Politics Theory Other
Episodes
Red Africa w/ Kevin Ochieng Okoth
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kevin Ochieng Okoth joins PTO to discuss his new book, Red Africa: Reclaiming Revolutionary Black Politics. We talked about the concept of Afropessimi...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour responds to listener's questions on Gaza
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Description: Richard returns to answer questions sent in by listeners on Gaza, Israel and the broader ramifications of the ongoing crisis. Become a ...
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza w/ Lara Friedman and Paul Rogers
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace joins PTO to discuss the dire situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and the dramatic e...
Interregnum - The Israel-Hamas conflict
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour returns to PTO to discuss the crisis and background to the crisis in Israel-Palestine. A little over a week ago US national security a...
Interregnum - The Israel-Hamas conflict
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour returns to PTO to discuss the crisis and background to the crisis in Israel-Palestine. A little over a week ago US national security a...
Excerpt - Owen Hatherley on the music of 1980s Japan
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Owen Hatherley joins the show to discuss his love of 1980s Japanese pop and ambient. Although much of the episode is on the music itself, we do touch ...
The roots of the new cold war w/ Gilbert Achcar
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1999 in the wake of the Kosovo conflict Gilbert Achcar published a book titled 'The New Cold War: The World After Kosovo'. At the time, describing ...
Excerpt - Adam Tooze on the significance of the Inflation Reduction Act
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Tooze returns to PTO to respond to the many excellent questions sent in by listeners. Become a £5 supporter on patreon to get access to this an...
Excerpt: Adam Tooze on the UK's economic malaise
02 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Tooze returns to PTO to respond to the many excellent questions sent in by listeners. Become a £5 supporter on patreon to get access to this an...
The Plague: Living Death in Our Times w/ Jacqueline Rose
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jacqueline Rose returns to the show to discuss her new book, The Plague: Living Death in Our Times. We talked about what the Covid-19 pandemic reveale...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour on conspiracism
12 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour responds to questions sent in by listeners on subjects ranging from conspiracy theory, the ferocity of anti-communist rhetoric on the ...
An ideology of the flesh w/ Amber Husain
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Amber Husain joins PTO to talk about her new book, Meat Love: An Ideology of the Flesh. We talked about whether it's possible for there to be such a t...
Writers and missionaries w/ Adam Shatz
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Shatz joins PTO to talk about his new book, 'Writers and Missionaries: Essays on the Radical Imagination'. We talked about why Adam, though a h...
Interregnum - The meaning of Prigozhin's rebellion
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On the 23rd of June, following months of increasing tension between the Wagner Group and the Russian Ministry of Defence, Yevgeny Prigozhin launched h...
The myth of the reforming monarch - Britain and the Gulf w/ David Wearing
25 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
David Wearing joins PTO to discuss his article 'The myth of the reforming monarch: Orientalism, racial capitalism, and UK support for the Arab Gulf mo...
Excerpt - The anti-woke grift w/ Aurelien Mondon
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The recent National Conservatism conference in Britain brought together an array of politicians, journalists, and academics of varying stripes of cons...
The backlash against Palestine solidarity w/ Hil Aked
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hil Aked joins PTO to talk about their new book, Friends of Israel: The Backlash Against Palestine Solidarity, the first book length treatment of the ...
Interregnum - Israel's radicalising ethnonationalism
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour discusses the protest movement in Israel that has emerged in response to the plans of the most right-wing Israeli government in histor...
Excerpt - France's social explosion w/ Sebastian Budgen
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sebastian Budgen returns to PTO to talk about the protest movement in France, sparked by Emmanuel Macron's pension reform bill. We talked about why th...
Fascist echoes w/ Adam Tooze
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Tooze returns to PTO to discuss the key causal factors that allowed fascism to emerge in the early twentieth century and whether conditions that ...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour on the lockdown files
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour returns to respond to listener's questions on the recent episode on the so-called lockdown sceptics. We talked about the leaking of fo...
The Ukraine war: one year on w/ Paul Rogers
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Rogers returns to talk about the Ukraine war, one year after the beginning of the Russian invasion. We discussed why the Russian military have be...
The man who killed Gandhi w/ Dhirendra K. Jha
18 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dhirendra K. Jha joins PTO to talk about his book, Gandhi's Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India. We talked about Godse's chil...
Macrodose - the UK avoids recession, just…
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
James Meadway breaks down the news that the UK narrowly avoided dipping into recession at the end of last year, a deeper dive into what that actually ...
Interregnum - on the lockdown 'sceptics'
11 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour discusses his recent blogpost on the so-called lockdown sceptics, and in particular the work of Toby Green and his book 'The Covid Con...
Macrodose - I want to be in America
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down: new figures that signal positive news for the US economy (0:48), how good news for the US might...
Interregnum - on the lockdown 'sceptics'
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour discusses his recent blogpost on the so-called lockdown sceptics, and in particular the work of Toby Green and his book 'The Covid Con...
The largest wave of strikes in a generation, but will they win?
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down the economics behind the UK’s recording-breaking wave of strikes (0:42), how these compare to ...
Macrodose - Dedollarisation, Bretton Woods III, and a global wealth tax?
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down the shift away from the dominance of the dollar (0:41), what this means for US economic power (3...
Can the unions win? w/ Polly Smythe
20 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Polly Smythe, the labour movement correspondent for Novara Media joins PTO to talk about how strikes achieve their aims and the importance - or otherw...
Macrodose - Davos, US in debt, and deadly heatwaves
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of Macrodose, James Meadway breaks down talk of a “poly crisis” at the World Economic Forum in Davos (00:50), the threat ...
2023 Crisis is the new normal w/ James Meadway
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
James Meadway returns to discuss his predictions for the world economy in the year ahead, and why the notion of the polycrisis - while in some ways us...
Macrodose - China’s downturn, Blackrock’s predictions and the struggling tech billionaires
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode of MACRODOSE, James Meadway breaks down a new IMF forecast that predicts China’s economic downturn, a set of predictions for o...
Excerpt - What happened to China's new Tiananmen moment? w/ Jane Hayward
23 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 publi...
Macrodose - The economics of inactivity, covid contracts and Japan’s policy twist
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 c...
Interregnum - Britain unravelling
17 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour discusses Britain's fraying public infrastructure and the wave of strikes that are taking place, including the first ever nationwide s...
Macrodose - Public pay, bankers' bonuses, and who benefits from interest rate hikes?
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
China's protests and the end of zero-Covid w/ Jane Hayward
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 talke...
Macrodose - Russian oil, the food crisis and a 4-day work week
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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' ...
Hegemony Now (part three) - w/ Jeremy Gilbert
04 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 W...
Macrodose - Episode 2: Strike Economics
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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,...
Macrodose - Inflation, austerity and the wage-price spiral
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 countrie...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour on the climate movement we need
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard responds to the questions that were sent in by listeners on the seeming demise of Twitter, the Democrats' surprisingly strong showing in the U...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour responds to listener's questions
19 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard responds to the questions that were sent in by listeners on the seeming demise of Twitter, the Democrats' surprisingly strong showing in the U...
Why capitalism is not 'an economy' w/ Nancy Fraser
13 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Interregnum - Lula's knife-edge victory
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 subs...
“Woman, Life, Freedom” - On Iran's protest movement w/ Narges Bajoghli
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Interregnum - After Truss
21 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour discusses the resignation of Liz Truss and the ongoing civil war within the Conservative party. We also talked about why Richard chara...
Hegemony Now (part two) - w/ Jeremy Gilbert
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 Worl...
Excerpt - PTO Extra! David Broder responds to listeners' questions
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 r...
Hegemony Now (part one) - w/ Jeremy Gilbert
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Interregnum - Truss is for turning
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The far right victorious in Italy w/ David Broder
01 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Excerpt - PTO Extra! Chileans reject the new constitution w/ Camila Vergara
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this month, the people of Chile voted to reject the new draft constitution that promised to be the most progressive constitution of any countr...
Interregnum - How will Truss govern?
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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, an...
The racial constitution of neoliberalism w/ Arun Kudnani
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Arun Kudnani joins PTO to talk about his article, The Racial Constitution of Neoliberalism which appeared in the Race & Class journal. We talked about...
Nazi Billionaires w/ David de Jong
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
David de Jong joins PTO to talk about his extraordinary new book, Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties, which tells t...
The overturning of Roe vs. Wade w/ Sophie Lewis
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 live...
Progressive Economy Forum - Industrial Strategy Or Industrial Decline
07 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 in...
Progressive Economy Forum - Digital Futures
31 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Covid-19 accelerated the digitisation of our economy, as more and more activity has moved online. But the technologies we have threaten an uncertain f...
Progressive Economy Forum - How To End The Cost Of Living Crisis
24 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Last month the Progressive Economics 2022 conference, a one-day festival of transformative economic thinking, took place at the University of Greenwic...
Interregnum - Who will be Britain's next Prime Minister?
16 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour and I discuss the Conservative Party leadership election and the legacy of Boris Johnson. We talked about which conservative candidate...
Interregnum - the labour movement resurgent?
02 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour on the recent wave of strikes in the UK, and whether the upsurge of industrial action signals the long hoped for revival of Britain's ...
Excerpt - Sebastian Budgen on Macron's defeat in France's legislative election
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sebastian Budgen returns to the show to talk about the second round of the French legislative elections. We discussed the breakthrough of Jean Luc Mel...
Accidental Gods w/ Anna Della Subin
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Anna Della Subin joins PTO to talk about her book Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine. The book tells the stories of men who have inadve...
Excerpt - The French left unites against Macron w/ Sebastian Budgen
29 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sebastian Budgen returns to PTO to discuss the upcoming French legislative elections and the prospects for the new left popular union coalition, led b...
The radicalisation of Russian nationalism w/ Oleksiy Radynski
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ukrainian filmmaker and writer Oleksiy Radynski joins PTO from Kyiv. We talked about the current situation in the city and the popular mood in Ukraine...
Excerpt - Jeremy Gilbert on New Labour's early days
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2nd of May marked the 25th anniversary of New Labour's coming to power and the election of Tony Blair as prime minister. I spoke to Jeremy Gilbert...
Interregnum - The Disenchanted Earth
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour discusses his new book, The Disenchanted Earth: Reflections on Ecosocialism and Barbarism. We talked about why the Marxist left for a ...
Orbanism - Europe's post-neoliberal future? w/ Dorit Geva
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dorit Geva joins PTO to talk about the recent re-election victory of Viktor Orbán in Hungary and Dorit's article, 'Orban’s Ordonationalism as Post-...
Excerpt - Is a Le Pen presidency possible? w/ Sebastian Budgen
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sebastian Budgen returns to PTO to talk about the first round of the French presidential election, and the prospects for the second round vote later t...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour responds to listener questions
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour responds to the excellent questions sent in by listeners - on topics ranging from the left's response to the Russian invasion of Ukrai...
How the legacies of empire continue to shape the world w/ Kojo Koram
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Kojo Koram returns to PTO to talk about his new book, Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire. We chatted about how the British empire an...
Interregnum - The cruelties of self-help culture
20 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the second episode of Interregnum Richard Seymour discusses his recent article, 'The cruelties of self-help culture'. We talked about the magical t...
India's Russian dilemma w/ Ravinder Kaur
13 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Despite India's deepening alliance with the United States, and the country's regional rivalry with China, the Indian government has refused to join co...
Russia and the West - the economic war w/ James Meadway
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
James Meadway returns to PTO to talk about his recent article on the economic sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the Putin regime's invasion o...
Interregnum - Russia invades Ukraine
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the first episode of Interregnum, a new fortnightly show with author Richard Seymour, we talked about the objectives of the Russian invasion, and...
Excerpt - Paul Rogers on the Ukraine crisis
12 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Rogers joins PTO again to talk about his recent article in Open Democracy: Who would benefit from Russia going to war with Ukraine? We chatted ab...
Chile's left turn w/ Camila Vergara
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Camila Vergara joins PTO to talk about Chile's new left wing government and the new president elect, former student leader Gabriel Boric. We talked ab...
Eric Zemmour and the mainstreaming of the French far-right w/ Sebastian Budgen
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sebastian Budgen joins PTO to talk about the rise of Eric Zemmour - the new star of the French far right and a candidate in April's presidential elect...
Excerpt - The Omicron wave w/ Richard Seymour
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour returns to PTO to talk about the omicron variant and why he believes Covid19 will be a crisis of a decade, rather than years. We also ...
Jason Hickel on how degrowth will save the world (part two)
19 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Hickel returns to PTO for the second part of a two part interview on his book, Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World. We talked about t...
Excerpt - Will Davies on whether Boris Johnson's days as PM are numbered
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Boris Johnson's grip on power seems more precarious than at any other point during his time in office. PTO spoke to Will Davies about whether we're at...
Coming of age at the end of history w/ Lea Ypi
04 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lea Ypi joins PTO to talk about her new book Free: Coming of Age at the End of History. It tells Lea's story of growing up in Stalinist Albania, the e...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour responds to listener's questions (part two)
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Part two of Richard Seymour responding to listener's questions, including on Amia Srinivasan's work, and also on critiques of psychoanalysis - a pract...
Jason Hickel on how degrowth will save the world (part one)
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Hickel joins PTO to talk about his book, Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World. In part one of the interview we discussed the comprehen...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour responds to listener's questions
06 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour, who was recently on the show to discuss supply chains and the ecological crisis, returns to respond to the excellent questions sent ...
Neither artificial nor intelligent - Kate Crawford on AI
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kate Crawford joins PTO to talk about her book, Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence. We talked about why ...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour on the UK's new Covid wave
23 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour joins PTO to talk about the uptick in the UK's Covid-19 cases and death toll, and why the government scaled back public health regulat...
Excerpt - Richard Seymour on Covid and civilisational crisis
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Seymour joins PTO to talk about his recent articles on the supply chain and fuel crisis - both in the UK and abroad - and how they portend a f...
Is support for the Conservatives finally starting to erode? w/ Andy Beckett
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Andy Beckett joins PTO to talk about the recent Conservative and Labour Party conferences and whether the supply chain and fuel crises might finally u...
Sex and the politics of desire - w/ Amia Srinivasan
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Amia Srinivasan joins PTO to talk about her new book, The Right to Sex. We spoke about whether it's legitimate to interrogate our sexual desires and t...
Germany's election - the end of Merkelism? w/ Ines Schwerdtner and Adrian Daub
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ines Schwerdtner and Adrian Daub join PTO to talk through the Bundestag election. We talked about the election results and the partial revival of the ...
The AUKUS pact w/ Paul Rogers and David Brophy
19 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Rogers and David Brophy join PTO to talk about AUKUS, the new security pact between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. We spoke...
Teaser - James Meadway responds to PTO patron's questions on the end of neoliberalism
13 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
James Meadway joins PTO again to respond to listener's questions on the recent episode on the end of neoliberalism. We chatted about who might be the ...
Adam Tooze on Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy
07 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Tooze joins PTO to talk about his new book, Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy. We talked about the problems and pitfalls of writing i...
The graveyard of empires, a second Vietnam - Timothy Nunan on the cliches of the war in Afghanistan
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Timothy Nunan joins PTO to talk about the current situation in Afghanistan, the refugee crisis in the country, the US media discussion around the Amer...
Variations: Juliet Jacques on stories of Britain's transgender history
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Juliet Jacques joins PTO to talk about her debut collection of short stories, Variations. Inspired by found material and real-life events, the book ex...
Teaser - Listener questions: Paul Rogers on the aftermath of the Taliban's victory
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Rogers returns to PTO to respond to listener questions on the situation in Afghanistan and the implications of the Taliban's victory. Become a $5...
The Taliban on the verge of victory w/ Paul Rogers
13 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Rogers joins PTO to talk about the Taliban's advance across Afghanistan and the possibility of an imminent takeover of the capital Kabul. We spok...