Heart Yoga Radio

TRUMP STEALS GAZA - "THIS IS THE WORLD NAKED" - INTERESTING TIMES 87

In this podcast, I interpret Francesca Albanese's exclamation, on hearing Donald Trump call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza in order that it might be reconstructed as desirable real estate, that "this is the world naked". I discuss the proposed annexation of Canada, Panama, and Greenland alongside the psychology of delusions of omnipotence and the MAGA cult. [Free. 29 minutes.]

STICKING IT TO THE MAN, UBI & DENIAL - INTERESTING TIMES 86

Join me on my constitutional. In this podcast, I examine how wide-spread and justifiable resentment at conditions of life under current power arrangements is channelled by the very agencies causing that resentment into serving their project of concentrating concentrate wealth and power in a very few hands. The result here is that a good many people believe passionately that they are sticking it to the man by cleaving to beliefs, action and politics which that same man devised and paid to propagate. I use the example of some recent debate around the viability of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and the role of the state. [Free. 27 minutes.]

BILLIONAIRES: WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR?

Join me on my constitutional. I enquire into the matter of the extreme concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of a small number of billionaires and take issue with a couple of the regular justifications for this status quo. The first of these is the notion that if people can't get hyper-rich without restriction that that would be an affront to liberty. The second is the notion that the ability to accumulate vast amounts of wealth and power by a few somehow makes for dynamism and innovation which benefits everybody via trickle down. Beware! Contains utopian speculation. [Free. 31 minutes.]

LOOKING BACK OVER 2024 AND FORWARD TO 2025 - INTERESTING TIMES 85

In this podcast, I reflect on events of the past year, particularly with respect to ecological, economic, and cultural systems. I compare  my forward speculations of January 24 with events of the year itself. I also speculate on how the trends I identify might develop as 2025 unfolds. I ask if there are any hopeful signs and question what we can and should do. [Free. 69 minutes.] 

RIOTS IN THE UK BECOME ANTI-RACIST TRIUMPH - INTERESTING TIMES 82

In this podcast, I reflect on the recent riots in the UK and the various responses to them. [Free. 51 minutes.]

OPTIMISM OF THE WILL, PESSIMISM OF THE INTELLECT - INTERESTING TIMES 80

In this podcast, I apply Gramsci's concepts of optimism of the will and pessimism of the intellect to some recent news items in order to expose the propaganda nature of their reporting by the BBC and other MSM, to expose the "common sense" and natural seeming language of the broadcasters, which however obscures reality whilst pretending to illluminate it.  [Free. 31 minutes.] 

WHAT IS FASCISM? 4 - SATURN EATS HIS SON & THE DEATH INSTINCT

In this wide-ranging podcast, I interpret Goya's painting of the early 1820s, Saturn Eating His Son. This leads me to considerations of Freud's notion of Thanatos or the death instinct, Nietzsche's readings of human cruelty and its relationship to the will to power, current affairs and recent history, particularly with respect to all too common orgies of depraved destruction of life. I describe how the death instinct and the possibility of joy in cruelty are mobilsed by the rich and powerful in pursuit of their own agenda. [Free. 24 minutes.]

CAMPUS BUMS OR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE? ON STUDENT PROTESTS - INTERESTING TIMES 79

In this podcast, I take issue with Professor Steven Pinker's take on the campus protests now spreading through the student body in the USA as revealed by an interview he did with the Radio 4 Today Programme this morning. I also tease out historical resonances with the student unrest that was, like the current protests, also initiated at Columbia University in 1968 and which subsequently spread across the world and signalled the demise of the Vietnam War. For what it's worth, I offer encouragement and advice to students participating in the protests and sketch the argument for their absolute necessity. [Free. 28 minutes.]

RULES BASED ORDER? - INTERESTING TIMES 74

In this podcast, I reflect on the ramification of The International Court of Justice's initial ruling on the charge of genocide levelled against the State of Israel by The Republic of South Africa. [Free. 29 minutes.]

WHAT DOES THE BBC WANT YOU TO THINK TODAY? RAW THOUGHT

In this podcast, we discuss two recent propaganda offensives that the BBC is engaging in and which the rest of the MSM are parroting. They are the propositions that (1) carbon capture and storage can mitigate climate disruption and we can accordingly go on with business as usual, and that (2) the Israeli state are the good guys. Needless to say, we dispute both of those propositions. [Free. 32 minutes.]