The Burning Archive

There is controversy about the health of democracy in India. Opposition politician, Rahul Gandhi claimed 'democracy is dead in India. PM Narendra Modi replied, India is the 'Mother of Democracy'. Who is right? What does it tell us about the emerging multipolar world? This episode discusses:

- the controversy about the health of democracy in India today and how it reflects tensions about the rise of India

- the history behind the claim that India is the Mother of Democracy, contrary to most Western myths

- the Arthshastra (or 'Statecraft', c 300 BCE to 300 CE) that expresses the democratic ethos of ancient Indian political thought and is this episode's fragment from the 'Burning Archive', the cultural heritage of the multipolar world.

Full details about the material referred to during this show can be obtained from my free weekly newsletter that you can subscribe to at jeffrich.substack.com.

Has Democracy died? In India? In the West? Did it die when Donald Trump was elected? These questions have tormented many people in liberal democracies over the last ten years. They have also been hotly debated in India  after comments by Rahul Gandhi that 'democracy is dead' in India.

This episode of the Burning Archive was going to discuss that debate in India and the idea that India is historically the 'Mother of Democracy'. But I had technical problems with my recording. So, I have brought you instead an AI reading of my 2016 essay, 'Democracy and its Discontents'. This piece discusses the surprise election of Donald Trump and the discontent with democracy that it exposed.

The episode on India as the Mother of Democracy will appear next week. You can also subscribe to my free newsletter at jeffrich.substack.com. There are some notes on the history of democracy and statecraft in India in this week's newsletter.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://theburningarchive.com/2016/11/15/democracys-discontents/

The Burning Archive is adopting a new, shorter format. Each week I offer you calm reflections on how to use history and the burning archive of world culture to make sense of the crisis we are all living through, and all doing our best to stay sane in.

In this episode I share insights on:

In the show, I discuss the work of three winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature - have you heard of them all?

Join my free weekly newsletter at jeffrich.substack.com for more details, quotations, references and bonus material on the topics I discuss on The Burning Archive podcast. You can find out more there about my writing, ideas, books, YouTube channel, and how you can support me.

Thanks for listening and remember 'What thou lovest well will not be reft from thee.' (Ezra Pound, Cantos LXXXI)

If the West is fighting a war for democracy versus autocracy in Ukraine, as Jo Biden says, and if, as many experts think, Russia is slowly winning the war in Ukraine, then does that mean democracy is losing the war in Ukraine? Has the USA gambled with Western Democracy by provoking a war in Ukraine?

It has been a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the Burning Archive has been covering the Russia-Ukraine-NATO war ever since. In this special episode marking the anniversary, Jeff Rich discusses:

How secure is the future of democracy in the societies of the West? That is the question on today's Burning Archive.

You can read Jeff Rich's recent article, 'The Grand Illusions of the West in Ukraine published on John Menadue's Pearls and Irritations journal.

Please subscribe to Jeff Rich's free weekly newsletter at jeffrich.substack.com. You can also sign up to support the Burning Archive and receive exclusive bonus content there.

Please also subscribe and check out the additional videos at @theburning archive YouTube Channel

You can buy my latest book, From the Burning Archive at this Amazon affiliate link and at other retailers.

What is life as a bureaucrat really like? The stories of bureaucrats in the arts, the media and politics are rarely written by bureaucrats. They are views of outsiders or the views of retired top bureaucrats who do not want to rock the boat. Bureaucrats don't write essays, not if they are minor government officials. They don't make podcasts... except on The Burning Archive. Listen to this insider's account of what life as a thinking and writing bureaucrat is really like.

Join my FREE  WEEKLY NEWSLETTER at jeffrich.substack.com

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel @theburningarchive.

And you can my latest book, From the Burning Archive via Amazon and other online retailers.

Join me on a journey through the creative process of how I wrote and published my poetry book. How I, despite being a very, very minor government official, wrote and published my collected poems, and how these poems reflect on my personal experiences, cherished poets, and the meaning of history. How poetry and history belong together in the imagination.

You will discover how this poet hidden within a government official drew inspiration from poetic traditions from around the world, and weaved together the threads of his own story with the broader stories of history. You will hear firsthand how this artist found his voice and put his words to paper, and you will hear the poet read from five of his poems.

Whether you're a fan of poetry, a student of history, or simply curious about the creative process and the past, this episode of The Burning Archive is a must-listen. So, grab your headphones and join us for an insightful and inspiring journey through one man's journey to write a poetry book that is personal, historical and universal.

You can buy the collected poems discussed on this podcast, Gathering Flowers of the Mind at this Amazon affiliate link.

Please join my FREE weekly newsletter at jeffrich.substack.com, and gather some flowers from my mind.

How did I transform from frustrated, very minor government official to independent author? I tell the story of how my recent book, From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments slowly took shape through notes, poems, a blog, a podcast then finally a polished, published collection of essays. I talk you through all the steps I took to write and to self-publish the book, and give you some insights into the themes and essays contained in the book. Is there any other podcast that mentions Maurice Blanchot, Jordan Peterson, John Berryman and Felipe Fernandez-Armesto in the one package?

You can buy From the Burning Archive at Amazon via these affiliate links - e-book or paperback.

Or from other retailers such as the Australian store, Booktopia.

Please subscribe to my FREE weekly newsletter at jeffrich.substack.com, - Just click here - and you will get weekly glimpses into the multipolar world and my multifaceted mind.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks to Ghosthack.de for upgrading my SFX, and to the great Franka Potenta for the briefest snippet from 'Running Three', Run Lola Run soundtrack. I wish I was a hunter...

India is emerging as one of the most important powers in the world, and is demanding change in the world order on behalf of the Global South.  

In 2023 India became the largest country by population in the world, surpassing China. It is now the third largest economy by PPP in the world. It has growing soft power, based on its ancient, rich and diverse cultures. It is the world's largest democracy, and was for many years the leader of the non-aligned movement. All that is missing is a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.  

With America in decline, has India become the world's best hope as the true leader of the free - and fair - world?  

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel @theburningarchive for more geopolitics, history, books and mindful living. I try to teach how history can help us all live well in a time of global crisis.  

You can buy my new book From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2021 - https://amzn.to/3Bsq2EI.  

You can check out all my content here - https://linktr.ee/burningarchive.

Is the Ukraine War the start of World War Three? Has World War 3 already begun. How do we make sense of the war in Ukraine in a big-picture historical perspective? 

There have been many news stories, many podcasts and many channels looking at the unfolding events in Ukraine from day to day. In this series, however, Jeff Rich steps back from the daily news cycle, and sets out common historical narratives about the war in Ukraine.  In this podcast Jeff Rich sets out five alternative histories of the war, that reframing how the conflict is part of a global conflict between great states. 

By telling the story of this war differently to conventional accounts repeated in the mainstream media, we all might find our way back to the path of diplomacy and dialogue, before it is too late.  

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel @theburningarchive for more history, culture and geopolitics, and some reviews of the best history books. 

You can buy my new book From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2021 - https://amzn.to/3Bsq2EI.  

You can check out all my content here - https://linktr.ee/burningarchive. 

#Russia #Ukraine #history #geopolitics #war #NATO #narrative #ww3

Is the Ukraine War the start of World War Three? Has World War 3 already begun. 

French historian and anthropologist Emmanuel Todd made headlines by saying World War Three has already begun. What did he mean and was he right?  

How do we make sense of the war in Ukraine in a big-picture historical perspective? There have been many news stories, many podcasts and many channels looking at the unfolding events in Ukraine from day to day. In this series, however, Jeff Rich steps back from the daily news cycle, and sets out common historical narratives about the war in Ukraine.  By seeing the truth and errors in all these narratives we are more likely to find our way back to the path of diplomacy and dialogue, and to live at peace with all the cultures that enrich this world. 

Emmanuel Todd's interview in Figaro Vox is here https://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/monde/emmanuel-todd-la-troisieme-guerre-mondiale-a-commence-20230112 

There is a English language summary of his interview at Unherd - https://unherd.com/thepost/emmanuel-todd-world-war-iii-has-already-begun/ 

My summary of Todd's Lineages of Modernity is here: https://theburningarchive.com/2020/02/16/emmanuel-todds-lineages-of-modernity/ 

My videos on Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech at Valdai in 2022 referred to later in the episode is here https://youtu.be/XEj6MshsmjQ 

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel @theburningarchive for more history, culture and geopolitics, and some reviews of the best history books. You can buy my new book From the Burning Archive: Essays and Fragments 2015-2021 - https://amzn.to/3Bsq2EI.  

You can check out all my content here - https://linktr.ee/burningarchive. 

#Russia #Ukraine #history #geopolitics #war #NATO #narrative #ww3