Amia Srinivasan joins PTO to talk about her new book, The Right to Sex. We spoke about whether it's legitimate to interrogate our sexual desires and to think about how desire is shaped by patriarchy, racism, capitalism, and heteronormativity. We also talked about why Amia takes the case of so-called incels as the way into discussing those questions. Finally, we considered the anti-pornography critique of Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, and whether their work can be generative in spite of its obvious drawbacks and failings.

Sex and the politics of desire - w/ Amia Srinivasan

David de Jong joins PTO to talk about his extraordinary new book, Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties, which tells the story of how German tycoons made billions during the Nazi era and WWII and how many of those industrialists and financiers and their heirs continued to be central figures in first the West German Economy and then the reunited Germany. We talked about the Quandt family - for decades the controlling interest behind BMW - and their intimate links to Hitler's inner circle. And we also talked about why German businessmen who were directly implicated in the persecution and murder of European Jewry were largely able to maintain their business empires after the war.

Nazi Billionaires w/ David de Jong

Jane Hayward joins PTO to talk about the protests in China that have resulted in Xi Jinping's loosening of the country's zero covid strategy. We talked about the widespread grievances and sporadic protests that have taken place in China over the last decade, and the particular importance of the recent worker protests at the giant Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou. We also talked about why it might be that the Chinese state has failed to provide adequate vaccine coverage - especially for the elderly population. And finally we talked about Western media coverage of the situation.

China's protests and the end of zero-Covid w/ Jane Hayward

Adam Tooze returns to PTO to discuss the key causal factors that allowed fascism to emerge in the early twentieth century and whether conditions that would enable fascism on the interwar model exist today. We also talked about whether describing the Bolsanaros, the Le Pens and the Orbans of this world as fascist may be analytically wrong but tactically effective, and about how close the Latin American dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s are to the fascist model.

Links:

Adam's chartbook post:

https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-166-19222022-the-centenary

Eurotrash podcast episode:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/ep-6-sex-fascism-73970252

Adam on The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy:

https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/adam-tooze-on-nazi-ideology-and-the-german-war-economy

Adam on Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy:

https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/adam-tooze-on-shutdown-how-covid-shook-the-worlds-economy

Part one and two of Adam on Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World:

https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/20-adam-tooze-on-crashed-how-a-decade-of-financial-crises-changed-the-world

https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/23-adam-tooze-on-crashed-how-a-decade-of-financial-crises-changed-the-world-part-2

Fascist echoes w/ Adam Tooze

Richard Seymour on the possibility of Israel's assault on Gaza leading to broader escalation in the Middle East. We talked about the strategic calculations of Iran, Hezbollah, the Houthi militia, and Israel, the possibility of the United States increasing its involvement on Israel's side, and whether the attack on Gaza might destabilise Egypt. And finally we talked about the proceedings at the International Court of Justice, where South Africa has asked the ICJ for an urgent order declaring that Israel is in breach of its obligations under the 1948 genocide convention.

Interregnum - Gaza, regional war, and Israel in the dock

Naomi Klein joins PTO to talk about her book, 'Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World'. In the first part of our conversation we talked about why at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, parts of the anti-vaccine movement started to adopt the garb and the language of participants in struggles against racism and the historic crimes of settler colonialism. In the second part we talked about Israel and Palestine and how the notion of 'doppelganger politics' can be applied to the way Israel views the Palestinians. We also talked about how European fascism of the twentieth century is typically portrayed as being the diametric opposite of liberal democracy, in spite of the extent to which Nazism took direct inspiration from both European colonial practices and racial segregation in the United States.

To rate PTO on Spotify go here. Or search for 'Politics Theory Other' in the Spotify app. If you don't ordinarily listen to the show on Spotify you may be asked to listen to some episodes first, but all you need to do in that case is to click on a couple of episodes and fast forward right to the end of each, and then you'll be able to rate the show. On the Spotify app you can give your rating by clicking on the three small dots (...) next to the gear wheel symbol on the PTO Spotify page. Thank you!

Settler colonialism and doppelganger politics w/ Naomi Klein

If you'd like to hear the rest of this episode of PTO Extra! Please consider becoming a £5 supporter at patreon.com/poltheoryother

Richard Seymour returns to discuss the likelihood of Israel launching its assault on Rafah (in the context of Israel's deliberate starvation of the Gazan population). We talked about the position of the United States and its recent resolution at the United Nations security council and the extent to which - if at all - it represents a shift away from unequivocal support for Israel. We also discussed the decline of liberal Zionism, as Israel increasingly becomes a pariah state, and finally we discussed "normie socialist" and post-left perspectives on the history of Israel-Palestine.

Excerpt - Richard Seymour on Israel's drift towards pariah status

Israeli universities have long enjoyed a reputation as liberal bastions of freedom and democracy and they enjoy warm relationships with their counterparts in north America and Europe - including the University of Columbia. However, as Maya Wind explains in today's episode, contrary to the depiction of Israeli universities as centres of pluralism and free inquiry these institutions are directly complicit in the project to dispossess Palestinians of their land and rights.

In her new book, Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom. Maya reveals how academic disciplines, degree programs, campus infrastructure, and research laboratories all service Israeli occupation and apartheid, while universities violate the rights of Palestinians to education, stifle critical scholarship, and violently repress student dissent.

How Israeli universities deny Palestinian freedom w/ Maya Wind

Richard Seymour returns to the show to respond to more listener's questions and to address the recent outbreak of racist and Islamophobic violence in the UK.

Become a £5 supporter on patreon to get access to all episodes of PTO Extra: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Excerpt - Richard Seymour responds to listener's questions (part two)

Zionism, and the project of ethnic cleansing and colonial settlement in historic Palestine, is often rightly compared to other projects of European colonialism. But in a recent essay for Parapraxis, my guest Jake Romm argues that Zionism not only has been influenced by the European imperial project, but that it has also been massively shaped by anti-semitism, and that in its recapitulation of anti-semitic stereotypes, and even anti-semitic practice, it makes sense to view Zionism as a species of anti-semitism itself. 

We talked about how Jake came to this view via Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno's The Dialectic of Enlightenment, why he thinks Zionism has always been bent on the destruction of the Palestinian people and could never be content with merely exploiting Palestinian labour. And we also talked about the extreme machismo of Israeli society, and how October 7th was experienced as an emasculating event. Finally, we talked about Israel's likely turn to a permanent occupation of Gaza - and the possibility of the creation of new Israeli settlements in the territory.

Zionism as a form of anti-semitism w/ Jake Romm

On the 27th of September Israel dramatically escalated its war on Hezbollah, by assassinating its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Four days later Iran responded to the killing of its long-standing ally by launching a missile attack on Israel - targeting military and intelligence facilities. In today's episode  Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Nathaniel George join PTO to talk about whether the killing of Nasrallah - and the wider leadership - represents an existential threat to Hezbollah, and about the group's prospects in combating Israel's ground invasion. We also talked about the effectiveness of Iran's missile strikes and the degree to which Iran has been able to restore any measure of deterrence. We also touched on the dire humanitarian situation in Lebanon, which comes on top of years of grinding economic and political crisis. Finally, we discussed the position of the United States and the apparent appetite in Washington for settling accounts with the America's regional adversaries.

Israel's violent escalation w/ Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Nathaniel George

As Israel's genocide in Gaza escalated in the autumn of last year, there was much speculation as to whether we would see mass uprisings in the Arab States of the region. Yet although there have been major Palestine protests in the region, and other acts of solidarity, we have not seen the kinds of uprisings that many hoped for. Nihal El Aasar takes up this question and argues that repression and the threat of violence alone cannot be the sole explanation for the relative lack of public tumult. In our conversation we talked about the Arab Spring, the kind of political subject it brought into being, and the profound effects of the counterrevolution that destroyed the hopes that so many had invested in the Arab Spring. We also talked about how the demoralisation of the Arab publics of the region is critical to the regime of capital accumulation in the Middle East - and Israel's central role in that process.

“Where are the Arabs?” w/ Nihal El Aasar

Adam Tooze returns to PTO to discuss the extent to which war with China is increasingly being treated as a serious prospect in Washington and the Pentagon. We also talked about how successful, or otherwise, the Biden administration has been in constructing regional alliances against China during the last four years. And we went on to talk about why the Chinese Communist Party leadership's decisions over climate policy dwarf the US presidential election in significance. Finally, we discussed the economic slowdown in the country and Adam explained why he disagrees with analysts who see China's economic problems as primarily a consequence of increasing authoritarianism.

Towards war with China? w/ Adam Tooze

Today we're publishing a crossover episode with our friends at the Macrodose podcast, hosted by James Meadway. In the episode talk about the economics of Donald Trump's election victory and why James lays much of the blame for Kamala Harris' defeat at the door of mainstream economics. We also talked about why Donald Trump did so well amongst young white men, and about what role the Democrats' enabling of the Gaza genocide had in the election results.

You can get more excellent economic analysis from James at the Macrodose podcast:

https://www.patreon.com/c/Macrodose

It's the inflation, stupid w/ James Meadway

To get access to episodes of PTO Extra please consider becoming a £5 supporter on Patreon: 

https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

In part one of a two part episode Richard Seymour responds to some of the excellent questions sent in by listeners on the US presidential election and its ramifications. Richard answered questions on the role of social media in the election, the nomination of RFK Jr. to the position of secretary of health and human services, the racial dynamics of Donald Trump's voter coalition, and what to expect from the new administration amongst other topics.

Excerpt - Richard Seymour on the US election and Trump redux (part one)

If you would like to listen to this episode of PTO Extra please consider becoming a £5 patron on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

In today’s episode Richard Seymour responds to listener questions on the overthrow of Assad in Syria, the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the significance of widespread public sympathy for Luigi Mangione. We also talked about “normie socialism”, a Soviet counterfactual, and what books Richard has been reading this year. As always, thanks to everyone who sent in a question and for your continued support.

Richard Seymour on Luigi Mangione

Excerpt - Richard Seymour on Luigi Mangione

Will Davies joins PTO to talk about his recent article in the London Review of Books on the UK government's economic agenda. We discussed the policies that Labour has adopted in its attempt to break out of the low growth and low productivity rates that have characterised the UK economy in recent years. We also chatted about the extent to which the Starmer-Reeves project emulates and diverges from the Biden administration's economic policies, and the left de-risking critique of so-called 'modern supply side economics'.

A crisis in credibility - Labour's economic programme

PTO is joined by the Palestinian writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada. In our conversation we talked about the humanitarian situation in Gaza after fifteen months of war and genocide. We also talked about the military capabilities of Hamas and why Israel was unable to inflict a total defeat on the group. We dicussed how the Trump administration will relate to Israel, and finally Mohammad shared his thoughts on the effects of the international solidarity movement during the genocide. Our conversation was recorded before the ceasefire negotiations accelerated, but plenty of the discussion remains relevant to the current situation.

Gaza's future w/ Muhammad Shehada

Richard returns to answer more questions - including on the Gaza ceasefire, bible study in American schools, and what might be learned from Mexico's Morena party.

Excerpt - Richard Seymour responds to listeners' questions

Adam Tooze returns to answer the many excellent questions sent in by PTO supporters.

If you would like to listen to this episode of PTO Extra! please consider becoming a £5 p/m supporter on patreon:

www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

Excerpt - Adam Tooze on resistance to Trump

Hannah Proctor joins PTO to discuss her book Burnout: The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat.  Amongst other aspects of the book, we discussed the practice of Maoist self-criticism and its influence on the American and European New Left, the accounts of women involved in the 1984-85 miners strike following its defeat at the hands of the Thatcher government, and about the Paris Commune of 1871 and the fate of the communards who were exiled to the French penal colony in New Caledonia.

The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat w/ Hannah Proctor

In the latest episode of Interregnum Richard Seymour comments on the the fallout from the calamitous meeting between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, and JD Vance.

If you would like to listen to this episode of PTO Extra! please consider becoming a £5 p/m supporter on patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

Excerpt - Ambushed in the Oval Office? w/ Richard Seymour

Natasha Lennard joins PTO to talk about her recent writing on how the Democrats are making sense of their electoral defeat in November and how the mainstream of the party is adopting conservative social policy while flirting with far-right activists and influencers. We also talked about the enduring and ever more bizarre democrat obsession with civility and bipartisanship.

Whither the Democrats? w/ Natasha Lennard

Quinn Slobodian returns to PTO to talk about his new book 'Hayek's Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right'. Whilst politicians and thinkers of the new right are typically characterised as fierce opponents of neoliberalism, Quinn explains how the emergence of the populist right developed through a split within the neoliberal movement itself. We talked about the intellectual development of the new right, why their neoliberal heritage is often ignored, and how their racism and obsession with borders - though often seen as merely irrational and atavistic - contains its own form of economic rationality.

Hayek's bastards w/ Quinn Slobodian

Quinn Slobodian returns to answer questions sent in by listeners in response to our recent episode on Quinn's new book, Hayek's Bastards: The neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right.

If you'd like to get access to this and all other episode of PTO Extra! please consider becoming a £5 supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

Excerpt - Quinn Slobodian responds to listener questions

Amjad Iraqi returns to PTO to discuss the Israeli offensive in Gaza - following on from Israel's violation of the ceasefire in late March. We spoke about why the ceasefire was always likely to be violated, the eroding support for continuation of the war within Israel (as the war increasingly comes to be seen as a way of shielding Benjamin Netanyahu from corruption charges) and about the increasing number of Israeli reservists not reporting for duty. We also talked about the deteriorating situation in the West Bank and whether - at this seemingly darkest moment for Palestinian resistance - there are still grounds for hope.

Israel's renewed offensive w/ Amjad Iraqi

Jake Werner on US-China relations in the context of the trade war. We discussed why Donald Trump has dialled down his rhetoric over tariffs, and why the term "decoupling" hardly captures the severity of what a breakdown of the economic relations between the US and China will look like. We also talked about the prospects of increased military tension, and whether we can expect the development of proxy wars between the two powers as the relationship between the US and China deteriorates further. 

Where do US-China relations go from here? w/ Jake Werner

Natasha Lennard returns to answer listener questions on the escalation of the Gaza genocide, the prospects for a federal ban on abortion in the United States, and whether we are seeing the emergence of a distinctly liberal brand of transphobia in the US. If you'd like to hear this episode in full please consider becoming a £5/pm PTO supporter on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Excerpt - Natasha Lennard answers listener questions

Radhika Desai returns to PTO to talk about the latest round of violence between India and Pakistan, following the terrorist attack that killed 26 tourists in Indian administered Kashmir on April 22nd. We discussed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir since 2019, when the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi revoked the territory's special status under the Indian constitution and brought it under direct rule amid a wave of violent repression. We also talked about fears in Kashmir about the Indian government seeking to change the demographic balance in the territory, and about the scale of the fighting Pakistan and India - which far exceeded the previous round of the conflict in 2019.

Show notes: Our previous conversation can be listened to here:
https://soundcloud.com/poltheoryother/peak-hindutva-w-radhika-desai

Read more about Radhika's work here:
https://radhikadesai.com/

And Radhika's 2002 paper on India, Pakistan and the war on terror can be read here:
https://www.academia.edu/281710/Tryst_with_Fate_India_and_Pakistan_in_the_War_on_Terrorism_2002_



The India-Pakistan conflict w/ Radhika Desai

Richard Seymour discusses the abrupt increase in Western criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza, China's energy transition, and how to understand the Trump administration.

If you'd like to hear this episode in full please consider becoming a £5/pm PTO supporter on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/poltheoryother

Excerpt - Richard Seymour on the logic of the Gaza genocide

In the latest episode of #RedHacks Joana Ramiro talks to Novara Media co-founder Aaron Bastani about the importance of independent grassroots media.

#RedHacks - Grassroots media in the time of Covid-19 w/ Aaron Bastani

A podcast on radical politics, critical theory, and history. Hosted by Alex Doherty.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother

Contact: politicstheoryother@gmail.com

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