Bungacast
News & Politics
About
The global politics podcast at the end of the End of History. Politics is back but it’s stranger than ever: join us as we chart a course beyond the age of ’bunga bunga’. Interviews, long-form discussions, docu-series.
Episodes
- /552/ Bunga Live: Is History Back (Baby)?
Audio from the live event held at Verdurin, London, on 28 May 2026. The OG Bunga Boys - Alex, George, and Phil - present their takes, followed by responses from contributing editor Lee Jones and friend-of-the-pod Nina Power - and audience…
- /551/ Reading Club: Mythologies ft. Catherine Liu
On Roland Barthes' Mythologies . Alex, George, and contributing editor Catherine Liu delve into Barthes' 1957 classic to understand the form of ideology critique it proposes – and particularly as it relates to left and right. If the bourge…
- /550/ The New Dollar Imperialism ft. Costas Lapavitsas
On world money and war. Costas Lapavitsas, professor of economics at SOAS, London, talks to George and Alex about financialisation, arrested development, and the Strait of Hormuz. What is the state-led stabilisation of finance capital? How…
- History’s back, baby! (Event in London)
Bungacast hosts discuss the end of the 'end of history' era, noting the decay of past political structures and the rise of states, corporations, and oligarchs. The episode considers geopolitical shifts, the decline of US hegemony, and the…
- /549/ Why Has Politics Genderised? ft. Ashley Frawley
Sociologist Ashley Frawley joins Alex and George on Bungacast to discuss why politics has become genderized among young people. They explore the lack of understanding between genders, differing views on issues like Israel/Palestine and Tru…
- /548/ Post-Legitimate Society ft. Will Charles
In episode 548, sociologist Will Charles joins Alex to discuss the gig economy, big tech, and post-legitimate society. They examine worker motivations, the relationship between digital advancement and economic efficiency, and the potential…
- /547/ What Are the Politics of Stagnation? ft. Dylan Riley
Sociology professor Dylan Riley joins Alex and Lee to discuss political capitalism, economic stagnation, and class politics. The conversation covers the role of the state in capitalism, the division of the working class, and potential aven…
- /546/ Reading Club: Are We All Post-Liberal Now? ft. Geoff Shullenberger
This episode of Bungacast
- /544/ Iran War: Rogue State USA ft. Arash Azizi
On the brave new world we have entered. Historian Arash Azizi is back on the pod, talking to Alex H and Lee Jones about the ongoing war. We try to draw out some firm consequences, beyond the immediate situtation. Why did Trump go to war? I…
- /543/ Squeamish About Sex, Aroused By Identity ft. Ran Heilbrunn
On abolishing queer theory. Ran Heilbrunn talks to Lee Jones and Alex Hochuli about his chapter, "Abolish Queer Theory!" in the edited collection Inversion: Gay Life after the Homosexual . What is queer theory and why should it be abolishe…
- /541/ Wedging in a Lever ft. Benjamin Fong
On Amazon, labour & logistics, and trains. Benjamin Fong , of ASU's Center for Work and Democracy, as well as an editor at Damage and co-author of the substack On The Seams, talks to Alex and George about organising workers in locations of…
- /540/ Welcome to the Apolar and Post-Multilateral World ft. Tom Chodor
On "non-hegemony" and world disorder. Tom Chodor, IR & politics scholar at Monash University, joins us to talk about a world that still retains the formal shells of multilateral institutions but whose contents have been hollowed out. What…
- /537/ Letters to the Editors: Feb 2026
We deal with your questions, comments and criticisms from the past month or so. Key issues this month are: What are the wrongs of the postmodern right – aand left? Will the civilisational paradigm become hegemonic? Is Trump's foreign polic…
- /536/ Can Racism Be Overcome Within Capitalism? ft. Paul Gomberg
On anti-racism, communism, and philosophy. Alex Gourevitch talks to political philosopher Paul Gomberg about his original and deep Marxist arguments for what makes racism wrong, why racism cannot be eradicated without overcoming capitalism…
- /535/ Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Conservatism ft. Matt McManus
On postmodern conservatives. Matt McManus talks to Alex and George about a Right increasingly shaped by the parameters of postmodern culture – and his Damage article on this. Who are the key thinkers of postmodern conservatism? Does truth…
- /534/ Is There a Doctrine Called Donroe? ft. Juan David Rojas
On Trump and Rubio, Venezuela and Cuba. Writer Juan David Rojas talks to Alex and Lee about the abduction of Maduro, what next for Venezuela, and Trump's "hemispheric" foreign policy. What is the Trump administration's policy toward Latin…
- /533/ Reading Club: Illiberalism?
On "thin ideologies" in a postmodern age. The Reading Club kicks off with an exploration of illiberalism , a "new ideological universe" that exists in "a permanent situational relation to liberalism." For the full episode, subscribe at pat…
- /532/ Is This a Paleocon Foreign Policy? ft. JF Drolet
On Trump & radical right ideology. Jean-François Drolet, a leading researcher into the 'World of the Right', talks to Alex and Lee about Donald Trump's coveting of Greenland, and puts the move into its ideological context. What is the pale…
- /531/ Interiorising the Border ft. Ryan Zickgraf
On ICE, Minneapolis – and your questions & comments. Contributing editor Ryan Zickgraf is back from Minnesota and tells us what is happening on the ground. We also discuss: If this was Trump picking a fight, why Minnesota? Do the slayings…
- /530/ Urgent and Immediate and Impossible ft. Christie Offenbacher & Ricky Levitt
On the social turn in psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysts Christie and Ricky talk to Alex and George about their article in issue #5 of Damage, on ill-fated attempts at solving social problems through therapy. What is the 'social turn' and is i…
- /529/ Don't Pick Up: The Scam Economy ft. Mark Bo
On Southeast Asia's scam compounds. Mark Bo, organised-crime researcher and co-author of Scam , talks to Alex and Lee about his book, his experiences and why this fusion of gangsterism and speculation has taken root in the contemporary eco…
- /528/ The Heroic Bourgeoisie in the Democratic Post-Colony ft. Sandipto Dasgupta
On the making of independent India – and its lessons. Assistant professor of politics at The New School, Sandipto Dasgupta, talks to contributing editor Alex Gourevitch about this new book, Legalizing the Revolution: India and the Constitu…
- /527/ Exit the Minoritarian ft. Panagiotis Sotiris
On the collective subject at the end of the End of History. Panagiotis Sotiris, Historical Materialism editorial board member and assistant professor at the University of the Aegean, talks to Alex and Lee about class and the "national-popu…
- /526/ Come On Feel the Paranoise
On US derangement on screen. The OG Bunga boys get togther for the annual end-of-year film episode. We discuss Ari Aster's Eddington , as well as a bit of Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another and Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia : the…
- /525/ Neoliberalism in One Country? ft. Branko Milanovic
On homoploutia and national market liberalism. Branko Milanovic, Research Professor at City University of New York, talks to Phil and Alex about his most recent book, The Great Global Transformation: National Market Liberalism in a Multipo…
- /524/ You've Been Diagnosed with Subjective Problems ft. Amber Trotter
On overmedicalisation and the crisis of authority. Amber Trotter, practicing psychologist and an editor at Damage magazine, and George Hoare tell Alex about their co-written article in the print issue of Damage on "the pre-political". What…
- /523/ Woke in the Dark ft. Ryan Zickgraf
On post-woke strategies. Ryan Z is back on, talking to Alex and George about the US Democrats' attempt to respond to Trump/MAGA. In association with Damage magazine. Can the Democrats escape the shadow of woke? Is Big Woke dying? Everywher…
- /521/ Too Smart to Read ft. C. Derick Varn
On the crisis in literacy. Poet, podcaster and teacher, C. Derick Varn – who has taught in Mexico, Korea, Egypt and the US, at various levels – joins Alex and George to interrogate the coming "post-literate society". What do we mean when w…
- /520/ Conspiracy Culture & Paranoid Styles ft. Catherine Liu
In this special episode, we present talks given by contributing editor Catherine Liu and co-host George Hoare on the paranoid style at a recent conference at UC Irvine , co-hosted by the Palm Springs School for Social Research. 00:01:23 –…
- UNLOCKED: /519/ Reading Club: White Collar & Post-Mass Culture ft. Dustin Guastella
[We are unlocking this episode from the Bungacast Reading Club, originally released Nov 2025, which is normally available only to Reading Club subscribers. If you'd like to join, sign up at patreon.com/bungacast ] On the middle classes and…
- UNLOCKED: /497/ Are We Living in Fast Times? ft. James Hughes & Eli Sennesh
On technology, transhumanism, and progress. James Hughes (Exec Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies) and Eli Sennesh (postdoc, Vanderbilt) present a futurist approach to Alex and contributing editor Leigh Phillips. What…
- /517/ Wonders of the Modern World ft. Pier Paolo Tamburelli
On places of ritual. Architect Pier Paolo Tamburelli talks to Alex about his project to catalogue modern wonders – structures that are very big, that pretend to be ancient, and are mostly ugly. For the full episode subscribe at patreon.com…
- /515/ State Capitalism Is Now ft. Ilias Alami
On the weakness of state and capital – and their fusion. Ilias Alami joins Alex and Lee to talk about his essential co-authored book, The Spectre of State Capitalism . Why is state capitalism not just a China story, but is global? What doe…
- /514/ The Expressway World ft. Richard Williams
On living with modernity. Richard J Williams talks to Alex and George about his new book, The Expressway World and how cities have adapted to the infrastructural legacies of the mid-20th century. We talk about New York, London, São Paulo,…
- /513/ Global Right: LATAM Division ft. Guilherme Casarões
On the Bolsonaros, Milei and MAGA. Alex talks to Guilherme Casarões, Associate Professor of Brazilian Studies at Florida International University, about Bolsonaro's sentencing, Trump's tariffs on Brazil, and the bailout of Milei. Is the mo…
- /511/ Britain's Tinderbox ft. Lisa McKenzie
On the UK's working-class unrest. Sociologist Lisa McKenzie talks to Alex and contributing editor Lee Jones about why the country feels like a powder-keg. What's behind protests like Unite the Kingdom? How responsible are far-right agitato…
- /510/ Couch Potatoes to Screen Sausages ft. Ryan Zickgraf
On critiques of entertainment. New contributing editor Ryan Zickgraf joins Alex and George to talk about the history of media critique and contemporary cases. How does consensus-age comedy like King of the Hill deal with hyperpolitics toda…
- /509/ The Revenge of Ethnic Chauvinism ft. Orlando Patterson
On slavery, racism, and the politics of freedom. Renowned sociologist Orlando Patterson talks to contributing editor Alex Gourevitch about themes brought up by his recent The Paradox of Freedom as well as his works as a whole. Why is the s…
- RE-RELEASE: OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations, 5
The fifth and final part of a series on generational consciousness and conflict. In this episode, we examine the Millennials and Generation Z. Uniquely, generation war today seems to be a conflict over resources more than over values. Is t…
- RE-RELEASE: OK BUNGER! The Problem of Generations, 4
The fourth in a special five-part series on generational consciousness and conflict. In this episode, we examine Generation X – the generation of the End of History. How was this generation overshadowed by the Boomer's failures? In the Eas…