Bungacast

By Bungacast

The global politics podcast at the end of the End of History. Politics is back but it’s stranger than ever: join us as we chart a course beyond the age of ’bunga bunga’. Interviews, long-form discussi... more

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FAQs about Bungacast:

How many episodes does Bungacast have?

The podcast currently has 669 episodes available.

Bungacast episodes:

December 28, 2023[FROM THE VAULT] /74/ Order Not Freedom ft. Quinn Slobodian
FROM THE VAULT: GEORGE'S PICK (2)
On the unexpected origins of neoliberalism. We talk to Quinn Slobodian, author of Globalists, about how neoliberals look back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the League of Nations. Why does neoliberalism talk about freedom, but promote order? Is neoliberalism about more or less state - or is it about what kind of state?
Plus why the genuine neoliberals didn’t care about the Cold War and how Murray Rothbard laid the ground for Trump.
Readings:
Globalists, Quinn Slobodian
Neoliberalism’s World Order, Adam Tooze
Why I am not a conservative, F.A. von Hayek
The EU is a betrayal of Europe’s exceptionalism, Douglas Carswell
Subscribe for access to the Synthesis Session, where the guys discuss the broader implications: patreon.com/bungacast
...more
1h 16min
December 28, 2023 [FROM THE VAULT] /161/ Culture is Bad for You ft. Mark Taylor
FROM THE VAULT: GEORGE'S PICK (1)
On “culture”.

We discuss who produces culture and who consumes it – and what those inequalities reveal about culture today. Also, we ask what’s the ploblem with culture anyway and end up defending “low culture” from Red Hot Chili Peppers (well, sorta) to food guys.

Reading:
Culture is Bad for You, Orian Brook, Dave O'Brien and Mark Taylor, Manchester UP
...more
1h 10min
December 28, 2023 [FROM THE VAULT] /46/ Exiting Capitalist Realism
FROM THE VAULT: PHIL'S PICK (2)

The third in our Neoliberal Breakdown series. In which we discuss the late Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism, 10 years on. Does his analysis still hold? The mood music of the time - the age of 'TINA' and the end of history - was acutely described by Fisher. But did it only really describe Britain? And has the world now entered a new period?
Readings:
Capitalist Realism http://www.zero-books.net/books/capitalist-realism
'Exiting the Vampire Castle' https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/mark-fisher/exiting-vampire-castle
Mark Fisher's k-punk blog https://k-punk.org/

Cover image: 📸 Stephanie Jung
...more
51min
December 28, 2023[FROM THE VAULT] /136/ Banana Monarchy ft. David Edgerton
FROM THE VAULT: PHIL'S PICK (1)

On British decline.

Much ink has been spilled over the Britain’s fate since the end of its empire. Could it be that decline has been overstated? And what will happen to Britain as it leaves the European Union? We discuss how the history of the Industrial Revolution and Cold War militarism still shapes British politics today, as David Edgerton joins us to talk about the his latest book, 'The Rise and Fall of the British Nation'.

Readings:
A misremembered empire, David Edgerton, Tortoise
Britain’s 20th-century industrial revolution, Colin Kidd, New Statesman (review of Edgerton's book)
Britain's persistent racism cannot simply be explained by its imperial history, David Edgerton, The Guardian
...more
1h 11min
December 19, 2023/381/ Contemporary Art: Inane Spectacle & Pompous Discourse, ft. JJ Charlesworth
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
...more
1h 27min
December 12, 2023Excerpt: /380/ Josephine’s Body Count
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?
...more
10min
December 05, 2023/379/ Sexy Pictures of Taylor Swift (Not Brexit)
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?
...more
1h 46min
December 02, 2023Excerpt: /378/ Reading Club: Globalisation (II)
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)
...more
11min
November 28, 2023/377/ The Locked-Up Country ft. Shahar Hameiri & Tom Chodor
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?
...more
1h 25min
November 20, 2023 Excerpt: /376/ AufheBonus Bonus - Nov 2023
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.
...more
9min

FAQs about Bungacast:

How many episodes does Bungacast have?

The podcast currently has 669 episodes available.

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