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Keeping up with current affairs from UK and international politics.

Second Row Socialists


    • Nov 10, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 1h 5m AVG DURATION
    • 116 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from COMRADIO

    108 - Comradio Film Club #12: Independence Day: Resurgence feat. Podcasting is Praxis

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2022 74:29


    Listen to Podcasting is Praxis's Independence Day episode before checking out this one, and subscribe to their pod while you're at it.  In Part 2 of our ALE pod crossover, we break down Roland Emmerich's deep understanding of gravity, Burt Hemsworth's very real appeal, and ask "how gay you can be in a blockbuster movie?" as we peel back the layers of unanswerable questions (most of them just "why?!") in Independence Day: Resurgence.     Podcasting is Praxis   Podcasting is Praxis on Twitter     Podcasting is Praxis's Store   Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter     Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter    

    107 - A Tale of Two Lizzies

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2022 66:32


    Yes it's late, yes it's completely out of date, no I can't be bothered to write a proper description, you'll download it and you'll enjoy it!     Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter     Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Thread following the recent arrests of anti-monarchists     Students and staff sign petition backing Carnegie Mellon professor after controversial Queen tweets: ‘We express our solidarity'     Shamrock Rovers fans sing a jaunty tune     "Chileans rejected the new constitution, but they still want progressive reforms This article is more than 1 month old" by Ariel Dorfman   "The Fight for a New Chile Goes On" by Melany Cruz     "Bellicose and Underinformed" by James Butler     Prime Minister Liz Truss's statement: 6 September 2022     Civil liberties groups criticise police over arrests of anti-monarchy protesters     Symon Hill on being arrested     "For Anyone That has Ever Worked Retail, These Rants are For You"

    106 - Rules Out For Starmer

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2022 58:23


    A much delayed episode which is now very much out of date.  Oh well!  On this episode of Comradio we're covering the theatre of the absurd that is Labour and Tory politics. Join us for a three act production featuring Tarry's troubles, Starmer's shenanigans, and Truss's threats.     Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter     Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Mr Rules, Vol 1     Mr Rules, Vol 2

    105 - Forde: Ragnarok

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2022 70:35


    Remember the Forde Report?  We know no one talks about it now but it definitely happened, we spend our time becoming increasingly angry at it and what it should mean for Labour, we then discuss the bin fire that is the Tory Leadership contest, before finishing off with the Hot Strike Summer (XXX).  Join us after our sabbatical as we continue to realise things can only get worse.   Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter     The Forde Report Has Exposed the Rotten Foundations of Keir Starmer's Leadership     Short kings     PraxisChat 2 - Barrister Strike with Hannah Webb

    104 - Mythology, Part III: The Labours of Anarchles

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2022 82:19


    Long ago, in the heights of May, James aka @anarchonbury, albeit only one candle in the wind, was tasked with the reclaiming of mythology. Hear how obstacles will be overcome, the dragon slain, and the fascists defeated. (The left must triumph eventually, after all.) With maybe some practical thoughts about living on the left in the 2020s.  From the Council of Nicea to fast food empires, we sharpen our swords and talk stories. Right now on Comradio. Plus, an update on some of the newer socialist electoral parties.   Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter   James on Twitter   Podcasting is Praxis on Twitter   Listen to Podcasting is Praxis   Praxis Cast's Patreon   27 - Mythology, Part I: I'd Still Myth You, Babe   29 - Mythology, Part II: And I Don't Want to Myth a Thing feat. Sarah Stein Lubrano   See also 85 - Political Orgone-ising   Max Weber on Modernity at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy   The Later Wittgenstein at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy   Lacan on Otherness at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy   Podcasting is Praxis | Episode 49 - A Very Special Mockumentary, by Curtis Adams   'The Red Book': A Window Into Jung's Dreams - Karen Michel for NPR (2009)   Take a look at pages from The Red Book by Carl Jung - The Guardian (2009)   The ability of odours to serve as state-dependent cues for real-world memories: can Viking smells aid the recall of Viking experiences? - J P Aggleton et al (1999)   Mythologies by Roland Barthes at Hive   Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl at Hive   Vulgaria: The Re-Enchantment of Suburbia, Paul Knox (2005)   McDonaldization: Definition and Overview of the Concept by Ashley Crossman at ThoughtCo   The Re-Enchantment of the World by Joshua Landy (ed) at World of Books   The Northern Independence Party   Peace at Home podcast    

    103 - Bang To Reichs

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2022 53:01


    These days you can get arrested just for being Hitler.  We put recent media "gaffes" promoting the far right into historical context. Newspaper coverage of Mussolini and Hitler in the 1930s on both sides of the Atlantic - including a spotlight on the Daily Mirror's pro-Fascist and pro-Hitler content, Nazi collaboration by Associated Press, the American press and the KKK in the 1920s, reporting of the milkshaking of Andy Ngo, and more. Plus, how being hit as a child didn't do Wes Streeting any harm.   NATO shares image of Ukrainian soldier wearing Nazi insignia; deletes it later - Opindia (2022)   FC Metalist Karkhiv   Soldier with Deus Vult badge   Donald Trump retweets far-right group's anti-Muslim videos - BBC News (2017)   How a Right-Wing Troll Managed to Manipulate the Mainstream Media - EJ Dickson for Rolling Stone (2019)   Where the New York Times article on an American Nazi went wrong - Ezra Klein for Vox (2017)   How media ‘fluff' helped Hitler rise to power - Charlotte Hsu, University of Buffalo News (2015)   Interview with Dr Felix Harcourt. The media and the Ku Klux Klan: a debate that began in the 1920s - Lois Beckett and Jesse Brenneman in The Guardian (2018)   Podcast: Face the Racist Nation - WNYC Studios (2018)   Gary Younge interviews Richard Spencer - Guardian channel (YouTube)   Wes Streeting on smacking

    PREVIEW Comradio Film Club #11: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2022 6:26


    A short preview of our Patreon exclusive content   Our April film club episode is a discussion of the beautiful and nuanced film that was the catalyst for the launch of Studio Ghibli.  We talk about the film's influence and the influences upon it, including a real life environmental disaster arising from Japanese post-War policy;  how three major religions (and their political history in Japan) feed into the specifics of the environmental message; the atom bomb; the individual vs the collective; why there are no telephones in Nausicaä's world; and more.   Sign up to our Film Club for £3 a month

    102 - Burning Down The House

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2022 52:23


    There are two Boris Johnsons at the entrance to Downing Street. One always lies and the other always lies. How does Dawn Butler get an apology? Tory fines, the object permanence of journalists, Michael Fabricant as a first responder (fuelling fires and insulting public sector workers), Ian Dunt's deportation date to Rwanda, P&O failing safety checks, increasing fat cat profits, student loan repayment rises, the possible return of Balls, and Labour Against Climate Action.    Plus, Chris Smalls and Amazon.     Follow Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Follow Comradio on Twitter   Support us on Patreon   Ian Dunt's Rwanda tweet   The Labour Party's anti-protest tweet

    101 - All About That Base feat. @decolonialcommi

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2022 68:00


    This week on Comradio, we discuss the history of a controversial concept, Base and Superstructure. From Marx to Gramsci to Political Marxism to the anti-colonial perspectives of Fanon and others, with several other stops between.   Plus, Palestine Action.   Follow Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Follow Comradio on Twitter   Follow Kieron on Twitter   Follow Palestine Action on Twitter   Palestine Action website   The German Ideology - Karl Marx (1845)   The Wretched of The Earth - Frantz Fanon (1963)   Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory - Raymond Williams (1973)   Preface to A Contribution to a Critique of Political Economy - Karl Marx (1859)   Engels letter to J.Bloch in Konigsberg (1890)   The Concepts of Ideology, Hegemony, and Organic Intellectuals in Gramsci's Marxism - Valeriano Ramos, Jr. (1982)   Marxism and Problems of Linguistics - J.V. Stalin (1950)   Louis Althusser and Base & Superstructure   Democracy against capitalism - E.M.Wood (1995)   The Brenner Debate   Base and Superstructure: A Reply to Hugh Collins - G. A. Cohen (1989)   If You Want to Understand Marxism, Read G. A. Cohen - Ben Burgis in Jacobin (2022)   Colonial Lives of Property : Law, Land, and Racial Regimes of Ownership by Brenna Bhandar (2018) at Hive   Whiteness as Property - Cheryl I. Harris (1993)   Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition - Glen Sean Coulthard (2014) at Hive    

    PREVIEW Comradio Film Club #10: O Brother Where Art Thou?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2022 9:00


    A short preview of our Patreon exclusive episode   The Coen Brothers are very much consciously postmodern filmmakers who try to avoid making films with an obvious message, that address social issues directly. How does this play out in a film which sets the Odyssey in the American Deep South of the 1930s? We examine the allegorical, the moral, and the political in O Brother Where Art Thou?   Sign up to our Film Club for £3 a month

    100 - Gardeners of Capital feat. Eleanor Janega & David from PiP

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2022 84:11


    For our 100th episode we are joined by Eleanor Janega and David from Podcasting is Praxis who help us rake over the last two years in UK politics- since the beginning of Comradio in March 2020 - via four questions: What do you remember from that early lockdown? What has Covid ever done for us? How did Boris Johnson wriggle out of that one (and that one and that one and that one)? And, how did this Starmer thing turn out then?   Plus, all the good news.   Follow Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Follow Comradio on Twitter   Follow Eleanor on Twitter   Follow David on Twitter   Our Patreon (including Film Club)   Eleanor's blog   Eleanor on Patreon   Podcasting is Praxis   Podcasting is Praxis on Patreon   Alternative Left Entertainment   Join IWW. Be a wobbly!

    BONUS EPISODE: Interview with RMT National Secretary Darren Procter about 800 sacked P&O workers

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2022 16:53


    This is an emergency bonus episode for you all, as I (Jordan) managed to snag an interview with Darren Procter, the RMT National Secretary about the situation with the 800 RMT and Nautilus International workers who lost their jobs over a video call with no prior warning.  Share as widely as possible and support these workers however you can, solidarity forever.   RMT - On Twitter - On Facebook - On Instagram     Nautilus International - On Twitter -  On Facebook - On Instagram   Larne Demonstration - Friday 25th March     Dover Demonstration - Saturday 26th March 12:00     Hull Demonstration - Saturday 26th March 13:00     Liverpool Demonstration - Saturday 26th March 11:30

    99 - Daydream Geneva

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2022 51:50


    In a topical episode recorded before the Child Q story broke, we discuss the Met Police in the light of their defeat in the courts over the Sarah Everard vigil, Western journalists showing almost as little regard for the Geneva Convention as the Ukraine and Russian armies, the hypocrisy of Hillary, horrible Hitler/Putin comparisons, the proliferation of Red Scare rhetoric, Peter Oborne in defense of Corbyn, the impact of sanctions on left wing Chelsea fans, Tory failure and Labour inadequacy on Ukrainian refugees, rising energy prices, and almost everything you could want to know about political emojis.   Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter   Rachel Maddow Guest Says Hitler Is Better Than Putin   Russia-Ukraine war: Jeremy Corbyn was right all along about Putin and his oligarchs - Peter Oborne in Middle East Eye (2022)   Premier League table   Minister says fleeing Ukrainians can apply to pick fruit in deleted tweet - Tom Davison for The Mirror (2022)   Priti Patel is under fire for her handling of the Ukrainian refugee crisis, but the buck stops with Boris Johnson - Paul Waugh in inews (2022)   NI News. Energy bills: One-off support payment due to begin - BBC News website (2022)   "Wear jumpers. It's fine"   Stuart Strike: Pay rise not pay cut!   Donate to the Stuart riders strike fund

    98 - A Plan For All Seasons

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2022 72:23


    We roam over London, New York, Paris, Bilbao, Preston, and the Scottish Highlands, in a discussion of what cities and landscapes tell us about workers and the wealthy, how anarchism assists urban planning, imperial landscapes in pop culture, Boris Johnson's oligarch-pleasing Garden Bridge project, the Labour Councillor who bollarded himself out of a pint, how the National Gallery tried to discourage tourists, and more.     Plus, photography: Stalin vs Henri Cartier-Bresson.    Tim Waterman is Associate Professor of Landscape Theory at the Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL. His latest book is The Landscape of Utopia: Writings on Everyday Life, Taste, Democracy, and Design.   Our Patreon   Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter   Alternative Left Entertainment   ALE on Twitter   Tim Waterman on Twitter   Tim's website   The Landscape of Utopia by Tim Waterman (2022)   Nincompoopolis: The Follies of Boris Johnson by Douglas Murphy (2017)   Comradio ep 53 - Unsensible World of Soccer   Anarchy in Action by Colin Ward (2017)   The Child in the City by Colin Ward (1978). Full text   The World Bollard Association on Twitter   Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson (2016)   How we built community wealth in Preston   Ukraine official Twitter account on Coke and Pepsi   People's Republic of Walmart : How the World's Biggest Corporations are Laying the Foundation for Socialism by Leigh Philips, Michal Rozworski (2019)   Developing Socialism: The Photographic Condition of Architecture in Romania, 1958–1970 - Juliana Maxim (2011)   Photographer profile: Henri Cartier-Bresson

    97 - Putin on the Ritz

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2022 52:58


    A hybrid topical episode for you this week. Twenty minutes on Ukraine (and when is a billionaire an oligarch?) then we talk technology news: Trump's new social media platform, Amazon in court for union busting, gamers get esports event moved from homophobic UAE, Disco Elysium's TV deal with Amazon, Barry Gardiner and the CEO of Airbus in sync, and more.  Plus, the repeal of the Vagrancy Act.   Our Patreon   Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter   Ukraine invasion: Student claims he was beaten and racially abused as he fled towards Polish border - Amrit Singh Mann for Sky News (2022)   SNL Afghanistan skit   When it comes to politics, the UK suffers from a chronic disease. It's called satire - Stuart Jeffries in The Guardian (2019)   Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy - BBC News website (2014)   Filter out 'unverified' accounts, tech giants told - BBC News website (2022)   Airbus CEO says hydrogen plane is ‘the ultimate solution' but cautions a lot of work lies ahead - Anmar Frangoul for CNBC (2022)   Let's think beyond electric vehicles and a few battery plants: we need hydrogen - Barry Gardiner at Labour List (2022)   Ep 68 - Comradio Film Club #3: Jaws feat. Jack Frayne-Reid

    96 - Bordering on Racism

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2022 77:21


    History has given us some odd territorial boundaries, strange exclaves, and a whole lot of border conflict, often racialised conflict.    In a wide-ranging episode recorded before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we talk about the opera house in two countries that allowed families to get around Trump's travel ban, the centuries of history that led to the Irish border, the current border situation in Northern Ireland, how the US and the EU incentivize their neighbours to prevent migrants getting close to their own borders, the neglect of duty to migrants and refugees, how to talk about borders during a pandemic, and a digression on the qualities of the himbo.    Plus, medical TV viewing for troubled times.     Our Patreon   Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Vox documentaries on borders    Melilla: Europe's dirty secret - Nick Davies in The Guardian (2010)    Hundreds of child migrants crammed into warehouses in Ceuta - Ashifa Kassam in The Guardian (2021)    Drugs being smuggled into Ireland ‘inside horses and donkeys', policing meeting hears - Conor Lally for The Irish Times (2021)     HSBC "Love knows no bounds" poster     WHO advice for international traffic in relation to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529)    Berlin 1961: The Record Corrected - Raymond L. Garthoff (1991)

    PREVIEW Comradio Film Club #9: Friends With Benefits/No Strings Attached feat. Justin Hancock

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2022 8:13


    A short preview of our Patreon exclusive episode.     A double feature this month. Sex and relationships educator Justin Hancock joins us to talk about two similar 2011 Rom Coms, Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached. Do they tell us anything about society, gender, and relationships? Are they selling post-crash reassurance?  Why are cities romantic characters? What is at the heart of the Hollywood O? When will a boat come in handy?  Listen now to find out.     Our Patreon     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter     Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Jacques Lacan at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy      Sex differences in approaching FWB relationships - Justin J Lehmiller et al (2011)       Alan Partridge - Toblerone flashback      LEFT/OVER Episode 49. - In Troubled Times feat. Daniel Baker     The Cure - End    Poochie in The Simpsons 

    95 - Labour Pains

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2022 69:06


    This week, Labour misdeeds in recent news: Starmer & Savile Starmer against STW Starmer's hypocrisy on NATO Neil Coyle's Sinophobia Labour's worsening relations with its biggest unions, and Shad Justice Sec Steve Reed's strongman measures to get "tough on crime". Plus, the ongoing injustices of a terrible New Labour policy: 'Imprisonment for Public Protection' sentences.     Our Patreon   Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Under my leadership, Labour's commitment to Nato is unshakable - Keir Starmer in The Guardian (2022)    Keir Starmer's Start the War Coalition - Andrew Murray in Tribune (2022)    A personal statement on my interaction with Neil Coyle - Henry Dyer in Business Insider (2022)    Not the first time Coyle's got into trouble...    Jeremy Corbyn critic says he is victim of Labour smear campaign - Andrew Sparrow in The Guardian (2017)    Sharon Graham's forthright statement on Labour funding    Times story about Corbyn not ever getting whip back (archived)   Steve Reed interview: Labour 'cared more about criminals than victims' under Corbyn - Dan Bloom for The Mirror (2022)    Families' plea over ‘barbaric' indefinite prison sentences for minor crimes - Samantha Asumadu at Open Democracy (2022)

    94 - Amour Equal Society

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2022 76:40


    His wet shirt glistened in the summer haze.  "Romantic love," he offered, "Was its Western manifestation unique, a response to early industrialisation?"    Images of muscled men with sweat and soot upon the brow filled her fevered mind.  "Is it a stage in the liberation struggle of women?" she countered. "Consider chivalric romance, Goethe, Gyorgy Lukacs. What of romance as a continuation of the spirit of the French revolution, a struggle within liberalism?"    Meanwhile, the blacksmith and the heiress were arguing about Jane Austen.    Then the doorbell trilled ominously. You could hear their breathing. It was the postman delivering a package.    He proffered A Lover's Discourse: Fragments by Roland Barthes, two inverted commas in 69 on the cover, and shards of Sappho. Plus, the gypsy maps of Damian Le Bas.    Our Patreon   Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Love and Structure - Charles Lindholm (1998)    The Sorrows of Young Werther by JW von Goethe (1774)    Samaritans    The Sorrows Of Young Werther - Georg (György) Lukács (1936)    Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat - Georg Lukacs (1923)    Bryter Later - Nick Drake    Elizabeth crossing the field    Chuck Tingle    A Lover's Discourse: Fragments by Roland Barthes (1977) at Hive    Poems of Sappho. Translated by Julia Dubnoff    Maps - Gypsy Dada by Damian Le Bas

    93 - Cake It to the Limit

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2022 61:31


    This week we bring you chat about stories in the news. Partygate, Nusrat Ghani, Chris Bryant hitting himself with hammers, what Lenin didn't say about criticising other countries, whether Boris Johnson will defeat the Russians singlehandedly, the resignation of Laura Pidcock from Labour's NEC, and more.     Plus, the volcano-powered Bitcoin City, the coming crises, and how the banks will suffer to the benefit of the people.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter       Nusrat Ghani: Muslimness a reason for my sacking, says ex-minister - BBC News (2022)    I encouraged Nusrat Ghani to stand as a Tory MP. I wish I hadn't - Peter Oborne in Middle East Eye (2022)    Chris Bryant responding to the Sideshow Bob rakes meme    Council of Europe condemns ‘virulent attacks on LGBT rights' in the UK, Hungary and Poland - Nick Duffy for iNews (2022)    Ann Henderson now confirmed replacement for Laura Pidcock on Labour's NEC - Sienna Rodgers for Labourlist (2022)    Waypoint Radio episode with story on Microsoft & Activision Blizzard     Ireland: Laws criminalizing sex work are facilitating the targeting and abuse of sex workers  - Amnesty International (2022)    Photo of Nayib Bukele    Yanis Varoufakis on Crypto & the Left    Talking Heads - Born Under Punches  

    PREVIEW Comradio Film Club #8: The Princess Bride feat. Sanguinian

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2022 6:44


    A short preview of our Patreon exclusive episode.     Film Club on a much loved fantasy tale? As you wish.      Bad bosses, the financial freedom of pirates, feats of Andre the Giant, the very famous US senator who loves The Princess Bride (although the cast don't love him back), and more.     Our Patreon     Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter     Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Sanguinian on Twitter   'Princess Bride' Reunion: Politics Non-Factor In Fred Savage's Absence       Inconceivable! Ted Cruz And 'Princess Bride' Star Cary Elwes Cross Swords On Twitter - Jeremy Blum in HuffPo (2021)      Mandy Patinkin Would Love for Ted Cruz to Stop Quoting The Princess Bride - Julie Miller in Vanity Fair (2015) 

    92 - Comradioactive, Part II: Fission Season feat. Mat Flusk

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2022 58:53


    The urgency of adapting our energy supply to mitigate climate change brings the question of nuclear energy to the fore. Last week, we covered the case against. This week, nuclear physicist and safety specialist Mat Flusk presents the case for, along the way giving us unsentimental insights into the politics of the industry and future technology.    Plus, "crossing the floor".     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Mat Flusk on Twitter    Do Artifacts Have Politics? - Langdon Winner (1980)    Authoritarian and Democratic Technics - Lewis Mumford (1964)    On Authority - Frederick Engels (1874)     The Meaning of Confederalism - Murray Bookchin (1990)    20 years after Richard Hillman first appeared onscreen, he's still Corrie's greatest ever villain - Laura Stanley in The Metro (2021)    World Nuclear News    How To Drive A Nuclear Reactor by Colin Tucker (2020)    Christian Wakeford's voting record

    91 - Comradioactive, Part I: Jockeying for No Fission feat. Dave Cullen

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2022 77:56


    The urgency of adapting our energy supply to mitigate climate change brings the question of nuclear energy to the fore.  Over two episodes we will bring you each side of the debate.  First up, in a discussion ranging from Patricia Hewitt to Engels, from the immediate issues to the inherent characteristics of technologies, Dave Cullen of the Nuclear Information Service presents the left wing case against.    Plus, the political life of Taylor Swift.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Dave Cullen on Twitter    Stop Trying to Make Nuclear Power Happen - Dave Cullen in The New Socialist (2021)    Nuclear Information Service website    Information on Calder Hall    Outlook: Patricia Hewitt signs the nuclear industry's death warrant - Jeremy Warner in The Independent (2003)    Government loses nuclear power case - Deborah Summer and 'agencies' in The Guardian (2007)    Do Artifacts Have Politics? - Langdon Winner (1980)    Authoritarian and Democratic Technics - Lewis Mumford (1964)    On Authority - Frederick Engels (1874)    Manifesto of Libertarian Communism - George Fontenis (1953)    Shining a light on the UK's nuclear deterrent - University of Sussex    Unclear nuclear: How UK energy consumers unwittingly pay for military infrastructures - Neil Vowles for University of Sussex (2019)    A Vernacular of Surveillance: Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus Perform White Authenticity - Rachel E Dubrofsky (2016)    ‘She isn't whoring herself out like a lot of other girls we see': Identification and “Authentic” American Girlhood on Taylor Swift Fan Forums - Adriane Brown (2012)    The video to Shake It Off

    90 - Heart of Class feat. Rhian E. Jones

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2022 83:34


    Rhian E. Jones, editor of Red Pepper and writer and editor of several books including two about music and one on popular culture, joins us to talk about social class as it pertains to UK popular music and its major influences.    The conversation starts roughly in the Twentieth Century with brass bands, Joe Hill, and music hall, then wends its way inexorably to the Thatcher years, the revolutionary truth about lemons, a song about a motorcycle, and eventually to the present day, Grime, and working class access to music.    We have put together a playlist to accompany this episode, available on Spotify and Apple Music.   Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Rhian's Twitter    Red Pepper on Twitter    Clampdown - Pop-cultural wars on class and gender by Rhian E Jones (2013)    Triptych : Three Studies of Manic Street Preachers' The Holy Bible by Larissa Wodtke, Rhian E Jones, Daniel Lukes (2017)    Under My Thumb: Songs that hate women and the women who love them by Rhian E Jones, Eli Davis (2017)    Paint Your Town Red : How Preston Took Back Control and Your Town Can Too by Matthew Brown, Rhian E Jones (2021)   Music playlist - Spotify    Music playlist - Apple Music     Nixon's "Great Silent Majority"    Citations Needed | Episode 119: How the Right Shaped Pop Country Music    The Elvic Oracle: Did Anyone Invent Rock N Roll? - Louis Menand in The New Yorker (2015)    Trashfuture - Britainology 9: UK Rave Culture    History of Factory Records    One leaf that David Cameron should take out of Thatcher's book - Barbara Gunnell in The Guardian (2011)    Cover of the first Stone Roses album    James of Manic Street Preachers wears a balaclava on TOTP    Richey Edwards: The mysterious disappearance of the Manic Street Preachers star, 25 years on - Ed Power in The Independent (2020)    ‘McDonalds' Music' Versus ‘Serious Music': How Production and Consumption Practices Help to Reproduce Class Inequality in the Classical Music Profession - Anna Bull and Christina Scharff (2017)    Trashfuture - A Functioning State? Never Seen One of Those feat. Sanjana Varghese. (inc "Housekeeping")    Resonate. The Community Owned Music Service     Metropolitan Police apply for court order to stop gang members making drill music, in unprecedented move - Chris Baynes for The Independent (2018)    How UK Ravers Raged Against the Ban - Frankie Mullins in Vice (2014)

    89 - A Colonial Enterprise

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2022 73:25


    Qapla'!  Nass rejoins us as we use the politically complex Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a mirror for occupations and colonial policy, including the "making the desert bloom" trope and Odo's lesson about justice.    We also discuss the tensions between the needs of space drama and political statement, the power dynamics of scarcity, the climate denial of Geordi La Forge, the "soft path" for water management, the radical potential of 3D printing, and why everyone pronounces Quark's name differently.    Our five minute focus this week: Starmer?  Out of touch?  Never!     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     IMDB entry for S2e17 of TNG, "Samaritan Snare"    IMDB entry for S5e2 of TNG, "Darmok"    About the Tamarian language    Keir Starmer has said he is a friend to Palestinians – but his latest speech doesn't square with that - Richard Burden in The Independent (2021)     I demonstrated against Tzipi Hotovely's appearance at LSE. This is why - Sayf Abdeen in The Independent (2021)    Russians - Sting (1985) —A snapshot from the Cold War    Trekonomics - Manu Saadia (2016) on Hive     Water management: Soft water paths - Peter Gleick (2016)     6 reasons technology alone can't solve water scarcity - Will Sarni at Greenbiz (2014)     LeVar Burton Reads “Face Value” by Sean Williams  

    88 - Revolution Resolutions

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 4, 2022 74:47


    With a new year, hope. This week we talk about two very different books on hope as well as our own thoughts and experiences. We start from despair, find our way to nihilism, negotiate Slavoj Žižek's The Courage of Hopelessness, to THAT Obama poster and, finally, Teaching in the Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by Bell Hooks.    Plus, a voice for football fans?     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     The Courage of Hopelessness by Slavoj Žižek (2017) on Hive    A copy of Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by Bell Hooks (2003)    L.N. Tolstoy and the Modern Labour Movement - V. I. Lenin (1910)    Will Self review of The Courage of Hopelessness in The Guardian (2017)    Barack Obama "Hope" poster    Photo of JFK that inspired the choice of pose on the Obama "Hope" poster    The Tattered Idealism of Barack Obama - David Brooks in The Atlantic (2020)    Why Liverpool's new Supporters Board can be a “game-changer” for English football - Jeff Goulding at This Is Anfield (2021)

    87 - Comradio Christmas 2: A Christmas Hairytale

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2021 75:38


    It's the most wonderful time of the year - the annual Comradio Christmas episode. This year our theme is the beard. From what beards tell us about sociology and policy to the rich history of hairy faces, including what Atlee said about beards, how the Chartists delayed the age of the Victorian beard, New Labour's approach to beards, the role of the beard in Abraham Lincoln's electoral success, fake beards, beard taxes, the edicts about beards that have been used for political ends through the ages, and The Charge of The Light Brigade. All leading us to our thrilling conclusion: the truth about Santa's beard.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Why does Santa have a beard but Mrs Claus doesn't? - BBC Science Focus Magazine    Beards augment perceptions of men's age, social status, and aggressiveness, but not attractiveness - Dixson and Vasey (2012)    Women are more attracted to men with beards, says study - Sophie Foster for Wales Online (2020)    A multivariate analysis of women's mating strategies and sexual selection on men's facial morphology - Tessa R. Clarkson et al (2020)    ALMOST HALF OF WOMEN REFUSE TO DATE MEN WITH HIPSTER BEARDS, SURVEY FINDS - Sarah Young for The Independent (2018)     Let's talk about Oscar Isaac's magnificent Dune beard - Gabrielle Paiella for GQ (2020)     The Beard-Battle that Almost Split Christendom - Luke T. Harrington for Christianity Today (2016)    What's In A Beard? - Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman    The men evading Tajikistan's de-facto beard ban - Global Voices Online in The Guardian (2015)    5 UK Sikh doctors ‘removed' for refusing to shave beards - Naomi Canton for Times of India (2020)    Sikh Front-Line Workers Make Enough Sacrifices. Their Beards Shouldn't Be One. - Harman Singh in HuffPo (2020)    Depiction thought to be Loki with no beard    Beard: Masculinity in Early Modern England - Will Fisher (2001)    Peter the Great's Beard Tax - Amelia Soth for JSTOR Daily (2021)    The Beard Movement in Victorian Britain - Christopher Oldstone-Moore (2005)    Five Things You Didn't Know About The Crimean War - The Royal Collection Trust    Roger Fenton's Crimean War photographs at the US Library of Congress     Pioneer photographer's stark images of Crimean war go on display - Caroline Davies (2017)    The Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Lord Tennyson (1854)    The six reasons beards are everywhere - BBC Radio Four    The Bear Book: Readings in the History and Evolution of a Gay Male Subculture - Les Wright (1997)    “Grow the Beard, Wear the Costume”: Resisting Weight and Sexual Orientation Stigmas in the Bear Subculture - Patrick B. McGrady (2016)    Understanding the Bear Movement in Gay Male Culture - Eric Manley et al (2008)    What is a Blind Item? - Mary McMahon    This Trans Woman Kept Her Beard And Couldn't Be Happier - Patrick Strudwick for Buzzfeed (2015)     Why famous dudes grow beards to deal with existential crises - Luke Winkie for Vox (2020)    Rick and Morty - Abradolf Lincler    Santa, is that you? But where's your white beard? - Peter Holley in WaPo (2014)

    86 - Dunt Look Back in Anger

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2021 74:03


    For ALE's December theme of liberalism we go back to the moment that makes liberals misty eyed, the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. Rivers, railways and roads, the Churchill statue waving, the green mound that turns into an industrial hell, Kenneth Branagh, The Queen and James Bond jumping out of helicopters, Mary Poppins and the NHS beds jazz sequence...    A high watermark for the Kingdom or a revealing window into the papier mâché heart of 21st Century liberalism? Who can say?     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     The Complete London 2012 Opening Ceremony    Nick Clegg backs face-sitting protesters over UK porn ban - Andrew Grice in The Independent (2020)    Baron Harkonnen    Industrial Revolution sequence from the ceremony    Brunel giving Caliban's speech from The Tempest     The Queen and James Bond sequence from the ceremony    Carl Schmitt at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy    NHS sequence from the ceremony    London 2012 organisers had to stop Jeremy Hunt putting Hitler in the opening ceremony, documentary reveals - Caroline Mortimer in The Independent (2016)    Comradio Film Club #1: Mank    Eclipse section from the ceremony    "WHEN ERIC CLAPTON'S BIGOTED 1976 RANT SPARKED ROCK AGAINST RACISM"    What the Olympics didn't say about Britain's place in the world - Eric Taylor Woods (2012)    Neofeudalism: The End of Capitalism? - Jodi Dean in LARB (2020)    Does Neo-Feudalism Define Our Current Epoch? - Louis Proyect for Counterpunch (2020)

    85 - Political Orgone-ising

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2021 60:43


    From the wellsprings of psychology and psychiatry: Tales of sex, scandal, and madness. Through the animal magnetism of Franz Mesmer and the politicised uses of the concept of charisma, taking in the power of Odin, beyond orgasmic energy into ectoplasm, queer sex, imaginary toxins, and made up hallucinogens; our adventurers embark on a sacred quest to overcome hangovers and cynicism, finding more politics in modern mythical substances than they expected, more fun than they hoped for, and a mildly satisfying finale.    Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Good News Everyone!    A Brief History of Menstrual Blood Myths    Benjamin Franklin and the Glass Armonica    Adagio for Glass Harmonica - Mozart. Played by Dennis James    Mesmer's 1780 proposal for a controlled trial to test his method of treatment using ‘Animal Magnetism'. - Donaldson IML (2005)    The origins of modern clinical research - Stuart A Green (2002)    The first modern psychology study - Sadie F. Dingfelder (2010)    Progress of animal magnetism in New England - Charles Poyen (1837)    Conducting the Vital Fluid: The Politics and Poetics of Mesmerism in the 1790s - Tim Fulford (2004)    Title Page to Illustrations of Madness by John Haslam (1810)   House passes bill to help diplomats, officials hit with Havana Syndrome - Josh Lederman for NBC (2021)    The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - ST Coleridge (1834)    Against The New Vitalism - Josie Sparrow in The New Socialist (2019)    Comradio | 29 - Mythology, Part II: And I Don't Want to Myth a Thing feat. Sarah Stein Lubrano    Wobbly Vitalism - Jeffrey Scott Brown (2018)    Comradio | 65 - Renewable Elegy feat. E.E. Jones    Reichenbach Falls    Comradio | 52 - The Illuminazis feat. We Don't Talk About the Weather    Sex on the Brain - Mark Pilkington for The Guardian (2005)    Comradio | 69 - Left Get It On feat. Justin Hancock    Comradio | 84 - Machine Politics feat. Thomas Heasman-Hunt    Photographs from a séance with Eva Carrière    Comradio | 71 - I'll Never Cross a Wicket Line feat. Hazel Potter & Tom Williams    Spirited Sexuality: Sex, Marriage, and Victorian Spiritualism - Marlene Tromp (2003)    Photo of Boji    Istanbul's local dog framed over poop on train

    PREVIEW Comradio Film Club #6: V for Vendetta feat. James from Podcasting is Praxis

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2021 7:46


    A short preview of our Patreon exclusive episode.     We are joined by James from Podcasting is Praxis to explode the film behind the mask via Macbeth, anarchism, gender, the Situationists, Macbeth, Napoleon, myth and the heroes journey, Macbeth, anarchism, Lettrism, Macbeth, George W Bush, and Macbeth.   (Amount of Macbeth may be exaggerated to annoy actors)   Our Patreon     Buy our merch   Second Row Socialists on Twitter   Comradio on Twitter   Alternative Left Entertainment   Follow ALE on Twitter   James on Twitter     Podcasting is Praxis on Twitter     PiP's Patreon  

    84 - Machine Politics feat. Thomas Heasman-Hunt

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2021 82:50


    The creator of Small Robots (@smolrobots) joins us for one of our most serious and most silly episodes. With the help of a large cast of Thomas's adorable robot characters, we take a range of approaches from the philosophical to the daft to: robots in culture, AI, transhumanism, immigration, gender reveal parties, memes and memetics, A Cyborg Manifesto, killer robots, F1, alpacas, upturned plugs, and more.     Plus, Cities For Life Day.    Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Small Robots on Twitter    Small Robots archive - smolbotbot.com    Small Robots Patreon    Deliverypersonbot    Lt Commander Data as a bot    Tory leader bot    Banthesunbot    Abolishicebot    What ICE really does - Sofie Werthan for Slate (2018)    ACLU - Defending Civil Liberties At The Border    US Immigration facts    Genderrevealbot    Genderbot    Transrightsbot    Trans/nb solidarity bot account on Twitter    Good Trans News Twitter account. Only positive transgender news stories.    Transbot    Managing automation: Employment, inequality and ethics in the digital age - IPPR (2017)    Transhumanism and Marxism: Philosophical Connections - James Steinhoff (2014)    10 Technologies Banned From F1    Dying to be big: a review of anabolic steroid use - H Perry (1992)    The Cyborg Manifesto - Donna Haraway (1985)    Donna Haraway's "A Cyborg Manifesto" (26:59) - Theory & Philosophy podcast    No death and an enhanced life: Is the future transhuman? - Robin McKie in The Guardian (2018)    Memebots    Resistbot as a tarot card    Resistbot (original)    Stop Killer Robots campaign    Stop Killer Robots - Twitter account    Alpacabot    NFT bot    Watchbot    The Goon Show: What Time Is It, Eccles?    Bigbot    Bigskeletonbot     Newbot    Splatbot    Upturnedplugbot    Parallelparkbot     Mondaybot     Sittingbot     Fencesittingbot     Cities For Life Day    World Coalition Against The Death Penalty    Custombot order form    Small Robots book on Hive

    83 - Snubthumping

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2021 64:44


    For the ALE theme this month, which is "cooperation" , we are talking boycotts. The history of them (taking in the struggle for Irish independence, an anti-slavery forerunner to Fair Trade, the "girlcott", and more) and the best tactics to use today. Plus, Armed Forces cosplay for MPs.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     The Origins and Development of Boycotting - Gerard Moran (1985)    Why We Boycott: Consumer Motivations for Boycott Participation - J G Klein et al (2004)    Strike Map UK    Row over 'drunk' MPs on Gibraltar military visit - BBC News (2021)    Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme website    Sephiroth from Final Fantasy

    82 - Overton Window Dressing

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2021 56:38


    What is "electability"? Why is the word so popular in Indonesia? What does it mean for UK politics? We answer these questions and even ask an AI to describe the concept, as well as what it understands by "the Second Row Socialists" and, most importantly, its thoughts on John Rentoul's fluid intake.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Google trends data for "electability"    Extremists who win primaries are 37 percent less likely to win the general election compared to more moderate candidates.- Andrew B. Hall (2015)    Man Bites Blue Dog: Are Moderates Really More Electable than Ideologues? - Stephen M. Utych (2019)     In U.S., Socialist Presidential Candidates Least Appealing - Justin McCarthy for Gallup (2015)    Bulletpoint: Is Electability A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? - Nate Silver for Five Thirty Eight (2019)    Estimating the gender penalty in House of Representative elections using a regression discontinuity design - Lefteris Anastasopoulos (2016)     Voters are back to worrying whether a woman can win - Ella Nilsen for Vox (2020)    Just 6 per cent of Labour voters backed the party because of their local MP - Jon Stone for The Independent (2017)    Only half of the population have heard of Emily Thornberry    Starmer : I will break pledges to make Labour electable - Andrew Woodcock for The Independent (2021)    Labour members split on whether the party should prioritise electability or principles - Fintan Smith for YouGov (2021)    PiP's Scotpol podcast episode with talk of the Scottish Greens

    81 - Total COP Out

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2021 62:59


    A particularly red episode for you this week. The history of instability in Sudan that contributed to the military coup on 25th October, the COP26 circus, The Times on conversion therapy and the government consultation, the lawyer who won billions for indigenous peoples then felt the full force of the law, Matt and Chlöe on the libel train, the Beatles Museum, the horror of virtual reality with Mark Zuckerberg and Nick Clegg, and a new workers cooperative in Corbyn country.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Boris Johnson's fascist 'fall of Rome' comments    Urging change of gender to be criminalised - George Grylls in The Times (archived link)    Government consultation on conversion therapy    This Attorney Took On Chevron. Then Chevron-Linked Judges and Private Prosecutors Had Him Locked Up. - Sofia Andrade for Slate (2021)    Lawnmower man - trapped in virtual reality    Play Bamboozle! Quiz    Astley In The Noose - The Wonderstuff    A conversation with the founder of ethical food delivery service, Wings - London In Bits    Wings Ethical Food Delivery (Finsbury Park only)

    80 - Close Encounters of the 4th International

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2021 74:55


    Throughout the universe, far from home, all human dead will be reanimated to walk again eternally.  Cosmism, a seemingly unkillable philosophy, launches our supernatural, technological, and political history of a modern myth that crystallised in the Cold War and which now has millions of adherents, from unaffiliated believers to extreme cultists to the utopian Trotskyists known as the Posadists.    Swing down sweet chariots for the mothership connection: it's the Comradio 2021 Halloween Special.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     The Space Pope    Episode 18, where we talk about Cosmism in the context of the space race    Is There A God? (in Russian) - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1932)    Le Voyage Dans La Lune - George Méliès    Alien demonology: the Christian roots of the malevolent extraterrestrial in UFO religions and abduction spiritualities - Christopher Partridge (2004)    Comet Hale-Bopp    On UFOlogy with Chinese Characteristics and the Fate of Chinese Socialism - Malcolm Thompson (2020)    Episode 52 - The Illuminazis feat. We Don't Talk About the Weather    "Alexa" scene from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home    Sovereignty and the UFO - Alexander Wendt & Raymond Duvall (2008)    Interview with Alexander Wendt in Vox - Sean Illing (2020)    Scientist Edward Condon of Colorado University published a scientific study of UFOs  in 1968    The Drake Equation    David Halperin on the Hills' abduction experience    UFOs, Otherness, and Belonging: Identity in Remote Aboriginal Australia - Eirik Saethre (2007)    I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs, and Apocalypse Communism - A.M. Gittlitz (2020)    Afrofuturism: where space, pyramids and politics collide - Chardine Taylor-Stone (2014)    Parliament Funkadelic - The Mothership Connection (Halloween, 1976)     Further reading Tsiolkovsky, Russian Cosmism and Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Lytkin et al (1994) UFOs and the US intelligence community - Charles A. Ziegler (2008)    The Roswell Myth in the FBI Files: Aliens, UFOs, and the Cold War - Anna Wortman (2004)    Afrofuturism, science fiction, and the history of the future - Lisa Yaszek (2010)

    79 - SPORTERO (Call Me By Your Game) feat. Rory Magrath and Sam Whyte

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2021 70:50


    In this episode on LGBT+ experiences of sport, we are joined by sociologist Rory Magrath and LGBT comedian & sports fan Sam Whyte. We discuss Rory's LGBT Fans Project, homophobia and transphobia in sport, the intersection of these with racism as well as social class, masculinity, gender expectations arising from the roots of modern football, personal experiences, sporting authorities, the media, policy, and Trans Radio UK FC's awesome football shirt.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Follow Rory Magrath on Twitter    Follow Sam Whyte on Twitter    Inclusionary and exclusionary banter: English club cricket, inclusive attitudes and male camaraderie    Natalie Washington - Football vs transphobia    More Americans shot by dogs...    Trans Radio UK    TRUK United FC    TRUK United FC shirt

    PREVIEW Comradio Film Club #5: Alien feat. Tara Court

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2021 7:37


    A short preview of our Patreon exclusive episode.   For Halloween we board the Nostromo with Tara Court from The Killening podcast to discuss the 1979 film Alien. We look into sinister corporations, alien bits that look like other bits, and Žižek getting psychoanalytical about it all, while dragging Lacan along with him.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Tara on Twitter   The Killening   The Killening on Twitter

    78 - The Beans of Production

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2021 82:52


    Conference, Conference, Conference! Here at Comradio we have all the Conferences. This is a Conference blow out! We have a vast selection of Conferences! We got Tory Conference, Labour Conference, Lib Dem Conference, SNP Conference, protest Conference, apple pie Conference, beans Conference... For the perverts we've got Reform Party Conference and we even have a preview of Green Party Conference.    If we don't have it, you don't want it! If you can find more Conference anywhere, um.. attend it.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Dominic Hutchins challenging Rees-Mogg    Mf eating beans    "the scene from A Clockwork Orange" (CW: Violence)    Sir Gordon Messenger asked to "stamp out waste and wokery" in NHS - Daily Mail (archive)    Trashfuture episode talking about Starmer's speech and climate    SNP conference: Freeports in Scotland must meet six guarantees - The National    Podcasting is Praxis episode talking about freeports     Dawn Foster memorial library sale    Beans

    77 - Pharma‘s Market

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2021 54:39


    This Alternative Left Entertainment launch episode sees our identity-protected scientist guest smack down the myths of the invisible hand as we wrestle with how capitalism enables dangerous practices within the pharmaceutical and medical markets.     For our five minute focus we look at one way to do things better; The People's Vaccine.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Alternative Left Entertainment     Follow ALE on Twitter     Biotech and Biological Sciences Research Council     The People's Vaccine

    76 - Brighton Ruck

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2021 51:22


    Jordan and Chlöe go to Labour Conference and The World Transformed. With the help of this week's guest, CLP delegate Gary, they tell us about shenanigans from Conference Chairs, Labour List karaoke, challenging Paul Mason to not hate Catholics, and more.    We apologise for the low quality of some of the audio in the first 13 minutes.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Community Pizza Fire Scene

    PREVIEW Comradio Film Club #4: Verhoeven #1: Showgirls feat. Dr. Eleanor Janega and Justin Hancock

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2021 8:46


    A short preview of our first Patreon exclusive episode.     Just as there's nowhere quite like Vegas, there's no film experience quite like Showgirls. We go through the gates of hell into the world of Paul Verhoeven's excess. A sharp critique of capitalism, a devastating refutation of the American Dream? A Chaplinesque queer parody? A twisted version of the Wizard of Oz? Or simply the most ridiculous erotic drama to ever grace the screen? Both a popular drinking game and the focus of much intellectual discussion, Showgirls occupies its own unique section of the "so bad it's good" film category.    Join us and our guests, Justin Hancock and Dr Eleanor Janega, in our first patreon-exclusive Film Club episode as we examine sex, social relations and archetypes through this enduring cultural touchstone and camp classic.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Eleanor on Twitter    Eleanor on Patreon    We're Not So Different on Twitter    We're Not So Different on Patreon     Justin on Twitter    BISH UK    BISH UK on Patreon    Culture Sex Relationships    Culture Sex Relationships on Patreon 

    75 - Class Wars: A New Hope feat. Eve Livingston

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2021 75:20


    Eve Livingston joins us to talk about her new book Make Bosses Pay : Why We Need Unions, a call to change history through union membership and organising.    We discuss the variety of unions available, how traditional, inaccurate notions of work and workers can be overcome, cultural capital (as in whether your accent or how many museums you visit matters), what Sharon Graham's Unite might look like, the link between unions and The Labour Party, and the dangers of the friendly HR department.    Plus, fake Labour Party disciplinary investigations.    And finally, Matt gets an email.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Buy Eve's book, Make Bosses Pay: Why We Need Unions here    Follow Eve on Twitter    Follow Eve on Instagram    Left/Over podcast with Alex Marshall of IWGB    What Is Cultural Capital? Do I Have It?    Restaurant scene from The Wire    Owen Jones tweet re established fake investigation of Jess Barnard    Chardine Taylor Stone investigation thread    Heather Mendick investigation thread    Now an MP has been targeted with a fake investigation also

    74 - NOLS House Party

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2021 60:00


    AKA I Can Feel It Kamming In The Air Tonight     In this episode recorded before the "investigation" of Jess Barnard, we are occupied by currents of Islamophobia. We predict the future (that Oliver Kamm's call to disband Young Labour signals a ramping up of attacks), discuss The Henry Jackson Society and how parliamentary rules were changed to mitigate its influence, fear the resurrection of NOLS, talk about Lionel Shriver, imagine the fall out from Corbyn running as an independent MP in Islington North, and lament the Labour disciplinary process.    On a positive note, we look forward to The World Transformed in Brighton.   Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Oliver Kamm's Tweets about Young Labour    Who is Philip Cross?     Who could he possibly be?     Kenan Malik response in The Guardian to Lionel Shriver's Spectator article    Phil Collins Responds To Rumours He Divorced His Wife Via Fax Machine    Clip of Corbyn constituents interviewed after his suspension from the Labour Party

    73 - On Your Marx, Not Cishet, Go! feat. Jules Joanne Gleeson

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2021 71:58


    Joining us to talk about the fabulous collection Transgender Marxism is one of its editors, Jules Joanne Gleeson. Transgender Marxism gathers together a range of contributions on trans liberation, Marxist theory and surviving under capitalism.     Note: the name obscured by some background noise at 26:49 is Farah Thompson.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Transgender Marxism - Edited by Jules Joanne Gleeson, Elle O'Rourke (2021)    Jules on Patreon    The Limits of Trans Liberalism - Nat Raha (2015)    The Transgender Issue - Shon Faye (2021)    Understanding Disability - Michael Oliver (1996)     Judith Butler: The Early Years - Jules Gleeson (2019)    How Do Gender Transitions Happen? - Jules Joanne Gleeson (2021)    Gender Identity Communism: A Gay Utopian Examination of Trans Healthcare in Britain - Jules Gleeson and J N Hoad (2020)    Treva Ellison: Black Trans Reproductive Labor. 2017 Talk at BCRW    Pinko - Communism for fags!    Invert journal - Marxism and abolition of gender    Homintern - Prefrontal Paranoia Meets Anal Vision    Sylvia McCheyne at the good NS    Marxism and Transgender Liberation - Red Fightback (2020)    Blood and Terf podcast     Leftovers Facebook group    Jules interviews Judith Butler in The Guardian     Support resources Queer Care Facebook group. Peer support    Gendered Intelligence    Mermaids    VIMÖ (Austria)

    72 - The Matrix Retweeted

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2021 66:49


    Are you yourself on Twitter?  Who is the real Twitter you?  Why do you send me such horny DMs?    We examine the psychology of Twitter engagement, what researchers can and can't find out about your personality from your tweets, ponder whether Adam Curtis was right to posit distorted versions of ourselves in data warehouses, weigh up the political value of "authenticity", get lost in a sea of signs, interrogate our Tony Blair cover art, and then search for a sparkling exit in Andy Warhol shoes.    Also, Danny DeVito and the Nabisco strike.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Why You Clicked on That Tweet: The Psychology of Twitter Engagement    Tech companies use “persuasive design” to get us hooked. Psychologists say it's unethical - Chavie Lieber (2018) in Vox    How Twitter Fuels Anxiety - Laura Turner (2017) in The Atlantic    Language of ADHD in Adults on Social Media - Guntuku et al (2017)    What Do Your Spaces Say About You? - Lindsay T. Graham (2018)    The 'Big 5' Personality Traits    A tale of two sites: Twitter vs. Facebook and the personality predictors of social media usage - David John Hughes et al (2012)    Can't Get You Out Of My Head - Adam Curtis (2021)    I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience - Marwick et al (2010)    Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity - E. Patrick Johnson (2003)    Authenticity on “Black Twitter”: Reading Racial Performance and Social Networking - Raven S. Maragh (2017)     Brand Twitter and Fake Activism | A Response to Steak-Umm - Video by Zoe Bee    George Mack tweet    Dunbar's number    A page on Jean Baudrillard and hyperreality    A selection of quotes by Jean Baudrillard    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry for Jean Baudrillard    Ubik by Philip K. Dick (1969)    Introduction to Fredric Jameson    American Psycho - Business Card Scene    Intro to Linda Hutcheon on parody    Jo Swinson's Been Forced To Deny She Kills Squirrels Thanks To A Twitter User Churning Out Viral Fake Election Stories (2019)    Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism - Fredric Jameson (1984)    A Pair of Shoes by Van Gogh (1886)    Diamond Dust Shoes by Andy Warhol (1980)    Tetsuo, The Iron Man dir. Shynia Tsukamoto (1989) - Trailer    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry for Authenticity     Nabisco bakers across the US are on strike, potentially disrupting Oreo supply    Danny DeVito Abruptly Loses Twitter Verification After Tweeting Support For Nabisco Strike

    71 - I'll Never Cross a Wicket Line feat. Hazel Potter & Tom Williams

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2021 96:49


    Gambling, landowners, the French Revolution, Victorian gender roles, the 'Scramble for Africa', suffragettes burning down pavilions, fascist cricketers, colonialism, Marxist cricketers, West Indian independence, the boycott of South Africa, and the all-rounder who helped bring racial discrimination law to the UK. Tom Williams (of the New Socialist) and Hazel Potter join us to look at the significant part cricket has played in shaping England, its myths, and the class system; in the establishment and maintenance of British colonies; and in struggles for liberation.     Plus, the TUC's furlough proposals.     Our Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Follow Tom on Twitter    Follow Hazel on Twitter    1909 Conservative "Demon Bowler" election poster    The tree that grew inside the cricket field at Kent's Canterbury ground    Adams and Eves at the Eden Gardens: Women Cricket Spectators and the Conflict of Feminine Subjectivity in Calcutta, 1920–1970 - Souvik Naha (2012)    History of Cricket | 1957 - 58 - England women in the Antipodes - Gotta have Faith    Faith Thomas is the Aussie legend you haven't heard of - Sidharth Monga (2019)    Australia, Explained | Crikey! Cricket & Colonialism    Cricket, caste, community, colonialism: the politics of a great game - Ramachandra Guha (1997)     Fast but black: the Krom Hendricks story - Martin Williamson (2011)    England bowler Ollie Robinson suspended for eight matches for past racist and sexist tweets    The latest on the Azeem Rafiq affair    Beyond A Boundary - CLR James (1960)    Fire In Babylon (2010) dir. Stevan Riley    Michael Holding on Racism (1) Michael Holding on Racism (2)    Why We Kneel, How We Rise - Michael Holding (2021)    Scorecard for Gloucestershire v Australians 1930    Footage of Learie Constantine in action    The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963     TUC - Daughter of Furlough    The TUC's short-time working scheme has the potential to deliver bold, necessary change - Adam Peggs (2021)    Englishness and Blackness: Cricket as Discourse on Colonialism - Manthia Diawara (2010)    Oborne & Heller on Cricket podcast    Anyone But England - Mike Marqusee (2016)    War Minus The Shooting - Mike Marqusee (1997)      

    70 - Love Will Blair Us Apart

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2021 64:31


    This week we talk about recent politics news including Labour embracing the legacy of Blair, Apsana Begum, and much more.  Our Patreon will be live very soon, we will tweet out when!   Our (eventual) Patreon   Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       NLRB officer says Amazon violated US labor law  

    69 - Left Get It On feat. Justin Hancock

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2021 96:40


    Justin Hancock is a sex educator whose website bishuk.com is visited by thousands of young people a week.  He also co-hosts the Culture Sex Relationships podcast for adults and has recently written the book Can We Talk About Consent?  We chat with Justin about the commodification of sex, sexual subjectivity, gender, what sex would be like under (or on top of) socialism, flirty politicians, Virginia Woolf's sex life, the material drivers of chemsex, Yvette and Ed's love of poppers, a Californian orgasm cult and more...     Plus, David visits the Vagina Museum.     Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Patreon for Culture, Sex, Relationships (The Meg-John & Justin Podcast)    Patreon for BISHuk    Follow Justin on Twitter    The Meg-John & Justin Podcast | Neoliberalism and Sex and Relationships    The Meg-John & Justin Podcast | Her Sexual Self: Joy Townsend. Sexual subjectivities    Rewriting the rules by Meg-John Barker    How to understand your gender by Alex Iantaffi & Meg-John Barker    Gender: A Graphic Guide by Meg-John Barker    The Bisexual Index    Bi UK    The Meg-John & Justin Podcast | Justin Chats With Eleanor Janega About The Objectification of Sex    Whipping Girl - Julia Serrano    'Why women had better sex under socialism' - Kristen R. Ghodsee    'Republicans and Democrats Don't Just Disagree About Politics. They Have Different Sexual Fantasies' - Justin Lehmiller    Spinning, spooning and the seductions of flirtatious masculinity in contemporary politics (2010) - Candida Yates     Britain's party leaders throw kitchen sink at election' (2015) - Bangkok Post     'Love And Sex With Many: Research On The Health And Wellness Of Consensual Non-Monogamy' - Forbes     "Storming then Performing": Historical Non-Monogamy and Metamour Collaboration (2021) - Brian M Watson and Sarah Stein Lubrano     Sex & Drugs & Rock n Roll - Ian Drury and The Blockheads on TOTP (1978)     'What is Chemsex? And how worried should we be?' (2016) - Barbara Speed in The New Statesman     The rise of chemsex: queering collective intimacy in neoliberal London (2018) - Jamie Hakim     The Orgasm Cult - BBC Podcast by Nastaran Tavakoli-Far     Enjoy Sex (How, When and If You Want To) by Meg-John Barker and Justin Hancock     The cult of ecstasy: Tantrism, the new age, and the spiritual logic of late capitalism (2000) - Hugh B. Urban     The Vagina Museum     Follow The Vagina Museum on Twitter     Period Positive

    68 - Comradio Film Club #3: Jaws feat. Jack Frayne-Reid

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2021 91:54


    Jack from Reel Politik helps us wander through New Hollywood, bringing together 45 years of reflections on Jaws, from Hiroshima to Žižek. We also assess Dennis Hopper's health tips, assert our lack of fear, and even look at the film's unfortunate impact on shark policy - and how politicians use movie myths to pursue ideology bolstering but pragmatically ineffective action.     Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       RP on Twitter     Bill Murray sings Jaws    The Jaws Effect: How movie narratives are used to influence policy responses to shark bites in Western Australia (2014) - Christopher Neff    Adam Nayman on Jaws and "virtuoso populism"    "History Bites Back: Confronting the Atomic Leviathan in Jaws" (2017) - Sebastian Croft    The fate of the USS Indianopolis    Guardian Article on Jaws - Mark Kermode    Jaws clip from The Perverts Guide To Ideology - Slavoj Žižek    Bob Dylan's 115th Dream    Easy Riders, Raging Bulls - full documentary    Easy Riders, Raging Bull - Deleted and extended footage    Joseph Campbell, four functions of myth    The Shark Is Still Working - full documentary

    67- Where We're Going, We Don't Need Notes

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2021 58:33


    We go in without safety harnesses this week, with an episode generated on the fly.  Fortunately, your Comradio hosts haven't yet completely destroyed their memory functions with masturbation, drugs, and Labourism.  Talking this week about the widely felt loss of the late Dawn Foster, the Starmer twins, the concept of statesmanship, Socialist Appeal and proscription, mandating delegates, the Tory u-turn on exempting themselves from isolation, David Aaronovich, swimmers, and fighting demons for LGBT+ Palestinians.     Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       A bench in memory of Dawn Foster     Dogs Trust's Freedom Project, Dawn's chosen charity

    66 - Never Say Trevor Again

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 18, 2021 65:08


    On the table this week are: The case brought by disability campaigner Heidi Carter concerning inequality in abortion law, the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in Haiti, the England football team, Trevor Phillips, Matt and a vacuum cleaner or something, whether Labour should put Narendra Modi on election leaflets, the latest from the Unite Gen Sec election, Labour MPs going on corporate jollies with Tories, Dennis Hopper's hatred of product placement, and Sajid Javid's idea of romance.     Buy our merch     Second Row Socialists on Twitter     Comradio on Twitter       Campaigners say abortions 'need 24-week limit'    The politics of prenatal testing and selective abortion - Lisa Blumberg (1994)    Why Members of the Disability Community Oppose Prenatal Diagnosis and Selective Abortion - Marsha Saxton (2000)    Prenatal diagnosis and discrimination against the disabled - L. Gillam (1999)    Assassination of Jovenel Moïse    UK Labour Party accused of 'divisive' politics with poll leaflet featuring PM Modi    Grenfell Tower fire: Borough called on to admit liability    What is Objectivism?    The Fountainhead. Full courtroom speech    Patrick Bateman skincare routine

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