Politics Theory Other

Richard Seymour discusses Britain's fraying public infrastructure and the wave of strikes that are taking place, including the first ever nationwide strike by NHS nurses. We chatted about the extent to which the public perceive the UK as being in a state of increasing decline, the state of the trade unions, and how current industrial action compares with the so-called winter of discontent of 1978-79. Finally, we talked about how the Conservative government, and the Labour opposition, are responding to a revivified labour movement.

On this week’s episode James Meadway breaks down the public sector pay dispute (0.50s), Sunak’s move to further deregulate finance (8:27), and the interest rate hikes by central banks (14:10)

Jane Hayward joins PTO to talk about the protests in China that have resulted in Xi Jinping's loosening of the country's zero covid strategy. We talked about the widespread grievances and sporadic protests that have taken place in China over the last decade, and the particular importance of the recent worker protests at the giant Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou. We also talked about why it might be that the Chinese state has failed to provide adequate vaccine coverage - especially for the elderly population. And finally we talked about Western media coverage of the situation.

On this week’s episode of Macrodose James Meadway breaks down the G7-backed price cap on Russian oil (1.46), the warning from the National Farmers' Union that Britain is sleepwalking into a food crisis (5.37), and the results of an experiment in a 4-day working week (11.27).

Jeremy Gilbert returns to PTO for the final part of our conversation on his new book, co-authored with Alex Williams, Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (and How We Win it back). In this part of our conversation we talked about some of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's key concepts, including the assemblage and multiplicity, and how their ideas inform Jeremy and Alex's understanding of political change and left strategy.

On this week’s episode of Macrodose James Meadway breaks down the economics behind the strikes that are spreading across the U.K, from the railways, to teachers to nurses and oilworkers (0.49s). We take a historical view on this new wave of industrial action (7:10), and then reflect on the U.K’s worsening energy crisis, examining how record levels of debts could push households over the edge this winter (10:55).

On the first episode of Macrodose James Meadway breaks down the the OECD warning that the UK’s growth prospects are the worst of all the G7 countries (1:06); the austerity 2.0 measures of Rishi Sunak’s government (6:05); and the new IMF report on inflation, which debunks the idea that advanced economies, like the UK, are experience rising prices due to an increase in worker pay (13:05).

Richard responds to the questions that were sent in by listeners on the seeming demise of Twitter, the Democrats' surprisingly strong showing in the US mid-terms, and Cop27 and where the global climate movement goes from here.

Richard responds to the questions that were sent in by listeners on the seeming demise of Twitter, the Democrats' surprisingly strong showing in the US mid-terms, and Cop27 and where the global climate movement goes from here.

Nancy Fraser joins PTO to talk about her new book, 'Cannibal Capitalism: How Our System Is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet—and What We Can Do About It'. In the book, Nancy argues that we need to move away from seeing capitalism solely in economic terms, and instead reckon with how capital is always reliant on cannibalising the non-economic, from the natural environment to providers of care and social reproduction, and from the political sphere to racialised populations subject to brutal expropriation outside of the wage system.