Politics Theory Other

Richard Seymour discusses the protest movement in Israel that has emerged in response to the plans of the most right-wing Israeli government in history to dramatically curtail the power of the judiciary and further empower the executive. We discussed the makeup, social base and ideology of the parties in the coalition government, why the Israeli protest movement and liberal Israelis remain anchored to an ethno-nationalist politics (in spite of their opposition to the government) and we also talked about the Palestinian Authority - increasingly a misnomer as the PA's already minimal public support further erodes and as it starts to lose control of parts of the West Bank.

Sebastian Budgen returns to PTO to talk about the protest movement in France, sparked by Emmanuel Macron's pension reform bill. We talked about why the new bill has encountered such broad opposition in the country, and why it is that Macron has been so intransigent over a policy that is opposed by around two thirds of the French public. We also discussed the tactics of the French unions, the increasing involvement of young people in the protest movement, and the extent to which Marine Le Pen's far right National Rally is benefiting from the situation - despite opposition to the new pension law being led by the left.

Adam Tooze returns to PTO to discuss the key causal factors that allowed fascism to emerge in the early twentieth century and whether conditions that would enable fascism on the interwar model exist today. We also talked about whether describing the Bolsanaros, the Le Pens and the Orbans of this world as fascist may be analytically wrong but tactically effective, and about how close the Latin American dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s are to the fascist model. Links: Adam's chartbook post: https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-166-19222022-the-centenary Eurotrash podcast episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/ep-6-sex-fascism-73970252 Adam on The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy: https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/adam-tooze-on-nazi-ideology-and-the-german-war-economy Adam on Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy: https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/adam-tooze-on-shutdown-how-covid-shook-the-worlds-economy Part one and two of Adam on Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World: https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/20-adam-tooze-on-crashed-how-a-decade-of-financial-crises-changed-the-world https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/23-adam-tooze-on-crashed-how-a-decade-of-financial-crises-changed-the-world-part-2

Richard Seymour returns to respond to listener's questions on the recent episode on the so-called lockdown sceptics. We talked about the leaking of former UK health secretary Matt Hancock's pandemic whatsapp messages, and whether they vindicate the arguments of lockdown critics such as Isabel Oakeshott. Amongst the other excellent questions sent in, Richard responded regarding the the widely cited Cochrane study that challenged the efficacy of mask wearing, the motivation of self described socialists who are apparently comfortable aligning themselves with the libertarian right, and also the US department of energy's recent statement on the lab leak theory of Covid19's origins.

Paul Rogers returns to talk about the Ukraine war, one year after the beginning of the Russian invasion. We discussed why the Russian military have been so unsuccessful in their aims and whether the extraordinary scale of Russian casualties will undermine support for Putin within Russia. We also talked about whether Ukrainian strategic goals align totally with those of the US and NATO states, and if there is any plausibility to the idea of a negotiated settlement. Finally, we talked about why there is much less clear cut support for Ukraine in the global south.

Dhirendra K. Jha joins PTO to talk about his book, Gandhi's Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India. We talked about Godse's childhood and how is belonging to the elite Brahmin class facilitated his shift from an anti-imperialist position in the decades before independence, to a visceral hatred of Muslims and of Gandhi, who the Hindu nationalists blamed for partition and the creation of Pakistan. We also discussed Godse's relationship with Vinayak Sawarkar - the ideological founder of Hindu nationalism and the chief early propagator of the idea of Hindu Rashtra - the concept of India as a fundamentally Hindu nation - as opposed to a secular state of all its people. We went on to talk about how Italian fascism and German Nazism inspired the RSS, and finally we discussed the increasing rehabilitation of the reputation of Godse amongst Hindu nationalists, including BJP members of the Indian parliament.

James Meadway breaks down the news that the UK narrowly avoided dipping into recession at the end of last year, a deeper dive into what that actually means for people in the UK in real terms and how all this is hurting your local pub .

Richard Seymour discusses his recent blogpost on the so-called lockdown sceptics, and in particular the work of Toby Green and his book 'The Covid Consensus: The Global Assault on Democracy and the Poor—A Critique from the Left'. We talked about the straw man arguments, factual inaccuracies and conspiratorial thinking that characterise the book and the lockdown sceptic literature more generally. We also talked about why parts of the left have been receptive to some of this work and also what to make of the alliance between some self-styled anti-woke leftists and religious conservatives.

On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: new figures that signal positive news for the US economy (0:48), how good news for the US might be bad news for the rest of the globe (6:09) and the recent record-breaking profits made by fossil fuel producers (10:55). You can register here (https://bit.ly/3YAtp5J) for a free ticket for the launch of The Cost of Living Crisis (and how to get out of it), a vital book James has co-authored with Doug Nicholls and Professor Costas Lapavitsas.

Richard Seymour discusses his recent blogpost on the so-called lockdown sceptics, and in particular the work of Toby Green and his book 'The Covid Consensus: The Global Assault on Democracy and the Poor—A Critique from the Left'. We talked about the straw man arguments, factual inaccuracies and conspiratorial thinking that characterise the book and the lockdown sceptic literature more generally. We also talked about why parts of the left have been receptive to some of this work and also what to make of the alliance between some self-styled anti-woke leftists and religious conservatives.