On your questions, comments, criticisms. [Patreon Exclusive] It's our letter to the episode show where we have a chance to answer you, the listener. We discuss: Has Bungacast gone eco-austerian? Are Marx and Freud in conflict? Is abortion about healthcare or about freedom? Why has the left abandoned liberty? Did we underestimate Israel’s existentia…

On Georgia's pivotal elections and its post-Soviet history. [Full episode only for patrons] Hans Gutbrod, who has been working in the Caucasus region since 1999 and now teaches at Ilia State University in Tblisi, talks to Alex about Georgia's choice between the EU and Russia. We discuss: Who is Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose wealth is equal to 1/4 of G…

On the US election, messaging and learning stupid lessons. [Full episode only at Patreon] We welcome Amber A'Lee Frost (California via Indiana and New York) and Ryan Zickgraf (Pennsylvania via Illinois and Georgia) to preview the US election. We discuss: Why the campaigns have been so focused on micro-targeting demographics Whether Russians or Brit…

On egg-freezing, 'having it all', and neoliberal liberty. [Patreon Exclusive] We welcome Damage editor and practicing psychologist Amber Trotter on to talk about "Frozen Freedom", Amber's piece on artificial reproductive technology and different kinds of freedom. Alex and George ask her about: How empowering is female emancipation from biological l…

On the left-wing case for freedom. Regular contributor Alex Gourevitch is back on to talk about how the Democrats are approaching the US presidential election. Alex talks us through an influential and widely-read article that he wrote in 2020 with Corey Robin on how the left needed to reclaim freedom as its own. We discuss: Why is the left suddenly…

On Israel's invasion of Lebanon and beyond. Karl Sharro (Lebanese-Iraqi architect and satirist @KarlreMarks) and Iranian writer and historian Arash Azizi join us to discuss war in the Middle East. We ask: Is Israel finally waging the great war that will rid it of all enemies? Does Israel have any real plan? What motivates its actions in Gaza and Le…

On Nations & Nationalism since 1870. [Patreon Exclusive] We start by dealing with your questions regarding last month's RC, on Stalin, Zhukhov and WWII. Then we read and discuss Eric Hobsbawm's classic work in which he emphasises that nations are exclusively modern constructions. We discuss: How succulent Hobsbawm's account is Whether he was wrong …

On France's permacrisis. [Patreon Exclusive] French sociologist Nathan Sperber talks to George and Alex about his new essay in the New Left Review, "The French Crisis: Organic or Conjunctural". We catch up with what has happened in France since Macron gambled and called impromptu elections in the summer. We discuss: Why does France always seem to b…

On liberal takes on the end of the End of History. [Patreon Exclusive] We start by discussing Yasha Mounk's dismissal of an end to the End of History. Does he underestimate liberal democracy's inability to legitimise itself anymore? Is the talk of populism a way of deflecting from liberalism's undoing? We then deal with your comments and questions …

On tradwives, influencers, and boys. [Patreon Exclusive] Amber is back on the pod, talking to Alex and George about her forthcoming piece on neo-traditionalism and women, in Damage issue 3, which will be on Mothers. We discuss: What are the models of 'tradwives' out there? If homemakers make homes, do tradwives make content? Does the tradwife pheno…

On "eco-modernism". Ted Nordhaus, co-founder and executive director of the Breakthrough Institute, talks to Leigh and Alex the 20th anniversary of "The Death of Environmentalism" and the 10th anniversary of "The Ecomodernist Manifesto". We discuss: The fundamental philosophical differences between "building-out" and "restraint". Whether industrial …

On the US culture wars, then and now. Historian Andrew Hartman, author of A War for the Soul of America, talks to Alex about how US Americans have been sorted into cultural camps over the past fifty years. We discuss: Who started it? And who perpetuates it? What is the "culture" in the culture war? And is it a war, or a series of skirmishes? Is the…

On disinformation, misinformation and the popular will. Holly Jean Buck, Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability at the University at Buffalo, joins us to talk about her recent pieces arguing that the climate movement's focus on disinformation is misguided. We discuss: What is disinformation and misinformation in the climate context? …

On corruption, charisma, populism & assassination in Slovakia. Slovak sociologist Dominik Zelinksy joins us to discuss Slovakia's positioning between East and West. We discuss: Why was Prime Minister Robert Fico a target of an assassination attempt? Whether Fico – not a zany outsider but a competent insider – is a "populist" Why Slovaks are not so …

On the electricity grid and the institutions involved. [Episode originally released only to subscribers on 20 June 2024. Join us at patreon.com/bungacast] Fred Stafford, a STEM professional, a writer on energy and power, and an editor at Damage, talks to Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips about the utility of utilities and his recent essay…

On Geoffrey Roberts’ 2013 biography of Field Marshal Zhukov. [Patreon Exclusive] Who was the Soviet general and architect of Soviet victory on the Eastern Front during the Second World War? We discuss: What does Zhukov’s life tell us about modern warfare? What can we learn about the life and fate of the Soviet regime? How should we view the Ukraine…

On the NGO-isation of the state. [Patreon Exclusive] Researchers and writers Matthew Thompson and Jonny Gordon-Farleigh join us to discuss their recent Damage article with George Hoare. Civil society was once occupied by popular forces that could function as a bulwark against both capitalist marketization and state authoritarianism. Today, it has b…

On your questions & criticisms. [Patreon Exclusive] We respond with comments on episodes 420 to 432 and various other points you wanted to us to discuss. In this episode: Does our politics lack self-critique? When did the breakdown of the UK's political system begin? How hegemonic is "settler" discourse? Will there be a coup in France? Do we need m…

On Naomi Klein & Naomi Wolf and "political diagonalism" Episode in association with Damage magazine. Patreon Exclusive. Ben Burgis talks to Alex and George about his review in Damage of Naomi Klein's Doppelgangers. We discuss: Whether Naomi Klein is representative of the average left-wing position this century What Klein's trajectory and that of Na…

On the structure of the Chinese state and its external relations. [Patreon Exclusive: for the full episode, go to patreon.com/bungacast] We welcome back Lee Jones and Shahar Hameiri to reflect on the outcome of the recent plenum of the Chinese Communist Party and to ask who, if anyone beyond Xi Jinping, is calling the shots. How will the CCP respon…

On the tourist city, the tourist industry, and its critics. Renowned Italian journalist Marco d'Eramo joins us to talk about his wide-ranging inquiry into the age of tourism, The World in a Selfie. We also discuss how migration is the obverse of tourism, and take a look at Marco's most recent book, Masters, on the neoliberal revolution from above. …

On Julien Benda's famous 1927 work. [Patreon Exclusive] We continue on the theme of 'Intellectuals and the Public' by discussing the often cited by little read The Treason of the Clerks. We ask: If Benda was responding to the intellectuals' role in the Dreyfus Affair and WWI, was he already a man out of his time? What are intellectuals' proper role…

On JD Vance, Hillbilly Elegy, and arresting decline. [For the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast] We discuss the Netflix adaptation of vice-presidential nominee JD Vance's memoir – and the memoir itself – and what it tells us about the direction of US politics, Trump, and MAGA. We ask: What is Ryan's own anti-hillbilly elegy, drawn from his experi…

On emotional capitalism + Israeli politics. Renowned sociologist Eva Illouz joins us to talk about her recent book on the emotions of populism, and her work on the sociology of emotions in general. We discuss: Why have emotions become such a collective obsession? Where can you buy emotional commodities? What are influencers really selling? What emo…

On the disaster of the culture wars. [Patreon Exclusive] Regular contributor Catherine Liu is back on to talk about her essay in Damage, issue 2, "Professional Populists in the Culture Wars". We discuss: What were the original 'culture wars' and how are they different to today? Why are the "academic populists" more elitist than anyone? Was there a …

On the late Dmitri Furman's account of post-Soviet Russia. Patreon Exclusive: for the Reading Club, join for $12/mo and get access to ALL Bungacast content, incl. 4 exclusive, original episodes a month We continue our discussions along this year's themes (rise and fall of nations; Russia past and present) by tackling Imitation Democracy: The Develo…

On your questions & criticisms about fertility, culture war, and more. [Patreon Exclusive] In our monthly mailbag episode we take points from the discussion on patreon, including on futuristic music, holocaust movies, german populism, whether culture war can be global, and the link between modernisation, productivity and birth rates.…

On France's surprise parliamentary election. The left-wing 'New Popular Front' came a surprise first, for now putting a halt to expectations that the far-right Rassemblement National would soon enter government. We talk to political scientist and commentator Charles Devellennes, and ask: What was Macron's gamble in calling this early election? Is b…

On Labour's landslide and sandcastle majority. We unpick what happened in the UK's general election, discussing: How did Labour get such a large majority with so little enthusiasm for them? Is the UK now a multiparty democracy, and will there be demands for serious electoral reform? What accounts for low turnout and the fragmentation of the vote (R…

Ukraine, from Maidan to war. [For the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast] Berlin-based Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko joins us to talk about his new book, Towards the Abyss: Ukraine from Maidan to War and his dissection of the war and the underlying political crisis in Ukraine. We discuss: class conflict in Ukraine as a legacy of the co…

On baby bust, feminism and male resentment. [Patreon Exclusive] Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips call up Korean sociologist Hyeyoung Woo, director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Portland State University, to talk about demography, family and gender in the Republic of Korea. How urgent is the national debate on fertility? What poli…

On the electricity grid and the institutions involved. [Patreon Exclusive] Fred Stafford, a STEM professional, a writer on energy and power, and an editor at Damage, talks to Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips about the utility of utilities and his recent essay in the second print issue of Damage, "Deinstitutionalized"./ What actually is a…

On German political derangement. [Patreon Exclusive] Independent researcher and writer Gregor Baszak joins us to talk about German centrism being squeezed under pressure from both left and right — Sahra Wagenknecht and the AFD. Meanwhile the German economy is getting squeezed between the US and Russia, and NATO pressures Germany to up its defence s…

On the one-year anniversary of the death of our evil patron saint, Silvio Berlusconi, we are re-releasing our audio obituary. RIP Silvio. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died on 12 June 2023 at the age of 86. In this special episode, we say goodbye to the towering figure of the End of History, and explore how the contradictions he e…

On India's election and a blow for the BJP. Esteemed writer and social activist Achin Vanaik is back on Bungacast to unpick India's monumental, seven-week-long electoral process in which over 600m people took part. How did the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP lose its majority? Is there really a cult of personality around Modi? How does the BJP differ …

On your questions & criticism regarding pro-Palestine protests. [Patreon Exclusive] In this episode we focus on the discussion generated by our episode that came out in early May on the protests on US campuses. We discuss the issues along a few axes: How do ideas of victimhood relate to the material reality of international politics? What really ar…

On MORENA and Claudia Sheinbaum's huge victory. Mexico has elected its first woman president, tasked with extending the hugely popular AMLO'S legacy. What are her prospects and challenges? We ask: What was the effect of NAFTA on Mexico, and particularly manufacturing? How is US-China competition playing out in Mexico? Why did Trump and leftist AMLO…

On Zone of Interest and Holocaust film. [Patreon Exclusive] We discuss the winner of the Oscar for Best International Feature Film – one that split opinion, among critics and on the pod too! How does the film fit in the pantheon of Holocaust films? Is it a Holocaust film? How well does it deal with its obvious subject matter: the banality of evil? …

On Mexico's elections. [Full episode at patreon.com/bungacast] Mexico goes to the polls this Sunday with the ruling centre-left MORENA party holding a commanding lead. Anthropologist Roger Lancaster joins us to preview the election and look at outgoing President AMLO's record. What are the stakes in this election? Has Mexico bucked the trend of cla…

On Futuromania and closing and opening of musical horizons. We talk to renowned music critic Simon Reynolds about his new book. A counterpart of sorts to his famous Retromania (2011), Futuromania looks at the exciting futuristic music of the past and present. We discuss its themes to try understand whether the culture is still about to throw up som…

On Alex Garland’s new film, Civil War. [Patreon Exclusive] The boys discuss a film that seems designed to say something in the context of a US election year. But what? We ask: What kind of film is this: a dystopian fantasy, a war movie, a road movie? Why the focus on the media? Does the film celebrate or satirise journalists? Does Garland’s dystopi…

On Isaac Deutscher's classic Stalin: A Political Biography. [Patreon Tier III & IV Exclusive] We start off dealing with your questions from the first two Reading Clubs of the year, before Phil takes us through the famous biography of the Soviet leader. We discuss: Deutscher's work in historical context Stalin’s parents' experience as serfs and the …

On US campus protest, the brutalisation of Gaza, and whether this is an age of war. Join us: patreon.com/bungacast Bunga boys Alex, George and Phil debate the matter of the day. We ask: Is the police repression and associated censorship (the anti-semitism bill) a reflection of the fact the content of the protest unsettles the establishment? Why? Wh…

On the earth-shaking events of the 20th century, through a personal lens. Regular contributor Alex Gourevitch sits down with political scientist Peter Gourevitch to talk about their shared family history. Why did their grandparents/great-grandparents become Mensheviks? How did one half of the family leave the USSR and the other half remain? What wa…

On saving society from the antisocial-ists. In partnership with Damage magazine. [Patreon Exclusive] Trade unionist and researcher Dustin "Dino" Guastella joins us to talk about the deficiencies of a libertarian or antinomian approach to social problems. We start off with Dino telling us about the Teamsters union, before moving on to: How have Amer…

On Euro censorship + your comments and criticisms. [Patreon Exclusive] We discuss censorship in Brussels and Berlin, and put it in the context of the incorporation of right-populism. How will European politics come to look as national-conservatives become part of the establishment? What's up with these "sovereigntists" who are unserious about sover…

On the Big Hard Dick industry. [Patreon Exclusive] Clinicians and Damage authors & editors, Christie and Benjamin, tell us why the market for penis enlargement and hardness has exploded. What is the "penis anxiety industry" How does it serve individual, cultural and unconscious demands? How does 'Big Hard Dick' provide a brittle solution to a deep …

On melodrama and the bourgeois subject. [Patreon Exclusive] We're back with the next installment of our series on the "emotional turn". Alex talks to Catherine Liu about whether politics is staged in a "melodramatic" fashion today. What is the bourgeois subject, why was it good, and where did it go? What is melodrama? Does public crying make us fee…

On President AMLO and the rebuilding the working class. [Patreon Exclusive] We continue our discussion with anthropologist Roger Lancaster who has lived and researched in Mexico for decades, on the past and present of Mexican radicalism. How has popular conservatism served as a boost for radicalism and revolution Is there any basis for a 'romantic'…

On A New Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere and Deliberative Politics [Patreon Tier III & IV Exclusive] Continuing our theme of "the intelligentsia & the public," we discuss German critical theorist Jürgen Habermas's 2023 book, asking what sort of political culture is required for democracy. What role do the institutions of the public s…