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Excerpt: /77/ CaliBunga: Tech, Drugs & Capitalist Soul, Pt. 2 Jun 27, 2019

Show notes

In part two, we chat about recreational drugs and mental states in a Hollywood bar with friends of the podcast, Amber A'Lee Frost and Alex Gendler. But mostly, we delve deeper into capitalism and depression with the 'States of Wellness' group at UC Irvine (Catherine Liu, Thomas Williams, Michael Mahoney, Benjamin Kruger-Robins).

#CaliBunga is a special multipart series on the Californian Ideology: the seemingly paradoxical hybrid of New Left and New Right ideas - the synthesis of hippies with yuppies, all tied together with the promise that technology might liberate us.

Thanks to UC Irvine School of Humanities for sponsoring this series.

/76/ CaliBunga: Tech, Drugs & Capitalist Soul, Pt. 1 Jun 20, 2019

Show notes

Special multipart series on the Californian Ideology: the seemingly paradoxical hybrid of New Left and New Right ideas - the synthesis of hippies with yuppies, all tied together with the promise that technology might liberate us.

In part one, we talk to Richard Barbrook about the Californian Ideology today before discussing health and mental illness with the 'States of Wellness' group at UC Irvine (Catherine Liu, Benjamin Kruger-Robins, Michael Mahoney, Thomas Williams).

Thanks to UC Irvine School of Humanities for sponsoring this series.

Readings:

Natural Causes, Barbara Ehrenreich
The Happiness Industry, William Davies
Coming Up Short, Jennifer Silva

Subscribe: patreon.com/BungaCast

Excerpt: /75/ Synthesis Session: Order Not Freedom Jun 13, 2019

Show notes

Synthesising what we learned about neoliberalism (ep74), discussing some concrete examples and drawing out the broader importance of it all. -What gets called 'neoliberal' but actually isn't? And vice-versa? -Was the postwar social-democratic state more racialised than the neoliberal one? -Should we bring back 'rationalisation'? -Are Orban, Trump and Bolsonaro 'neoliberals'? -Is the EU peak neoliberal? Is Brexit necessarily anti-neoliberal? Subscribe for access: patreon.com/bungacast

/74/ Order Not Freedom ft. Quinn Slobodian Jun 06, 2019

Show notes

On the unexpected origins of neoliberalism. We talk to Quinn Slobodian, author of Globalists, about how neoliberals look back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the League of Nations. Why does neoliberalism talk about freedom, but promote order? Is neoliberalism about more or less state - or is it about what kind of state?

Plus why the genuine neoliberals didn’t care about the Cold War and how Murray Rothbard laid the ground for Trump.

Readings:

Globalists, Quinn Slobodian
Neoliberalism’s World Order, Adam Tooze
Why I am not a conservative, F.A. von Hayek
The EU is a betrayal of Europe’s exceptionalism, Douglas Carswell

Subscribe for access to the Synthesis Session, where the guys discuss the broader implications: patreon.com/bungacast

/72/ Frankly Awesome Lefty Conversation ft. Aaron Bastani [UNLOCKED] May 30, 2019

Show notes

On 'Fully Automated Luxury Communism'. We talk about being pro-technology without being determinist. Does full automation mean the end of work? How do we craft a practical utopian vision? Plus some stuff about wolves and also Brexit. Reading: Fully Automated Luxury Communism, Verso Books Subscribe to Aufhebunga Bunga at patreon.com/BUNGACAST

Excerpt: /73/ Eurosads ft. Anton Jäger & Catarina Príncipe May 27, 2019

Show notes

[For the full episode, please subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast]

On the European Parliamentary elections. Is this the day the 20th century truly died? Traditional social democratic and conservative parties took a pounding. The Greens surged. The populists didn't surge - but are now entrenched. And the radical and populist Left has not capitalised. What's the meaning behind what are often purely symbolic euro elections?

Readings:

[pieces by Anton & Catarina coming shortly]

Excerpt: /72/ Frankly Awesome Lefty Conversation ft. Aaron Bastani May 23, 2019

Show notes

[This is a short preview. For the full episode, please subscribe to our Patreon.] On 'Fully Automated Luxury Communism'. We talk about being pro-technology without being determinist. Does full automation mean the end of work? How do we craft a practical utopian vision? Plus some stuff about wolves and also Brexit. Reading: Fully Automated Luxury Communism, Verso Books Subscribe to Aufhebunga Bunga at patreon.com/BUNGACAST

/71/ Trustworthy Propaganda ft. Glenn Greenwald May 16, 2019

Show notes

On 'neoliberal order breakdown syndrome' and the media. Glenn Greenwald talks to us about Russiagate and fake news, and is unimpressed with same old propaganda. We discuss about left-wing self-criticism, Bolsonaro and transgression, and ask how to be sceptical without sliding into cynicism.

Subscribe to Aufhebunga Bunga at PATREON.COM/BUNGACAST

/70/ In Defence of Universalism ft. Kenan Malik May 02, 2019

Show notes

On migration and identity. The question of migration and borders has become increasingly fraught across different societies. Why has immigration become the means through which grievance is expressed? Where has 'white' identity come from? And how durable is identity politics as a force?

Readings:

Looking Closer to Home, Kenan Malik on EU and migration

The History and Politics of White Identity, Kenan Malik

/69/ Boiled Lobsters ft. Angela Nagle Apr 27, 2019

Show notes

On Peterson vs Zizek. Did the 'debate of the century' live up to its billing? More importantly, what explains Peterson's appeal - and Zizek's? Why did the debate have such an odd, out of time feel?

References:

The Fool and the Madman, Jacobin critique of the debate

Evaluating the Peterson-Zizek Debate, Doug Lain, Zero Books

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