Comradio

A short preview of our Patreon exclusive episode.  

 

Film Club on a much loved fantasy tale? As you wish.   

 

Bad bosses, the financial freedom of pirates, feats of Andre the Giant, the very famous US senator who loves The Princess Bride (although the cast don't love him back), and more.  

 

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'Princess Bride' Reunion: Politics Non-Factor In Fred Savage's Absence    

 

Inconceivable! Ted Cruz And 'Princess Bride' Star Cary Elwes Cross Swords On Twitter - Jeremy Blum in HuffPo (2021)   

 

Mandy Patinkin Would Love for Ted Cruz to Stop Quoting The Princess Bride - Julie Miller in Vanity Fair (2015)

The urgency of adapting our energy supply to mitigate climate change brings the question of nuclear energy to the fore. Last week, we covered the case against. This week, nuclear physicist and safety specialist Mat Flusk presents the case for, along the way giving us unsentimental insights into the politics of the industry and future technology. 

 

Plus, "crossing the floor".  

 

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Do Artifacts Have Politics? - Langdon Winner (1980) 

 

Authoritarian and Democratic Technics - Lewis Mumford (1964) 

 

On Authority - Frederick Engels (1874)  

 

The Meaning of Confederalism - Murray Bookchin (1990) 

 

20 years after Richard Hillman first appeared onscreen, he's still Corrie's greatest ever villain - Laura Stanley in The Metro (2021) 

 

World Nuclear News 

 

How To Drive A Nuclear Reactor by Colin Tucker (2020) 

 

Christian Wakeford's voting record

The urgency of adapting our energy supply to mitigate climate change brings the question of nuclear energy to the fore.  Over two episodes we will bring you each side of the debate.  First up, in a discussion ranging from Patricia Hewitt to Engels, from the immediate issues to the inherent characteristics of technologies, Dave Cullen of the Nuclear Information Service presents the left wing case against. 

 

Plus, the political life of Taylor Swift.  

 

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Stop Trying to Make Nuclear Power Happen - Dave Cullen in The New Socialist (2021) 

 

Nuclear Information Service website 

 

Information on Calder Hall 

 

Outlook: Patricia Hewitt signs the nuclear industry's death warrant - Jeremy Warner in The Independent (2003) 

 

Government loses nuclear power case - Deborah Summer and 'agencies' in The Guardian (2007) 

 

Do Artifacts Have Politics? - Langdon Winner (1980) 

 

Authoritarian and Democratic Technics - Lewis Mumford (1964) 

 

On Authority - Frederick Engels (1874) 

 

Manifesto of Libertarian Communism - George Fontenis (1953) 

 

Shining a light on the UK's nuclear deterrent - University of Sussex 

 

Unclear nuclear: How UK energy consumers unwittingly pay for military infrastructures - Neil Vowles for University of Sussex (2019) 

 

A Vernacular of Surveillance: Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus Perform White Authenticity - Rachel E Dubrofsky (2016) 

 

‘She isn’t whoring herself out like a lot of other girls we see’: Identification and “Authentic” American Girlhood on Taylor Swift Fan Forums - Adriane Brown (2012) 

 

The video to Shake It Off

Rhian E. Jones, editor of Red Pepper and writer and editor of several books including two about music and one on popular culture, joins us to talk about social class as it pertains to UK popular music and its major influences. 

 

The conversation starts roughly in the Twentieth Century with brass bands, Joe Hill, and music hall, then wends its way inexorably to the Thatcher years, the revolutionary truth about lemons, a song about a motorcycle, and eventually to the present day, Grime, and working class access to music. 

 

We have put together a playlist to accompany this episode, available on Spotify and Apple Music.

 

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Clampdown - Pop-cultural wars on class and gender by Rhian E Jones (2013) 

 

Triptych : Three Studies of Manic Street Preachers' The Holy Bible by Larissa Wodtke, Rhian E Jones, Daniel Lukes (2017) 

 

Under My Thumb: Songs that hate women and the women who love them by Rhian E Jones, Eli Davis (2017) 

 

Paint Your Town Red : How Preston Took Back Control and Your Town Can Too by Matthew Brown, Rhian E Jones (2021)

 

Music playlist - Spotify 

 

Music playlist - Apple Music  

 

Nixon's "Great Silent Majority" 

 

Citations Needed | Episode 119: How the Right Shaped Pop Country Music 

 

The Elvic Oracle: Did Anyone Invent Rock N Roll? - Louis Menand in The New Yorker (2015) 

 

Trashfuture - Britainology 9: UK Rave Culture 

 

History of Factory Records 

 

One leaf that David Cameron should take out of Thatcher's book - Barbara Gunnell in The Guardian (2011) 

 

Cover of the first Stone Roses album 

 

James of Manic Street Preachers wears a balaclava on TOTP 

 

Richey Edwards: The mysterious disappearance of the Manic Street Preachers star, 25 years on - Ed Power in The Independent (2020) 

 

‘McDonalds’ Music’ Versus ‘Serious Music’: How Production and Consumption Practices Help to Reproduce Class Inequality in the Classical Music Profession - Anna Bull and Christina Scharff (2017) 

 

Trashfuture - A Functioning State? Never Seen One of Those feat. Sanjana Varghese. (inc "Housekeeping") 

 

Resonate. The Community Owned Music Service  

 

Metropolitan Police apply for court order to stop gang members making drill music, in unprecedented move - Chris Baynes for The Independent (2018) 

 

How UK Ravers Raged Against the Ban - Frankie Mullins in Vice (2014)

Qapla'!  Nass rejoins us as we use the politically complex Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a mirror for occupations and colonial policy, including the "making the desert bloom" trope and Odo's lesson about justice. 

 

We also discuss the tensions between the needs of space drama and political statement, the power dynamics of scarcity, the climate denial of Geordi La Forge, the "soft path" for water management, the radical potential of 3D printing, and why everyone pronounces Quark's name differently. 

 

Our five minute focus this week: Starmer?  Out of touch?  Never!  

 

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IMDB entry for S2e17 of TNG, "Samaritan Snare" 

 

IMDB entry for S5e2 of TNG, "Darmok" 

 

About the Tamarian language 

 

Keir Starmer has said he is a friend to Palestinians – but his latest speech doesn’t square with that - Richard Burden in The Independent (2021)  

 

I demonstrated against Tzipi Hotovely’s appearance at LSE. This is why - Sayf Abdeen in The Independent (2021) 

 

Russians - Sting (1985) —A snapshot from the Cold War 

 

Trekonomics - Manu Saadia (2016) on Hive  

 

Water management: Soft water paths - Peter Gleick (2016)  

 

6 reasons technology alone can't solve water scarcity - Will Sarni at Greenbiz (2014)  

 

LeVar Burton Reads “Face Value” by Sean Williams

With a new year, hope. This week we talk about two very different books on hope as well as our own thoughts and experiences. We start from despair, find our way to nihilism, negotiate Slavoj Žižek's The Courage of Hopelessness, to THAT Obama poster and, finally, Teaching in the Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by Bell Hooks. 

 

Plus, a voice for football fans?  

 

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The Courage of Hopelessness by Slavoj Žižek (2017) on Hive 

 

A copy of Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by Bell Hooks (2003) 

 

L.N. Tolstoy and the Modern Labour Movement - V. I. Lenin (1910) 

 

Will Self review of The Courage of Hopelessness in The Guardian (2017) 

 

Barack Obama "Hope" poster 

 

Photo of JFK that inspired the choice of pose on the Obama "Hope" poster 

 

The Tattered Idealism of Barack Obama - David Brooks in The Atlantic (2020) 

 

Why Liverpool’s new Supporters Board can be a “game-changer” for English football - Jeff Goulding at This Is Anfield (2021)

It's the most wonderful time of the year - the annual Comradio Christmas episode. This year our theme is the beard. From what beards tell us about sociology and policy to the rich history of hairy faces, including what Atlee said about beards, how the Chartists delayed the age of the Victorian beard, New Labour's approach to beards, the role of the beard in Abraham Lincoln's electoral success, fake beards, beard taxes, the edicts about beards that have been used for political ends through the ages, and The Charge of The Light Brigade. All leading us to our thrilling conclusion: the truth about Santa's beard.  

 

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Why does Santa have a beard but Mrs Claus doesn’t? - BBC Science Focus Magazine 

 

Beards augment perceptions of men's age, social status, and aggressiveness, but not attractiveness - Dixson and Vasey (2012) 

 

Women are more attracted to men with beards, says study - Sophie Foster for Wales Online (2020) 

 

A multivariate analysis of women's mating strategies and sexual selection on men's facial morphology - Tessa R. Clarkson et al (2020) 

 

ALMOST HALF OF WOMEN REFUSE TO DATE MEN WITH HIPSTER BEARDS, SURVEY FINDS - Sarah Young for The Independent (2018)  

 

Let’s talk about Oscar Isaac's magnificent Dune beard - Gabrielle Paiella for GQ (2020)  

 

The Beard-Battle that Almost Split Christendom - Luke T. Harrington for Christianity Today (2016) 

 

What's In A Beard? - Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman 

 

The men evading Tajikistan’s de-facto beard ban - Global Voices Online in The Guardian (2015) 

 

5 UK Sikh doctors ‘removed’ for refusing to shave beards - Naomi Canton for Times of India (2020) 

 

Sikh Front-Line Workers Make Enough Sacrifices. Their Beards Shouldn't Be One. - Harman Singh in HuffPo (2020) 

 

Depiction thought to be Loki with no beard 

 

Beard: Masculinity in Early Modern England - Will Fisher (2001) 

 

Peter the Great’s Beard Tax - Amelia Soth for JSTOR Daily (2021) 

 

The Beard Movement in Victorian Britain - Christopher Oldstone-Moore (2005) 

 

Five Things You Didn't Know About The Crimean War - The Royal Collection Trust 

 

Roger Fenton's Crimean War photographs at the US Library of Congress  

 

Pioneer photographer's stark images of Crimean war go on display - Caroline Davies (2017) 

 

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Lord Tennyson (1854) 

 

The six reasons beards are everywhere - BBC Radio Four 

 

The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture - Les Wright (1997) 

 

“Grow the Beard, Wear the Costume”: Resisting Weight and Sexual Orientation Stigmas in the Bear Subculture - Patrick B. McGrady (2016) 

 

Understanding the Bear Movement in Gay Male Culture - Eric Manley et al (2008) 

 

What is a Blind Item? - Mary McMahon 

 

This Trans Woman Kept Her Beard And Couldn't Be Happier - Patrick Strudwick for Buzzfeed (2015)  

 

Why famous dudes grow beards to deal with existential crises - Luke Winkie for Vox (2020) 

 

Rick and Morty - Abradolf Lincler 

 

Santa, is that you? But where’s your white beard? - Peter Holley in WaPo (2014)

For ALE's December theme of liberalism we go back to the moment that makes liberals misty eyed, the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. Rivers, railways and roads, the Churchill statue waving, the green mound that turns into an industrial hell, Kenneth Branagh, The Queen and James Bond jumping out of helicopters, Mary Poppins and the NHS beds jazz sequence... 

 

A high watermark for the Kingdom or a revealing window into the papier mâché heart of 21st Century liberalism? Who can say?  

 

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The Complete London 2012 Opening Ceremony 

 

Nick Clegg backs face-sitting protesters over UK porn ban - Andrew Grice in The Independent (2020) 

 

Baron Harkonnen 

 

Industrial Revolution sequence from the ceremony 

 

Brunel giving Caliban's speech from The Tempest  

 

The Queen and James Bond sequence from the ceremony 

 

Carl Schmitt at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 

 

NHS sequence from the ceremony 

 

London 2012 organisers had to stop Jeremy Hunt putting Hitler in the opening ceremony, documentary reveals - Caroline Mortimer in The Independent (2016) 

 

Comradio Film Club #1: Mank 

 

Eclipse section from the ceremony 

 

"WHEN ERIC CLAPTON’S BIGOTED 1976 RANT SPARKED ROCK AGAINST RACISM" 

 

What the Olympics didn’t say about Britain’s place in the world - Eric Taylor Woods (2012) 

 

Neofeudalism: The End of Capitalism? - Jodi Dean in LARB (2020) 

 

Does Neo-Feudalism Define Our Current Epoch? - Louis Proyect for Counterpunch (2020)

From the wellsprings of psychology and psychiatry: Tales of sex, scandal, and madness. Through the animal magnetism of Franz Mesmer and the politicised uses of the concept of charisma, taking in the power of Odin, beyond orgasmic energy into ectoplasm, queer sex, imaginary toxins, and made up hallucinogens; our adventurers embark on a sacred quest to overcome hangovers and cynicism, finding more politics in modern mythical substances than they expected, more fun than they hoped for, and a mildly satisfying finale. 

 

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Good News Everyone! 

 

A Brief History of Menstrual Blood Myths 

 

Benjamin Franklin and the Glass Armonica 

 

Adagio for Glass Harmonica - Mozart. Played by Dennis James 

 

Mesmer’s 1780 proposal for a controlled trial to test his method of treatment using ‘Animal Magnetism’. - Donaldson IML (2005) 

 

The origins of modern clinical research - Stuart A Green (2002) 

 

The first modern psychology study - Sadie F. Dingfelder (2010) 

 

Progress of animal magnetism in New England - Charles Poyen (1837) 

 

Conducting the Vital Fluid: The Politics and Poetics of Mesmerism in the 1790s - Tim Fulford (2004) 

 

Title Page to Illustrations of Madness by John Haslam (1810)

 

House passes bill to help diplomats, officials hit with Havana Syndrome - Josh Lederman for NBC (2021) 

 

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - ST Coleridge (1834) 

 

Against The New Vitalism - Josie Sparrow in The New Socialist (2019) 

 

Comradio | 29 - Mythology, Part II: And I Don't Want to Myth a Thing feat. Sarah Stein Lubrano 

 

Wobbly Vitalism - Jeffrey Scott Brown (2018) 

 

Comradio | 65 - Renewable Elegy feat. E.E. Jones 

 

Reichenbach Falls 

 

Comradio | 52 - The Illuminazis feat. We Don't Talk About the Weather 

 

Sex on the Brain - Mark Pilkington for The Guardian (2005) 

 

Comradio | 69 - Left Get It On feat. Justin Hancock 

 

Comradio | 84 - Machine Politics feat. Thomas Heasman-Hunt 

 

Photographs from a séance with Eva Carrière 

 

Comradio | 71 - I'll Never Cross a Wicket Line feat. Hazel Potter & Tom Williams 

 

Spirited Sexuality: Sex, Marriage, and Victorian Spiritualism - Marlene Tromp (2003) 

 

Photo of Boji 

 

Istanbul’s local dog framed over poop on train

A short preview of our Patreon exclusive episode.  

 

We are joined by James from Podcasting is Praxis to explode the film behind the mask via Macbeth, anarchism, gender, the Situationists, Macbeth, Napoleon, myth and the heroes journey, Macbeth, anarchism, Lettrism, Macbeth, George W Bush, and Macbeth.

 

(Amount of Macbeth may be exaggerated to annoy actors)

 

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