The Chatterbox

Only 3000 people are invited to Davos, home of the World Economic Forum - and you’re one of them! Well, not really. But welcome anyway to this chocolate-box Swiss mountain town, transformed via "the Champions League of logistics" into a de facto military base for the world's economic, political and corporate superpowers.

Guiding us through this deeply cursed world is very special guest Caitlín Doherty, smuggling us in to encounter some profoundly cursed Davos freebies. Saudi Arabia-sponsored hand warmers? Meta-branded hot chocolate? Pinterest ramen? Ice cream with crickets in? These seemingly disparate objects are a window into the centres of elite power, ‘Great Reset’ conspiracies, the Epstein files, crypto and AI bubbles, and the mysterious technocrat that is Davos Man. How has Davos - the town, and the economic forum - changed, in a world where globalisation is allegedly in retreat? What has changed under the second Trump administration? When was peak Davos, and has it passed? Are Chinese capitalists inside or outside the tent? And what happens when the capitalist class run out of ideas about where to put their money?

Read some of Cait's amazing pieces:

The Davos essay for Harpers

On David Lynch, for the New Statesman

In Dubai, for New Left Review

And keep an eye out for her forthcoming book on Davos!

And follow her on Twitter @caitdoherty

Streetwise: Saving Ourselves from Big Car (Columbia Business School Publishing, 2025) exposes how “Big Car”―the complex of companies in the automobile, oil, insurance, media, and concrete industries that promote and entrench car dependence―has pursued profit at the expense of the common good. David Obst explores how Big Car gained almost immeasurable influence over our lives, weighing the benefits and the costs of reliance on private automobiles. He details how industry covered up the harms of lead additives, fought against seatbelts, and continues to fund climate-change denialism. Obst considers the future of mobility, surveying how cities―from Taipei to Tempe, Copenhagen to Chicago―are experimenting with forms of transportation that offer alternatives to the dominance of cars. This is a provocative and comprehensive book.

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Across Europe, local states are in a dire predicament, experiencing the consequences of austerity cuts, shortage of staff as well as a lack of trust in (local) government.

Both episodes are hosted by Matthias Naumann and Gala Nettelbladt. In the first episode, moderated by Ross Beveridge, we discuss authoritarian developments in local statehood with Harriet Dunn, Crispian Fuller and Theo Temple.

In this episode of Chasing Leviathan, PJ is joined by Dr. Barbara Rosenwein to discuss her book, Generations of Feeling: A History of Emotions, 600 to 1700, and the decade-long research process required to bridge the traditional academic silos of the medieval and early modern periods.

Dr. Rosenwein introduces her concept of "emotional communities," explaining how groups throughout history, much like modern political parties, have maintained distinct norms and values regarding what is felt and expressed . She challenges the linear view that modern society has reached a "pinnacle" of emotional development , arguing that historians have often "read out" emotions from the past , and advocates for understanding historical figures on their own terms rather than through modern judgment.

The conversation also covers the evolution of friendship from the virtue-based models of Aristotle and Cicero to modern romantic ideals , the shifting biological theories of emotion from the heart to the brain , and why expanding our emotional vocabulary is essential to becoming fully human.

Make sure to check out Rosenwein's book: Generations of Feeling: A History of Emotions, 600 to 1700 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1107097045

Check out our website at chasingleviathan.com

Who thinks that they can subdue Leviathan? Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified. Nothing on earth is its equal. It is without fear. It looks down on all who are haughty; it is king over all who are proud. 

These words inspired PJ Wehry to create Chasing Leviathan. Chasing Leviathan was born out of two ideals: that truth is worth pursuing but will never be subjugated, and the discipline of listening is one of the most important habits anyone can develop.

In the latest episode of Unlocking Academia, host Tarin Ahmed is joined by historian and cultural critic Mikkel Frantzen to explore his new book The Birth of a Financial Thriller: Making a Killing in the 1970s (Edinburgh University Press, 2025). Together they explore how the financial thriller genre emerged in the tumultuous economic climate of the 1970s and why its narrative strategies still shape how we imagine markets, risk and the drama of capital today.

Frantzen guides us through the historical forces that gave rise to the genre, from the breakdown of Bretton Woods and oil crises to the rise of speculative finance and the globalisation of markets. Along the way, he shows how early works such as Paul Erdman’s The Billion Dollar Sure Thing set the template for novels where financial systems themselves become sites of mystery and suspense.
 
Drawing on literary analysis, economic history and cultural critique, the conversation unpacks key moments and texts that defined the genre, and considers how thrillers about markets both reflect and influence broader cultural understandings of power, uncertainty and crisis. Listeners will come away with a deeper appreciation of how fiction and finance have been entwined since the late twentieth century, and why the financial thriller continues to resonate in an era of ongoing economic upheaval.They explore how the financial thriller genre emerged in the tumultuous economic climate of the 1970s and why its narrative strategies still shape how we imagine markets, risk and the drama of capital today.

Featuring Peter Linebaugh on the long histories of commons and commoning, connections between enclosures in Europe and imperial conquest abroad, and writing history from below.

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Buy Engineered Conflict: Structural Violence and the Future of Black Life in Chicago at Haymarketbooks.org

Buy Global Casino: How Wall Street Gambles with People and the Planet at Versobooks.com

Dig party in London with Equator magazine on March 13. Info and RSVP here eventbrite.com/e/the-dig-x-equator-party-tickets-1982694479561?