Episodes
Friday Oct 20, 2023
BALLOTS, BOMBS, BLOWBACK - INTERESTING TIMES 69
Friday Oct 20, 2023
Friday Oct 20, 2023
In this podcast we reflect on three current events - the Tory byelection defeats in the UK, the crescendo in ongoing violence in Israel-Palestine, and the authoritarian crackdowns on the supporters of the people of Gaza in Europe and beyond. We show how these seemingly disparate events are intimately connected by being a part of the same complex pathology. We touch on the importance of geopolitical, global-economic and historical contexts. [Free. 27 minutes.]
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
TRAILER FOR ’THE APOCALYPSE & YOU’ LIVE EVENTS
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
In this podcast, we outline the material we'll cover in our forthcoming series of live talks on zoom. The series starts on 15th October, 1pm BST and four more events follow at weekly intervals. To book, visit http://peteyates.uk/live-events/. [Free. 29 minutes.]
Monday Sep 18, 2023
LAO TZU 67
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Monday Sep 18, 2023
In this podcast, we discuss Chapter 80 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. In this chapter, Lao Tzu considers and recommends a life of rural simplicity in a 'small is beautiful' culture. There are many resonances with some strands of current environmental thinking which we draw out. [Free. 28 minutes.] [Find out about our forthcoming live talks on zoom HERE.]
Sunday Sep 03, 2023
A SUSPICION - CLIMATE & CULTURE WARS
Sunday Sep 03, 2023
Sunday Sep 03, 2023
Join me on my constitutional as I entertain the suspicion that the UK right-wing government is on the brink of refocussing its culture wars on net zero, and eco-concern generally, and throwing everything it can muster at it. I place these speculations in a context of a brief and rough explanation of the hermeneutics of suspicion. The podcast ends with the trailer to our upcoming series of live zoom talks. See http://peteyates.uk/live-events/ [Free. 28 minutes.]
Friday Jul 28, 2023
LAO TZU 62
Friday Jul 28, 2023
Friday Jul 28, 2023
In this podcast, we reflect on Chapter 75 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. We consider the role of tax and money in various social organisational forms, the notion of surplus product disposed of by a hegemon, anarchism in relation to capitalism and marxism, and resonances with our current state of affairs, and more. [Free. 46 minutes.]
Friday Jun 23, 2023
SOCRATES & THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Friday Jun 23, 2023
Friday Jun 23, 2023
In this podcast, we discuss the resonances between the question asked by Socrates in Plato's Republic, 'How should life be lived?', and the TV series, The Walking Dead. [Free. 50 minutes.]
Saturday Jun 10, 2023
AI - THREAT OR PROMISE?
Saturday Jun 10, 2023
Saturday Jun 10, 2023
In this podcast, we discuss AI and its recent emergence into the public sphere. We examine four main aspects of AI; what the term 'AI' signifies, the knowledge status of its products, the political and economic ramifications of AI, especially its role in automation, and its position in current affairs public discourse. [Free. 61 minutes.]
Sunday May 21, 2023
NAT-C OR NAZI? INTERESTING TIMES 65
Sunday May 21, 2023
Sunday May 21, 2023
In this rather long podcast, we analyse various moments from the National Conservatism conference which was recently held in London, and some of the commentary that has ensued. We focus on the ideological substrate of the organising group, The Edmund Burke Foundation which is named after the 18th Century writer and Parliamentarian who is often hailed as the founder of both UK and US conservatism. [This despite Burke belong to the Whigs rather than Tories.] We ask, is this movement fascist and/or dangerous?" [Free. 96 minutes.]
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES - INTERESTING TIMES 62
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
Wednesday Mar 01, 2023
In this podcast, I examine the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) by many of the world's central banks, including the Bank of England, and its possible ramifications. I examine both liberal (in the original sense) and right wing anxieties about the dystopian possibilities of this development and conclude, that though the anxieties are well-founded, they are easily misdirected into culture wares and other divide and rule distractions. [Free. 57 minutes.]
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
INDIVIDUAL & COLLECTIVE, (& FARMING)
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
This podcast is a wide-ranging discussion which ends up entertaining the suspicion that the individual and collective do not make up a stark opposition, as much right-wing propaganda presupposes. The journey includes some thoughts about soil and ecological degradation and cultural shifts taking place regarding struggles over how agriculture should be best conducted. Not to mention, a stab at answering the pressing conundrum, "What is woke, exactly?" [Free. 32 minutes.] (Click on the link to buy me a coffee.)