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/256/ How to Boil a Frog (1) ft. Charles Devellennes Apr 19, 2022

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On France's presidential elections. We talk to Charles Devellennes to digest the first round, which saw centre-right Macron and far-right Le Pen come out on top, with leftist Mélenchon missing out. How similar are Macron and Le Pen's proposals actually? And has Macron's attempts to play statesman over Ukraine affected his chances? With Le Pen and Macron both going after Mélenchon's 20% of the voter share, how will each approach this challenge? Readings:

Charles' twitter thread on the similarities between Macron and Le Pen
Why the French left keeps failing, Charles Devellennes, spiked
The Gilets Jaunes and the New Social Contract, Charles Devellennes
The Macron Régime: The Ideology of the New Right in France, Charles Devellennes (forthcoming)

Excerpt: /255/ Reading Club: Fear I – Robin Apr 14, 2022

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[Patreon Tier 2 Exclusive]

On Corey Robin's Fear: The History of a Political Idea.

This is March's Reading Club, the third in the Emergency Politics section of the 2022 Syllabus.

/254/ Three Articles: Ukraine Apr 12, 2022

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[Patreon Exclusive] On US proxy wars, Russia's elite, Ukrainian neutrality. 'Three Articles' aims to provide serious political discussion on current affairs that we feel is lacking elsewhere, drawing out the logical conclusions of the three pieces' arguments. Articles:

A proxy war in Ukraine is the worst possible outcome — except for all the others, Sam Winter-Levy, War on the Rocks
“Now we're going to f*ck them all.” What's happening in Russia's elites after a month of war, Farida Rustamova, Faridaily
Zelensky’s muddled neutrality plan is not the answer for Ukraine, James Sherr, FT (attached)

/252/ Technopopulism & Toxic Politics ft. Carlo Invernizzi Accetti Apr 05, 2022

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On the fusion of technocracy & populism.

Carlo Invernizzi Accetti talks to us about his book, Technopopulism, co-authored with Chris Bickerton. This is the "new logic of democratic politics". How are all politicians today effectively technocratic and populist at the same time? How does this distinguish our age from a more ideological age in the past? And what can be done to make politics ideological again?
Part 2, which includes the rest of the interview, and the After Party where Alex, George and Phil debate why politics are toxic today, is available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64729183/

Readings:

The Age of Technopopulism? George Hoare, Damage
Alex's thread on consensus-through-dissensus
The Berlusconi - cocktail recipe

/250/ Oil & Disorder ft. Helen Thompson Mar 29, 2022

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On energy, the material basis for all our politics?
Helen Thompson, podcaster and professor of political economy at Cambridge and author of Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century, joins us to talk about the geopolitics of oil, stretching from the 1956 Suez Crisis to the Fracking Revolution of today. How does US energy independence help explain shifting politics in Europe and the Middle East?

Plus, did the End of History stay afloat on a sea of cheap oil?
Part 2 of the interview, plus our After Party, is here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/251-oil-disorder-64394535
Readings:

Profits from fossil fuel energy power Russia's war machine, and Ukraine suffers, Helen Thompson, New Statesman
What Is Fueling Our Century’s Global “Disorder”?, Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, The Nation
How Did Europe Get Hooked On Russian Energy?, Paul J. Davies, Bloomberg

/249/ Dances with Truckers ft. Ashley Frawley Mar 22, 2022

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On the Freedom Convoy, the indigenous question, and 'anti-socialist socialism'(?)
Sociologist and commentator Ashley Frawley is back on the pod to talk about the situation in Canada. With family members involved in the protests, we asked her what she made of the truckers and the way demands were framed as 'anti-socialist'.
We move on to debate how to understand popular resistance to 'social engineering' today, as well as the uses of 'emotionalism' to undermine political agency.
Readings & Links:

How the truckers split indigenous Canada, Ashley Frawley, UnHerd
Lecture: Emotion & Reason, Ashley Frawley, The Academy
Semiotics of Happiness, Ashley Frawley, Bloomsbury, 2005

Excerpt: /248/ Aufhebonus Bonus Mar 15, 2022

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In which we respond to listener questions & criticisms.

A bumper episode, featuring plenty on Canadian truckers, Swedish populists, ideas of justice, hyperpolitics and much more.

The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

/246/ Why Isn’t There Revolution? ft. Vivek Chibber Mar 08, 2022

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On class & material self-interest.

We talk to Vivek Chibber about his new book, The Class Matrix: Social Theory After the Cultural Turn, which seeks to answer why capitalism has proven remarkably stable. Vivek explains why classical Marxism does not need 'ideological supplements' to explain why there hasn't been revolution; instead, structural class theory already provides the answers.

We go back to basics, looking at the role of interests, debate what the real role of ideology is (not 'false consciousness'), and look at why particularism, rather than the universal collectivism of class, now dominates.

Part two of the interview, plus the After Party, is available over at patreon.com/bungacast

Excerpt: /245/ Reading Club: Emergency Politics II - Agamben Mar 07, 2022

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On Giorgio Agamben's State of Exception (2005).

How did a darling of the left during the War on Terror become a resource for the right during Covid? Is Agamben right to blur the boundary between fascism and liberal democracy? And if we are in a 'permanent state of exception', what is the right response?

And we discuss your questions.

The full episode is for $10+ subscribers. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

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