
Macrodose
Your weekly fix of everything economics. Hosted by James Meadway.
Latest episodes

May 15, 2024 • 15min
Amazon vs. Workers w/ Polly Smythe
On this week’s Macrodose, Polly Smythe takes a look at an upcoming vote at an Amazon Warehouse on whether to unionise. If the workers vote yes, then for the first time in the UK Amazon will be forced to recognise a trade union.
What are workers at the Coventry site up against? Why is Amazon such a crucial battleground for the future of the labour movement? And what lessons can we learn from this latest organising attempt?
Polly Smythe is an industrial correspondent at Novara Media, where I spend my time covering everything to do with trade unions, work, and strikes.
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
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We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

May 8, 2024 • 16min
Labour Ditches New Deal for Workers
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: another Labour Party U-Turn as Keir Starmer guts the “New Deal for Workers” (1:47), and a proposed global mining merger - how is the climate crisis reshaping the largest institutions of capitalism (10:47)?
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

May 1, 2024 • 16min
How Climate Change is Killing Workers
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: a warning from the world bank that inflation could start rising again this year (0:46), a new report showing that climate change is creating serious health hazards for 70% of the world's workers (6:21) and as climate-flation hits the front pages of 2 major papers this week - has public awareness hit a tipping point (12:33)?
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Apr 26, 2024 • 40min
ROUNDTABLE: A History of the World in 7 Cheap Things (Revisited)
** Check out the video version of this podcast on our YouTube channel - youtu.be/O5xSeNmF-v0 **
On today’s episode James Meadway is joined by Raj Patel and Jason W Moore for a revisit of their book A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: a guide to capitalism, nature and the future of the planet.
Raj Patel is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.
Jason W. Moore is an environmental historian and historical geographer at Binghamton University, where he is professor of sociology and leads the World-Ecology Research Collective.
Grab you copy of A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things here www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/817-a-history-of-the-world-in-seven-cheap-things
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Apr 24, 2024 • 18min
An Uninsurable World
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down new research that shows the world will lose one fifth of its income to climate change over the next 25 years (1:45), the skyrocketing price of insurance in the UK (7:21) and some allegedly good news - the London stock exchange hits a record high (14:56).
Grab you ticket for the PTO live show here: tinyurl.com/3zhu4ve6
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Apr 17, 2024 • 18min
A Short History of Burnout w/ Hannah Proctor
This week on Macrodose Hannah Proctor leads us on an exploration of burnout. What are the origins of the term, and how can political movements and people on the frontline endure in the face of defeat.
Hannah Proctor is a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, interested in histories and theories of radical psychiatry. She is a member of the editorial collective behind Radical Philosophy, and has been published in Jacobin, Tribune, The New Inquiry and elsewhere. Find her new book “Burnout: The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat” here: tinyurl.com/ye33zecw
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Apr 10, 2024 • 19min
The Future of Nuclear Power
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down a new report over in the US which lays out the climate risks to nuclear power (0:44), a look at how the scarcity of data will squash the dreams of machine learning (9:55) and a new campaign for Basic Income for Farmers (15:50).
Basic income for farmers report: tinyurl.com/5n6hecpe
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Apr 3, 2024 • 18min
AI Colonialism
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down Britain's ever failing water system and how to fix it (0:53), how AI is feeding colonial forms of exploitation (7:41) and climateflation - how new research shows prices are only likely to increase (14:25).
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Apr 2, 2024 • 1h 10min
ROUNDTABLE: The Economics of The Green Transition
On today’s episode James Meadway is joined by Brett Christophers and Adrienne Buller to discuss the economics of the green energy transition, asking how we could finance it and what’s stopping us? They talked “market failures”, “maladaptation” and the future of economics: growth and degrowth.
Brett Christophers is professor of human geography at Uppsala University’s Institute for Housing and Urban Research. Grab his latest book ‘The Price is Wrong: Why capitalism won’t save the planet’ here: tinyurl.com/4p6tpuh3
Adrienne Buller is Director of Research and London-based Think Tank Common Wealth. Find her book 'The Value of a whale: on the illusions of green capitalism' here: tinyurl.com/3bdp6haa
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk

Mar 27, 2024 • 16min
Rachel Reeves and the Future of British Economics
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Mais Lecture and what it tells us about a future Labour government (0:40) and a listener question - how do we stop the wealthy holding governments hostage by threatening to take their money out of the country (9:34)?
A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers, your support keeps the show running and we are very grateful. If you have the means and enjoy our work, head over to patreon.com/Macrodose and subscribe today.
Find our socials, newsletter and more here: linktr.ee/macrodosepodcast
We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk
For more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, go to planetbproductions.co.uk