Episodes

Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
TRUMP STEALS GAZA - "THIS IS THE WORLD NAKED" - INTERESTING TIMES 87
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
Tuesday Feb 11, 2025
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.]

Thursday Jan 16, 2025
STICKING IT TO THE MAN, UBI & DENIAL - INTERESTING TIMES 86
Thursday Jan 16, 2025
Thursday Jan 16, 2025
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.]

Sunday Jan 12, 2025
AI, MONEY, TIME
Sunday Jan 12, 2025
Sunday Jan 12, 2025
Join me on my constitutional. In a somewhat rambling discourse, I examine an engagement with an AI on the subject of theories of money and, from there, proceed to take issue with 'technological solutionism' which suggests that technological advance of a certain kind is sufficient to solve humanity's pressing problems. Over and against this idea, I claim that technology can be immensely powerful and transformative, but is not sufficient to ensure human flourishing without the appropriate political and structural change to society. I illustrate the case with the empirical case of how massively enhanced technologically-facilitated productivity has not improved the lot of workers but has lead to the concentration of wealth and power in very few hands. I suggest the use of enhanced productivity and the ability to automate drudgery should be used to liberate time for people in general rather than serving the bottom line. [Free. 26 minutes.]

Wednesday May 22, 2024
OPTIMISM OF THE WILL, PESSIMISM OF THE INTELLECT - INTERESTING TIMES 80
Wednesday May 22, 2024
Wednesday May 22, 2024
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.]

Sunday Apr 28, 2024
WHAT IS FASCISM? 4 - SATURN EATS HIS SON & THE DEATH INSTINCT
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
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.]

Friday Apr 26, 2024
Friday Apr 26, 2024
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.]

Saturday Feb 03, 2024
RULES BASED ORDER? - INTERESTING TIMES 74
Saturday Feb 03, 2024
Saturday Feb 03, 2024
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.]

Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
LOOKING BACK OVER 2023 & FORWARD TO 2024 - INTERESTING TIMES 73
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
Wednesday Jan 03, 2024
In this podcast, we look aback over 2023 and offer our prognostications for 2024. Amongst themes discussed are war, environment, economy and geopolitics. [Free. 52 minutes.]

Saturday Dec 16, 2023
TURKEY, DEVOLUTION, GAZA - INTERESTING TIMES 72
Saturday Dec 16, 2023
Saturday Dec 16, 2023
In this podcast, we walk into the labyrinth of current affairs discourse surrounding the genocide taking place in Gaza. Considerations include: the possibility of escalation of violence into regional war, the geo-politics of Turkey and NATO, the strengths of the the Turkish army and Hezbollah, the opinions of world governments as reflected by the United Nation Security Council and the General Assembly, the opinions of the worlds' "street" and more. [Free. 43 minutes.]

Saturday Dec 02, 2023
WHAT DOES THE BBC WANT YOU TO THINK TODAY? RAW THOUGHT
Saturday Dec 02, 2023
Saturday Dec 02, 2023
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.]