Kermit’s Tears: Rightwing Politics
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EP83: The WEF is Actually Bad, But Not Like That (ft. Raj Patel, Joel Bakan, and more)
The WEF is yet another example of the scrambled ideologues of our moment. Conservatives condemn the WEF, and news organizations like Rebel cover it doggedly; at the same time, left-leaning NGOs speak there, and progressive news organizations say little. On this episode, we examine the shifting politics around our global financial elites.Listen now -
EP77: The Hearts of Men (ft. Vaush, Annie Kelly, & Nicholas Lemann)
Online masculinity is getting weirder and weirder. Now, we’ve got bro science, ball tanning, ball eatin,’ piss drinkin,’ and who knows what's next. We ask: what's broken in the hearts of men, and how might the left fix it?Listen now -
EP66: Technocracy Now!, pt. 3 (ft. Sam Adler-Bell & Alessandro Delfanti)
The first two episodes of this series told stories of technocrats who tied themselves to a muscular state. They believed the state could remake society, if it had the right expertise. However, the state under neoliberalism doesn’t have the technocratic ambitions or capacities it used to. Does that mean technocracy is dead? No, technocracy is just moving into the private sphere.Listen now -
EP58: The Twisted “Science” of Great Replacement Theory
The suspect in the Buffalo shooting had a manifesto, as mass shooters often do. However, this one was different. It was littered with references to peer-reviewed scientific research that, he purports, supports his white supremacist beliefs. It’s part of a broader far right subculture, with ‘journal clubs’ and the like, in which research is read closely and appropriated, says population geneticist Jed Carlson (check out this thread in particular). What are scientists to make of it?Listen now -
EP57: Truck Nuts (ft. Matt Christman, Shane Hamilton, Chase Barber, Justin Martin, & Gabrielle Esperdy)
The pickup truck is the symbol of rural conservative masculinity. So, it often takes centre stage in the tired culture wars between reactionary neo-populists and liberal moralists.Listen now