Heart Yoga Radio

GOD SAVE THE KING! SERIOUSLY? INTERESTING TIMES 64

In this podcast, we take an irreverent look at the forthcoming coronation of King Charles the Third. [Warning: contains profane language.] We conclude, that on balance, it isn't a good thing. We focus particularly on the bizarre onto-theology which attempts to rationalise the event. [Free. 25 minutes.]

OUR BIGGEST DANGER?

In this podcast, we consider Nietzsche's assertion that "Our biggest danger is disgust at man." The discussion ranges wide and includes an appraisal of Nietzsche's counter-insight that life is redeemed by art. [Free. 39 minutes.]

A UNIVERSE OF DISCOURSE?

What is a universe of discourse? In this podcast, I attempt an answer, followed by an appraisal of the uses and abuse the concept might be put to. (Click the link to buy me a coffee.) [Free. 23 minutes.]

ON STRIKES - INTERESTING TIMES 61

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.]

CORPORATIONS TO RUN CITIES IN THE UK SOON? [PART 1]

In this podcast, we consider the Tory Government proposal to institute eight 'Charter Cities' in the UK. Charter Cities are planned to be areas which are given over to governance by a corporation which is likely to remove workers protections, ban minimum wage laws, dismantle welfare, quash restrictions on working hours and more. All this is thought to be facilitated by Brexit and the subsequent revocation of EU regulations. For its neoliberal proponents, who are universally drawn from the big oil funded right international, this is a utopia which will end world poverty. We argue the contrary, that it will be a monstrously dystopian  anti-democratic nightmare in which workers will be treated like disposable things and which must be stopped. For background, a good shortish read is here - https://medium.com/@cormack.lawson/charter-cities-the-real-reason-for-brexit-and-the-bigger-picture-4de80dbb69fbhttps://medium.com/@cormack.lawson/charter-cities-the-real-reason-for-brexit-and-the-bigger-picture-4de80dbb69fb [Free. 58 minutes.]

THE JUBILEE, PSYCHOANALYSIS & OTHER GOSSIP - INTERESTING TIMES 53

In this podcast, I consider the question of the nature of the UK monarchy as revealed by the current jubilee celebrations, and if psychoanalysis might be useful for answering it.  Recorded as I take my constitutional so contains some real-world sounds :) [Free. 39 minutes.]

LAO TZU 47

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

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.]  

TORIES ON THE ROPES? - INTERESTING TIMES 43

In the light of the MPs second jobs scandal, we ask, 'How much more will the public put up with?' This leads to questions about the nature of ideology, and the contradictory class consciousness of Tories who make light of in-work poverty and the cutting of Universal Credit on the one hand, and then, on the other hand, plead that MPs need second jobs because they can't discharge their familial duty on £82 per annum! We underscore the point that this current scandal isn't anything fundamentally new, but a symptom of the profound and toxic entanglement of corporate and state power in the UK. [Free. 44 minutes.]

ECONOMIC COLLAPSE IN THE UK & BEYOND - PART3 [THE FUTURE]

This podcast continues our series on economic collapse. It considers what the future might involve using the COP26 climate change conference as an indicator and focussing on economic, ecological and cultural systems. [Free. 1 hour 17 minutes.]