Bungacast

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

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  

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.

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)

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: /141/ Oh Lebanon, What Now? ft. Rima Majed /198/ Universal India ft. Achin Vanaik –– Buy our book: The End of the End of History Subscribe to the podcast: patreon.com/Bungacast  

On rising wages after the pandemic.   Workers are quitting their jobs and not going back. Restricted supply is seeing wages go up. Does this signal a new militancy, or are workers just deciding to make do with less? How has the pandemic shaped people's outlooks?   Articles: Wages are surging across the rich world, The Economist The Revolt of the American Worker, Paul Krugman, NYT US Workers Are in a Militant Mood, Alex N. Press, Jacobin   The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On the global energy crisis.    Nuclear energy advocate Emmet Penney (@nukebarbarian) joins us to discuss the growing energy crunch in Europe, the US and beyond. Nuclear power is opposed by an unholy alliance of environmentalists and neoliberals - yet it seems the best solution for providing plentiful, reliable, and clean energy. As a demand, it seems an open goal for the left - so why are so many resistant?   Part 2 is available here for patreon subscribers.    Links & Readings: Nuclear Barbarian - pro-nuclear podcast & newsletter ex.haust - Emmet's other, co-hosted pod Undeveloping America, Emmet Penney, The American Conservative Political Life in the Lottery of Babylon, Emmet Penney, The American Conservative How we happened to sell off our electricity, James Meek, LRB  A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations, Robert Bryce, Public Affairs (book)

This month we discuss GM Tamas' essay "Telling the Truth About Class" published in the Socialist Register. Is Tamas' division between Marxist and Rousseauian socialism useful? Does it help us to understand the Left today? And is Tamas right that "authentic proletarian revolution... has never occurred in its anti-capitalist purity anywhere"?   Reading Clubs are for patrons $10+, sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   Additional readings: Why the left must abandon the myth of British decline, David Edgerton, New Statesman Ellen Meiksins Wood on the Nairn-Anderson thesis and the Bourgeois paradigm, Verso Books blog

Responding to your questions, comments & criticisms.   It's a big mailbag this time round, including plenty on Covid (lockdowns, vaccines, etc), incels and dating culture, breaking out of neoliberalism's clutches, and much much more. –– Bungacast will be live in New York on 19 November. Come see Alex Hochuli in conversation with Adam Tooze & Amber A'Lee Frost. Tickets at Eventbrite –– The full episode is for subscribers only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

The fifth and final part of a series on generational consciousness and conflict. This is an excerpt. For the full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast In this episode, we examine the Millennials and Generation Z. Uniquely, generation war today seems to be a conflict over resources more than over values. Is there any basis for this, and what do Millennials actually want? With generational and class conflict seemingly bound together today, we analyse 'Generation Left' and 'Millennial Socialism'. And we ask what the effect of the pandemic may be on the creation of a Gen Z consciousness. Guests include: Paul Taylor, former director, Pew Research Jennie Bristow, senior lecturer in sociology at Canterbury Christ Church University Helen Andrews, senior editor at The American Conservative Clive Martin, journalist who has written for VICE Magazine Josh Glenn, semiotician, author, and publisher of HiLoBrow Jennifer Silva, assistant professor in sociologist, Indiana University Original music by: Jonny Mundey Additional music: Cacti / I Will Be Waiting / courtesy of epidemicsound.com Filthy the Kid / Vampire / courtesy of epidemicsound.com