Bungacast

On the disaster of the culture wars. [Patreon Exclusive] Regular contributor Catherine Liu is back on to talk about her essay in Damage, issue 2, "Professional Populists in the Culture Wars". We discuss: What were the original 'culture wars' and how are they different to today? Why are the "academic populists" more elitist than anyone? Was there a need in the 1980s to "disrupt" the humanities? Why does conservatism now need to wear "populist" clothes? How should we defend the "canon"? What is the "Catherine Liu Foundation for Attacking Badness"? Links: Professional Populists in the Culture Wars, Catherine Liu, Damage /246/ Why Isn't There Revolution? ft. Vivek Chibber /67/ Legacies of Postmodernism ft. Catherine Liu Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature, Janice Radway 

On the late Dmitri Furman's account of post-Soviet Russia. Patreon Exclusive: for the Reading Club, join for $12/mo and get access to ALL Bungacast content, incl. 4 exclusive, original episodes a month We continue our discussions along this year's themes (rise and fall of nations; Russia past and present) by tackling Imitation Democracy: The Development of Russia's Post-Soviet Political System. Why has there been a revival in interest in the late Soviet and early post-Soviet period? And in the global 1990s in general? What does it really mean to be without-alternative? Why didn't democracy take hold in Russia? And why did it become an "imitation democracy" and not something else? How was Yeltsin a disaster? And what was Putin's appeal? Does 'Putinism' actually exist? Is it interesting or novel in any way? What happened after Furman's death and Russia's turn to "violent parody of the West"? Readings: Imitation Democracy: The Development of Russia's Post-Soviet Political System, Dmitri Furman, Verso Imitation Democracies: The Post-Soviet Penumbra, Dmitri Furman, New Left Review (pdf) Imitation Democracy: Perry Anderson writes about Dmitri Furman’s analysis of Russia’s post-communism, Perry Anderson, London Review of Books Listening Links: /114/ Reading Club: The Light That Failed - on the end of the "Age of Imitation" /270/ Russia vs the West ft. Richard Sakwa - on the endgame to war in Ukraine; and /271/ Russia vs the West (2) ft. Richard Sakwa - on the post-Soviet landscape /410/ Reading Club: Deutscher's Stalin - On Isaac Deutscher's classic Stalin: A Political Biography /421/ Who Are the Wrong Ukrainians? ft. Volodymyr Ishchenko - on post-Soviet Ukraine, from Maidan to war   Music: Éva Csepregi, "O.K. Gorbacsov", Hungaroton , WEA, High Fashion Music, Dureco

On your questions & criticisms about fertility, culture war, and more. [Patreon Exclusive] In our monthly mailbag episode we take points from the discussion on patreon, including on futuristic music, holocaust movies, german populism, whether culture war can be global, and the link between modernisation, productivity and birth rates.    

On France's surprise parliamentary election. The left-wing 'New Popular Front' came a surprise first, for now putting a halt to expectations that the far-right Rassemblement National would soon enter government. We talk to political scientist and commentator Charles Devellennes, and ask: What was Macron's gamble in calling this early election?  Is becoming Prime Minister actually a bad thing for your future prospects? Is the Left actually 'far left' and the Right 'far right'? Is Le Pen a fascist? Did the Left actually save Macron? Why not an alliance between Left and Right against the centre? Will France opt for the undemocratic 'Italian Solution' and appoint an unelected technocrat? Can Macron's party and his style of rule survive Macron eventually being out of office? Does the uncertainty mean France is back to the postwar 4th Republic? Is this continuity? Something new? Links: The Macron Régime: The Ideology of the New Right in France, Charles Devellennes

On Labour's landslide and sandcastle majority. We unpick what happened in the UK's general election, discussing: How did Labour get such a large majority with so little enthusiasm for them? Is the UK now a multiparty democracy, and will there be demands for serious electoral reform? What accounts for low turnout and the fragmentation of the vote (Reform, Greens, Independents, etc)? What is Keir Starmer's electoral base and how will he govern? What is their electoral programme? Is Nigel Farage's reform the real opposition now?  Is the Brexit period now definitely over? Will there be a move to rejoin the EU? Links: The McSweeney Project, Tom McTague, UnHerd Debasing Citizenship, Peter Ramsay, TNS Data on the nationalist right + driving to work in the UK and French train stations

Ukraine, from Maidan to war. [For the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast] Berlin-based Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Ishchenko joins us to talk about his new book, Towards the Abyss: Ukraine from Maidan to War and his dissection of the war and the underlying political crisis in Ukraine. We discuss: class conflict in Ukraine as a legacy of the collapse of the USSR and the stagnation of the Brezhnev regime in the 1970s.  The role of the Ukrainian professional classes in the conflict and oversize influence of relatively small neo-Nazi and far-right movements  The meaning of ‘Soviet Ukrainians’ today and whether a neo-Soviet revival is happening among youth across the post-Soviet landscape  The difference between neo-Soviet revival and Eastern bloc ‘Ostalgie’ The concept of de-modernisation The vicious post-Soviet cycle of passive revolutions and corrupt oligarchic regimes Links:  Towards the Abyss: Ukraine from Maidan to War, Volodymyr Ishchenko The crisis of Soviet Ukraine, Volodymyr Ishchenko, UnHerd The class conflict behind Russia’s war, Volodymyr Ishchenko, Lefteast Russia’s War on Ukraine Has Already Changed the World, interview w/ Volodymyr Ishchenko, Jacobin As Ukraine Expands Military Draft, Some Men Go Into Hiding, NYT

On baby bust, feminism and male resentment. [Patreon Exclusive] Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips call up Korean sociologist Hyeyoung Woo, director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Portland State University, to talk about demography, family and gender in the Republic of Korea. How urgent is the national debate on fertility? What policy measures have been introduced to reverse the decline? How is work organised and how do long hours contribute to the lack of family formation? What has been the impact of feminist movements in Korea? Is there a male backlash against feminism underway? Why is there such a huge gender gap in voting behaviour among the young? Links: /394/ Girls, Left / Boys, Right ft. Nina Power The Real Reason South Koreans Aren’t Having Babies, Anna Louie Sussman, The Atlantic Foreign maids and no military service: South Korea criticised over ideas to boost birthrate, The Guardian South Korea's incel election, S. Nathan Park, UnHerd Why South Korean women aren't having babies, BBC News This demographic catastrophe will hit us all, Peter Franklin, UnHerd Korean Families Yesterday and Today, eds. Hyunjoon Park & Hyeyoung Woo

On the electricity grid and the institutions involved. [Patreon Exclusive] Fred Stafford, a STEM professional, a writer on energy and power, and an editor at Damage, talks to Alex and regular contributor Leigh Phillips about the utility of utilities and his recent essay in the second print issue of Damage, "Deinstitutionalized"./ What actually is a utility: is it a question of ownership, structure, purpose..? How did the 70s energy crisis, neoliberal economics, and environmentalism create a perfect storm that broke up regulated utilities? How does the regulatory regime on energy in the US actually work? Why have environmentalists been so keen to line up with neoliberal deregulation and to attack utilities – in Europe as well as the US? Why should the left think about a restoration of the investor-owned utility model, and not just jump straight to public ownership? Links: The Utility of Utilities, Fred Stafford & Matt Huber, Damage Big Public Power from the Atom, Matt Huber & Fred Stafford, Damage Power Loss: The Origins of Deregulation and Restructuring in the American Electric Utility System, Richard F Hirsch  

On German political derangement. [Patreon Exclusive] Independent researcher and writer Gregor Baszak joins us to talk about German centrism being squeezed under pressure from both left and right — Sahra Wagenknecht and the AFD. Meanwhile the German economy is getting squeezed between the US and Russia, and NATO pressures Germany to up its defence spending.   Is German public life remilitarising?  What are the prospects for Sahra Wagenknecht’s new ‘left-conservative’ politics?  What was the original political vision behind the Nordstream 2 pipeline?  Why are Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni trying to carve the AFD out of pan-European national-populist cooperation?  Where does Germany now stand in relation to the Ukraine War?  Links: Europe After America, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative  What’s the Matter With Germany?, Gregor Baszak, The American Conservative The Left-wing maverick who could stop the AfD For many, Sahra Wagenknecht is a tribune of the people, Gregor Baszak, UnHerd  

On the one-year anniversary of the death of our evil patron saint, Silvio Berlusconi, we are re-releasing our audio obituary. RIP Silvio. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi died on 12 June 2023 at the age of 86. In this special episode, we say goodbye to the towering figure of the End of History, and explore how the contradictions he exemplified spoke to our age.  Contributions in order of appearance: Mattia Salvia Alice Oliveri Nadia Urbinati  Carlo Invernizzi-Accetti Paolo Gerbaudo  Thomas Fazi  Pier Paolo Tamburelli  The Bungacast Boys: Alex, George, Phil Music: Bunga theme tune: Nous Non Plus / Bunga Bunga / courtesy of Sugaroo Rune Dale / Tell You Something / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com