Bungacast

On the electricity grid and the institutions involved. [Patreon Exclusive] Fred Stafford, a STEM professional, a writer on energy and power, and an editor at Damage, talks to Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips about the utility of utilities and his recent essay in the second print issue of Damage, "Deinstitutionalized"./ What actually is a utility: is it a question of ownership, structure, purpose..? How did the 70s energy crisis, neoliberal economics, and environmentalism create a perfect storm that broke up regulated utilities? How does the regulatory regime on energy in the US actually work? Why have environmentalists been so keen to line up with neoliberal deregulation and to attack utilities – in Europe as well as the US? Why should the left think about a restoration of the investor-owned utility model, and not just jump straight to public ownership? Links: The Utility of Utilities, Fred Stafford & Matt Huber, Damage Big Public Power from the Atom, Matt Huber & Fred Stafford, Damage Power Loss: The Origins of Deregulation and Restructuring in the American Electric Utility System, Richard F Hirsch  

On German political derangement. [Patreon Exclusive] Independent researcher and writer Gregor Baszak joins us to talk about German centrism being squeezed under pressure from both left and right — Sahra Wagenknecht and the AFD. Meanwhile the German economy is getting squeezed between the US and Russia, and NATO pressures Germany to up its defence spending.   Is German public life remilitarising?  What are the prospects for Sahra Wagenknecht’s new ‘left-conservative’ politics?  What was the original political vision behind the Nordstream 2 pipeline?  Why are Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni trying to carve the AFD out of pan-European national-populist cooperation?  Where does Germany now stand in relation to the Ukraine War?  Links: Europe After America, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative  What’s the Matter With Germany?, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative The Left-wing maverick who could stop the AfD For many, Sahra Wagenknecht is a tribune of the people, Gregor Baszak, UnHerd  

On the one-year anniversary of the death of our evil patron saint, Silvio Berlusconi, we are re-releasing our audio obituary. RIP Silvio. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died on 12 June 2023 at the age of 86. In this special episode, we say goodbye to the towering figure of the End of History, and explore how the contradictions he exemplified spoke to our age.  Contributions in order of appearance: Mattia Salvia Alice Oliveri Nadia Urbinati  Carlo Invernizzi-Accetti Paolo Gerbaudo  Thomas Fazi  Pier Paolo Tamburelli  The Bungacast Boys: Alex, George, Phil Music: Bunga theme tune: Nous Non Plus / Bunga Bunga / courtesy of Sugaroo Rune Dale / Tell You Something / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com

On India's election and a blow for the BJP. Esteemed writer and social activist Achin Vanaik is back on Bungacast to unpick India's monumental, seven-week-long electoral process in which over 600m people took part. How did the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP lose its majority? Is there really a cult of personality around Modi? How does the BJP differ in important ways from Western 'national conservatives'? Does the BJP losing seats reflect a loss of support for Hindutva ideology? Modi claims India will reach developed economy status by 2047. Is this true? How bad are problems of under- and un-employment, especially for the youth? What is the nature of India's "crony oligarchy"? How does the National Population Register threaten to divest people of citizenship? How does the BJP see Israel as an example for itself? Links: /198/ Universal India ft. Achin Vanaik In State Repression and Its Justification, India and Israel Have Much in Common, Achin Vanaik, The Wire Narendra Modi Is Preparing New Attacks on Democratic Rights, Achin Vanaik, Jacobin

On your questions & criticism regarding pro-Palestine protests.   [Patreon Exclusive]   In this episode we focus on the discussion generated by our episode that came out in early May on the protests on US campuses. We discuss the issues along a few axes: How do ideas of victimhood relate to the material reality of international politics? What really are the aims of the protesters and how likely are they to achieve them? Are we cynical in our approach or conclusions? How do the protests relate to populism and the end of the End of History? What is the proper basis of nationhood? How do these protests relate to the millennial Left? We also deal with your points on Civil War, the state funding of culture, and whether Joe Rogan is a good male role model.   Readings: Vulnerability as Ideology, Peter Ramsay, Northern Star The victimological imagination, Matthew B. Crawford, Substack

On MORENA and Claudia Sheinbaum's huge victory. Mexico has elected its first woman president, tasked with extending the hugely popular AMLO'S legacy. What are her prospects and challenges? We ask: What was the effect of NAFTA on Mexico, and particularly manufacturing? How is US-China competition playing out in Mexico? Why did Trump and leftist AMLO get along? What about Scheinbaum and Trump? How does the politics of migration play out in Mexico? How come there is no hardline Mexican right, especially given the problems of crime and drug trafficking? Can other countries follow MORENA's example of centre-left success? Links: Mexico’s Political Revolution, Juan David Rojas, Compact AMLO and Mexico’s Fourth Transformation, Juan David Rojas, American Affairs Lessons of the AMLO-Trump Bromance, Juan David Rojas, Compact /413/ Left-Populism That Works? (I) ft. Roger Lancaster

On Zone of Interest and Holocaust film.   [Patreon Exclusive]   We discuss the winner of the Oscar for Best International Feature Film – one that split opinion, among critics and on the pod too! How does the film fit in the pantheon of Holocaust films? Is it a Holocaust film? How well does it deal with its obvious subject matter: the banality of evil? Is the film neutral and detached or preachy, condescending, moralising? What to make of the commentary around the film, including director Jonathan Glazer's statements? How does it relate to Israel/Palestine? What to make of present-day Auschwitz? Should it be preserved? Link: The Zone of Interest is an extreme form of 'Holokitsch', Richard Brody, New Yorker Is The Zone of Interest simply uninteresting? Toby Marshall, Substack The Zone of Interest is about the danger of ignoring atrocities – including in Gaza, Naomi Klein, The Guardian The Zone of Interest Reminds Us How Easy It Is to Ignore a Genocide on Your Doorstep, Juliet Jacques, Novara The Banality of Evil is No Longer Banal, Maren Thom, Café americain One-star review of Zone of Interest

On Mexico's elections.   [Full episode at patreon.com/bungacast]   Mexico goes to the polls this Sunday with the ruling centre-left MORENA party holding a commanding lead. Anthropologist Roger Lancaster joins us to preview the election and look at outgoing President AMLO's record. What are the stakes in this election? Has Mexico bucked the trend of class realignment? Where is the 'Brahmin Left'? What is "republican austerity" and has this actually combatted corruption? What do make of AMLO's use of the military? Militarising public life or domesticating the military? What has AMLO done for the working class? And what might it do for itself? What is AMLO's populism and has he rekindled class consciousness? Links: The AMLO Project, Edwin Ackerman, Sidecar The Mexican Question, Ramon Centeno, Sidecar The Struggle to Be Gay—in Mexico, for Example, Roger Lancaster

On Futuromania and closing and opening of musical horizons.   We talk to renowned music critic Simon Reynolds about his new book. A counterpart of sorts to his famous Retromania (2011), Futuromania looks at the exciting futuristic music of the past and present. We discuss its themes to try understand whether the culture is still about to throw up something new. Is talk about popular music stuck between the poles of “rockism” and “poptimism”? How did Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder invent "electronic dance music"? Why is "future music" good? What are its pitfalls? How did Daft Punk run out of futurity? Why is Auto-Tune actually not the worst invention? How are genres like trap technically exciting but thematically glum? Is there any way of bringing the future back? Links: Futuromania: Electronic Dreams, Desiring Machines, and Tomorrow's Music Today, Simon Reynolds blissblog, Simon Reynolds blog Futuromania companion playlist with Reynolds' introductions, on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/simon-reynolds-9th-april-2024 Futuromania companion playlist on Spotify No Bells music blog

On Alex Garland’s new film, Civil War.   [Patreon Exclusive]   The boys discuss a film that seems designed to say something in the context of a US election year. But what? We ask: What kind of film is this: a dystopian fantasy, a war movie, a road movie? Why the focus on the media? Does the film celebrate or satirise journalists? Does Garland’s dystopia tell us anything about the landscape of US politics today? Why is political polarisation between liberals and populists seen in terms of civil war?  What would a civil war look like in geopolitical terms, along the lines Garland suggests? What side would you choose? Links: Where will America's Civil War be fought?, Michael Lind, UnHerd The Civil War Will Not Be Mediated, Nina Power, Compact Civil War is a terrifying film, but Trump: The Sequel will be a real-life horror show, Simon Tisdall, The Guardian

On Isaac Deutscher's classic Stalin: A Political Biography.   [Patreon Tier III & IV Exclusive]   We start off dealing with your questions from the first two Reading Clubs of the year, before Phil takes us through the famous biography of the Soviet leader. We discuss: Deutscher's work in historical context Stalin’s parents' experience as serfs and the significance of his boyhood education in an Orthodox seminary How the oppression of the Russian Empire and the promises of Soviet industrialisation shaped young Stalin's lifecourse Whether, compared to other Bolshevik leaders, Stalin would have succeeded anytime, anywhere Was Stalin honest in his commitment to the revolution? Was Trotsky right that Stalin was just a cynic? How did Stalin compare to the other leaders at Yalta, such as the aristocratic Churchill? How do we compare Stalin to Cromwell or Napoleon? And what's behind cheeky internet Stalinism today? Links: Message of the Non-Jewish Jew, Isaac Deutscher, Marxists.org On Orwell: 1984 - The Mysticism of Cruelty, Isaac Deutscher, Marxists.org I must start completely alone: Gonzalo Pozo on Isaac Deutscher’s wartime years in London, LRB

On US campus protest, the brutalisation of Gaza, and whether this is an age of war.   Join us: patreon.com/bungacast   Bunga boys Alex, George and Phil debate the matter of the day. We ask: Is the police repression and associated censorship (the anti-semitism bill) a reflection of the fact the content of the protest unsettles the establishment? Why? Why is the Left breaking with Biden and the Dems over this and not before? How do these student protests compare to BLM? And how do they compare to those of the late 60s and Vietnam? What should those in Western countries do in response to Israel’s war? Is the Palestinian struggle dead? What are the risks of regional war? And does Israel's assault on Gaza presage a new era of warfare?   Links: The Triumph of American Idealism, Alex Hochuli, Damage Like it or not, the politics of war is upon us, David Jamieson, Conter Express Train to Nowhere: Class and the Crisis of the Modern Jewish Soul, Samuel Biagetti, American Affairs  Is this How We Can STOP Genocide Joe?, Doug Lain interviews Dr. Elektra Kostopoulos & Dave Fox, Sublation Media The Left Cannot Make Use of the Gaza War, Benjamin Studebaker, Sublation Media Meet the new Left, who think Hamas are good and that Swastikas are woke, Ryan Zickgraf, Telegraph Their Fight, Not Ours, Alex Gourevitch, The Northern Star

On the earth-shaking events of the 20th century, through a personal lens.   Regular contributor Alex Gourevitch sits down with political scientist Peter Gourevitch to talk about their shared family history. Why did their grandparents/great-grandparents become Mensheviks? How did one half of the family leave the USSR and the other half remain? What was life like in exile in Berlin before the Nazis took power? And how did the family know to flee? What was distinctive about fascism and the terroristic assault on democracy? How was the escape from Paris just like the film Casablanca? What happened to those who remained in the Soviet Union and how did one member meet death via torture? What is the legacy of Menshevism – and what is the relationship between socialism and democracy? Links: Who Lived, Who Died? My Family's Struggle with Stalin and Hitler, Peter Gourevitch, Dio Press   Full episode for subscribers only. Go to patreon.com/bungacast. Members who sign up for $7/mo get 4 original paywalled episodes a month and a free subscription to Damage magazine.

On saving society from the antisocial-ists. In partnership with Damage magazine.   [Patreon Exclusive]   Trade unionist and researcher Dustin "Dino" Guastella joins us to talk about the deficiencies of a libertarian or antinomian approach to social problems. We start off with Dino telling us about the Teamsters union, before moving on to: How have American cities developed such problems? What are the pros and cons of the 'Portuguese Model' of drug decriminalization? What is the problem with harm reduction, and how does it connect to notions of 'bare life'? How are insecurity and precarity changing people's political demands and expectations? Is there something to be learned from the Christian tradition? Should we all be reading Alasdair MacIntyre? How do we build a politics of human flourishing? Links: Making the Present the Enemy of the Future, Dino Guastella, Damage Anti-Social Socialism Club, Dino Guastella, Damage Christianity, Morality, and Socialism, Dino Guastella, Jacobin The left must embrace law and order, Slavoj Zizek, New Statesman After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Alasdair MacIntyre

On Euro censorship + your comments and criticisms.   [Patreon Exclusive]   We discuss censorship in Brussels and Berlin, and put it in the context of the incorporation of right-populism. How will European politics come to look as national-conservatives become part of the establishment? What's up with these "sovereigntists" who are unserious about sovereignty?   Also we discuss your comments: If cultural production is already monopolistic, can it be democratically planned? Should we problematise "mental health"? Is love a dangerous political emotion? What happens if you leave the left? How do we kill the ghosts of the 20th century? Is a generational analysis of left-populism wrong? How do we get beyond a world of media and images? Links: NatCon: are centrists the real threat to free speech?, Alex Hochuli, UnHerd

On the Big Hard Dick industry.   [Patreon Exclusive]   Clinicians and Damage authors & editors, Christie and Benjamin, tell us why the market for penis enlargement and hardness has exploded. What is the "penis anxiety industry" How does it serve individual, cultural and unconscious demands? How does 'Big Hard Dick' provide a brittle solution to a deep social problem? Is the Freudian analysis passé? Is it phallus-obsessed? Does a making your penis bigger and harder help deal with imposter syndrome? Does neoliberal capitalism make us feel "small"? Does the liberal elite want you to accept your smallness? How might we be big – make ambitious, large-scale change – without falling for fake solutions? Links: Size Queen Nation, Christie Offenbacher & Benjamin Fife, Damage /215/ Organize the Incels?! ft. Alex Gendler The New Superfluous Men, Alex Gendler, American Affairs On masquerade vs imposture: How Should a Woman Look?: Scopic Strategies for Sexuated Subjects, Jennifer Friedlander Penis Envy and Other Bad Feelings: The Emotional Costs of Everyday Life, Mari Ruti, Columbia UP

On melodrama and the bourgeois subject.   [Patreon Exclusive]   We're back with the next installment of our series on the "emotional turn". Alex talks to Catherine Liu about whether politics is staged in a "melodramatic" fashion today. What is the bourgeois subject, why was it good, and where did it go? What is melodrama? Does public crying make us feel connected? Is it all Oprah's fault? Why is psychoanalysis the solution to, not the cause of, therapy culture? How is indignation used today? Is the political scene just villains and victims? Links: Emotion Sickness I ft. Nina Power Emotion Sickness II ft. Ashley Frawley Emotion Sickness III ft. Alex Hochuli Oprah Winfrey and the Glamour of Misery, Eva Illouz Interview with Christine Gledhill, from the book Melodrama After the Tears 

On President AMLO and the rebuilding the working class.   [Patreon Exclusive]   We continue our discussion with anthropologist Roger Lancaster who has lived and researched in Mexico for decades, on the past and present of Mexican radicalism. How has popular conservatism served as a boost for radicalism and revolution  Is there any basis for a 'romantic' anti-capitalism, in Mexico, or in the Global North? Is President AMLO synthesising a new politics?  Has he “ended neoliberalism” or on the way to it? How socially conservative is AMLO really?

On A New Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Deliberative Politics   [Patreon Tier III & IV Exclusive]   Continuing our theme of "the intelligentsia & the public," we discuss German critical theorist Jürgen Habermas's 2023 book, asking what sort of political culture is required for democracy. What role do the institutions of the public sphere and the media have in producing, sustaining or undermining this culture? How does Habermas' account contrast with B. Anderson on print capitalism? Is 'deliberative' democracy a trap? Who sets the rules of deliberation? Is a good media structure a 'constitutional imperative'? How do interests fit into Habermas' model? Do we need to leave our interests at the door?   Links: A New Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Deliberative Politics, Jurgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas is a major public intellectual. What are his key ideas?, Duncan Ivison, The Conversation /362/ Life Doesn’t Have to Zuck ft. Cory Doctorow - on social media

On Mexico, class, and sexuality.    We welcome anthropologist Roger Lancaster onto the pod to talk about his new book, The Struggle to Be Gay – in Mexico, for Example.     We discuss: How much is being gay tied to being modern? And conversely, how much of globalized culture is itself "gay"? Do you need to be middle class to be gay? Why did neoliberalism provide more sexual freedom than corporatism in Mexico?  How was Mexico ahead of the US in introducing ‘progressive neoliberalism’? Is now a time of freedom, or should we think of it differently? In part two, we discuss AMLO's "synthetic" presidency, and the way peasant conservatism in central America has traditionally provided a boost to radicalism – and ask whether this is still the case.   Only available at patreon.com/bungacast.   See also: /180/ Bunga Bunga (but Gay) ft. Mark Simpson & River Page