Bungacast

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/126/ Mr Bunga Goes to Washington (3) ft. Angela Nagle & Michael Tracey Jun 02, 2020

Show notes

Why did Bernie Sanders fail? In the third in an occasional series on the US presidential election and the Left, we talk to Angela Nagle and Michael Tracey about their analysis of Bernie Sanders' campaign. We put to bed some bad arguments as to why Bernie didn't win the nomination, and examine some better ones: was the campaign was too establishment-friendly? too "left"? too middle-class? too anti-nationalist?... or are structural factors to blame instead? And we ponder the end of the union of Old and New Lefts, of cultural liberalism and socialism. And the most worrying of all: was Bernie just a blip?

Reading:

First as Tragedy, Then as Farce: The Collapse of the Sanders Campaign and the "Fusionist" Left, Angela Nagle & Michael Tracey, American Affairs

Excerpt: /124/ Three Articles: Money & Power May 26, 2020

Show notes

This is a subscriber-only episode. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast In this latests Three Articles we discuss power, money and the power of money - in a post-Covid world. Readings:

The Death of the Central Bank Myth, Adam Tooze, Foreign Policy
Why the Neoliberals Won’t Let This Crisis Go to Waste, Philip Mirowski, Jacobin
Plan A for the coronavirus, Curtis Yarvin, Medium

/123/ Mr Bunga Goes to Washington (2) ft. Nicholas Kiersey May 19, 2020

Show notes

In the second in an occasional series of episodes on the US presidential election and the Left, we talk to Nicholas Kiersey, a volunteer with the Bernie Sanders campaign in Texas and host of the Fully Automated podcast. What were things like on the campaign trail, and what went wrong for Bernie? Will Biden go the distance, and are there more shenanigans in store?

Readings:

Like It or Not, If We Run Third Party, We Will Lose, Dustin Guastella, Jacobin
The Tyranny of Decorum Hurt Bernie Sanders’s 2020 Prospects, David Sirota, Jacobin
‘Life After Bernie’: The Young Left Braces for Disappointment in 2020, Tim Alberta, Politico
The Left Can’t Just Dismiss the Anti-Lockdown Protests, Ben Burgis, Jacobin

Excerpt: /122/ TFW NO GF May 12, 2020

Show notes

On the so-called "incel documentary", TFW NO GF. This episode is for patreon subscribers only. Sign up: patreon.com/BungaCast We discuss the new documentary TFW NO GF, which focuses on the lives of extremely online alienated loners in the US. It has consequently been labelled the "incel documentary". Because the subjects are allowed to speak for themselves, it's also been called "irresponsible". We take apart what, if anything, makes this cohort distinct from the past - is it the internet? are they lonelier? are their prospects worse? - and try to place the phenomenon in a wider context. If you haven't watched the documentary, there are clips from it interspersed throughout. TFW NO GF on Amazon Prime List of Pirate Bay proxies

UNLOCKED /120/ Damaged Beyond Repair? ft. Anton Jäger May 09, 2020

Show notes

On the end of Left Populism. Friend of the podcast Anton Jäger joins us to discuss the fate of Left Populism, investigate the response of the Left to the ongoing Coronacrisis, and question whether we're really witnessing the end of neoliberalism. We refer to his recent piece in Damage magazine, in the readings below. Did Left populism ask the right questions but get the wrong answers? Are the next three years going to see the blossoming of the 'Well, Actually' Left? Or is the stage set for the triumph of covid corporatism? Readings:

It might take a while before history starts again, Anton Jäger, Damage
Are we all covid communists now?, Philip Cunliffe, Medium

/121/ Those Murdering Bastards ft. Vincent Bevins May 05, 2020

Show notes

On The Jakarta Method.

We're joined by Vincent Bevins to discuss his new book on the 1965-66 mass killings in Indonesia, Cold War anti-communism, and the destruction it wrought around the world. The mid-60s proved pivotal, with US-backed coups in Indonesia and Brazil setting the template. What was their effect on the Left worldwide? How did it alter developmental trajectories across the Third World? What lessons can we take from these historical experiences?

Running Order:

Indonesia - (10:43)
Brazil & application of Jakarta Method - (36:14)
Themes of anticommunism - (43:55)
Global consequences - (53:03)
Anticommunism today - (01:14:39)
Bonus stuff - (1:21:18)

Reading: The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World

Excerpt: /120/ Damaged Beyond Repair ft. Anton Jäger Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

On the end of Left Populism. This is a sample. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/BungaCast Friend of the podcast Anton Jäger joins us to discuss the fate of Left Populism, investigate the response of the Left to the ongoing Coronacrisis, and question whether we're really witnessing the end of neoliberalism. We refer to his recent piece in Damage magazine, in the readings below. Did Left populism ask the right questions but get the wrong answers? Are the next three years going to see the blossoming of the 'Well, Actually' Left? Or is the stage set for the triumph of covid corporatism? Readings:

It might take a while before history starts again, Anton Jäger, Damage
Are we all covid communists now?, Philip Cunliffe, Medium

Excerpt: /119/ Reading Club: Digital Socialism Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

On whether new tech can help build decentralised socialism.

Reading Club episodes are for $10+ patrons. Sign up: patreon.com/bungacast

We discuss Evgeny Morozov's New Left Review essay, Digital Socialism? The Calculation Debate in the Age of Big Data. A useful companion to this (mentioned by George in the episode) is a lecture given by Morozov, that can be found at the bottom of this page.

Thanks for all the questions, they are addressed in the last third of the episode.

Excerpt: /118/ Three Articles: Covid Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

This episode is for subscribers only. To hear the full thing, go to patreon.com/bungacast In this latest Three Articles, we discuss responses to Covid-19. Articles

Virus lays bare the frailty of the social contract, Editorial, FT
Herd Immunity is Epidemiological Neoliberalism, The Quarantimes
We’re on the Brink of Cyberpunk, Kelsey D. Atherton, Slate

/117/ Against The Virus ft. John McAfee Apr 14, 2020

Show notes

On freedom in coronavirus times. John McAfee joins us to address the lockdown, privacy and armed insurrection. Plus: why he prefers Fidel to Che, and how it came to be that his US presidential campaign HQ is in Havana, Cuba. Subscribe: patreon.com/bungacast

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