In this episode, Alan and Jem discuss the first few days of Andy Burnham’s leadership of the Labour Party and the United Kingdom. We talk about his dramatic acceptance speech, his appointment of a new government and try to work out if he and they really think they are going to make a historic break with neoliberalism.

correction – contrary to what we said on the show, Louise Haigh is MP for Sheffleld Heeley. Not sure where I got the idea she was representing a Notts constituency.

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In this epic episode, Alan and Jem  conclude their discussion of the crisis in the UK university sector. We summarise and develop some of the analysis from the previous episode, talk about why the tech sector hates universities, and then finally get into talking about possible futures, political responses that both governments and progressive forces could make, and what an ideal future for universities could look like. 

We’re aware that this is a huge topic so if listeners have questions, feel free to email them to [email protected] with the subject line ‘university question’. We’ll try to address them in future.

Note: At one point in the conversation we refer to a famous debate from the 1950s. This is what we were alluding to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures

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In this episode, Alan and Jem continue their discussion of the crisis in the university sector. How have universities changed in the eras of Fordism, post-Fordism and Platform Capitalism? How has the intersection of this history with the politics of neoliberalism and financialisation brought the entire sector to the brink of catastrophe?

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In this episode, Alan and Jem  discuss the crisis in the university sector, mainly in the UK, but in a transatlantic context. We talk about the history of the universities since the mid 20th century and how they have ended up in the current situation, with tens of thousands of staff having been made redundant since 2020 despite astronomical levels of student debt.

*A correction on a historical point here: at some point Jem repeats the assertion that the John Major cabinet had fewer graduates of ancient elite universities than Tony Blair’s. This is one of those things that used to get said by journalists or commentators in the 90s that I never bothered to go and check, but after listening back to the episode, I thought to myself ‘that can’t be right’, and it turns out, on checking, that it wasn’t. I think there was this vibe around that this might be true because Major didn’t go to university whereas Blair himself went to private school and Oxford, but the claim as such was completely inaccurate.

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A recording of an online seminar, discussing the fourth and final section of The Battle For Britain: Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture with author John Clarke. With the expert help of Jo Littler, we talk about the background to the book, the introduction and the first two chapters, covering the different ways that our present moment in Britain can be understood, spatially and temporally. 

This seminar is part of a series: https://culturepowerpolitics.org/the-battle-for-britain/

If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, it’s here. Part 2 is here.

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In this episode, Alan and Jem  discuss Andy Burnham’s speech launching his formal bid for the Labour leadership, bringing to bear the full force of Alan’s rhetorical analysis techniques. We talk about the nature of rhetoric, the relationship between vibes and content, and what it might mean that Burnham’s may well be the first authentically ‘soft left’ Labour government. Before that, we chat about the appointment of James Purnell as Burnham’s chief of staff.

(A couple of errata – Jem referred to David Miliband having become an MP at the 2005 UK general election, but he meant 2001. He also referred to Andrea Egan as leader of Unite, but he meant leader of Unison.)

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A recording of an online seminar, discussing the third section of The Battle For Britain: Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture with author John Clarke. With the expert help of Anamik Saha, we talk about the background to the book, the introduction and the first two chapters, covering the different ways that our present moment in Britain can be understood, spatially and temporally. 

This seminar is part of a series: https://culturepowerpolitics.org/the-battle-for-britain/

If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, it’s here. Part 2 is here.

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A recording of an online seminar, discussing the second section of The Battle For Britain: Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture with author John Clarke. With the expert help of Sarah Bufkin talk about the background to the book, the introduction and the first two chapters, covering the different ways that our present moment in Britain can be understood, spatially and temporally. 

If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, it’s here.

This seminar is part of a series: https://culturepowerpolitics.org/the-battle-for-britain/

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A few weeks ago we predicted that Andy Burnham would defy the predictions of many experts and win this week’s Ashton-in-Makerfield by-election by a comfortable margin.

In this emergency podcast, Alan and Jem  discuss the implications of Burnham’s crushing victory over the far right in yesterday’s historic by-election. Featuring a thrilling blow-by-blow account of Jem’s trip to the constituency and an extended set of speculations on what a Burnham government might try to do. 

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Alan and Jem discuss the role that images of total catastrophe play in our culture and our politics: from fears of nuclear war to visions of environmental and social breakdown. We talk about, among many other things, the post-war peace movement, Hobbes’ vision of society and The Lord of the Rings. (Jem also misremembers the plot of Silent Running, but gets the general vibe right).

Some books that helped us with this one:

The Anthropocene Unconscious: Climate Catastrophe Culture by Mark Bould

(Eco)Anxiety in Nuclear Holocaust Fiction and Climate Fiction: Doomsday Clock Narratives by Dominika Oramus

Nuclear Fictions :Violence and the Narration of the Anglosphere by Michael Gardiner

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