Politics Theory Other

PTO Extra! What happened to China's new Tiananmen moment? w/ Jane Hayward

Jane Hayward returns to PTO to discuss the situation in China following the scaling back of the zero-covid measures and the resulting decline in public protests. We talked about the apparent scale of the covid-outbreak in the country, and the effects upon the Chinese health system. We also talked about the way in which Western media have, with little comment, dropped the prior narrative of the protests as representing a new Tiananmen square moment.

Macrodose - The economics of inactivity, covid contracts and Japan’s policy twist

On this week’s MACRODOSE James Meadway takes a look at a new House of Lord’s report on economic inactivity (0:52s), the financial waste of covid contracts (7:03) and an unexpected move by Japan’s central bank (12:16).

Interregnum - Britain unravelling

Richard Seymour discusses Britain's fraying public infrastructure and the wave of strikes that are taking place, including the first ever nationwide strike by NHS nurses. We chatted about the extent to which the public perceive the UK as being in a state of increasing decline, the state of the trade unions, and how current industrial action compares with the so-called winter of discontent of 1978-79. Finally, we talked about how the Conservative government, and the Labour opposition, are resp...

Macrodose - Public pay, bankers' bonuses, and who benefits from interest rate hikes?

On this week’s episode James Meadway breaks down the public sector pay dispute (0.50s), Sunak’s move to further deregulate finance (8:27), and the interest rate hikes by central banks (14:10)

China's protests and the end of zero-Covid w/ Jane Hayward

Jane Hayward joins PTO to talk about the protests in China that have resulted in Xi Jinping's loosening of the country's zero covid strategy. We talked about the widespread grievances and sporadic protests that have taken place in China over the last decade, and the particular importance of the recent worker protests at the giant Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou. We also talked about why it might be that the Chinese state has failed to provide adequate vaccine coverage - especially for the elderly ...

Macrodose - Russian oil, the food crisis and a 4-day work week

On this week’s episode of Macrodose James Meadway breaks down the G7-backed price cap on Russian oil (1.46), the warning from the National Farmers' Union that Britain is sleepwalking into a food crisis (5.37), and the results of an experiment in a 4-day working week (11.27).

Hegemony Now (part three) - w/ Jeremy Gilbert

Jeremy Gilbert returns to PTO for the final part of our conversation on his new book, co-authored with Alex Williams, Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (and How We Win it back). In this part of our conversation we talked about some of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's key concepts, including the assemblage and multiplicity, and how their ideas inform Jeremy and Alex's understanding of political change and left strategy.

Macrodose - Episode 2: Strike Economics

On this week’s episode of Macrodose James Meadway breaks down the economics behind the strikes that are spreading across the U.K, from the railways, to teachers to nurses and oilworkers (0.49s). We take a historical view on this new wave of industrial action (7:10), and then reflect on the U.K’s worsening energy crisis, examining how record levels of debts could push households over the edge this winter (10:55).

Macrodose - Inflation, austerity and the wage-price spiral

On the first episode of Macrodose James Meadway breaks down the the OECD warning that the UK’s growth prospects are the worst of all the G7 countries (1:06); the austerity 2.0 measures of Rishi Sunak’s government (6:05); and the new IMF report on inflation, which debunks the idea that advanced economies, like the UK, are experience rising prices due to an increase in worker pay (13:05).

Listener's Questions w/ Richard Seymour

Richard responds to the excellent questions that were sent in by listeners on the seeming demise of Twitter, the Democrats' surprisingly strong showing in the US mid-terms, and Cop27 and where the global climate movement goes from here.

Listener's questions for Richard Seymour

I'll be recording the next episode of listener's questions with Richard Seymour in a couple of days and there's still time to send in your questions. Richard of course writes incredibly widely so you might want to ask about COP27, the US mid-terms, Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Brazilian election... But feel free to ask a question on a topic of your choosing. Richard will almost certainly have something to say on it. Please comment below the line or email po...

Why capitalism is not 'an economy' w/ Nancy Fraser

Nancy Fraser joins PTO to talk about her new book, Cannibal Capitalism: How Our System Is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet—and What We Can Do About It. In the book, Nancy argues that we need to move away from seeing capitalism solely in economic terms, and instead reckon with how capital is always reliant on cannibalising the non-economic, from the natural environment to providers of care and social reproduction, and from the political sphere to racialised populations subj...

Listener's questions for Phil Burton-Cartledge and Richard Seymour

Hi everyone! First off, thank you very much for your continued support for the show. It's always appreciated but especially now given the cost of living crisis, both in the UK and elsewhere. PTO really couldn't exist without listener support so thank you so much!

This week I'll be recording two listeners' questions episodes. First up will be Phil Burton-Cartledge who has written *the book* on the...

Interregnum - Lula's knife-edge victory

Richard Seymour on why Lula's margin of victory was so narrow in Brazil's presidential election and how it is that Jair Bolsonaro maintained such substantial support, despite Brazil's poor economic performance and his disastrous handling of the covid-19 pandemic. We also talked about what to expect from Lula's third term in office, both domestically and regarding Brazil's foreign policy.

“Woman, Life, Freedom” - On Iran's protest movement w/ Narges Bajoghli

Narges Bajoghli returns to PTO to talk about the ongoing protests in Iran, which erupted in mid-September following the killing of the twenty-two year old Mahsa Amini, by officers of the so-called guidance patrol. We talked about why Amini's death has sparked such wide scale opposition to the Iranian regime, and the class composition and geographical spread of the protests. We also talked about how the regime is seeking to portray the protest movement as being instigated by foreign powers, an...

Interregnum - After Truss

Richard Seymour discusses the resignation of Liz Truss and the ongoing civil war within the Conservative party. We also talked about why Richard characterises the conservatives as a "middle class protest party", and finally we discussed whether or not Labour's impressive poll leads are vindication of the strategy of labour leader Keir Starmer.

Hegemony Now (part two) - w/ Jeremy Gilbert

In part two of our three-part interview on Jeremy's new book - co-written with Alex Williams - Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (And How We Win it Back) we discuss what Jeremy and Alex call 'actually existing neoliberalism' - the distinct form of the ideology fostered by the hegemony of finance and Big Tech through the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. We also discussed how neoliberal ideology was propagated, as much through material practices as through the mass media, a...

Listeners' questions - David Broder on the next Italian government

Last month historian David Broder joined the show to talk  about Giorgia Meloni and the Brothers of Italy's election victory. Today David has kindly returned to answer some of the excellent questions sent in by listeners. Before putting those questions to David, I began by asking him to comment on developments in Italy since the election and I asked him for his thoughts on how the expected coalition of Meloni's Fratelli D'Italia, the Lega led by Matteo Salvini, and Silvio Berlusconi's Fo...

Hegemony Now (part one) - w/ Jeremy Gilbert

Jeremy Gilbert returns to PTO to talk about his new book - co-authored with Alex Williams -  Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (And How We Win it Back). 

In part one of our three part conversation we talked about Antonio Gramsci's notion of Hegemony and how, in the view of Jeremy and Alex, we live in an era in which an alliance between big tech and finance structures the global economy and whose values suffuse the cultural field. We talked about...

Listener's questions for David Broder

In a recent episode David Broder discussed the rise of Fratelli d'Italia and the Italian election result. David will be returning to PTO soon to answer listener questions on everything related to Italian politics. If you have a question for David, either on the previous interview, or on Italian politics more generally, then please comment below or email politicstheoryother@gmail.com with 'listener's questions' in the...

Interregnum - Truss is for turning

In today's episode Richard Seymour responds to the UK government's partial u-turn on its disastrous mini-budget and discusses why Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have demonstrated such political ineptitude since Truss came to power. 

The far right victorious in Italy w/ David Broder

Historian of Italian politics David Broder returns to PTO to discuss the victory of Giorgia Meloni, who is set to lead the most right-wing government since World War II. We talked about the history of the Brothers of Italy and their neofascist roots, and why the far left achieved such a poor result in the election. 

PTO Extra! Chileans reject the new constitution w/ Camila Vergara

Earlier this month, the people of Chile voted to reject the new draft constitution that promised to be the most progressive constitution of any country on the planet, and which was the fruit of the popular uprisings in the country that in December also swept the left wing approved dignity coalition into government. Earlier this year I spoke with Camila Vergara, who argued that for all the potential benefits of the new constitution, it also risked canalising popular ferment in the country in w...

Interregnum - How will Truss govern?

Richard Seymour on Britain's new prime minister, Liz Truss. We talked about how she might govern, her likely response to the cost of living crisis, and how she is far from the obsessive ideologue she's portrayed as in some quarters. We also talked about the devastating floods in Pakistan, and about the death and legacy of the late Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. 

The racial constitution of neoliberalism w/ Arun Kudnani

Arun Kudnani joins PTO to talk about his article, The Racial Constitution of Neoliberalism which appeared in the Race & Class journal. We talked about how neoliberalism has generated novel forms of racism that cannot be understood simply as residual phenomena from the pre-neoliberal era, why it was that the key neoliberal thinkers were as fixated on defeating leftist movements in the global south during the Cold War as they were on defeating the European and American Labour movements, and...

Nazi Billionaires w/ David de Jong

David de Jong joins PTO to talk about his extraordinary new book, Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties, which tells the story of how German tycoons made billions during the Nazi era and WWII and how many of those industrialists and financiers and their heirs continued to be central figures in first the West German Economy and then the reunited Germany. We talked about the Quandt family - for decades the controlling interest behind BMW - and their inti...

The overturning of Roe vs. Wade w/ Sophie Lewis

Sophie Lewis returns to PTO to discuss the US Supreme Court's decision to reverse Roe vs. Wade. We talked about why millions of Americans already lived in a post-Roe situation - with abortion services made punitively difficult to access. We also talked about the weaknesses of the original Roe vs. Wade ruling, whether the Supreme Court's decision may herald a breakdown in support for American institutions amongst American liberals and we also discussed Sophie's article in the Nation, in which ...

Progressive Economy Forum - Industrial Strategy Or Industrial Decline

Government intervention is back in a big way, as countries turn back on years of free market ideology to actively support national industries in an increasingly competitive and unstable world. The session presents the case for an active industrial strategy to meet social and economic goals.

Chair: Patrick Allen
Speakers: Paul Sweeney, David Edgerton, Michael Jacobs

A note on PTO's future

Hello everyone,

Firstly, I just want to give a huge thank you to you all for your support for the show. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to devote so much time to PTO and to have the opportunity to talk to so many interesting people through hosting the podcast. PTO began as a bit of an experiment and I hadn't anticipated that it would end up attracting a pretty large audience and supporter base given the nature of the show (among my favourite itunes reviews the show has had was o...

Progressive Economy Forum - Digital Futures

Covid-19 accelerated the digitisation of our economy, as more and more activity has moved online. But the technologies we have threaten an uncertain future at best: unemployment, huge inequalities of wealth and power, and a lack of democratic oversight. What might we expect, and what are the alternatives? In this panel discussion Dalia Gebrial, Aaron Benanav and Ursula Huws grapple with these questions about our digital future.