Bungacast

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Excerpt: /234/ Three Articles: Restoration? Jan 04, 2022

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On Millennial homeowners, the USA falling apart, and restoration in the UK.
As better-off 30-somethings start to get on the property ladder, does this put paid to 'Generation Left'? Will American decline be accompanied by a second civil war - as China serenely watches on? And does Britain represent a return to the 'End of History'? Is everything becoming boring again? This is an excerpt. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast
Articles:

Millennials Are Supercharging the Housing Market, Nicole Friedman, WSJ (attached)
A tale of two elites in Washington and Beijing, Gideon Rachman, FT (attached)
British politics suddenly feels small – and the old order is ‘taking back control’, Julian Coman

Excerpt: /233/ Aufhebonus Bonus Dec 21, 2021

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For the last time in 2021, we take your questions, comments and criticisms. As always, lots of debate about Covid - and we start by remarking upon a possible u-turn on the issue on the British left. Answer the Bungacast Listeners' Survey: surveymonkey.com/r/NN6SPD9 Buy the Bunga book: linktr.ee/bungacast This is a sample. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast

Excerpt: /232/ Reading Club: Cold, Hard / Warm, Soft Dec 20, 2021

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On Eva Illouz's Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism
How has the cold and hard world of bureaucratic, instrumental rationalism penetrated the intimate sphere of love and relationships? And how has open communication and emotional understanding been used to advance economic interests? –– We want to hear what you're thinking: fill out our Bunga Listeners' Survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NN6SPD9
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This is a free sample. For the full episode, sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

/231/ New Class Analysis ft. Catherine Liu Dec 14, 2021

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On Thursday 9 November, George Hoare and Alex Hochuli took part in a conversation with Catherine Liu about their recent books – The End of the End of History and Virtue Hoarders, respectively. The focus was on the social and political role of the Professional-Managerial Class in historical context.

The webinar was hosted and presented by the UCI Humanities Center, as part of their Ideas with Impact series and we're reposting the conversation as a podcast here.

Excerpt: /230/ Repetition Compulsion ft. Doug Lain, pt. 2 Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

On the left outflanked. We continue our discussion with Douglas Lain, formerly of Zer0 Books and now of Diet Soap Media. Has the left been overtaken by events - yet again? And we propose a typology of a left divided between progressives, populists and Marxists – progressives who are authoritarian, populists who are opportunists, and Marxists who are lonely. Hey listener - why not tell us how you see Bunga and the world? Fill out our listener survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NN6SPD9 Links:

Diet Soap Media: Patreon | YouTube
OK Bunger! The Problem of Generations

This is an excerpt. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast.

/229/ Repetition Compulsion ft. Doug Lain, pt. 1 Dec 07, 2021

Show notes

On branding and the left.

Douglas Lain, until recently publisher of Zer0 Books and now of Diet Soap Media, joins us to talk about what happened with Zer0. Mainly, we discuss the left at the End of History, revisit No Logo and the anti-branding stance, and compare Gen X and Millennial lefts - is it just a continual story of decline?
Links:

Diet Soap Media: Patreon | YouTube
OK Bunger! The Problem of Generations

/228/ Three Articles: Popular Backlash in Chile, India, Europe Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

On people power on three continents.

We discuss Chile's landmark elections, the first after the uprising of 2019-20, which see a face-off between left and far-right; Modi's repeal of controversial laws that provoked a huge mobilisation of farmers in India last year; and protests and riots against new lockdowns and vaccine mandates across Europe.

Articles:

Has the Backlash to Progressivism Come to Chile?, Lili Loofbourow, Slate
In Rare Show of Weakness, Modi Bows to India’s Farmers, Various, NYT
Violence in Belgium and Netherlands as Covid protests erupt across Europe, Jon Henley, The Guardian

Other relevant episodes

/93/ Hot Chile and Other Neoliberal Failures ft. Pablo Pryluka
/198/ Universal India ft. Achin Vanaik

Excerpt: /227/ Reading Club: All That Is Solid Nov 29, 2021

Show notes

On modernity's contradictions. In this month's Reading Club, we discuss the introduction to Marshall Berman's marvellous All That Is Solid Melts Into Air. This is an excerpt. For the full episode, subscribe for $10/mo at patreon.com/bungacast Can we revive, as Berman intends, the truly dialectical, 19th century attitude to modernity? What value is there in talking about "modernity" rather than “capitalism”? And how to we recognise possibilities for transcending today's impasses, where the question of "modernity" isn't even on the table? The final Reading Club of 2021 will be on Eva Illouz's Cold Intimacies.

Excerpt: /226/ Science Says: No Woke Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

On the Jacobin & YouGov survey of the US working class. A study (pdf) carried out by YouGov on behalf of Jacobin magazine and the Center for Working-Class Politics has learned that "working-class voters prefer progressive candidates who focus primarily on bread-and-butter economic issues, and who frame those issues in universal terms." What can we learn from the study, beyond the obvious? What are its limitations, who is it for, and what does the survey say about those who commissioned it? Plus: does it make sense to frame your politics as 'anti-woke'? Reading:

Jacobin executive summary
Full report (pdf)

/225/ Wokeistan & Lebanonworld ft. Karl Sharro Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

On sectarianism & identitarianism.

Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) is back on Bunga to talk to us about his essay "The Retreat from Universalism in the Middle East and the World".
Lebanon has been used as a model for other Middle Eastern countries, even though its confessional system is a disaster. But Lebanese-style sectarianism isn't a form of 'feudal' backwardness – in fact it represents a precursor of the multicultural and identitarian politics in the West.

Who are the enemies of universalism today, East and West? And what sort of political projects are capable of rejuvenating secular universalism?
See also:

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Buy our book: The End of the End of History

Subscribe to the podcast: patreon.com/Bungacast

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