Let freedom ring, but make sure you pick up – it isn't spam
Let freedom ring, but make sure you pick up – it isn't spam
The permalection reaches its finale
How much and in what form is freedom promised today? Eh..... It's the freedom to remake yourself, to not be criticised for your choices – and to hustle, unto death. It's not great. So with the US election looming, we've been exploring the limitations of the way freedom is understood today, and will continue to do so.
Also, on the menu: place, nation, and class. These are the three big themes we'll be exploring in the remodelled Reading Club from this November to next. Check it all out here or directly download the syllabus here (pdf).
Here's what’s coming up in early November
We'll be diving deep into the US election results and what it means with historian Matt Karp, who was last on discussing 1619, 1776, and the politics of the past (see bottom).
We also welcome constitutional law professor (no hang on, this is interesting) Mike Wilkinson to ask who is the Last European and whether the End of History has been achieved by the EU.
And we take your questions and criticisms on reproductive technology, Israel/Palestine, and Marx vs Freud in Aufhebonus Bonus. Also: keep an eye out for an episode on US imperial decline!
ICYMI - late October on Bungacast
Freedom is only available in two flavours: meritocracy and hustling
Regular contributor and political theorist Alex Gourevitch talked us through how freedom briefly appeared in the Democrats’ messaging, possibly off the back of a paper he published with Corey Robin. But the Democrats were never serious about it – nor were the Republicans.
Balancing the Big Boys when you’re small
Georgia went to the polls a week ago in an election billed as being about Georgia’s future, potential EU membership, peace, territorial integrity, economic growth, and even democracy itself.
How is Georgia actually handling the balancing act of being an entrepôt of goods en route to Russia with aspirations - however problematic - of joining the EU?
The choice to not make a choice
Amber Trotter, editor at Damage magazine and a psychologist, talked to George and Alex about freezing your eggs, and how delaying having children provides a sort of freedom. But, she argues, it doesn’t resolve certain contradictions of “wanting too much” based on infantile, rather than adult, conceptions of freedom.
Avoiding the open door marked “post-neoliberalism”
In advance of the US election, Alex asked Amber Frost and Ryan Zickgraf what the vibe was and whether anyone still cared about politics. Turns out the Democrats aren’t selling very much and – worse – they’ve learned all the wrong lessons from Biden’s term. Instead of building back more, they’ve decided people just want less.
Remember, to get all episodes in full, you'll need to subscribe.
From the Archives:
As Matt Karp will soon be back on the pod, check out our discussion with him about ideological inversion: liberals now see history in terms of original sin and cycles of injustice, (or at best, want to relitigate the past in order to fight battles of the present), while conservatives have abandoned the past altogether.
/262/ The Useless Past ft. Matt Karp
/263/ The Useless Past (2) ft. Matt Karp
