On what comes next: in politics, ideas, economy, subjectivity
To commemorate seven years of the podcast and four-hundred episodes, we got all our new Contributors in to examine the oppositions and tensions that we think will characterise the next decade. We say hello to Amber A'Lee Frost, Alex Gourevitch, Catherine Liu, and Leigh Phillips.
For all Bungacast shows, including our Contributors, the Damage magazine episode, Reading Club and more, go to patreon.com/bun...
2024-03-27 16:42:35 +0000 UTC
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On what comes next: in politics, ideas, economy, subjectivity
To commemorate seven years of the podcast and four-hundred episodes, we got all our new Contributors in to examine the oppositions and tensions that we think will characterise the next decade. We say hello to Amber A'Lee Frost, Alex Gourevitch, Catherine Liu, and Leigh Phillips.
For all Bungacast shows, including our Contributors, the Damage magazine episode, Reading Club and more, go to 2024-03-27 16:07:30 +0000 UTC
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On the withdrawal from hyperpolitics and hypermodernity.
What comes after a decade of populism? Alex Hochuli talks through his new essay in Damage, issue 2. This is episode is the third part of our Emotion Sickness series on the politics of feelings. Click here for part 1 and part 2.
2024-03-22 16:08:54 +0000 UTC
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On the withdrawal from hyperpolitics and hypermodernity.
What comes after a decade of populism? Alex Hochuli talks through his essay in the forthcoming second issue of Damage magazine. This is episode is the third part of our Emotion Sickness series on the politics of feelings. Click here for part 1 and 2024-03-22 15:48:38 +0000 UTC
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Part II of the series: on therapy and vulnerability.
[Patreon Exclusive]
Sociologist Ashley Frawley (and COO of Sublation Press) is back on the podcast to talk about her new book, Significant Emotions. What is behind the seeming rise of public emotionalism and the focus on mental health?
- How was “happiness” a policy concern – and when did it disappear and why?
- What’s going on with universities and their focus on the mental hea...
2024-03-19 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Part II of the series: on therapy and vulnerability.
Sociologist Ashley Frawley (and COO of Sublation Press) is back on the podcast to talk about her new book, Significant Emotions. What is behind the seeming rise of public emotionalism and the focus on mental health?
- How was “happiness” a policy concern – and when did it disappear and why?
- What’s going on with universities and their focus on the mental health of students?
- Is there much emotion abou...
2024-03-19 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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You'll have seen that we're now partnered with Damage magazine – meaning subscribers to Bungacast tiers Unholy Alliance, Grand Corruption, and State Capture get a free digital subscription to the magazine. We'll also be having Damage authors and editors on the podcast on a regular basis – for subscribers only.
If you haven't subscribed yet – or upgraded your sub from the old tiers - consi...
2024-03-18 20:02:09 +0000 UTC
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On Portugal's elections, 50 years since the revolution
Catarina Príncipe, a long-time activist on the Portuguese left and a doctoral student of political economy, is back on the podcast to talk through what happened as Portugal went to the polls.
- How does Portugal see itself, with regard to Europe, and its own history?
- How did the right-populist Chega party break through amid high turnout?
- What kind of anti-politics did Chega bring to the table?
- I...
2024-03-12 21:13:02 +0000 UTC
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On Portugal's elections, 50 years since the revolution
Catarina Príncipe, a long-time activist on the Portuguese left and a doctoral student of political economy, is back on the podcast to talk through what happened as Portugal went to the polls, and the Right won again in Europe.
- How does Portugal see itself, with regard to Europe, and its own history?
- How did the right-populist Chega party break through amid high turnout?
- What kind of anti-politics did C...
2024-03-12 21:02:11 +0000 UTC
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Turbulent times, ideological confusion. All the more reason for unflinching critique of the current moment.
2024-03-06 15:47:25 +0000 UTC
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We're revamping the podcast. The world is increasingly turbulent and more ideologically confused than ever. We want to make sense of the transformations of our time. So we're expanding.
Regular Contributors coming aboard
Some of our favourite guests are joining Bungacast on a permanent basis. Welcome to Catherine Liu, Alex Gourevitch, Amber A'Lee Frost, and Leigh Phillips, who will on the pod on a regular basis.
2024-03-06 13:59:02 +0000 UTC
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On media and the Millennial Left.
[Patreon Exclusive]
Continuing the retrospective on the millennial left's failures, we invite political theorist Benjamin Studebaker back on. We discuss:
- Was left-populism a media event?
- Was the Millennial Left just a moment in internet history?
- Having bought into the internet's possibilities, can we abandon it?
- Does it make sense to speak of a "millennial" left?
- Faced with so ma...
2024-03-05 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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On media and the Millennial Left.
[Patreon Exclusive]
Continuing the retrospective on the millennial left's failures, we invite political theorist Benjamin Studebaker back on. We discuss:
- Was left-populism a media event?
- Was the Millennial Left just a moment in internet history?
- Having bought into the internet's possibilities, can we abandon it?
- Does it make sense to speak of a "millennial" left?
- Faced with so many dead ends...
2024-03-05 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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No, we're not going anywhere, we're just growing bigger. Regular contributors will be joining the Bungacast gang (we know you'll like them!), a new Reading Club will be announced, and a special partnership will kick off in March. As part of this revamp, we will be launching new tiers on here to reflect our expanded and improved coverage of global politics, history and culture.
Full details next week – watch this space!
Coming in March
'Emotion Sickness', our series...
2024-02-27 12:06:55 +0000 UTC
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On Zoomer gender and politics.
Young women and young men are voting very different from each other – and this is happening across very different countries, from the UK to Tunisia to South Korea to Brazil. Why is there this crossover between gender and ideology?
- Have women become more 'progressive' as they've gained equality?
- Are young men staging a backlash against #MeToo?
- Are young women more responsible for wokeness?
- Has politics i...
2024-02-20 07:05:00 +0000 UTC
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On Zoomer gender and politics.
Young women and young men are voting very different from each other – and this is happening across very different countries, from the UK to Tunisia to South Korea to Brazil. Why is there this crossover between gender and ideology?
- Have women become more 'progressive' as they've gained equality?
- Are young men staging a backlash against #MeToo?
- Are young women more responsible for wokeness?
- Has politics itself ...
2024-02-20 07:05:00 +0000 UTC
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On the politics of emotions and emotionalism.
Philosopher Nina Power (an editor and columnist at Compact Magazine) kicks off this series by talking to us about anger, hate, and evil.
- Do we complain too little or too much? Should we be more repressed?
- Political passions were meant to be dead. Has anger overtaken apathy?
- Should we hate our enemies? Is that okay?
- Has contemporary society become hysterical?
- Why does everyone want to...
2024-02-20 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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On the politics of emotions and emotionalism.
Philosopher Nina Power (an editor and columnist at Compact Magazine) kicks off this series by talking to us about anger, hate, and evil.
- Do we complain too little or too much? Should we be more repressed?
- Political passions were meant to be dead. Has anger overtaken apathy?
- Should we hate our enemies? Is that okay?
- Has contemporary society become hysterical?
- Why does ever...
2024-02-20 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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On Indonesia's new president and the End of History.
Michael Vann, Indonesia expert and history professor at Sacramento State, joins us to talk through the election results.
- How did Prabowo go from wannabe fascist dictator to cuddly populist grandpa?
- Why is Jokowi "Indonesia's Obama"?
- What is Indonesia's Trump/Hunter Biden ticket?
- What's up with the $32bn new capital being built in Borneo?
- What is the Museum of Anticommu...
2024-02-16 23:03:24 +0000 UTC
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On Indonesia's new president and the End of History.
Michael Vann, Indonesia expert and history professor at Sacramento State, joins us to talk through the election results.
- How did Prabowo go from wannabe fascist dictator to cuddly populist grandpa?
- Why is Jokowi "Indonesia's Obama"?
- What is Indonesia's Trump/Hunter Biden ticket?
- What's up with the $32bn new capital being built in Borneo?
- What is the Museum of Ant...
2024-02-16 13:56:18 +0000 UTC
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On our '1914 vibes'. And your questions & comments.
We discuss the parallels between our age (the end of globalisation, the threat of war) with the end of the Belle Epoque in the early 20th century. What might Lenin have to teach us?
We then turn to your questions and comments on:
- Palestinians as surplus population
- Peripheral countries as 'imitators'
- Whether Brexit has led to greater political accountability
- Why Ridley Scott sucks
2024-02-13 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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On our '1914 vibes'. And your questions & comments.
[Patreon Exclusive]
We discuss the parallels between our age (the end of globalisation, the threat of war) with the end of the Belle Epoque in the early 20th century. What might Lenin have to teach us?
We then turn to your questions and comments on:
- Palestinians as surplus population
- Peripheral countries as 'imitators'
- Whether Brexit has led to greater political accountability
- Why ...
2024-02-13 07:00:03 +0000 UTC
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On Indonesia: a country without a Left.
Foremost scholar of Indonesian politics and political economy, Vedi Hadiz of the University of Melbourne, joins us to talk through the country's politics in advance of the elections next week.
- What was the authoritarian order that followed the 1965 anti-communist massacres?
- How did the Asian financial crisis lead towards democ...
2024-02-09 13:30:37 +0000 UTC
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On Indonesia: a country without a Left.
Foremost scholar of Indonesian politics and political economy, Vedi Hadiz of the University of Melbourne, joins us to talk through the country's politics in advance of the elections next week.
- What was the authoritarian order that followed the 1965 anti-communist massacres?
- How did the Asian financial crisis lead towards democ...
2024-02-09 12:56:46 +0000 UTC
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On security and democracy in Latin America.
[Patreon Exclusive]
We continue our conversation with Juan Rojas, Latin America columnist at Compact Magazine, by looking at how the 'Bukele model' would work – and not work – across the region: Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and beyond.
There is less and less support for democracy in Latin America, which is seen not to deliver the goods. Much of the Left lacks a serious security policy in a context of rising crime. An...
2024-02-06 21:13:28 +0000 UTC
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On El Salvador and mass incarceration.
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, has just been re-elected on a landslide. His trademark policy is a state of emergency and the locking-up of tens of thousands of suspected gang members. He also made Bitcoin legal tender. What is 'Bukelismo', will it last, and will it spread?
First, we talk to Nelson Rauda, an editor at investigative outlet El Faro about the mood in El S...
2024-02-06 21:05:41 +0000 UTC
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On security and democracy in Latin America.
[Patreon Exclusive]
We continue our conversation with Juan Rojas, Latin America columnist at Compact Magazine, by looking at how the 'Bukele model' would work – and not work – across the region: Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, and beyond.
There is less and less support for democracy in Latin America, which is seen not to deliver the goods. Much of the Left lacks a serious security policy in a context of rising crime. An...
2024-02-06 20:33:19 +0000 UTC
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On El Salvador and mass incarceration.
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, has just been re-elected on a landslide. His trademark policy is a state of emergency and the locking-up of tens of thousands of suspected gang members. He also made Bitcoin legal tender. What is 'Bukelismo', will it last, and will it spread?
First, we talk to Nelson Rauda, an editor at investigative outlet El Faro about the mood in El S...
2024-02-06 20:27:28 +0000 UTC
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Welcome back, happy new year. Hope you're strapped in for 2024. The turbulence of our times – to extend the aviation metaphor – is no longer just nauseating but feels increasingly feels dangerous. So we'll be ramping up our coverage of global politics this year to keep abreast of it all.
Here's what's coming up in February:
- El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele has locked up 2% of his population trying to combat drug gangs, introduced Bit...
2024-01-30 19:23:38 +0000 UTC
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On how to respond to conformity.
Lias Saoudi, frontman of the British band Fat White Family, joins us to talk about rock, popular culture and contemporary unfreedom. We discuss:
- Why are the kids taking less drugs?
- Can we respond to our nihilistic times with nihilistic art?
- What is the nature of conformity today?
- How to challenge conformity without sneering at the masses?...
2024-01-30 07:00:04 +0000 UTC
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