Politics Theory Other

#68 The Clamour of Nationalism w/ Sivamohan Valluvan

Sivamohan Valluvan joins me to discuss  his new book, The Clamour of Nationalism, Race and Nation in Twenty-first-century Britain. We spoke about why the current era is better characterised as a reactionary nationalist one, rather than as a populist moment, and we spoke about the flirtation of parts of the Europ...

Election Special: At the sharp end of British foreign policy w/ David Wearing

David Wearing joins me to discuss the defence, security and international trade policies of Labour and the Conservatives, and why the election result is a matter of life and death for many people beyond Britain's borders.

Election Special: High stakes - GE2019 and the climate emergency

Adrienne Buller joins me to discuss the climate emergency and the general election. We spoke about the policy platforms of the parties, the recent Channel 4 climate change debate and what it tells us about public discourse around climate, and finally we chatted about whether the 'Green Industrial Revolution' is the right fram...

Election Special: Polls, manifestos, and the battle for the north w/ James Meadway

James Meadway joins me to discuss whether the Conservative manifesto and its limited spending promises will prevent the Tories taking Labour seats in the Midlands, the north of England and Wales. We also spoke about the usefulness of opinion polling, why the Liberal Democrats are once again failing to disrupt the two-party du...

#67 A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal w/ Thea Riofrancos

Thea Riofrancos joins me to discuss A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal a new book co-authored by Thea. We spoke about why the New Deal is the right framing for a project to avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis, why environmental victories are necessarily entwined with the struggle against ine...

Election Special: Boris Johnson - the great campaigner? w/ Will Davies

Will Davies joins me to discuss conservative's response to Labour's policy on free full-fibre broadband, whether Boris Johnson really is the great campaigner his admirers claim he is, and we also discussed Labour's messaging around taking on billionaires.

Election Special: The digital war w/ Paolo Gerbaudo

Paulo Gerbaudo joins me to discuss online campaigning, the recent cyber attack on Labour's campaigning platforms, the contrasting effectiveness of the Labour and Tory digital campaigns in 2017, and we also chatted about whether social media platforms have an inherent right-wing bias. 

#66 Hong Kong, China, and the nationalist moment w/ Jake Werner

Jake Werner joins me to discuss the ideological makeup of the Hong Kong protest movement, the material and cultural grievances that gave rise to the movement, the increasing nationalism of the Chinese ruling elite, how Chinese economic development can be characterised as "cheating at a rigged game" and, finally we discussed t...

Election Special: Momentum's plan to win the general election w/ Emma Ree

Momentum co-founder Emma Rees joins me to discuss Momentum's Plan to Win the General election and the inspiration for Momentum's 'distributed Organising' model.

You can read the plan here:

plantowin.peoplesmomentum.com/

Election Special: Tory party strategy w/ Phil Burton-Cartledge

Phil Burton-Cartledge joins me to discuss conservative party strategy in the 2019 election. We spoke about Boris Johnson's re-heated Mayism, the likely effects of a significant Brexit Party vote on Tory prospects, and the division of labour between the Conservatives and the Tory-supporting press. 

Election Special: Can Labour win? w/ Eleanor Penny

Eleanor Penny joins me to reflect on the coming General election campaign. We talked about whether this will be the Brexit election we were promised in 2017, why Labour is behind in the polls, and what to expect from the Liberal Democrats. 

#65 West winging it w/ Corey Robin

Corey Robin joins me to discuss his recent article on the memoirs of Barack Obama's White House staffers, the legacy of the Obama administration, and what separates the Obama/Clinton wing of the democrats from the new insurgent democratic left.

You can read Corey's article 2019-10-28 09:16:17 +0000 UTC View Post

#64 Teaching empire and migration w/ Kimberley McIntosh

Earlier this month and to coincide with Black History Month Jeremy Corbyn called for schoolchildren to be taught about the British Empire and the history and legacy of colonialism. To discuss the teaching of empire and migration in UK schools I spoke to Kimberley McIntosh, co-author of the report, 'Teaching Migration, Belongi...

#63 Acid Communism, Labour, and the counterculture w/ Jeremy Gilbert

Jeremy Gilbert joins me to discuss the concepts of Acid Communism and Acid Corbynism and why transforming human subjectivity through practices of collective joy derived from the 1960s counterculture is so important to building a successful left project.

#62 Land for the Many w/ Beth Stratford

Beth Stratford joins me to discuss the crisis of UK land ownership and housing and the solutions outlined in the Land for the Many report, co-written by Beth. We also discussed the tabloid media's hysterical reaction to the report.

You can read the full report 2019-10-08 17:40:30 +0000 UTC View Post

PTO Extra! - Richard Seymour on Tory strategy and the Brexit Project

Richard Seymour joins me to discuss Brexit and the machinations of the Johnson administration, the electoral strategy of the Labour Party, and whether the fraction of capital that supports a hard Brexit will be able to subordinate business more broadly to their project.

#61 Double government and the neoliberal world w/ Quinn Slobodian

Quinn Slobodian joins me to talk about neoliberalism as a project of institutional design, the significance of the Hapsburg Empire to the neoliberal concept of double government that came to be instantiated in such institutions as the WTO and the IMF, and we also talked about the European Union and the possibility of reformin...

#RedHacks - Live @ TWT w/ Owen Jones, Kimberly McIntosh, and Simon Childs

In the first #RedHacks live event Joana Ramiro chats with Owen Jones, Kimberly McIntosh, and Simon Childs at The World Transformed festival in Brighton about the problems facing journalism and how both the general public and those working in the medi...

#60 Racism and the global war on drugs w/ Kojo Koram

Kojo Koram joins me to discuss the history of the war on drugs, the role of drug prohibition in the production of racism after the end of formal imperialism, the central role of the United States in the emergence of the global war on drugs, and the possibility of the Boris Johnson government returning to a more punitive appro...

#59 Has Labour Lost the North? w/ Alex Niven

Alex Niven joins me to talk about the erosion of support for the Labour Party in the north of England, the causes of that decline and how the Labour Party and the broader left might seek to reverse it. Our conversation was prompted by his recent article in Tribune:

2019-09-07 09:54:00 +0000 UTC View Post

#58 (Pro)rogue nation w/ James Meadway

James Meadway, former economics advisor to John McDonnell joins me to discuss whether the Johnson government's move to prorogue parliament is really part of a strategy to achieve no deal, why the opposition to the government needs to move from parliamentary tactics and judicial reviews to mass protest and direct action, and w...

#57 Chelsea Manning and outsider truth-telling w/ Lida Maxwell

Lida Maxwell joins me to discuss her new book, Insurgent Truth: Chelsea Manning and the Politics of Outsider Truth-Telling. We discussed the contrasting nature of the disclosures of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden and the way Manning's leaks placed her outside the lineage of respectable whistleblowing. We also tal...

#56 The nightmare of social media w/ Richard Seymour

Richard Seymour joins me to discuss his new book, The Twittering Machine. The title is taken from Paul Klee's 1922 painting in which the the bird-song of a diabolical machine acts as bait to lure humankind into a pit of damnation. Richard argues in the book that this is a chilling metaphor for our relationship with s...

#55 On non-fascist life w/ Natasha Lennard

Natasha Lennard joins me to discuss her book, Being Numerous: Essays on Non-Fascist Life. We spoke about whether or not Donald Trump and the movement that has coalesced around him ought to be characterised as fascist, we also talked about the contributions of Wilhelm Reich, Michel Foucault, and other figures in the a...

PTO Extra! - The Meaning of Boris Johnson w/ Phil Burton Cartledge

In the first episode of PTO Extra I spoke to Phil Burton-Cartledge about the prospects for Boris Johnson, his Brexit strategy, and the internal crisis of the conservative party.

Our conversation was prompted by Phil's recent article for the Verso Books blog:
2019-07-31 16:53:24 +0000 UTC View Post

#54 When the party's over - the decline of conservatism w/ Andy Beckett

Andy Beckett joins me to explain why he believes, despite being in power on both sides of the Atlantic, conservatism is in decline and how conservative ideology is proving itself unable to adjust to the challenges of the 21st century. The interview was prompted by Andy's long-read in the Guardian,
‘A zombie party’: the...

#53 Neoliberalism with Chinese characteristics w/Christopher Connery

Christopher Connery joins me to talk about the nature of the Chinese economy following the initiation of market reforms from the late 1970s, the compatibility between authoritarianism and neoliberalism, and we also discussed the legacy of the Tiananmen Square massacre. The interview was prompted by Christopher's excellent art...

#52 Austerity and the demonization of disabled people w/ Frances Ryan

Frances Ryan joins me to discuss her new book Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People. We spoke about the impact of austerity on people living with disability, the way in which New Labour's support for means testing and conditionality paved the way for the coalition government's welfare cuts and w...