What's Left? With Jovan + Freddie

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** Skit Comedian Tom Nestor and host of podcast All Right Idiots joins us for a chat on livestreamers, chronically online extremists and the upcoming local elections. After calling out Freddie for his cold approach game with viral streamer Gymskin, the boys invited Tom on the podcast to discuss the best way to get non-political audiences caring about the issues of our time... Chapters 00:00 Gymskin + Freddie 09:25 Livestreaming Gone Mad 17:47 Right-Wing Comedians 22:04 Talking To Reform Voters 33:00 Corbyn, Polanski + Tom's Politics 38:00 Cancellations and Conspiracies 45:27 UK Groypers 53:39 Feeling Sorry For Isolated Young Men? 59:55 Jovan's RW Cancellation 1:05:40 Anti-White Prejudice 1:14:30 What Makes English Identity? 1:21:15 Immigration Debate 1:25:10 Greens + Local Elections 1:33:06 In Defence of Labour

Louisa Munch, a leftist content creator and cultural theorist who researched neoliberal nostalgia, discusses how nostalgia is weaponised by the radical right. She traces influences from Mark Fisher, links alienation to political imagination, and explores education, class, and welfare. The conversation ends on future-oriented hopes: utopian thinking, ecological socialism, and reclaiming politics from markets.

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleftEarly Access to Ad-Free Extended InterviewsAsk our Guests QuestionsLIVEs with Jovan + FreddieWL Book Club + Community DiscussionArticles + Exclusive Content**********************************************Back again with the biggest quandaries afflicting the modern progressive movement as political canon events unfold at breakneck speed! I don’t think I’ve ever felt more jaded by the perpetual shock and awe chain reaction of geopolitics. We’ve decided to create a little bit of distance from the dizzying mainstream media cycle to consider the wider tensions that are at play, especially for a Left-wing political project. Who better to get in this discussion than Marxist economist Grace Blakeley, author of Vulture Capitalism.Grace is one of the most salient commentators in the British Left movement, after being a key spokesperson during Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader. Having left Labour in 2024, Grace has gone on to endorse her friend Zack Polanski and join the Green Party. But her leftism stands in contrast to some of the Greens most important economic positions, such as its cornerstone project to rejoin the European Union.In this episode, we dive into the great challenges that face modern socialists, including the fear that accelarationism could facilitate a lurch to the hard right, rather than any hope of progressive revolution. We also cast our minds back to the historical conditions that have formed the present: namely capital’s triumph over collective bargaining power (RIP Unions), which was prefigured by Marxist economist Kalecki, a critic of the much revered social democrat economist John Maynard Keynes.We also touch upon one of our favourite topics on this podcast, the deeply polarised working classes in post-imperial nations. Grace laments the lack of a ‘class for itself’, a working class who understands their “real” collective interests. The question, of course, is what are those objective interests - are any of them cultural, what makes them ‘true’, and how do we ascertain them? As always, please don’t forget to drop us a follow on @wtf_is.left and please consider supporting the show on Substack!Chapters00:00 Intro03:17 The End of Corbynism07:47 Should the Greens Want To Rejoin The EU?14:17 Can You Trust The State?20:20 Democratic Capitalism vs Democratic Socialism25:50 How Keynes Led to Thatcher32:30 Imperialism and Labour Aristocracy39:40 Progressives and Protectionism45:10 Can Greens Succeed Where Corbyn Failed?56:04 How Liberalism Defeated Communities1:02:10 Manosphere and Neoliberalism1:06:30 Need for Cultural Revolution1:10:20 Influence of David Graeber1:14:23 Is Socialism in its Infancy?1:18:30 Moving From Labour To The Greens

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleftEarly Access to Ad-Free Extended InterviewsAsk our Guests QuestionsLIVEs with Jovan + FreddieWL Book Club + Community DiscussionArticles + Exclusive Content**********************************************When Asim agreed to do this podcast, I messaged all my bros from school days immediately. Asim's character Chabuddy G, of 'People Just Do Nothing' fame, was one of the biggest cultural influences on those hazy days. In the playground, we used to spit Chabuddyisms over a bit of 2 touch, while deep cuts of UK Garage (Peven Everett pls stand up) blared off an iphone speaker. If Reform was talking about a nostalgia to this past, maybe I'd get on board. Asim has gone onto a stellar career in acting and screenwriting since his debut on the BBC. But it's his expertise in crossing the weather veins of cultural commentary with British character humour, that made him the perfect guest for our podcast. Never shy to wind up pearl-clutchers on the left or right with his exciting inversions of stereotypes, Asim encapsulates the type of comedy that we believe can heal the UK. His jokes are rich in cheek and healthily inclined to the absurd.So isn't it ironic, that as we sat lamenting the script-written transformations of once-idealised creators into right-wing grifters, all I felt was a glowing appreciation to be sat with one of my heroes - and him be exactly what I cracked him up to be.If reality has indeed become satire, grab your popcorn and find some of your favourite people to laugh with. We must, at the very least, enjoy the show.Chapters00:00 Intro03:30 Ending The Wasteman Life11:42 Desperate For Male Validation17:15 Making The Racists Laugh22:04 Baiting Out Grifters30:01 Finding Common Ground40:22 Escaping Echo Chambers47:17 What Figure Could Unite the Left?54:15 How Powerlessness Fuels F@scism1:03:30 Class, Agency and Finding Success1:12:15 Staying Grounded1:18:20 Ethics Of Chabuddy G1:22:03 Privatisation of Water + Dirty Business1:29:30 Comedy Is The Great Equalizer

Ash Sarkar, British political activist and writer of Minority Rule, joins to debate culture wars versus class politics. Short takes on immigration salience, class definitions, who leftists should organise, and whether organising models can rebuild broad coalitions. Quick-fire discussion on social media’s role, cultural loss, and practical grassroots tactics to reconnect people and build institutions.

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** YouTube OG, Josh Pieters, joins us for a deep cut into the ethics and cultural impact of YouTube and what has sustained his success through different eras of online culture. All of those questions stored up from spending hours and hours of our early teen years parasocially connecting with these slightly older teenagers, finally saw the light of day. We discuss why Josh has given up on his pranking days, moving into a journalistic role with his documentaries, and the perverse incentives of gaming attention on YouTube and other social platforms. Is it possible to come up in today's saturated media landscape just by being optimistic and positive, with a slightly inflated personality? Or do you have to be a joke or have an enemy? The one thing money can't buy is clout. But clout can definitely buy money. And you best believe that most kids understand this instinctively. No wonder they all want to be YouTubers. Big thanks to Josh for his honesty in such a wide ranging conversation and to guest host Sophie Peachey for coming through!! Chapters 01:21 Intro 04:22 Truth About Lily Phillips Documentary 14:27 Talking to the Blokes in Lily Phillips’ 100 Men Challenge 20:03 Who Is Taking Advantage Of Young Men? 32:44 Why did Josh Switch from Pranks to Documentaries? 38:53 YouTube + Internet Has Changed Radically 49:11 Will Josh change the 'Goon Squad' Name? 52:00 The Fame of the Brit Crew 1:03:07 Does Josh Regret the Just Stop Oil Prank? 1:13:08 Are Billionaires the Problem? 1:17:10 How f*cked is the UK? 1:20:49 In Defence of Josh's Pranks 1:26:09 Archie Manners Joining Reform UK 1:33:05 Josh’s One Piece of Advice for Lefties Online

BONUS MINI-EPISODE!After Labour's worst case scenario loss in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Freddie asks who still votes Labour and why?JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive ContentJoe Biden’s Tech Adviser (2020-2) Tim Wu joins us for a deep dive into the ‘Age of Extraction’. Wu is a Columbia Law Professor who writes regularly for the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Economist. He’s published an array of literature that focuses on big tech, monopolies and how the attention economy has restructured modern economic life. In this episode, we discuss what went wrong with the Biden administration, how big tech giants are extracting value from our economic system and what Progressives must do to win. Too often, our discussions centre on everything going wrong with the world. Yes, there are myriad critiques we could make about our system based on the evidence available. But if there’s one thing we need to be better at, it’s coming up with a vision to fix things. What is our alternative? And it’s at this juncture that the Left splinters into a kaleidoscope of political imagination. We believe there is space to unite factions that have been economically disempowered, perhaps with a more agnostic form of liberal social politics that respects different groups’ competing rights. An anti-polarisation, pro-economic populism politics without all the purity tests. A boy can dream. Tim's latest book, 'The Age of Extraction' contributes greatly to this discussion, diagnosing a new strain of crony capitalism and prescribing a return of political power to the people not corporate interests. We want real democracy. And most of us want the same things.Chapters00:00 Intro 02:28 Starmer + Biden Parallels 13:28 Why We’re Living In The ‘Age of Extraction’ 24:15 The Corrupting Power of Billionaires 33:45 Are We Returning To Feudalism 44:06 Is This Capitalism? 59:15 Europe Needs Sovereignty 1:10:04 How The Democrats Lost Their Way 1:21:50 Big Tech Is Too Powerful 1:25:30 Democrat Nominee For 2028 1:30:52 We’re Living Through A Revolution 1:38:01 The Death Of Neoliberalism

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** Dr. Andrew Lownie has been vindicated. After putting his reputation on the line with his investigations into rogue members of the British Royal family, Lownie faced a barrage of criticism aimed at discrediting him. A well-respected academic historian, he trusted the veracity of his sources and stood by their claims with regards to the disgraced royal, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Lownie's latest book, 'Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York', has been flying off the shelves. It documents arguably the greatest crisis to grip the British Royal Family, following claims of corruption, criminal associations and cover ups. In this interview, we explore the wider ramifications of the Epste1n files on the state of liberal democracy. When elites are not held to the same accountability as the rest of society, what happens to the legitimacy of our systems? Where are the checks and balances? What can be done to regain trust? This really feels like a moral reckoning, where justice must be meted out for the victims and accountability must be returned to public life. Our leaders must be beyond being bought. Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:55 Lownie's Investigations Into The Royals 07:12 Shocking Allegations Against Prince Andrew 11:15 Russian or Israeli Assets? 16:30 Royals Are Above The Law 21:27 Elites and Societal Breakdown 25:50 Royal Narcissism and Psychological Disorders 30:23 Globalisation and Elite Corruption 35:05 Are We Tending Toward Revolution? 39:15 How To Save Liberal Democracy

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content ********************************************** Steve Tsang is a political scientist, Director of the SOAS China Institute and the author of 'Xi Jingping's Political Thought'. On Tuesday 27th January, We sat down with Steve as Keir Starmer landed in Beijing for the first visit of a British Prime Minister in China since 2018. With the Davos consensus of globalisation and free seamless trade becoming a relic of modern history, how should Britain hedge its strategic bets in a bipolar world of Chinese and American competition? Does a third way even exist between these two undeniable superpowers? In the UK and the West more broadly, we suffer from a paucity of understanding when it comes to the world's second largest economy. China is enormous, deeply complex and hidden behind a veil of propaganda and posturing from the ruling Communist Party. Over the past decade, China's president Xi Jinping has consolidated absolute power in the executive, undoing many of the consultative reforms under previous regimes. But has this move, while making Xi omnipotent, actually made China vulnerable? On the day before Starmer set off to Beijing, it was reported that General Zhang Youxia, one of Xi's most loyal acolytes, had been purged. The official story from the CCP was that he had passed on state secrets about China's nuclear deterrent to the United States. What seems more likely is that Zhang had a base of power that would not be tolerated by the supreme leader... China's irrepressible rise to superpower status has been driven by its ruthless execution of long-term modernising policies. It's not merely a story of manufacturing dominance. Half a billion people have relocated from the countryside to the cities in 25 years. In 2025, they amassed a trade surplus over $1 trillion. And now they lead the world in electrification with giant leaps in solar technology, much to the chagrin of European counterparts who devised the 'Green New Deal'. Indeed, there is much to admire about China, and with its economic dominance, much to fear. So what lessons should we learn from China's rise and what caveats must we bear in mind, when forging a path forward for Britain as a middle power in a world without rules... Chapters00:25 - Intro 01:16 - What Starmer Must Know About China 05:21 - Xi Jinping’s Total Control of China 16:36 - Have We Forgotten The Post-War Lessons? 24:42 - Is Freddie Chinese In The Eyes of Xi Jinping? 32:20 - The Two Tories Accused of Spying for China... 40:26 - What Western Narratives of China Get Wrong 51:05 - Xi's Purges + Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution 1:04:41 - Inequality From China's Economic Supremacy