.

 

Points discussed:

What's at stake in thinking of East Asian growth as a renaissance, or correction of the historical blip of European ascendency?

How compelling is the account of East Asian success as a fusion of industrious and industrial revolution?

Was Arrighi right to focus on the neoconservative Project for a New American Century?

What do we think about Adam Smith's account of different classes' capacity for political action

What's at stake in the revisionist view of Adam Smith as pro-state Enlightenment thinker rather than patron saint of the free market?

Links:

Adam Smith in Beijing: Lineages of the 21st Century, Giovanni Arrighi, Verso (2008)

The Left Hemisphere: Mapping Critical Theory Today, Razmig Keucheyan, Verso (2010)