Aufhebunga Bunga

On US politics being stuck.   [Patreon Exclusive]   We talk to political theorist Benjamin Studebaker about his new book, The Chronic Crisis of American Democracy: The Way is Shut. Studebaker holds that hope is a problem because it's used by professionals to keep people engaged in a system that simply doesn't deliver. Hence the culture wars and the focus on various 'vices'.   How are both left and right complicit in this situation? What's the solution? Are we dependent on oligarchs going rogue to shake the system? Do we need to hit rock bottom to rekindle our political imaginations?

On the 3rd and final part of Jurgen Habermas' Legitimation Crisis.   [Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]   We wrap up this challenging book by debating some key points. Habermas already felt we lived in a post-truth society. How does his notion differ from the contemporary one concerned with misinformation? And is it possible to get beyond the notion of political authority grounded in (arbitrary) rules and laws – to an order rooted in truth and meaning?   Habermas also discusses his Frankfurt School colleagues and 'the end of the individual'. What does this mean? Is there any hope for free, rational, democratic politics?   Reading: Legitimation Crisis, Jurgen Habermas The Return of the Repressed, Wolfgang Streeck, NLR 104, March–April 2017

On the American drug binge.   Forget all the stereotypes – drug use is no longer confined to particular subcultures. US Americans are taking world-historic levels of drugs. Benjamin Fong tells us about his new book, Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge, which covers everything from morphine to mushrooms, SSRIs to speed, caffeine to cocaine.    Ultimately, is all this drug-taking about reckless abandon, or about control?   For more, go to patreon.com/bungacast   Subscribe to Damage Magazine   Links: Building Big Things, Damage Magazine, Issue 1 Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge, Benjamin Y. Fong, Verso Who Deserves Amphetamines, Benjamin Fong, The Point

On Australian and New Zealand at the End of History.   Antipodean political scientists Shahar Hameiri and Tom Chodor join us to discuss the history and politics of Australia and New Zealand. If Australia is the “lucky country”, what about New Zealand? What explains the courses both countries took economically and politically over the twentieth century? And where do the two countries find themselves today - did they escape the end of the End of History?   Part 2: patreon.com/bungacast   Readings: Australian Labor’s hollow victory, Shahar Hameiri & Tom Chodor, UnHerd Jacinda Ardern still haunts New Zealand, Tom Chodor, UnHerd /136/ Banana Monarchy ft. David Edgerton

On everyday, private tyranny.      Sohrab Ahmari, one of the editors of Compact Magazine, joins us to talk about his book, Tyranny, Inc. We discuss the sorts of private coercion that are found in the US workplace and marketplace, rather than originate with the state – and how relatively uncommon it is for a conservative like Ahmari to follow that line of critique.    Also: the NY Post's scathing front covers, alliances between socialists and conservatives, the world of JG Ballard's Super Cannes, and critiquing the right from the right and the left from the left.   

On film and left-wing terrorism.   [Patreon Exclusive]   We talk about Uli Edel’s 2008 film The Baader Meinhof Complex, which tells the story of the Red Army Faction in 1960s and 70s Germany. What sorts of myths do films create? Is the attempt to break down myths in fact a way of re-making those myths? Is a Red Army Faction response possible today - and what does terrorism at the End of the End of History look like?   We also discuss the image-sausage-grinder theory of film and reflect on six years of podcast urban guerilla activity. Links: Episode on Berlusconi biopic, Loro: UNLOCKED /87/ Berluscoming   Symptom of the post-political – Terrorism in Contemporary German, British and Hollywood Cinema, Maren Thom (pdf) "The State I Am In", Christian Petzold (2000)

On geopolitical competition over Africa.   This episode was originally for subscribers only. To join, sign up at patreon.com/bungacast   In light of the 'new Cold War', we look at what the US, Europe, Russia and China's respective "pitches" are to African countries – what are they selling? And we examine the factors that contribute to Africa's place in geopolitics today: Chinese hunger for raw materials, the global war on terror, the green energy transition, drug and people smuggling, and more.   If the original Scramble for Africa (1884-1914) was driven by an attempt to displace European class war onto another terrain, can we say anything analogous is happening today?   Links: /303/ The Failure of the French Forever War ft. Yvan Guichaoua /304/ The Failure of the French Forever War (2) ft. Yvan Guichaoua Russia in Africa, Financial Times series of articles Defending Our Sovereignty: US Military Bases in Africa and the Future of African Unity, Tricontinental Institute Italophone Somalia, Then and Now, Iman Mo

On Jürgen Habermas' Legitimation Crisis.   [Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive]   What made postwar capitalism 'organised'? And why did many believe it had overcome economic crisis?   In this second episode on Legitimacy, we go through part 2 of Habermas' book, where its main concerns reveal themselves. How does the role of the state in managing the economy transfer crises into the realm of politics and society? Bourgeois ideology seems pretty thin on its own and doesn't provide enough motivation, so what happens when traditionalism no longer holds sway? Is capitalism just hanging on by a thread: the thread of civic privatism?   Sign up for $10/mo for full access to the Reading Club: patreon.com/bungacast   Join a local Reading Club. Email info [at] bungacast.com

On music, pop culture, and the politics of the spectacle.   Musician, host of This is Revolution and Sublation columnist, Jason Myles joins us to talk about how every podcast is a failed band, if pop music is dead, and whether the contemporary left is a lifestyle brand feeding into the all-encompassing politics of the spectacle. We also discuss the music of De La Soul and the role of what Jason calls “underclass ideology” in contemporary America. Finally, we reflect on selling out: it used to be a cardinal sin as recently as 25 years ago, but now, if you don't sell out, you're failing. Why?   Links: Stakes is High: Addicted to the Spectacle, Jason Myles, Sublation Is The Contemporary Left A Lifestyle Brand?, Jason Myles, Sublation Virtual Insanity: A Freak Show for Left Media, Jason Myles, Sublation

On China, Russia, the US and UK. Professor Emeritus and one of the founders of ‘Radical Philosophy’, Sean Sayers, joins us to talk about Marxist philosophy, how it’s developed and changed over the course of the twentieth century and into this one. We talk about Sean’s background and experience in the radical academy of the 1960s, and how the New Left fed through into the founding of ‘Radical Philosophy’, and more recently, the Marx and Philosophy Review of Books. Sean talks about what’s happened to academic philosophy, and what it might take to defend the humanities in the modern Western academy.   Sean also talks to us about the significance of Hegelian Marxism, the American red diaspora in the UK, his visit to China during the Cultural Revolution, the state of intellectual debate and dissent in China today under Xi Jinping, and how radical politics unfolded from the 1960s over to the new millennium. Plus, he talks about his personal connection to Sacco and Vanzetti, the two Italian-American anarchists exec

On the radical right in the global periphery.   [Patreon Exclusive]   Erdogan, Modi, Orban, Bolsonaro, Duterte. Though the latter two are gone, the first three are still going strong, in government for a decade or more. What unites these figures? They’re all right wing and authoritarian, but also popular and anti-establishment.   How similar are these politicians to their analogues in the core of global capitalism? Might they even be seen to be forerunners of developments in the rich world? And to what extent are they able to resolve the crises of the end of the end of history?   In this episode, we talk to two of the editors of a new book, The Radical Right: Politics of Hate on the Margins of Global Capital.   Previous episodes on the theme: Turkey /339/ Erdogone? People vs Nation in Turkey ft. Alp Kayserilioglu Brazil: /299/ Micropower & Transcendence in Brazil (Bungazão 2022) ft. Miguel Lago Brazil: /292/ Bungazão 2022: Unrealistic Pragmatism, ft. Unbridled Possibility Collective Indi

On Jürgen Habermas' Legitimation Crisis.   [Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive - sign up at patreon.com/bungacast]   We are in crisis, no doubt about that. But what kind? And what is the relation between economic, political and socio-cultural crisis?   In this first episode on Legitimacy, we go through part 1 of Habermas' book, to try to understand some key concepts: system integration versus social integration; what Habermas means by social systems and subsystems; and whether growing individuation makes us more or less prone to manipulation by the political command centre.   Join a local Reading Club. Email info@bungacast.com

Live event at Housman's Bookshop.   George Hoare hosts Dan Evans (author of A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petite Bourgeoisie) and Bungacast regular Catherline Liu (author of Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class) in a conversation about the middle class.    How should we conceptualise the middle class, how has it come to dominate politics, and what should be done about it?

On your questions and criticisms.   Bumper edition of Aufhebonus Bonus where we discuss whether we're technologically determinist with regard to artificial intelligence; whether the left should be bulding stuff; why criticising wokeness is boring; work, retirement and time; more on family abolition; and everyone's favourite topic – the PMC/new elite, etc.   Event: The Professional-Managerial Class and their Politics, London, Wednesday 28 June, 7pm

On reactionary feminism.    [Patreon Exclusive]   We continue our discussions on contemporary feminism by looking at the diametric opposite of the atomistic vision presented by Sophie Lewis: the conservative, communitarian approach advanced by Mary Harrington.     Harrington is critical of 'Progress Theology'. What does that mean, beyond rejecting new orthodoxies on gender – does that mean rejecting progress wholesale? If liberalism has reached a dead end, what intellectual supports should we draw upon?    And if we join Harrington in rejecting the 'caring' state – the 'antiseptic cyborg devouring mother' – does that mean also defending 'care' against 'freedom', as she does?    Readings: Feminism against Progress, Mary Harrington, Regenery  Reactionary Feminist, Mary Harrington, Substack /49/ Kids & Confessions ft. Amber A'Lee Frost /50/ On The Market ft. Anna Khachiyan  

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 exemplified spoke to our age.    Contributions in order of appearance: Mattia Salvia Alice Oliveri Nadia Urbinati  Carlo Invernizzi-Accetti Paolo Gerbaudo  Thomas Fazi  Pier Paolo Tamburelli  The Bungacast Boys: Alex, George, Phil   Music: Bunga theme tune: Nous Non Plus / Bunga Bunga / courtesy of Sugaroo Rune Dale / Tell You Something / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com

Silvio Berlusconi is no more. In mourning of our evil patron saint's passing, we're unlocking this previously paywalled episode in which we discuss a cinematic depiction of the big man. Keep an eye out for more on Berlusca coming out from us in the next days! ——— We discuss Paolo Sorrentino's "Loro" (2018), a dreamlike cinematic depiction of Silvio Berlusconi. Does the film succeed in capturing Silvio, or does it glamourise him? What explains the appeal he had - and why was the left never able to properly dethrone him? What does it say about 2000s Italy, and its relevance to our times?

On power, values and class.   [Patreon Exclusive]   British professor Matt Goodwin joins us to talk about his recent new book Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics published earlier this year with Penguin. Matt has argued that a new elite has come to dominate public life, leading institutions and the cultural industries in Britain and across the wider Western world, and that they are fixated with issues that divide them from the larger public – to whom they are bitter and hostile.   We talk about elites, old and new, as well as ideas about elites stemming back to Daniel Bell and Christopher Lasch, and how these elites are shaping the future of politics.   Matt also gives us a breakdown of the most recent local elections from the UK, what has happened with the Scottish National Party since the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon, why Keir Starmer’s Labour party will likely win the next election, and why the Tories are - contrary to their ruthless reputation - failing to adapt to the new politic

On work stoppages and work-doings. Ben Hickman, published poet and senior lecturer in English at the University of Kent, joins us to discuss his project on different understandings of work, or rather, The Work.  What is The Work and why is it so pernicious? Ben wrote a piece for Compact regarding how the American poet and radical professor Audre Lorde transformed the way we think about work. We talk through the differences between work and The Work, how it impacted radical activism, and how middle class work became all about self-exploration.  Ben talks through a new book project on work and how it is understood culturally through figures such as Jackson Pollock, among others. Plus, what is happening with industrial relations on UK campuses, and how has radical politics unfolded in the Labour Party over the last few years?  Reading: Stop Doing The Work, Ben Hickman, Compact “Atlantis Buried Outside”: Muriel Rukeyser, Myth, and the Crises of War, Ben Hickman, Criticism, Vol. 57, No. 4 (Fall 2015)

On Martin Hägglund's This Life. We continue on the theme of freedom by discussing Martin Hägglund's case for 'democratic socialism'. In this episode, we leave the book itself to one side and attempt to "put the concepts to work".  We survey the many intelligent responses the book has generated and discuss what their strengths and weaknesses are.   Is 'secular faith' just a therapeutic ethos to do with caring about your loved ones? What guarantees that we will use our free time appropriately? Why would we work freely for others? How does Hägglund’s vision work on a global scale? What kind of post-capitalist “state” does Hagglund actually propose? Does Hägglund evade class struggle? Does he have any vision of agency? For access to the Reading Club, join for $10/mo at patreon.com/bungacast Readings: Limited Time: On Martin Hägglund’s This Life, Robert Pippin – and response by Martin Hägglund (pdf) Response 2: The Problem of Agency, Lea Ypi, The Philosopher Socialism For Our Time: Freedom, Value, Transition, Co