Politics Theory Other

An unproductive December

Hi everyone, I just wanted to apologise for what is likely to be a month with relatively limited PTO content. I've been absolutely wiped out by flu and it's taking me an age to get over it. There should be an interview with Hannah Proctor on her book 'Burn Out: The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat' coming fairly soon and hopefully something on the collapse of the French government. There would have been an interview with Andreas Malm and possibly something on the events in South Korea...

Richard Seymour on the US election and Trump redux (part two)

In this second part of a two-part episode Richard Seymour responds to more of the questions sent in by listeners on the US presidential election and its ramifications. We also talked briefly about the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

As always thank you so much for your support and to everyone who sent in questions!

Richard Seymour on the US election and Trump redux (part one)

In part one of a two part episode Richard Seymour responds to some of the excellent questions sent in by listeners on the US presidential election and its ramifications. Richard answered questions on the role of social media in the election, the nomination of RFK Jr. to the position of secretary of health and human services, the racial dynamics of Donald Trump's voter coalition, and what to expect from the new administration amongst other topics.

As always, thank you so much for your su...

US election questions for Richard Seymour

By popular request, Richard Seymour will be returning to answer your questions on everything related to the US election and Donald Trump's victory (including the international implications). As usual please send your questions to politicstheoryother@gmail.com with 'Seymour election' in the subject line. Or you can comment below the line here. We'll be recording on Wednesday morning at 10am so please do send your...

It's the inflation, stupid w/ James Meadway

Today we're publishing a crossover episode with our friends at the Macrodose podcast, hosted by James Meadway. In the episode talk about the economics of Donald Trump's election victory and why James lays much of the blame for Kamala Harris' defeat at the door of mainstream economics. We also talked about why Donald Trump did so well amongst young white men, and about what role the Democrats' enabling of the Gaza geno...

Towards war with China? w/ Adam Tooze

Adam Tooze returns to PTO to discuss the extent to which war with China is increasingly being treated as a serious prospect in Washington and the Pentagon. We also talked about how successful, or otherwise, the Biden administration has been in constructing regional alliances against China during the last four years. And we went on to talk about why the Chinese Communist Party leadership's decisions over climate policy dwarf the US presidential election in significance. Finally, we discussed t...

Listeners' questions with Richard Seymour (part two)

In today's episode Richard Seymour responds to more of the great questions sent in by PTO supporters. Those questions covered topics including degrowth, the extent to which Green party's can be vehicles for radical change, the left's impasse in the UK and Richard's appearance in the audience on BBC Question Time at the tender age of twenty-one.

“Where are the Arabs?” w/ Nihal El Aasar

As Israel's genocide in Gaza escalated in the autumn of last year, there was much speculation as to whether we would see mass uprisings in the Arab States of the region. Yet although there have been major Palestine protests in the region, and other acts of solidarity, we have not seen the kinds of uprisings that many hoped for. Nihal El Aasar takes up this question and argues that repression and the threat of violence alone cannot be the sole explanation for the relative lack of public tumult...

Israel's violent escalation w/ Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Nathaniel George

On the 27th of September Israel dramatically escalated its war on Hezbollah, by assassinating its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Four days later Iran responded to the killing of its long-standing ally by launching a missile attack on Israel - targeting military and intelligence facilities. In today's episode Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Nathaniel George join PTO to talk about whether the killing of Nasrallah - and the wider leadership - represents an existential threat to Hezbollah, ...

Richard Seymour responds to listener's questions (part one)

In part one of a two part listener's questions episode Richard responds to questions on Israel's murderous attack on Lebanon, the prospects for Gaza, the appointment of Michel Barnier as French prime minister and psychoanalytic insights into nationalism.

Thanks to everyone who sent in questions!

Look back in anger w/ Jeremy Gilbert

Jeremy Gilbert joins me to discuss the news that Oasis have announced that they will be reforming to perform a series of gigs next summer. We discussed the reaction to that news, why 90s nostalgia is so prevalent, and why it was that of the various guitar groups of the time, it was Oasis who became so successful in the mid 1990s.

Listener questions for Richard Seymour

Richard will be returning to PTO to answer more of your questions soon. You might like to ask Richard about the ongoing genocide and human catastrophe in Gaza, the US presidential race, the AfD's strong showing in the recent state elections in Germany, or the appointment of Michel Barnier as France's new Prime Minister.

Please send your questions to politicstheoryother@gmail.com with "listener questions"...

Zionism as a form of anti-semitism w/ Jake Romm

Zionism, and the project of ethnic cleansing and colonial settlement in historic Palestine, is often rightly compared to other projects of European colonialism. But in a recent essay for Parapraxis, my guest Jake Romm argues that Zionism not only has been influenced by the European imperial project, but that it has also been massively shaped by anti-semitism, and that in its reca...

'Authoritarian modernisation' - Phil Burton-Cartledge on Labour's first weeks in office

Phil Burton-Cartledge joins PTO to discuss the first few weeks of Keir Starmer's Labour government. We talked about why Phil characterises the Starmer project as a case of 'authoritarian modernisation', the relationship between Labour and the unions, and why the government seems so sanguine about the crisis in higher education. We also talked about Starmer's response to the recent racist and Islamophobic attacks in England and Northern Ireland.

The UK's pogroms and resurgent Islamophobia w/ Nesrine Malik

On July 30th, a week of Islamophobic and racist violence broke out in England and Northern Ireland, following a mass stabbing even in the seaside town of Southport in which three children were murdered. The subsequent racist attacks were fuelled by misinformation, spread by far-right groups, that the perpetrator was a Muslim and an asylum seeker.

In today's episode Nesrine Malik joined PTO to talk about how best to characterise the week of violence and intimidation, and the degree of cu...

Richard Seymour responds to listeners questions (part two)

Richard Seymour returns to respond to more listener's questions and to address the recent outbreak of racist and Islamophobic violence in the UK.

Germany, Israel, and staatsräson (part one) w/ Bue Rübner Hansen

Bue Rübner Hansen joins PTO to talk about his recent essay The New German Chauvinism. In the first part of our conversation we discussed the history of the German-Israeli alliance and how its emergence was far more complicated than is commonly supposed. We discussed the contrasting attitudes to Israel amongst the German public and the political and media class and big business. And we went on to di...

Richard Seymour responds to listener questions

In today's episode Richard Seymour returns to answer some of the excellent questions sent in by PTO patrons. We recorded the episode prior to the announcement that Joe Biden was ending his campaign for a second term in office, and before the suspension of seven Labour MPs by the party leadership, so this morning I got Richard back on the line to discuss both developments. You'll hear his comments on those topics first, followed by his responses to your questions.

A huge thank you to al...

Peak Hindutva? w/ Radhika Desai

On January 22nd the new Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh was consecrated in a ceremony led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event kicked off Modi's election campaign that was widely expected to lead to a landslide for Modi and the BJP. Instead, the Hindu nationalist party lost 63 seats and the opposition coalition led by congress made significant gains. In today's episode I spoke with Radhika Desai about the causes of the electoral upset, the image and reality of the Indian economy and ...

Listeners questions for Richard Seymour

Richard will be returning to the show next week to answer your questions. You may like to ask him something regarding the recent elections in the UK and France, the continuing Israeli war on Gaza, or about Joe Biden's faltering run for a second term in office. Though feel free of course to choose your own topic. As usual, please send your questions to politicstheoryother@gmail.com or comment below the line here....

The French left's shock election win w/ Sebastian Budgen

Sebastian Budgen returns to the show to discuss the recent shock result in the French legislative elections that saw the left wing New Popular Front win the highest number of seats, beating both Emmanuel Macron's Ensemble and the far-right National Rally, who had been widely expected to emerge with the most deputies in the French parliament. 

UK Election Special w/ James Meadway and Richard Seymour

Today’s show is a crossover episode with our good friends over at the Macrodose podcast, which is hosted by economist James Meadway. In the episode James is joined by Richard Seymour to discuss the upcoming UK general election. We talked about the crisis in the Conservative Party and the prospects of a post-election merger with Nigel Farage's Reform party. We also discussed whether Farage's comments on Ukraine damage his electoral prospects, the likelihood of Labour implementing austerity a...

Maya Wind responds to listener questions

Maya Wind returns to the show to answer listener questions, including on Maya's experience of becoming an Israeli refusenik, the extent to which the imbrication of Israeli universities with the IDF is unusual as compared with other states and their militaries, and whether or not some liberal Israelis are experiencing an erosion of their commitment to Zionism. Maya also gave her response to Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's criticism of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, in th...

The Searchers w/ Andy Beckett

Andy Beckett joins PTO to talk about his new book, The Searchers: Five Rebels, Their Dream of a Different Britain, and Their Many Enemies. The five rebels in question being Tony Benn, Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott, John McDonnell, and Ken Livingstone. We talked about the role of the global tumult of 1968 in the development of the politics of the five, the extraordinary racism that Diane Abbott has faced since entering parliament, and whether the current Labour leadership think there ar...

PTO Live! w/ Gargi Bhattacharyya, Richard Seymour, and Eleanor Penny

This week's episode is the recording of our recent live event. Gargi Bhattacharyya, Richard Seymour, and Eleanor Penny were joined by an audience in Finsbury Park, London to discuss the fascism debate, disaster nationalism, and the relationship between fascism and racial capitalism.

Sunak calls the election and where now for the UK left w/ James Schneider

James Schneider joins the show to discuss Rishi Sunak's announcement that the UK general election will take place on July 4th, and to talk about his book Our Bloc: How We Win in which James argues for a left bloc - a federated alliance of socialist forces comprising social movements, unions, and the residual left in parliament. In the interview we discussed what such a left bloc could look like and how it might knit together forces with varying political commitments and tra...

Maya Wind listeners questions

Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who attended the PTO live event on Thursday with Gargi Bhattacharyya and Richard Seymour. For personal reasons I wasn't able to host the event myself but Eleanor Penny ably stepped in and the discussion was a very interesting one by all accounts. And we'll be putting out the live recording at some point.

Secondly, due to scheduling issues the Sophie Lewis listeners questions episode is not happening for the time being. Instead Maya Wind will be ret...

Listener's questions for Sophie Lewis

Recent guest Sophie Lewis will be returning to answer your questions. You may like to ask Sophie about our recent episode on Israel and the history of imperial feminism, but Sophie's also happy to respond to questions on the protests on American university campuses, the topic of family abolitio...

How Israeli universities deny Palestinian freedom w/ Maya Wind w/ Maya Wind

Israeli universities have long enjoyed a reputation as liberal bastions of freedom and democracy and they enjoy warm relationships with their counterparts in north America and Europe - including the University of Columbia. However, as Maya Wind explains in today's episode, contrary to the depiction of Israeli universities as centres of pluralism and free inquiry these institutions are directly complicit in the project to dispossess Palestinians of their land and rights.

In her new book...

PTO Extra! Richard Seymour responds to listener's questions (part two)

In today's show Richard Seymour responds to some more excellent listener's questions. We talked about the protests against Israel's genocidal war on Gaza taking place at American universities and the extremely repressive response from university authorities. We went on to discuss the situation regarding Iran and Israel, and Richard responded to questions on the disgracing of Sam Bankman-Fried and the effective altruism movement, the Weather Underground and the relevance of armed militant grou...