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

Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace joins PTO to discuss the dire situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and the dramatic escalation of islamophobia and anti-Arab racism in the United States. In the second half of the episode, international security expert Paul Rogers joins the show again to talk about how Israel is likely to approach its attempt to destroy Hamas, and the risks of regional escalation.

If you've been finding PTO useful please do consider becoming a supporter on patreon. £5 supporters get access to episodes of PTO Extra! Including the upcoming episode in which Richard Seymour will be responding to listener's questions regarding the interview on Gaza that we recorded last week.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza w/ Lara Friedman and Paul Rogers

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

Since October 7th Israeli politicians, spokespeople, and Israel's supporters have mobilised feminist narratives in defence of the state's genocidal actions in Gaza and sought to portray Palestinian resistance to Israel as suffused with religiously inspired misogyny. In a recent article in Salvage, Sophie Lewis wrote about the way in which Zionist feminists have worked to defend the settler colonial project and how it places them in a long lineage of self-described feminists who have been enthusiastic supporters and participants in imperial conquest. In our conversation we talked about that history, and whether we're seeing a decline in Zionist feminism that parallels the broader crisis of liberal Zionism. 

Book your spot at the first PTO Live! event on May 16th in London here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/disaster-nationalism-politics-theory-other-podcast-live-tickets-883198700087

Israel and the history of imperial feminism w/ Sophie Lewis

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Excerpt - Owen Hatherley on the Manic Street Preachers

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi joins PTO to talk about his recent article in the New Left Review on Israel's unprovoked attack on Iran. Eskandar explained why he sees Israel's goals as not being confined to destroying Iran's nuclear programme, but also - and more importantly - the de-development of Iranian society and the balkanisation of the country. We also talked about how Iran is weathering Israel's assault and the degree to which there is any support for Israeli objectives in Iran and within the Iranian diaspora. Finally, we talked about whether the United States will intervene more directly on Israel's side.

Israel's war on Iranian society w/ Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi

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

Excerpt - Richard Seymour on the US attack on Iran

Owen Hatherley returns to discuss his New Left Review article on the Welsh guitar band, the Manic Street Preachers. We talked about the particular appeal the group seemed to hold for working class kids from non-metropolitan backgrounds in the 1990s, and about the forbearance and occasional embarrassment that is the lot of fans who've followed their work in the subsequent decades. We also talked about why such an avowedly left wing and politicised group have shown such little regard for contemporary left movements such as the Corbyn moment in the UK.

Show notes:

Music:

Owen's acceptable Manics playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/53GV8dNKLZlo72Wp3GOdy5?si=e25a5413ece248ed&pt=8393e6591814e26432a7fd35670b2d43

Alex's reluctant Manics playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/55IG8eV1kVH3kwAfEo9Z2y?si=ee8bcba703fc437a&pt=9a1779265389af95dcd44445656ef4c8

Videos:

Faster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0f9qUheits

Faster TOTP performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5PI7k_ZiQ0

You Love Us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgKXBJ2LZKo

A Design for Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfEoVxy7VDQ

Enjoyably angry Design for Life TV performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbdsc-YxGB4

4st 7lb acoustic MTV performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXrzttSPlc0

Motorcycle Emptiness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gavcjNniIvk

The Love of Richard Nixon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_G_R_1gMfc

Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYvbtSTamRc

Further Reading:

Owen's New Left Review article

https://newleftreview.es/sidecar/posts/mislaid-plans

Everything (A Book about Manic Street Preachers) by Simon Price

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780753501399/Everything-Book-Manic-Street-Preachers-0753501392/plp

Triptych: Three Studies of Manic Street Preachers’ The Holy Bible by: Daniel Lukes, Larissa Wodtke, Rhian E Jones

https://repeaterbooks.com/product/triptych-three-studies-of-manic-street-preachers-the-holy-bible/

[UNLOCKED] Owen Hatherley on the Manic Street Preachers

Journalist Séamus Malekafzali joins PTO to talk about the aftermath of the Israel-Iran war. We chatted about where the cessation of hostilities leaves the two states militarily, and whether Iran's strategy of reliance on ballistic missiles and a loose regional alliance was wholly misbegotten or just poorly implemented. And we talked about why the Trump administration shifted from their red line of opposition to the weaponisation of Iran's nuclear programme to the hardline Israeli position that opposed enrichment entirely.In the interview we touched on Séamus' recent article in Parapraxis which you can read here:

https://www.parapraxismagazine.com/articles/axes-of-resistance

Aftermath of the Israel-Iran war w/ Séamus Malekafzali

Jeremy Gilbert on the Oasis reunion and the britpop phenomenon more generally. We talked about the music that britpop marginalised, why 90s nostalgia is so prevalent, and why it was that of the various guitar groups of the time it was Oasis who became so successful in the mid 1990s.

[UNLOCKED] Look back in anger w/ Jeremy Gilbert

In 1998 Leigh Claire La Berge was hired by a major communications conglomerate, where she worked alongside employees of the soon to be disgraced Arther Anderson (the auditor of companies involved in high profile corporate fraud such as WorldCom and Enron). Leigh Clare and her colleagues were tasked with working on the problem of Y2K - also known as the millennium bug - when it was predicted that the turn of the millennium would cause computer systems to fail - with potentially catastrophic consequences. Based on her experience of working for the conglomerate, Leigh Claire wrote a book: Fake Work: How I Began to Suspect Capitalism is a Joke.We talked about the absurd nature of the conglomerate's work on Y2K, the socio-cultural atmosphere of the late 1990s, and about how Leigh Claire's experience of becoming a Marxist affected her perspective on the diary she wrote whilst working for the company. Finally, we touched on the extent to which the book fits within the tradition of Workers' Inquiry.

Fake work and Y2K w/ Leigh Claire La Berge

Owen Hatherley responds to listener questions

if you'd like to listen to full episode of this episode of PTO Extra! become a £5 supporter at patreon.com/poltheoryother

Excerpt - Owen Hatherley responds to listener questions

Expert on China-Iran relations William Figueroa joins PTO to talk about the relationship between China and Iran in the wake of the twelve day war between Iran and Israel. We chatted about why China's backing for Iran has been - and is likely to continue to be - relatively limited as China balances support for Iran with its other interest in West Asia. We also talked about the extent to which Xi Jinping and the Chinese leadership are happy to see the US bogged down in the Middle East, and we spoke about whether the scale of Israeli violence and expansionism may lead China to take a more overtly pro-Iran position. 

Understanding Iran-China relations w/ William Figueroa

In today's episode Cecilia Rikap - an expert in the political economy of science and technology - speaks with Paris Marx (host of the excellent Tech Won't Save Us podcast). Cecilia and Paris discussed the subservient approach that Keir Starmer's Labour government has taken to tech policy and how willing Starmer has been to give tech companies whatever they want. They went on to discuss global dependence on US tech monopolists, and the concept of digital sovereignty in the context of the alliance between the Trump administration and Silicon Valley. 

Digital Sovereignty and resisting the tech giants w/ Cecilia Rikap

Adam Hanieh, Rafeef Ziadah, and Robert Knox on their new co-authored book, 'Resisting Erasure: Capital, Imperialism and Race in Palestine'. We spoke about the inadequacy of framing the question of Palestine and the Gaza genocide solely as a humanitarian issue and how the Israeli project of settler-colonialism has been part and parcel of the expansion of European and American capitalism. We also talked about why Israel was so crucial to the creation of a US-dominated order in West Asia and whether there is any prospect of US and Israeli interests significantly diverging. We went on to speak about the so-called Oslo Peace process of the early 1990s and finally Adam, Rafeef, and Robert spoke about the current catastrophic situation in Gaza.

Resisting Erasure w/ Adam Hanieh, Rafeef Ziadah and Robert Knox

Juliet Jacques interviews James Schneider (co-founder of Momentum and director of strategic communications during Jeremy Corbyn's time as Labour leader) about the creation of the new left party in Britain, why there's a greater opportunity for a left electoral breakthrough now than there has been in living memory, and about the need to rebuild the left's social institutions.

Britain's new left party w/ James Schneider

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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