Macrodose

Macrodose LIVE is coming soon! Thursday, November 16th (18:30) at Space4, Finsbury Park, London to be exact...

Tickets are limited and will be out on early release for patreon subscribers later this week, keep an eye on our socials for more updates: https://linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast

On this week’s Macrodose, Owen Jones debriefs us on the Labour and Conservative party conferences after attending both in the last week. He explores how the Tory Conference might represent a scary swing to the far right (1:04) and asks what can we actually expect from Starmerism with Labour seemingly on the precipice of government and promising to fight the next election on the economy (10:48)?

A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at [email protected]

For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to https://planetbproductions.co.uk/

On this week’s Macrodose, Níall Glynn leads a deep dive into monopoly capitalism - untangling the web of concentrated power that touches every corner of our lives (0:59).

A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at [email protected]

For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to https://planetbproductions.co.uk/

Our guest today is Isabella Weber. Isabella is an economist working on inflation, China, global trade and the history of economic thought. She is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a Berggruen Fellow, and an Associate in Research at the Fairbank Center, Harvard University.

In this interview we discussed her most recent research into the causes of inflation. Greedflation? Excuse-flation? Sellers' inflation? What does it all mean, and are the mainstream starting to change their tune?

On this week’s Macrodose, Sarah Jaffe digs deeper into the United Auto Workers strike  (1:01) and a listener question - how can care and teaching jobs challenge our assumptions about trade union struggles (15:13)?

A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at [email protected]

For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to https://planetbproductions.co.uk/

Sarah’s list of further reading:

https://jacobin.com/2023/08/shawn-fain-uaw-big-three-automakers-thirty-two-hour-workweek 

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-09-07-auto-workers-contract-talks-stellantis-threatens-move-south/ 

https://inthesetimes.com/article/ultium-cells-uaw-gm-ford-stellantis-electric-vehicles

https://newrepublic.com/article/175507/uaw-electric-vehicles-strike-workers

https://uaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Ultium-White-Paper.pdf 

https://newrepublic.com/article/154129/general-motors-plant-closed-lordstown-ohio-road-not-taken 

https://newrepublic.com/article/155466/lordstown-ohio-general-motors-strike-contract-vote

https://dilettantearmy.com/articles/minor-victories-labor-exploitation-and-the-affirmation-trap 

https://www.redpepper.org.uk/back-in-action-report-on-the-us-labour-movement/ 

https://prospect.org/labor/workers-rally-against-trumps-broken-promises/ 

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/09/joe-biden-is-about-to-go-where-no-president-has-gone-before/ 
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/24/business/auto-workers-strike-job-security/index.html

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On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: the United Auto Workers strike that’s got the US establishment worried  (1:15), the new era of capitalism: 15 years on from the 2008 financial crash (7:23) and a listener question - why is economic inactivity on the rise in the UK (12:10)?

A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at [email protected]

For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to https://planetbproductions.co.uk/

Fill out our listener survey here: tinyurl.com/3xsja7pw

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: Britain's failed offshore wind auction (0:46), Panama Canal drying up (7:00) and a listener question: cost-free reforms vs redistributive policies - could Starmer’s tinkering actually change things (14:37)? 

A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at [email protected]

For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to https://planetbproductions.co.uk/

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: the dangerous defunding of Britain’s schools (0:46), the central bankers' annual gathering in Wyoming last week (9:43) and a listener question on China, resource conflicts and the "new commodity superpowers" (15:15).

A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at [email protected]

For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to https://planetbproductions.co.uk/

On this week’s Macrodose, Antonia Jennings breaks down: the increasing trend of local governments going bankrupt (1:30), the power of local government to mitigate ecological collapse (7:45), and a listener question - GDP is a crude and outdated metric, but can we break it down further to work out what’s really going on (14:14)?

A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at [email protected]

For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to https://planetbproductions.co.uk/

After Kojo Koram stepped in to guest-host the regular show this week, we're unlocking this fascinating MACRODOSE EXTRA chat with James recorded back in January. Empire, colonialism and the dawn of free market thinking - from Enoch Powell to Margaret Thatcher.

Kojo is a Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck School of Law, University of London. He is the author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire, a tour de force on the legacies of Empire and how they shape modern Britain, which was nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing in 2022.

Kojo is also the co-author of Empire’s Endgame: Racism and the British State, which was published in 2021, and star of the recent short-film for openDemocracy, Boomerang: how the legacies of empire are breaking Britain’s economy - which you can find on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmOK4tNc31A