Bungacast

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

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. 

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

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

In the first of an occasional series of episodes on the US presidential election and the Left, we talk to Nick Frayn, a volunteer with the Bernie Sanders campaign in New England. How have things gone on the campaign trail? What is next for the Democratic primaries delayed by the corona outbreak? Can Bernie regain ground in the primaries against Joe Biden? How will the corona crisis impact the Democratic primaries? Readings: How the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting the US Democratic primary calendar, FT Biden Wins Coronavirus Primary, The Atlantic Joe Biden sweeps key primaries and moves closer to nomination, The Guardian

This is a sample. The full episode is available by subscribing at patreon.com/bungacast Singapore is held up as a free-market utopia: rich, orderly and clean. But the reality is quite different. Why does Singapore exert such a magnetism for neoliberals, when its reality strays from orthodox prescriptions? What and who made this model 'global city', and how does its communist and anti-colonial past lead to its hyper-capitalist present?

This episode is for our $10 and up patrons. Go to patreon.com/bungacast for access. On the end of the Age of Imitation. We discuss Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes' The Light That Failed: A Reckoning and their arguments for why liberal democracy stopped being the model to follow - in Eastern Europe, Russia and even the USA. Thanks for all the questions, they are addressed in the last third of the episode. 

On global cities.  Global cities flaunt themselves to global capital and are shaped by it. They are self-conscious and eager to transmit 'globalness'. But why? And how has the city under globalisation been reshaped? What is the role of money and power - not to mention sex and culture? And does the sameyness of global cities now mean that medium and small cities are where we should be looking for cultural and political change?  Subscribe to our patreon for original episodes: patreon.com/bungacast

On political conflict over the next decade This is a subscriber-only show. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast We debate what ideological contestation is going to look like in the next 2/5/10 years. Will liberalism adopt Silicon Valley solutionism? Does the centre-right become fully nationalist? And the far right have a future if that happens? And where does the left go next?

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has been hailed by some and scorned by others as offering a new framework to understand the financial system. But what is specifically 'modern' about MMT, and how does it differ from rival accounts of the financial economy? We talk to Bill Mitchell, one of the leading proponents of MMT, who gives us an introductory rundown, plus tells us why the Japanese economy is unfairly maligned and explains what the future has in store for MMT as its inexorably advances against orthodox rivals.     -> Our earlier episode with Doug Henwood, a critic of MMT, can be found here: Episode 68  -> The episode with Bill Mitchell's co-author, Thomas Fazi, is here: Episode 38   Readings: Reclaiming the State, Bill Mitchell and Thomas Fazi (book) MMT Has Been Around for Decades. Here’s Why It Just Caught Fire, Ben Holland & Matthew Boesler, Bloomberg An MMT response on what causes inflation, FT What you need to know about modern monetary theory, Gavyn Davies, FT MMT Is Already Helping, Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Jacobin