Crash Course With Michael Walker

For my second episode on the Gaza War I spoke to Gilbert Achcar about his recent article outlining two possible endgames for Israel in its war on Gaza. One of his scenarios is based on annexing Gaza, and the other involves a return to the peace process.

Gilbert Achcar is a Lebanese socialist academic and writer. He is a Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.

You can read Gilbert's article here: https://newlinesmag.com/argument/two-gaza-scenarios-greater-israel-vs-oslo/

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I've taken a break from the migration series to do an emergency episode on the war in Gaza.   

I was joined by author Ben White and human rights advocate Andrew Kadi to discuss the longer-term origins of the Gaza War, and how that might inform what happens next. 

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For the first episode of my series on migration I spoke to immigration and asylum specialist Lou Calvey. We discussed the rise of small boat crossings, how the asylum backlog got so large, and why the home office isn't fit for purpose.  Lou brings a wealth of experience both from the policy world, and from practically supporting asylum seekers, which really came through in this interview. 

To support the show, sign up at patreon.com/crashcourepod

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Hello Crash Course listeners! 

First of all, a big apology from me. This feed has been way too quiet over the summer, but I will make sure its much more active over the coming months. I'm lining up a full series on immigration, both to debunk Tory scare-mongering and to explore what a genuinely human migration system might look like. 

In the meantime, I have a fascinating interview for you with Sam Geall. He's CEO of China Dialogue and a fellow at Chatham House. We spoke about an issue that, for obvious reasons, has been obsessing me this summer: climate change. And we spoke about an angle which I think is poorly covered in the UK press: the role of the world's biggest emitter in the fight against climate change. 

I hope you enjoy.

xx

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At the height of the pandemic, I hoped the experience would lead us to build a more equal society when the covid crisis had subsided. I had World War 2 as an analogy.

Gary Stevenson made a different prediction. He believed that the government response to the pandemic - and in particular - the decision to print billions of pounds, would lead to high inflation, and an increase in inequality.

We discussed what he got right, and what I got wrong.

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

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Dr. Bill Hanage is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

Since the outbreak of covid-19, there's been no-one I've trusted more to give me a balanced and objective account of the course of the pandemic. In this conversation we discuss whether the pandemic is really over, what living with covid looks like, and what the public health community has learnt from our response to covid-19.

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As the UK launches its inquiry into the handling of Covid-19, at Crash Course we're asking a slightly different question: Did Covid-19 change the world?

In this series I'll be speaking to scientists, economists and international experts to assess if and how covid-19 transformed society, for better or worse.

In this first introductory episode I speak to Ash Sarkar and James Butler about the mark covid-19 and lockdowns have left on political culture in Britain.

**This is the first half of a two hour conversation. To listen to the whole interview, sign up at patreon.com/crashcoursepod**

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

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In part two of my conversation with Joshua Craze we discuss the rise of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (widely known as Hemedti). He explained how the two generals have used threats of violence as a means to undermine democracy, and how their falling out has placed Sudan on the brink of civil war.

To support the podcast and access all episodes subscribe at patreon.com/crashcoursepod

Production & Editing: Lewis Bassett & Patrick Heardman

Sound Design: Patrick Heardman

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If you’ve watched the news over the past four weeks you’ll probably know there’s a crisis in Sudan. You’ll likely also know that the UK and other Western nations have been struggling to evacuate their citizens, and you might have been told the conflict is a power struggle between two leading generals. However, if you’ve been relying on mainstream news media, it’s unlikely you’ll know much more than that.

In the first of a two-parter on Sudan, I speak to Joshua Craze about the history of political conflict in Sudan. Here, we race through the history of Sudan, from its foundation in 1956 to the rule of Omar al-Bashir, which lasted from 1989 to 2019.

In part two we'll discuss how an understanding of Sudan's history can help explain the present conflict in the country.

I came across Joshua Craze via this brilliant article in Sidecar: https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/gunshots-in-khartoum

More reading suggestions from Joshua can be found here:

https://riftvalley.net/publication/sudans-grain-divide-revolution-bread-and-sorghum

https://africanarguments.org/2021/11/creatures-of-the-deposed-connecting-sudans-rural-and-urban-struggles/

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n10/alex-de-waal/the-revolution-no-one-wanted

To support crash course please sign up at patreon.com/crashcoursepod

Crash Course is produced and edited by Lewis Bassett and Patrick Heardman. Patrick Heardman does the sound design.

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*** This is the first part of a 1hr40min episode. To listen to the whole thing sign up at patreon.com/crashcoursepod ***

To wrap up the first series on rent I sat down with Aaron Bastani and Gary Stevenson. This was an incredibly enjoyable and very broad conversation, and over more than 90 minutes we touched on many of the themes raised throughout the series. Aaron and Gary are both original thinkers, and had lots to say on rent controls, working class landlords, and even god. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did!

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