On Taiwan, semiconductors, and war.

[Full episode for subscribers only]

James Lin, Assistant Professor of International Studies at the University of Washington at Seattle, talks to Phil about Taiwanese politics and the country's place in the world, in terms of the global economy and Sino-American geopolitical rivalry. We talk about Taiwanese history and politics, from Japanese occupation and colonisation across the Cold War, to the present day, including: 

Taiwanese politics in the shadow of the geopolitical crisis

The paradox of political divergence and economic convergence between China and Taiwan since the 1980s

How did Taiwan corner the market for manufacturing computer chips? 

How successful is the ongoing US reshoring of chip production?

Will there be a Marco Rubio/Elon Musk divide on China in the Trump White House? 

How might a war over Taiwan play out? 

Links:

In the Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan, James Lin, UC Press

What Works in Taiwan Doesn’t Always in Arizona, a Chipmaking Giant Learns, John Liu, NY Times

Will Trump take the Musk path or the Rubio path on Taiwan?, Lev Nachman, Nikkei Asia

On Mothers and the institution of the family.

We're happy to bring you the recording of the launch event for the third issue of Damage magazine, with whom we're partnered. George and Alex were present for the event as part of a sequence of recordings on the future of place that will be released as a docu-series in the New Year.

For now, here is regular contributor Catherine Liu and friend of the pod Dustin Guastella debating the family to a packed-out bookstore at Moma's PS1 in Queens, NY.

On the End of History and Europe.

[For full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast]

LSE professor Mike Wilkinson talks to Phil and Alex about how the history of European integration fits with constitutional theories and ideas of sovereignty. We discuss: 

In what way are the conspiracy theories about the EU true?

What are the origins of European integration in the inter-war crisis?

How did European integration tie into the history of ideas and development of 20th century legal history?

How far does European integration overlap with counter-revolutionary theories and ideas?

And who is the Last European? 

Links:

Authoritarian Liberalism and the Transformation of Modern Europe, Michael Wilkinson

Political Constitutionalism in Europe Revisited, Michael Wilkinson, Journal of Law and Society

The Rise and Fall of World Constitutionalism, Michael Wilkinson, Verfassungsblog

On the maelstrom of the metropolis.

[Full episode only available to subscribers. Join at patreon.com/bungacast]

We kick of the 2024/25 syllabus with the first theme, The Future of Place, asking, is politics possible without a sense of place. We discuss Georg Simmel's short essay "Metropolis and Mental Life" and Marshall Berman's All That Is Solid Melts into Air (chapter 5, on New York).

How does Simmel relate the metropolitan condition to a historical passage from the 18th century to the 19th?

Is city life intellectual and blasé, versus small town emotionality?

Is narcissism built into modernity? Is there an aristocratic individualist revolt in evidence today?

Do we need places to hang out in before we can do political organising?

Are we nostalgic for top-down modernisation?

Readings:

"Metropolis and Mental Life"

All That Is Solid Melts into Air (chapter 5, on New York)

On the military decline of the American empire.

[Patreon Exclusive]

The Swedish writer Malcom Kyeyune talks to Phil about what happens to the evil empire when the stormtroopers can’t shoot straight and the empire isn’t producing enough star destroyers. They discuss:

What happens to international politics in a world of new geopolitical rivalries? 

How does American industrial decline affect US military capacity and strength? 

Why is America unable to produce enough ships? 

Why is the US unable to do conscription anymore? 

Who would win in a showdown between China and America? 

Links:

America will have to dodge the draft, Malcom Kyeyune, UnHerd

The Houthis now rule the Red Sea, Malcom Kyeyune, UnHerd

The West can no longer make war, Malcom Kyeyune, New Statesman

The American Empire’s Burning Peripheries, Malcom Kyeyune, Compact

/240/ Populist Interventions: Örebro Party ft. Malcolm Kyeyune | Bungacast

Facing war in the Middle East and Ukraine, the US looks feeble. But is it just an act?, Adam Tooze, The Guardian

On pro-family politics, and the US election and labour.

[Patreon Exclusive - in association with Damage magazine]

Dustin Guastella talks to Phil and Alex about what the election of Trump will mean for US labour organisations. We then move on to Dustin's proposal for progressive pro-family policies.

What actually is "the family" today? 

Social democrats are proud of policies but wary of encouraging family growth. Why?

What would pro-family policies look like, what would they do, and what might their negative effects be?

Is the family not a pillar for the reproduction of authoritarian norms?

How do we explain the fertility crisis in global terms?

How do we confront the growing marketisation of everything?

Links:

Damage issue #3 - MOTHERS - Bungacast subscribers get free access

NY live event: issue launch - Family Trouble

On Trump's return and the end of the End of History (still!)

Historian and Jacobin contributing editor Matt Karp joins us to extract the true meaning of the US election. We discuss:

How Trump's victory explodes so many Democrat assumptions about demography and identity

How this election re-writes the past ten years' history

Whether Trump still retains an anti-political or anti-establishment charge

If the Democrats are preponderant in leading sectors of the knowledge economy, is this a political rejection of its assumptions?

How to place this election in the sweep of the global anti-incumbency wave

What the relationship is between inflation, labour and legitimacy

Links:

Power Lines, Matt Karp, Harper's

It’s Happening Again, Matt Karp, Jacobin

Democrats join 2024’s graveyard of incumbents, John Burn-Murdoch, FT

/262/ The Useless Past ft. Matt Karp

/447/ Brunch Back Better ft. Ryan Zickgraf & Amber A'Lee Frost

/445/ How I Hacked the US Election ft. Alex Gourevitch

On your questions, comments, criticisms.

[Patreon Exclusive]

It's our letter to the episode show where we have a chance to answer you, the listener. We discuss:

Has Bungacast gone eco-austerian?

Are Marx and Freud in conflict?

Is abortion about healthcare or about freedom?

Why has the left abandoned liberty?

Did we underestimate Israel’s existential fears?

And what’s so “complex” about the Arab-Israeli conflict anyway?

Links:

2024/25 Reading Club on Place, Nation, Class

Direct link to the syllabus PDF

Our substack newsletter

On Georgia's pivotal elections and its post-Soviet history.

[Full episode only for patrons]

Hans Gutbrod, who has been working in the Caucasus region since 1999 and now teaches at Ilia State University in Tblisi, talks to Alex about Georgia's choice between the EU and Russia. We discuss:

Who is Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose wealth is equal to 1/4 of GDP?

What is the ruling Georgian Dream's pitch to voters, and how has it turned 'rightward'?

Did Georgia witness the end of history, or merely the de-development of the post-Soviet years?

How has civil society become dominated by NGOs, and is this a problem?

Can Georgia flourish in a multipolar world, acting as an entrepôt between East and West?

Links:

In Georgia, a National Election Is a Geopolitical Struggle, Bryan Gigantino, Jacobin

Telling Time the New Way: 17 Years of Reform, Hans Gutbrod, Civil Georgia

Macbeth in the Caucasus: Omnipotence and Loneliness - Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream, Hans Gutbrod (PDF)

On the US election, messaging and learning stupid lessons.

[Full episode only at Patreon]

We welcome Amber A'Lee Frost (California via Indiana and New York) and Ryan Zickgraf (Pennsylvania via Illinois and Georgia) to preview the US election. We discuss:

Why the campaigns have been so focused on micro-targeting demographics

Whether Russians or Brits are illegitimately swinging the election

How the Democrats have gone back to being smug

Why it feels like Pennsylvania is the only state voting (and not even there!)

Whether the US is going back to a pre-2016 period

How each side will react if they lose

Damage Magazine will hold a launch of its third print issue, "Mothers," in NYC on 23 November at 4-6pm at MoMA’s PS 1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Queens 11101. Catherine Liu will be in conversation with Dustin Guastella on the question of the family.

Links:

The Battleground State that Isn't, Ryan Zickgraf, Compact

The Gospel According to Elon Musk, Ryan Zickgraf, Compact

To win, Harris should talk more about working-class needs and less about Trump, Dustin Guastella, The Guardian

Obviousness, Scorn, and Losing Ground, Benjamin Fife, Damage