Aufhebunga Bunga

The episode is for patrons only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast The protests in the US against police violence - and their globalisation - prompts us to discuss radical proposals for what to do about the police. We look at the US, the UK and Brazil, each in their own national contexts, and debate how policing is structure and what makes realistic responses to state repression a political priority. Readings: Symposium on Policing, NonSite, various authors incl. Dustin Guastella, Christian Parenti Global Perspectives on Policing, Verso Books blog, various authors incl. Alex Hochuli

Reading Club episodes are only available to patrons $10+. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast This month we discuss Wolfgang Streeck's reading of Friedrich Engels which appeared recently in the New Left Review, which deals with the Marxian understanding of war and technology, how they relate to social development, and what this all means for our understanding of the state.   Engels's Second Theory: Technology, Warfare and the Growth of the State, Wolfgang Streeck, New Left Review

On British decline. Much ink has been spilled over the Britain’s fate since the end of its empire. Could it be that decline has been overstated? And what will happen to Britain as it leaves the European Union? We discuss how the history of the Industrial Revolution and Cold War militarism still shapes British politics today, as David Edgerton joins us to talk about the his latest book, 'The Rise and Fall of the British Nation'. Readings: A misremembered empire, David Edgerton, Tortoise Britain’s 20th-century industrial revolution, Colin Kidd, New Statesman (review of Edgerton's book) Britain's persistent racism cannot simply be explained by its imperial history, David Edgerton, The Guardian

Singapore is held up as a free-market utopia: rich, orderly and clean. But the reality is quite different. Why does Singapore exert such a magnetism for neoliberals, when its reality strays from orthodox prescriptions? What and who made this model 'global city', and how does its communist and anti-colonial past lead to its hyper-capitalist present?

This episode is for patrons only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast    Mailbag + bonus content ft. Corey Robin    In this new semi-regular slot, we feature bonus recordings (here, 20mins of additional discussion with Corey Robin from episode 129) and respond to your comments and criticisms received over the past month.

This is a sample. For the full episode, sign up at patreon.com/bungacast  The three of us discuss some of the themes that emerged from our interview with Krithika Varagur (ep.133) - the entanglement of the US state with Islamism, the Americanisation of the Middle East, and especially the Gulf States, and Wahhabism as religious justification for the Saudi state project.

On Saudi religious proselytism. Saudi Arabia has actively sought to export Salafism. How has it done this - and what have been its effects, in countries like Indonesia, Nigeria and Kosovo? Why was fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s such a formative experience for jihadists? And why has appeal of secularism faded? Readings: The Call: Inside the Global Saudi Religious Project, Krithika Varagur How Saudi Arabia's religious project transformed Indonesia (Long excerpt from the book) The Coronavirus Threatens Saudi Arabia’s Global Ambitions, Krithika Varagur, Foreign Affairs Saudis and Extremism: 'Both the Arsonists and the Firefighters', Scott Shane, NYT China as the New Frontier for Islamic Daʿwah, Mohammed Turki al-Sudairi, Journal of Arabian Studies

Aleksandar Vučić's coalition won the recent (21 June) Serbian parliamentary elections amidst a mass boycott. We talk to Balkanist editor Lily Lynch about what Vučić represents - violent ultranationalist or technocratic centrist? We also take time to discuss geopolitical rivalries over Kosovo.  Plus: cigar socialism, Yugoboomers and the enduring appeal of Balkan orientalism. According to Julian Assange, the future always comes to Serbia first - what does this mean?  Intro clip: Vučić's very creepy virtual rally | Outro clip: The Big Z  Readings: Abramović, Žižek and Milanović: Yugoslavia’s First and Last Global Public Intellectuals, Srdjan Garcevic, The Nutshell Times The Tito–Castro Split and the End of Cigar Socialism, Lily Lynch, Balkanist Vucic’s nationalist party wins landslide victory in Serbian poll, Valerie Hopkins, FT West is best: How ‘stabilitocracy’ undermines democracy building in the Balkans, Srda Pavlovic, LSE blog

This episode is for patrons $10 and up. Please sign up at patreon.com/bungacast  On the Ehrenreich's re-evaluation of the Professional-Managerial Class.  We discuss Barbara and John Ehrenreich's "Death of a Yuppy Dream". Also attached are the Ehrenreichs' analyses from the late 70s, also referenced in the discussion.  Thanks again for all your questions! 

Full episode is for patrons only. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast  On this latest Three Articles, we discuss the global Black Lives Matter protests.    Reading: The Triumph of Black Lives Matter and Neoliberal Redemption, Cedric Johnson, NonSite ‘As soon as I saw the slaveowner’s statue being toppled in Bristol, I knew the real anti-racism protest was OVER’, Lisa McKenzie, RT The Triumph of American Idealism, Alex Hochuli, Damage Alex's additional notes on his blog

On the left case for freedom.   We talk to Corey Robin about how the left has sacrificed the realm of freedom to the right. And why the Left's weakness is also the Right's. Plus, why is it clear that Trump is not a fascist? And insight into the BLM protests in NYC and responses to the pandemic.  Reading: What People Power Looks Like in a Pandemic Democracy, Corey Robin, NYRB Symposium on the Challenges Facing Democrats: Freedom Now, Corey Robin & Alex Gourevitch, Polity If authoritarianism is looming in the US, how come Donald Trump looks so weak?, Corey Robin, Guardian

On The Economist and the contradictions of global liberalism. Alexander Zevin joins us to discuss his work on the 176 year history of the magazine that has accompanied liberalism's global expansion. Has it just reflected the world or has it actually influenced politics? How has The Economist balanced democracy against the interests of finance and the needs of empire? And is the magazine suffering from N.O.B.S.?  Subscribe: patreon.com/BungaCast Running order: (06:02) Overview & early days (29:52) 19th century & empire (34:18) 20th century, esp 1930s and '40s (48:08) End of the Cold War and NOBS (01:02:19) Liberalism & its enemies  

On the 30 years since 1989. For our 100th episode, we invited our favourite guests to reflect on the question: “What one event, personal or political, most captures for you the past thirty years, since 1989?”  Are we still living in the death throes of the 20th century, or is something new emerging? Guests: (00:07:42) - Maren Thom (00:14:14) - David Broder (00:21:33) - Ashley Frawley (00:26:11) - Catherine Liu (00:33:05) - Angela Nagle (00:40:49) - Benjamin Fogel (00:46:25) - Alex Gourevitch  (00:51:31) - BungaCast hosts (00:59:22) - David Adler (01:04:05) - Amber A’Lee Frost (01:08:48) - James Heartfield (01:16:17) - Anton Jaeger (01:23:24) - Leigh Phillips (01:30:25) - Lee Jones (01:36:03) - Karl Sharro Subscribe: patreon.com/BungaCast

On the unexpected origins of neoliberalism. We talk to Quinn Slobodian, author of Globalists, about how neoliberals look back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the League of Nations. Why does neoliberalism talk about freedom, but promote order? Is neoliberalism about more or less state - or is it about what kind of state? Plus why the genuine neoliberals didn’t care about the Cold War and how Murray Rothbard laid the ground for Trump. Readings: Globalists, Quinn Slobodian Neoliberalism’s World Order, Adam Tooze Why I am not a conservative, F.A. von Hayek The EU is a betrayal of Europe’s exceptionalism, Douglas Carswell Subscribe for access to the Synthesis Session, where the guys discuss the broader implications: patreon.com/bungacast