Politics Theory Other

Richard Seymour returns to PTO to talk about the omicron variant and why he believes Covid19 will be a crisis of a decade, rather than years. We also talked about whether the British government will ever move beyond just vaccines and lockdowns in its pandemic response, and make a serious effort to adapt our infrastructure and health system. We also talked about the failure of the global vaccination effort, and finally we discussed the question of vaccine passports and mandatory vaccinations. Become a £5 PTO patron to get access to this episode and all other episodes of PTO Extra: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Jason Hickel discusses 'green growth' and challenges decoupling growth from resource use. He debates the compatibility of the Green New Deal with degrowth principles and warns of increased worker exploitation in a capitalist green transition.

Boris Johnson's grip on power seems more precarious than at any other point during his time in office. PTO spoke to Will Davies about whether we're at the beginning of the end of the Johnson era, and why Will compares Boris Johnson to a financial asset - and his allies and supporters to investors.

Lea Ypi joins PTO to talk about her new book Free: Coming of Age at the End of History. It tells Lea's story of growing up in Stalinist Albania, the end of communist party rule in 1990, and the country's slide into violent chaos in 1997. We talked about Albania's isolation during the cold war after schisms with first the Soviet Union, and then with China, and how the regime made sense of Albania's place in the world. We also discussed Lea's childhood and her reaction to learning that her parents were not the communist true believers she'd thought them to be. Finally, we talked about Lea's views on what liberalisation meant for Albania and why her experience of the post-communist transition left her profoundly sceptical about liberal notions of what constitutes a truly free society.

Part two of Richard Seymour responding to listener's questions, including on Amia Srinivasan's work, and also on critiques of psychoanalysis - a practice that plays a very important role in Richard's writing. Become a £5 PTO patron to get access to this episode and all other episodes of PTO Extra: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Jason Hickel discusses the ecological crisis beyond CO2 emissions, the violent origins of capitalism, and reevaluating GDP as an indicator of societal progress. The podcast also covers the shortcomings of global climate agreements, the dangers of relying on speculative technologies for emissions reduction, and the intertwined legacies of capitalism, colonialism, and exploitation in the global south.

Richard Seymour, who was recently on the show to discuss supply chains and the ecological crisis, returns to respond to the excellent questions sent in by listeners. We talked about how the left should respond to the issue of consumerism and Richard's opinion of Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain. And we also talked about the question of constitutional politics with regard to popular movements in Chile and more broadly. Become a £5 PTO patron to get access to this episode and all other episodes of PTO Extra: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Kate Crawford joins PTO to talk about her book, Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence. We talked about why some proponents of AI are so convinced - against so much evidence - that systems of machine learning will truly be able to replicate human intelligence, and how the extraordinary material impacts of AI systems - from rare earth mining to electrical power needs - tend not to be discussed. We also talked about the early history of statistical analysis and the new discipline's relationship to eugenics. And finally we discussed how workplace surveillance systems, in spite of their apparent novelty, are in some ways replicating the practices of managerial control of the early factory system.

Richard Seymour joins PTO to talk about the uptick in the UK's Covid-19 cases and death toll, and why the government scaled back public health regulations so dramatically. We also talked about his recent articles on the supply chain and fuel crisis - both in the UK and abroad - and how they portend a future of climate related disruption. Become a £5 PTO patron to get access to this episode and all other episodes of PTO Extra: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Richard Seymour joins PTO to talk about his recent articles on the supply chain and fuel crisis - both in the UK and abroad - and how they portend a future of climate related disruption. We also talked about the significant uptick in the UK's Covid-19 cases and death toll, and why the government scaled back public health regulations so dramatically. Become a £5 PTO patron to get access to this episode and all other episodes of PTO Extra: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother