ePODstemology

An exceedingly thoughtful mystery guest takes us on a tour of how notions of femininity and motherhood are changing culturally, politically, symbolically, and psychically. We discuss the history of the masculine and feminine archetypes, especially in mythological representations, and recent efforts at their revival by figures like Jordan Peterson. While there is value in salvaging what we can from these, it seems undeniable that contemporary gender politics, much like the broader existential vacuum in which we find ourselves, is a function of these classic maps of meaning being substantially played out. What will replace them? We explore some answers in recent representations of "bad" women and the "heroine's journey", an amalgam of the hero's journey and virgin's journey that are omnipresent in myths and fairy-tales.   

Taxes and transfer payments are perhaps the most fundamental element of public policy, yet we rarely hear about these issues outside of banal political point scoring. Robert Breunig joins ePODstemology for a deep dive into the past, present, and future of tax and transfer policymaking. We discuss the basic economic and political logic of taxes and transfers, the lessons of the 20th century, and what to expect from contemporary efforts to combat tax avoidance by multinational firms and individuals, runaway inequality, and iniquitous retirement systems.  

In the contemporary culture wars there's a crop of commentators who insist that 'science' is on their side.  They're talking about falsification, replication, quantitative methods, and randomised-control trials - the buzzwords of positivism - and they insist that what their opponents say is invalid because it doesn't meet positivism's standards for what counts as 'knowledge'. Sensing an opportunity for ePODstemology to discuss epistemology, we invited Rod Graham of Old Dominion University  to the show.  Rod is high school biology teacher turned sociology professor who teaches research methods and works on interdisciplinary, multi-method research projects. He is also one of twitter's most thoughtful and genuine commentators on the culture wars. Rod helps us to understand positivism, interpretivism, critical theory, and why we're going to need all three to 'know' much at all in social science. 

The 'Asian Miracle' has seen several nations develop from dirt farming to the technological frontier in half a century. Among them is China, whose rise has lifted nearly a billion people out of poverty and reshaped the global economic and political order. Professor Shiro Armstrong of the ANU joins ePODstemology host Dr Mark Fabian to explain the secret sauce of East Asia's development, especially its clever trade strategies and the political economy of escaping the middle income trap. Will the Chinese Communist Party's reluctant to seed control to democracy and the market hinder its escape velocity? Tune in to find out.     

Why do millennials and boomers hate each other so much? Is it about intergenerational fairness, or is it actually an Oedipal thing? And why are they called zillenials? Is it because they're zooming, or because they're zealous? Sonia Arakkal of Think Forward joins ePODstemology to help us figure it all out. We explore the colourful cast of recent generations, discuss their psycho-social, economic, and historical origins, and analyse how to renew the intergenerational contract for a new century.