Episodes
![INDIVIDUAL & COLLECTIVE, (& FARMING)](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
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.)
![PATHOLOGICAL IRRATIONALISM IN THE UK AND BEYOND](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
PATHOLOGICAL IRRATIONALISM IN THE UK AND BEYOND
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
In this rambling rant, we attempt to outline a mass and individual psychology of Thatcherism and trace its fallout in our current situation. We note that science denial which is prevalent on social media is also often promoted by extreme right wing people. We the move on to a suggestion that Thatcher's denial of the social character of human existence is an example of the same pathological irrationalism that is a core feature of historical fascism. (Click the link to by me a coffee.) [Free. 59 minutes.]
![ON STRIKES - INTERESTING TIMES 61](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Monday Dec 19, 2022
ON STRIKES - INTERESTING TIMES 61
Monday Dec 19, 2022
Monday Dec 19, 2022
In this podcast, I outline the general characteristics of strikes and the structural antagonism between economic classes at the core of capitalism with which they are entangled. I give examples from the current wave of strikes in the UK and the government, gutter press and social media troll responses to them. In the process I identify and analyse a handful of propaganda methods we encounter there. [Click here to buy me a coffee.] [Free. 37 minutes.]
![EDEN REVISITED](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
EDEN REVISITED
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
In this podcast, I examine the Genesis story and the notion of original sin, considered as a kind of foundational myth for "the West". I entertain the suspicion that this foundation myth doesn't provide a viable answer to the question of why we humans suffer and what to do about it. Not only that, it actually inhibits our abilities to use our ingenuity to secure and enhance human life. (Click the link to buy me a coffee.) [Free. 20 minutes.]
![RESIGNATIONS, CHAOS AND FRAGMENTATION - INTERESTING TIMES 56](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Monday Jul 11, 2022
![STARMER’S LONG-CORBYN - INTERESTING TIMES 55](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
STARMER’S LONG-CORBYN - INTERESTING TIMES 55
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
This podcast is an analysis of and a commentary on a remark made by Kier Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions in the UK House of Commons on Wednesday 15th June 2022. The remark was, "Boris Johnson is the Conservative Corbyn." The guiding questions are, "How does this work as propaganda?" and, "What does the event reveal about Starmer that the people ought to know?" [Free. 37 minutes.]
![APOCALYPSE REPORT JUNE 22 - INTERESTING TIMES 54](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Friday Jun 10, 2022
APOCALYPSE REPORT JUNE 22 - INTERESTING TIMES 54
Friday Jun 10, 2022
Friday Jun 10, 2022
This wide-ranging episode of Interesting Times deals with the recent rise of inflation in the economy in the context of the reflections on inflation, money-printing and organised labour by a variety of economist, starting with the Thatcher-Reagan guru, Milton Friedman. Amongst related topics, we note a global renaissance in trade union organisation, a global crisis in food distribution, disintegration of UK farming, and the failure of the world to be make adequate provision to mitigate future pandemics. [Free. 53 minutes.]
![LAO TZU 47](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Thursday May 05, 2022
LAO TZU 47
Thursday May 05, 2022
Thursday May 05, 2022
In this podcast, we reflect of Chapter 60 of The Tao Te Ching in which Lao Tzu recommends a light touch on the part of rulers if destructivity is to be minimised in society. A light touch is possible when rulers and / or their advisors are aligned with the Tao and the processes of existence and life as they act through human beings. We relate Lao Tzu's recommendations to our current political state and the ever present realisation that governments do bad things even whilst some collective focus is necessary for our species survival. We examine variations on this insight found in neoliberal economic thought, Marxism and the anarchism. [Free. 36 minutes.]
![UKRAINE & THE FOG OF WAR 3 - INTERESTING TIMES 52](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Saturday Apr 02, 2022
UKRAINE & THE FOG OF WAR 3 - INTERESTING TIMES 52
Saturday Apr 02, 2022
Saturday Apr 02, 2022
In this podcast, I continue with an analysis of the war in Ukraine. The focus in this episode is mainly on events in the Maidan Square, Kyiv in 2014 and on the fallout that that event may have had in relation to the current war. I draw out some general themes, particularly on the character of large scale civil unrest and the relationship between larger geopolitical context and current events. [Free. 1 hour 1 minute.]
![UKRAINE & THE FOG OF WAR 2 - INTERESTING TIMES 51](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
UKRAINE & THE FOG OF WAR 2 - INTERESTING TIMES 51
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
In this podcast, I examine important historical antecedents to the war in Ukraine. In particular, I appraise the argument that the eastward spread of NATO bears some responsibility for what is now so catastrophically unfolding. [Free. 1 hour, 12 minutes.]