Red Medicine

George Severs provides a history of HIV/AIDS in England, paying close attention to the various political and social formations that emerged to address the harms of the virus, which were compounded by institutional homophobia and state abandonment. Dr George Severs is a historian of HIV/AIDS, sexual violence and sexual health in modern Britain. He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland where he is working on a history of sexual health and race. He is the author of Radical Acts: HIV/AIDS Activism in Late Twentieth-Century England.  SUPPORT: www.buymeacoffee.com/redmedicineSoundtrack by Mark PilkingtonTwitter: @red_medicine__www.redmedicine.substack.com/

Nihal El Aasar, an Egyptian researcher and writer based in London, dives into her essay "Left-wing Melancholia." She explores the varied responses of Arab nations to the ongoing crisis in Gaza, addressing the expectations placed on the Arab masses. The discussion highlights the intricate ties between counter-revolution in Egypt and Palestinian liberation, examined through key figures like Ghassan Kanafani. Nihal also sheds light on the concept of 'patient urgency' in political movements and the emerging grassroots activism within the Egyptian diaspora.

Youbin Kang and John Ferretti discuss the compounding issues of austerity, policing, and propaganda on the New York City subway system. Specifically, they explore the way incidents of harm and violence are taken up as part of a cycle of media panics and carceral crackdowns. Youbin's recent essay All Aboard the Moral Panic, published in n+1 magazine, and John's experiences of workplace organising provide the basis for the discussion. Youbin Kang is a writer and Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. John Ferretti is a NYC Subway train conductor and a proud member of TWU Local 100, NYC's Subway and Bus workers' union. John is also a co-founder of the Local 100 Fightback Coalition – a rank-and-file Coalition of NYC Transit workers that is made up of both Revolutionary Socialists and Progressive Democrats in our union which was founded in September of 2018.  SUPPORT: www.buymeacoffee.com/redmedicineSoundtrack by Mark PilkingtonTwitter: @red_medicine__www.redmedicine.substack.com/

Helen Charman, a Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge, discusses the multifaceted politics of motherhood. She explores how figures like Margaret Thatcher have influenced narratives around women's roles. The conversation dives into the portrayal of motherhood in pop culture, notably through 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' Shifting perceptions of single mothers highlight societal fears and the need for responsive reproductive healthcare. Charman critically examines the legacy of Thatcherism on female leadership and the complexities of care within feminist discourse.

Richard Seymour analyses the global far-right, asking how movements across the world have managed to capitalize on the resentment produced by the capitalist system to generate a form of violent rebellion that leaves that same system fully in-tact. Richard Seymour is a writer and broadcaster from Northern Ireland and the author of numerous books about politics including Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics and The Twittering Machine. His writing appears in the The New York Times, the London Review of Books, the Guardian, Prospect, Jacobin, and innumerable other places including his own Patreon. He is an editor at Salvage magazine. His most recent book Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization,  publishes this month with Verso Books. SUPPORT: www.buymeacoffee.com/redmedicineSoundtrack by Mark PilkingtonTwitter: @red_medicine__www.redmedicine.substack.com/

Sasha Warren explores the history of psychiatry in relationship to the development of capitalism. We discuss how best to frame the different movements that have emerged with the intention of transforming or abolishing psychiatry. We then spend some time talking about figures such as Foucault, Fanon, and R. D Laing that may be familiar to listeners as well as some lesser-known figures such as Sylvia Marcos, and Marie Langer.  Sasha Warren is a writer based in Minneapolis publishing work on madness, psychiatry, and the history of medicine. His first book Storming Bedlam: Madness, Utopia, Revolt published earlier this year.  SUPPORT: www.buymeacoffee.com/redmedicineSoundtrack by Mark PilkingtonTwitter: @red_medicine__www.redmedicine.substack.com/

This episode features a recording of live discussion with Richard Seymour and Helen Charman about the medical imaginaries of the far right. This recording is from illness (3), the third in the event series that runs alongside the podcast. We discuss why the far-right has so many paranoid fantasies about medicine, from race science and eugenics, to attacks on trans and reproductive healthcare. Helen Charman is a Fellow and College Teaching Officer in English at Clare College, University of Cambridge. Her critical writing has been published in the Guardian, The White Review, Another Gaze, and The Stinging Fly among others. As a poet, Charman was shortlisted for the White Review Poet's Prize in 2017 and for the 2019 Ivan Juritz Prize for Creative Experiment, and has published four poetry pamphlets, most recently In the Pleasure Dairy. Charman volunteers as a birth companion in Glasgow. Her first book Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood is now available. Richard Seymour is a writer and broadcaster from Northern Ireland and the author of numerous books about politics including Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics and The Twittering Machine. His writing appears in the The New York Times, the London Review of Books, the Guardian, Prospect, Jacobin, and innumerable other places including his own Patreon. He is an editor at Salvage magazine. His most recent book Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization is now available.   SUPPORT: www.buymeacoffee.com/redmedicineSoundtrack by Mark PilkingtonTwitter: @red_medicine__www.redmedicine.substack.com/

Dayna Tortorici, co-editor of n+1 magazine, and Lisa Borst, also a co-editor, dive into their new anthology, The Intellectual Situation. They reflect on the anthology’s diverse essays from 2004-2024, exploring how writing captures the essence of recent political struggles. The duo discusses the emotional weight of narratives during pivotal moments, like the pandemic and social movements. They emphasize the intertwining of personal stories and activism, shedding light on the future of intellectual spaces and the importance of uplifting emerging voices.

Melinda Cooper, a Professor in Sociology at the Australian National University, dives into the complex dance of austerity and extravagance shaping neoliberal monetary policy. She illuminates how the crises of the 1970s birthed a counterrevolution against Keynesian economics, affecting wealth distribution and public finance. Discussing the regressive nature of capital gains tax cuts, she critiques their benefits for the wealthy. The conversation also touches on how reproductive rights debates reflect changing social dynamics amidst these ideological shifts.

Leah Cowan explains the long and complex relationship between British feminism and British policing. From women's suffrage, through the Women's Liberation movement of the 1970s, to recent conflicts over the murder of Sarah Everard by a London Metropolitan Police officer.   Leah Cowan is a writer, editor and previously the political editor of Gal-dem magazine. She is the author of two books Border Nation: A Story of Migration (Pluto Books, 2021) and Why Would Feminists Trust the Police? (Verso Books, 2024) Some of My Best Enemies are Feminists: On Zionist Feminism by Sophie Lewis (https://salvage.zone/some-of-my-best-enemies-are-feminists-on-zionist-feminism/) SUPPORT: www.buymeacoffee.com/redmedicineSoundtrack by Mark PilkingtonTwitter: @red_medicine__www.redmedicine.substack.com/ SUPPORT: www.buymeacoffee.com/redmedicineSoundtrack by Mark PilkingtonTwitter: @red_medicine__www.redmedicine.substack.com/