Heart Yoga Radio

INVASION OF US CAPITOL - INTERESTING TIMES 20

This podcast gives a brief account of the invasion of the US Capitol by Trumpists who believe [without evidence] that Trump really won the Presidential Election. I attempt to discern the significance of the events and to descry both positive and negative effects into the future. I briefly give an account of UK reactions to the events and what they reveal about the state of UK politics. [Free. 35 minutes.]

MUTANTS, BORDERS AND PLAGUE ISLAND - INTERESTING TIMES 18

In this rambling rant, we consider the consequences of the announcement of a supposedly super infectious variant of the SARS-COV-2 virus which is spreading through the UK. We take a broad approach, covering the take of eminent virologists, analysing the relevance of the French blockade to the rapidly approaching Brexit, and wondering if the upcoming catastrophe will lead to a 'getting of wisdom'. [Free. 1 hour.]

REASON ON REASON 2 - THE ANTECEDENTS TO THE ENLIGHTENMENT

In this second episode of our series on reason, I take a broad brush to outline 

some of the main antecedents to the so-called European Enlightenment, also know as 'The Age of Reason'. I focus on the rise of experimental science in the contexts of church power and violence against those who contradict its doctrines, the rise of the bourgeoisie, and advances in mathematics. The figures of Descartes, Galileo and Newton loom large but Aristotle, Aquinas, Copernicus, Kepler and others also have parts. [Free. 44 minutes.]

RAW THOUGHT - US ELECTION, BREXIT, THE CORBYN PROJECT

This episode in our patrons only Raw Thought series connects three seemingly unconnected current events. These  are: the signing off of the US Presidential Election by The Electoral College, the further rescheduling of the 'cut-off' date for Brexit, and the initiation of the new Project for Peace and Justice by Jeremy Corbyn. [Patrons Only. 23 minutes.]

LABOUR'S CIVIL WAR, BREXIT, FRAGMENTATION - INTERESTING TIMES 17

This episode of the current affairs series offers comment on the suspension of Jewish socialists and critical left voices in Constituency Parties from the Labour Party on very dubious grounds. I conclude that this isn't about anti-semitism or racism in general but a purge of the left from the party. The suspicion is compounded by the soliciting of funding from billionaires by party leadership. I go on to relate this fragmentation to the fragmentary forces expressing themselves through Brexit as the clock ticks down. On the hopeful side, I mention the world's biggest strike of farmers and workers in India which involved 250 million people! [Free. 36 minutes.]

 

RAW THOUGHT - BREXIT & COVIDIOCY

In this episode of RAW THOUGHT  we reflect on a couple of recent developments in current affairs, namely the state of Brexit negotiations and the arrest of 150 protesters against COVID19 restriction in London this weekend. [Patrons only. 34 minutes.] 

RAW THOUGHT - TORY UTOPIA

This patrons only episode of Raw Thought is a speculation on what utopian vision, or desired future, animates the current Tory Party and attempts to appraise the possibility of their realising it. [Patrons only. 48 minutes.]

POST TRUTH THIS WEEK - INTERESTING TIMES 16

In this edition of our Interesting Times series, I consider three different manifestations of the widespread disregard for truth which is now a feature of our public discourse. These are Trump's refusal to concede the US Presidential election, the suspension, re-instatement and fresh suspension of Jeremy Corbyn from the UK Labour Party, and the increase in defence spending announced by UK PM Boris Johnson. [Free. 41 minutes.]

WHAT IS FASCISM? 3 - THE CORPORATE-GOVERNMENTAL ECONOMY

In this podcast, I consider the proposition that the UK economy conforms to Mussolini's characterisation of fascism as the complete entanglement of corporate and state power. I do this through a close comparison of the corporate document produced by the Serco Institute, Lessons learned from the collapse of Carillion (2018) and the UK Government document The Outsourcing Playbook (2020). The resonance between the two documents is sufficient to intensify the suspicion that corporations and government are bed-fellows and dangerously so. A side-effect of this investigation is to reveal the purely ideological character of the Tory government's espousal of neoliberalism. [Free. 57 minutes.]

TRUMP'S REFUSAL TO CONCEDE - INTERESTING TIMES 15

In this episode of Interesting Times we consider some of the details of Trump's refusal to conceded the US Presidential Election and his claim that he has been cheated. [Free. 34 minutes.]