Politics Theory Other

Len McCluskey joins me to talk about his new book, 'Why You Should Be A Trade Unionist'. We spoke about his own experience of becoming involved in the labour movement, what the unions could be doing to combat the conservative press, and we also talked about the Labour leadership contest and Len's position on freedom of movement.

Thea Riofrancos joins me to discuss the shambolic Iowa caucus, the significance of the strong showings of Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders, and Joe Biden's poor performance. We also chatted about media narratives and centrist panic at the prospect of Sanders winning the nomination. To get access to this episode become a $5 supporter on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Achin Vanaik joins me to discuss Hindu nationalism in India, the BJP's anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act, the lockdown in Kashmir, and India's economic slowdown.

Lara Friedman joins me to discuss the so-called Trump peace plan and the Israel-Palestine conflict. We spoke about the extent to which the plan diverges from previous American policy, and the ideological framework of its creators. Lara is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace based in Washington DC.

Financial Times journalist Tom Hancock joins me from the city of Wuhan - the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. We spoke about the situation in the city, the response of the Chinese government to the crisis and how it compares to the SARS outbreak of 2002. We also discussed the broader political significance of the outbreak and the public mood in Wuhan and China more broadly.

Tom Blackburn joins me to chat about the Labour leadership contest, why Keir Starmer is the front runner, the importance of open selection, and what Jess Philipps' brief campaign tells us about the Labour right. If you'd like to hear the full interview please consider becoming a $5 PTO supporter on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Rhian Jones joins me to discuss her article in Tribune Magazine, An Enterprise Allowance of the Left: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2019/10/an-enterprise-allowance-of-the-left which looks at the disappearance of working class voices from the arts and how the left might rebuild working class culture. We talked about how Britpop positioned working class people as uneducated and hostile to musical experimentation, the creation of institutions of cultural production and care by working class communities in the early and mid-twentieth century, and finally we chatted about why Grime was able emerge in spite of the decline of sites of working class cultural production.

Maya Goodfellow joins me to discuss her new book, 'Hostile Environment: How Immigrants Became Scapegoats'. We talked about the historical roots of the hostile environment policy, the punitive, cruel and deliberately confusing character of Britain's immigration system, how viewing migrants as 'economic assets' feeds into anti-migrant politics, and we also chatted about how New Labour's policies on migration and asylum laid some of the basis for the Conservative's migration policies.

Phil Burton-Cartledge joins me to discuss the Conservative's electoral victory and why he believes that the 2019 election result does not simply cancel out the long term problems the Conservatives face.

International security expert Paul Rogers joins me to discuss why the United States carried out the assassination of Qassem Suleimani and whether the attack will spark a broader regional war. We also discussed the historical roots of Iran's defence doctrine of hybrid, asymmetric warfare, and why Britain would be very likely to assist the American military in any large scale military confrontation.