Bungacast

On Communism's historic role.   We talk to renowned Serbian-American economist Branko Milanovic about growing up in Yugoslavia and how, in much of the world, History never ended. We then dedicate much of the episode to discussing Branko's claim that communism was essentially an engine of economic convergence, allowing developing countries to haul themselves into the industrial age.   We also talk about Branko's work on inequality and why growth still matters.    Readings: Capitalism, Alone, Branko Milanovic, Harvard UP The Aloofness of Pax Sinica, Branko Milanovic, Global Policy Journal

On Brazil's elections and the military.   A month away from the first round showdown between former president Lula and current president Jair Bolsonaro, lawyer, podcaster and communist Alcysio Canette joins us to look at the features that have shaped the past years.   How did Bolsonaro's response to the Covid pandemic – denialism, essentially – tarnish his image? What role is the military playing in Brazilian politics and what is its history of political interference since the 1964-85 dictatorship?   Part two available at: patreon.com/posts/71560313   Readings: Will Bolsonaro Be Held Responsible for Brazil’s COVID-19 Disaster?, Alcysio Canette, Jacobin Cálice podcast, Atabaque Produções (in Portuguese) Pro-Bolsonaro Protests Were Supposed to Show His Strength. Instead, They Showed His Weakness, Alex Hochuli, Jacobin (on last year's 7 September protests) From Anti-Politics to Authoritarian Restoration in Brazil, Alex Hochuli, Jacobin

On Anthony Giddens' The Consequences of Modernity (ch.3) [Patreon Tier 2&3 Exclusive] In the second episode of the Cynical Ideology section of the 2022 Reading Club, we look at what trust is and why it has declined so precipitously in recent decades, especially in relation to institutions.  Is the opposite of trust mistrust, or is it existential angst? What's the link between the absence of trust and a sense of impending apocalypse? Is money or the market the only abstract entity we still trust? And what about the state? Reading: The Consequences of Modernity, Anthony Giddens (1990), ch. 3

Just a short announcement about what's coming up, while we're off on summer holidays. Subscribe to the podcast to support us and get two new, original, paywalled episodes a month ($5/mo). For $10/mo you also get access to the Reading Club. Sign up at patreon.com/bungacast

On Rojava and Ukraine. We talk to Stefan Bertram-Lee, former volunteer fighter for the the YPG in Rojava, about whom a Hollywood movie is being made. We ask him about the type of person who volunteers, and how this compares to those who have gone to Ukraine. How does this stop you "being a teenage nihilist"? And who would win in a fight: ISIS, Azov or the YPG? Part two of this episode is available at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/70597308  Reading: Ukraine the Day after Tomorrow, Stefan Bertram-Lee, Sublation The Nazification of Ukraine, Stefan Bertram-Lee, Sublation ‘Stefan Vs. ISIS’ Pic In Works, Deadline

[Patreon Exclusive] With European liberals waving Ukraine flags, how might the war and escalating geopolitical tensions between major power be prompting a return to nationalism and patriotism? Is it just a means for elites to extract sacrifices from the people? And how 'real' are nations anyway? Articles: As we unite for the jubilee, let’s believe Britain’s best days are ahead, not behind, Lucy Powell, The Guardian The Return of Liberal Nationalism, Sohrab Ahmari, Compact What Putin and liberals share, Aris Roussinos, Unherd

On our financialised world.  We talk to Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou about his new book, Speculative Communities. How has speculation become the very practice around which modern societies coalesce? And how does speculation actually give voice to the  waning legitimacy of neoliberalism?  Do dating apps, Tik Tok and other social media give birth to 'speculative communities'? And is populism a speculation on the future, a leap into the unknown?

[Patreon Tier 2&3 Exclusive]   On Zizek's "How Marx Invented the Symptom" from The Sublime Object of Ideology.   We kick off the second phase of the 2022 Reading Club, on Cynical Ideology, with this selection from Slavoj Zizek's landmark first book in English. How does he supplement Marx's conception of ideology? Are we post-ideological or trapped in cynical ideology? How would we go about breaking free of it?   Reading: The Sublime Object of Ideology (ch. 1), Slavoj Zizek

On the end of the Cold War and the rise of neoliberalism. Fritz Bartel talks to us about his new book in which the 1970s crisis and its aftermath takes centre-stage. How did the response to this global crisis differ in Western democratic capitalism versus Eastern state socialism? And why did this determine which side won the Cold War? How did the twin factors of global finance and energy emerge then, to the extent they still seem so determining today? We discuss Bartel's striking claim that democracies, rather than authoritarian systems, were better able to 'break promises' – that is, impose economic discipline. And we conclude by discussing whether it could have been otherwise, whether neoliberalism and the collapse of the 'really existing socialism' were inevitable. Readings:  The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism, Fritz Bartel, Harvard UP Democracy and Discipline: Review Essay, Alex Hochuli, American Affairs

On the climate emergency. We are specially unlocking this episode of our monthly Reading Club – the concluding episode of the first half of the 2022 syllabus (download it here). If you'd like full access to all of the Reading Club, go to patreon.com/bungacast We discuss Andreas Malm's Climate, Corona, Chronic Emergency and Adam Tooze's review essay, "Ecological Leninism". How convincing is Malm's call for Soviet war communism as a model for responding to climate change?  We also approach these readings in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the knock-on consequences for energy politics. And what should we make of Tooze's  contrast of social democratic time-frames with the eco-Leninist one?