On baby bust, feminism and male resentment.

[Patreon Exclusive]

Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips call up Korean sociologist Hyeyoung Woo, director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Portland State University, to talk about demography, family and gender in the Republic of Korea.

How urgent is the national debate on fertility?

What policy measures have been introduced to reverse the decline?

How is work organised and how do long hours contribute to the lack of family formation?

What has been the impact of feminist movements in Korea?

Is there a male backlash against feminism underway?

Why is there such a huge gender gap in voting behaviour among the young?

Links:

/394/ Girls, Left / Boys, Right ft. Nina Power

The Real Reason South Koreans Aren’t Having Babies, Anna Louie Sussman, The Atlantic

Foreign maids and no military service: South Korea criticised over ideas to boost birthrate, The Guardian

South Korea's incel election, S. Nathan Park, UnHerd

Why South Korean women aren't having babies, BBC News

This demographic catastrophe will hit us all, Peter Franklin, UnHerd

Korean Families Yesterday and Today, eds. Hyunjoon Park & Hyeyoung Woo

On the electricity grid and the institutions involved.

[Patreon Exclusive]

Fred Stafford, a STEM professional, a writer on energy and power, and an editor at Damage, talks to Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips about the utility of utilities and his recent essay in the second print issue of Damage, "Deinstitutionalized"./

What actually is a utility: is it a question of ownership, structure, purpose..?

How did the 70s energy crisis, neoliberal economics, and environmentalism create a perfect storm that broke up regulated utilities?

How does the regulatory regime on energy in the US actually work?

Why have environmentalists been so keen to line up with neoliberal deregulation and to attack utilities – in Europe as well as the US?

Why should the left think about a restoration of the investor-owned utility model, and not just jump straight to public ownership?

Links:

The Utility of Utilities, Fred Stafford & Matt Huber, Damage

Big Public Power from the Atom, Matt Huber & Fred Stafford, Damage

Power Loss: The Origins of Deregulation and Restructuring in the American Electric Utility System, Richard F Hirsch

On German political derangement.

[Patreon Exclusive]

Independent researcher and writer Gregor Baszak joins us to talk about German centrism being squeezed under pressure from both left and right — Sahra Wagenknecht and the AFD. Meanwhile the German economy is getting squeezed between the US and Russia, and NATO pressures Germany to up its defence spending.  

Is German public life remilitarising? 

What are the prospects for Sahra Wagenknecht’s new ‘left-conservative’ politics? 

What was the original political vision behind the Nordstream 2 pipeline? 

Why are Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni trying to carve the AFD out of pan-European national-populist cooperation? 

Where does Germany now stand in relation to the Ukraine War? 

Links:

• Europe After America, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative 

On the one-year anniversary of the death of our evil patron saint, Silvio Berlusconi, we are re-releasing our audio obituary. RIP Silvio.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died on 12 June 2023 at the age of 86. In this special episode, we say goodbye to the towering figure of the End of History, and explore how the contradictions he exemplified spoke to our age. 

Contributions in order of appearance:

• Mattia Salvia

Music:

• Bunga theme tune: Nous Non Plus / Bunga Bunga / courtesy of Sugaroo

On India's election and a blow for the BJP.

Esteemed writer and social activist Achin Vanaik is back on Bungacast to unpick India's monumental, seven-week-long electoral process in which over 600m people took part.

How did the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP lose its majority?

Is there really a cult of personality around Modi?

How does the BJP differ in important ways from Western 'national conservatives'?

Does the BJP losing seats reflect a loss of support for Hindutva ideology?

Modi claims India will reach developed economy status by 2047. Is this true?

How bad are problems of under- and un-employment, especially for the youth?

What is the nature of India's "crony oligarchy"?

How does the National Population Register threaten to divest people of citizenship?

How does the BJP see Israel as an example for itself?

Links:

/198/ Universal India ft. Achin Vanaik

In State Repression and Its Justification, India and Israel Have Much in Common, Achin Vanaik, The Wire

Narendra Modi Is Preparing New Attacks on Democratic Rights, Achin Vanaik, Jacobin

How do ideas of victimhood relate to the material reality of international politics?

What really are the aims of the protesters and how likely are they to achieve them?

Are we cynical in our approach or conclusions?

How do the protests relate to populism and the end of the End of History?

What is the proper basis of nationhood?

How do these protests relate to the millennial Left?

Vulnerability as Ideology, Peter Ramsay, Northern Star

The victimological imagination, Matthew B. Crawford, Substack

On MORENA and Claudia Sheinbaum's huge victory.

Mexico has elected its first woman president, tasked with extending the hugely popular AMLO'S legacy. What are her prospects and challenges? We ask:

What was the effect of NAFTA on Mexico, and particularly manufacturing?

How is US-China competition playing out in Mexico?

Why did Trump and leftist AMLO get along? What about Scheinbaum and Trump?

How does the politics of migration play out in Mexico?

How come there is no hardline Mexican right, especially given the problems of crime and drug trafficking?

Can other countries follow MORENA's example of centre-left success?

Links:

Mexico’s Political Revolution, Juan David Rojas, Compact

AMLO and Mexico’s Fourth Transformation, Juan David Rojas, American Affairs

Lessons of the AMLO-Trump Bromance, Juan David Rojas, Compact

/413/ Left-Populism That Works? (I) ft. Roger Lancaster

How does the film fit in the pantheon of Holocaust films? Is it a Holocaust film?

How well does it deal with its obvious subject matter: the banality of evil?

Is the film neutral and detached or preachy, condescending, moralising?

What to make of the commentary around the film, including director Jonathan Glazer's statements? How does it relate to Israel/Palestine?

What to make of present-day Auschwitz? Should it be preserved?

Links:

• The AMLO Project, Edwin Ackerman, Sidecar

Is talk about popular music stuck between the poles of “rockism” and “poptimism”?

How did Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder invent "electronic dance music"?

Why is "future music" good? What are its pitfalls?

How did Daft Punk run out of futurity?

Why is Auto-Tune actually not the worst invention?

How are genres like trap technically exciting but thematically glum?

Is there any way of bringing the future back?