Alex__1789

Big news: Bungacast is getting bigger, better

by Alex__1789March 12, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-igm8e-15aa606 Turbulent times, ideological confusion. Politics is back, but it's stranger than ever. All the more reason for unflinching critique of the current moment. That's why Bungacast is expanding.Regular contributors are coming on-board: Catherine Liu, Amber Frost, Alex Gourevitch, and…

/395/ A Coup From Within the Computer ft. Benjamin Studebaker (excerpt)

by Alex__1789March 5, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-2sknz-159d5a7 On media and the Millennial Left. [Patreon Exclusive: for full episode, subscribe at patreon.com/bungacast] Continuing the retrospective on the millennial left's failures, we invite political theorist Benjamin Studebaker back on. We discuss: Was left-populism a media event? …

UNLOCKED /382/ Death of the Millennial Left ft. Chris Cutrone

by Alex__1789February 27, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-edkjx-159364c On the missed opportunity of the 2010s. Chris Cutrone of Platypus joins us to talk about his collection of essays, The Death of the Millennial Left. We discuss: Why define it as the "Millennial" Left? Was the anti-Stalinism…

/393/ Emotion Sickness: The Politics of Feelings (I) ft. Nina Power

by Alex__1789February 20, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-6iewe-15887af On the politics of emotions and emotionalism. Philosopher Nina Power (an editor and columnist at Compact Magazine) kicks off this series by talking to us about anger, hate, and evil. Do we complain too little or too much?…

/392/ The Biggest Country No One Talks About (II) ft. Michael Vann

by Alex__1789February 16, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ry3rp-15833e3 On Indonesia's new president and the End of History. For the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast Michael Vann, Indonesia expert and history professor at Sacramento State, joins us to talk through the election results. How did Prabowo go from…

Excerpt: /390/ Aufhebonus Bonus – Feb 2024

by Alex__1789February 13, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-v62px-1574bd4 On our '1914 vibes'. And your questions & comments. [Patreon Exclusive] We discuss the parallels between our age (the end of globalisation, the threat of war) with the end of the Belle Epoque in the early 20th…

/391/ The Biggest Country No One Talks About ft. Vedi Hadiz

by Alex__1789February 9, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-a7cnf-1576e99 On Indonesia: a country without a Left. Foremost scholar of Indonesian politics and political economy, Vedi Hadiz of the University of Melbourne, joins us to talk through the country's politics in advance of the elections next week. What…

/388/ Betting on Bukele (I) ft. Nelson Rauda / Juan Rojas

by Alex__1789February 6, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-g798a-157253a On El Salvador and mass incarceration. Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, has just been re-elected on a landslide. His trademark policy is a state of emergency and the locking-up of tens of thousands of suspected gang members. He…

/387/ Get Fungal to Save Culture ft. Lias Saoudi (Fat White Family)

by Alex__1789January 30, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-n54fh-1565bbe On how to respond to conformity. Lias Saoudi, frontman of the British band Fat White Family, joins us to talk about rock, popular culture and contemporary unfreedom. We discuss: Why are the kids taking less drugs? Can we…

Excerpt: /386/ Reading Club: Globalisation (III & IV)

by Alex__1789January 29, 2024Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-rhmvc-1564d41 Double episode! On Giovanni Arrighi's Adam Smith in Beijing. [Patreon Tier II & III Exclusive] We wrap up the 2023 syllabus by taking on the second half of Arrighi's book, in which he analyses the over-reach and…