Frequent and wide-ranging talks on all things relating to spirituality, meditation, yoga - all with a practical aim of encouraging and helping those engaged in self-exploration and creative living.
In this podcast, I revisit the alleged failed missile attack on Diego Garcia. I look at how the story has developed and been disseminated. [Free. 15 minutes.]
In this podcast, I attempt to paint a picture of where we are now by drawing on Starmer's two-faced approach to war in West Asia, the on-going genocide in Gaza and the firing of missiles towards Diego Garcia by Iran. I take all of these as signalling the beginning of the end for the hegemon. [Free. 23 minutes.]
In this podcast, I consider 'externalities' which is the name given to the dumping of waste products into water and air, and onto land by capitalist industrial production, free of charge. I argue this is done under the imperative of 'increasing shareholder value' and in which governments are implicated. This explains, I argue, why governments wait until the last minute to act, even though citizens' health may be severely impacted. I illustrate the thesis with examples from the the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. [Free. 30 minutes.]
Join me as I take my constitutional. Again, I consider subtle and not so subtle aspects of propaganda, mostly in the context of the state of the world, and particularly with respect to war in West Asia. I also briefly consider the state's resort to coercion to supress dissent from its viscous psychopathy. [Free. 19 minutes.]
Join me as take my constitutional. In this episode I examine information flow and energy flow as primary levers of control for the hegemon. I do this in the context of unrelenting war propaganda by western MSM. [Free. 20 minutes.]
In this podcast, I examine some small details of propaganda reactions to the recent assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei by USA-Israel in two interventions in the discourse surrounding this event. These are a BBC report of the event and a tweet by Paul Mason. I attempt to expose how repeated tiny innuendos of language are meant to nudge the collective common sense to produce attitudes and world pictures conducive to the interests of the oligarchic class. I situate this in the situation in which communications infrastructure and actual content are owned and determined by that class. I try to indicate how this unfreedom can be seen through. [Free. 35 minutes.]
In this podcast, I try to find my way through the fog of the first day of war between US-Israel and Iran to describe and elucidate what is going on regarding the configuration of forces and military capabilities. I also examine briefly the role of the control of oil and of the vast profits made by the military industrial complex in the context of the rise of China and BRICS and the decline of US hegemony. [Free. 33 minutes.]
In this podcast I consider (1) Col Wilkerson's assertion that World War 3 is underway, (2) Mick Wallace's claim that, in the global north, governments are against their own peoples, and (3) the irrationality of the US administration's attempt to dismantle cutting edge science projects and scientifically-based public services. I synthesise these interpretations, and though the result is very bleak, I nevertheless describe certain glimmers of hope. NB This was recorded in August 25 but was overlooked for publication. [Free. 48 minutes.]
In this podcast, I offer a contextual analysis of the Green Party's resounding win in the Gorton and Denton by-election in which a local working class, female plumber was elected to Parliament with a very decent majority over second place Reform, a fascist party aligned with Trumpism. Labour was relegated to third place having dominated in this region since 1932. I examine the intensifying rhetoric ay tricks aimed at the Greens as a result from both the far right and the technocratic Labour government. I argue that a seismic shift has occurred and celebration is in order, but only for a brief while before intense struggle resumes. [Free. 30 minutes.]
Join me on my constitutional. Today I make a rough sketch of the geo-political situation and appraise some past prognostications on chaotic trends. [Free. 11 minutes.]
In this podcast, I examine Elon Musk's recent take on empathy, which essentially claims that it has to be applied partially for the good of civilisation. I show Musk's take to be incoherent, practically unfeasible, and redolent with MAGA fascism. In the process, I believe that I caste some useful light on empathy itself. [Free. 25 minutes.]
In this podcast, I interpret Francesca Albanese's exclamation, on hearing Donald Trump call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza in order that it might be reconstructed as desirable real estate, that "this is the world naked". I discuss the proposed annexation of Canada, Panama, and Greenland alongside the psychology of delusions of omnipotence and the MAGA cult. [Free. 29 minutes.]
In this podcast, I examine the relationship between accumulations of extreme wealth and notions of property and their connection to power. I suggest how these might be re-configured so as to eliminate their current malignant threat to general human flourishing. [Free. 29 minutes.]
Join me on my constitutional. In this podcast, I examine how wide-spread and justifiable resentment at conditions of life under current power arrangements is channelled by the very agencies causing that resentment into serving their project of concentrating concentrate wealth and power in a very few hands. The result here is that a good many people believe passionately that they are sticking it to the man by cleaving to beliefs, action and politics which that same man devised and paid to propagate. I use the example of some recent debate around the viability of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and the role of the state. [Free. 27 minutes.]
Join me on my constitutional. In a somewhat rambling discourse, I examine an engagement with an AI on the subject of theories of money and, from there, proceed to take issue with 'technological solutionism' which suggests that technological advance of a certain kind is sufficient to solve humanity's pressing problems. Over and against this idea, I claim that technology can be immensely powerful and transformative, but is not sufficient to ensure human flourishing without the appropriate political and structural change to society. I illustrate the case with the empirical case of how massively enhanced technologically-facilitated productivity has not improved the lot of workers but has lead to the concentration of wealth and power in very few hands. I suggest the use of enhanced productivity and the ability to automate drudgery should be used to liberate time for people in general rather than serving the bottom line. [Free. 26 minutes.]
Join me on my constitutional. I enquire into the matter of the extreme concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of a small number of billionaires and take issue with a couple of the regular justifications for this status quo. The first of these is the notion that if people can't get hyper-rich without restriction that that would be an affront to liberty. The second is the notion that the ability to accumulate vast amounts of wealth and power by a few somehow makes for dynamism and innovation which benefits everybody via trickle down. Beware! Contains utopian speculation. [Free. 31 minutes.]
In this podcast, I reflect on events of the past year, particularly with respect to ecological, economic, and cultural systems. I compare my forward speculations of January 24 with events of the year itself. I also speculate on how the trends I identify might develop as 2025 unfolds. I ask if there are any hopeful signs and question what we can and should do. [Free. 69 minutes.]
Join me on my constitutional. I discuss the use by right wing culture-warriors of a semiotics of food choices and dietary traditions and habits. An enemy can be signified by a food item! In this vein, just lately, Nigel Farrage MP got annoyed with 'left-wing milk', or at least the absence of proper [fascist] milk. I caste psychoanalytic aspersions on this weird symbolic world as well as translating some of the food signifiers onto stances on ecological issues, especially those deriving from food production. [Free. 18 MINUTES.]
As I take my constitutional, I discuss the intensifying cold war on China, the rise in authoritarianism and state terror in the UK and beyond, and the intensification of military conflict in The Middle East and Ukraine. I also discuss how these elements of current affairs are closely entwined and related to such matters as the steady realisation of the BRICS project, de-dollarization, and the role of the Military Industrial Complex. [Free. 32 minutes.]
In this podcast, I reflect on the recent riots in the UK and the various responses to them. [Free. 51 minutes.]
In this podcast, I consider the grumbling discourse in the UK around conscription, which was raised as a policy by then PM Rishi Sunak in the run up to the General Election. I criticise this proposal from a variety of angles as well as teasing out the ideological ramifications of "a culture of service" which it was meant to engender. [Free. 27 minutes.]
In this podcast, I discuss the proposition that "Hell is other people" which is found in Sartre's play Hui Clos (1944). I draw on my own reflections, and the works of Freud and Hegel rather than closely following the original play. [Free. 22 minutes.]
In this podcast, I take issue with a range of pleas for inequality in society. I examine the idea that inequality is "natural", and the mobilisation of Darwin's account of evolution to propagandise for that idea and find these wanting. I criticise the notion that equality as a desideratum is inimical to freedom. I examine the way in which Nietzsche draws our attention to the undeniable variation in the endowments humans find themselves with and point the illogicality of what he makes of that fact, which is partly the result of failing to distinguish the variety of phenomena that the term "equality" refers to. I conclude that society should tend towards greater equality, repudiating caste society, eugenics and capitalism, and that this is necessary for human flourishing in freedom, and indeed survival. [Free. 22 minutes.]
In this podcast, I apply Gramsci's concepts of optimism of the will and pessimism of the intellect to some recent news items in order to expose the propaganda nature of their reporting by the BBC and other MSM, to expose the "common sense" and natural seeming language of the broadcasters, which however obscures reality whilst pretending to illluminate it. [Free. 31 minutes.]
In this podcast, I reflect on Nietzsche's apercu that "life is only redeemed through art". I consider social, cultural, political and individual aspects of the question. I ask, what help, if any, such reflections might give us when we are faced with the necessity of changing our brutal reality which is that business as usual is not an option if we are to survive, let alone thrive. [Free. 25 minutes.]
In this wide-ranging podcast, I interpret Goya's painting of the early 1820s, Saturn Eating His Son. This leads me to considerations of Freud's notion of Thanatos or the death instinct, Nietzsche's readings of human cruelty and its relationship to the will to power, current affairs and recent history, particularly with respect to all too common orgies of depraved destruction of life. I describe how the death instinct and the possibility of joy in cruelty are mobilsed by the rich and powerful in pursuit of their own agenda. [Free. 24 minutes.]
In this podcast, I take issue with Professor Steven Pinker's take on the campus protests now spreading through the student body in the USA as revealed by an interview he did with the Radio 4 Today Programme this morning. I also tease out historical resonances with the student unrest that was, like the current protests, also initiated at Columbia University in 1968 and which subsequently spread across the world and signalled the demise of the Vietnam War. For what it's worth, I offer encouragement and advice to students participating in the protests and sketch the argument for their absolute necessity. [Free. 28 minutes.]
In this podcast, I engage with the UK's Foreign Secretary's pronouncements on the Iranian missile attack on Israel. I argue that the FS' reflections are contradictory and incoherent and reflect the deep dysfunctionality at the heart of UK politics, culture, social arrangements and education system. [Free. 17 minutes.]
In this podcast, I reflect on Iran's retaliatory drone attack on Israel, which we expected in the previous podcast and which subsequently happened. I examine configurations in the region which may lead to further escalation and the ramifications globally should this happen. I also consider the authoritarianism in the West, which is growing rapidly, seemingly as a concomitant of the increasing tension in the Middle East. In particular, I consider the UK Labour Party's disgusting stance on the matter and the twisted response of the German State to pro-Palestinian protest and activism. I conclude that revolution is the only option for ordinary people to secure a decent future for themselves and their children. [Free. 21 minutes.]
In this podcast, I reflect on growing geo-political tensions around Iran's intent to retaliate against Israel's attack on its Damascus embassy in which several prominent members of Iran's military were assassinated. I include in my considerations some of the cultural effects of these developments in the UK, particularly the calls for conscription, Labour's intent to increase spending on the military should it gain power, and its full embrace of nukes. Throughout, I use some previous considerations developed on this channel of the several crucial features of historical fascism as a lens with which to gain purchase on these matters. [Free. 17 minutes.]
In this podcast we take a critical look at the output of BBC Radio 4's Today Programme which has an influential position in the distribution of news to the UK. We take a couple of examples for closer scrutiny, the daily homiletic Thought for Today slot, and a particular interview with opposition shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, on her back-peddling on green issues. [Free. 28 minutes. Strong language.]
In this podcast, I reflect on the ramification of The International Court of Justice's initial ruling on the charge of genocide levelled against the State of Israel by The Republic of South Africa. [Free. 29 minutes.]
In this podcast, we discuss Chuang Tzu's Cracking the Safe [ix. 2.], which outlines the emergence and persistence of kleptocratic states and the operations of their rulers. Chuang Tzu mocks the plethora of 'rules and principles' rhetorically expounded by kleptocrats and characterises them as merely the ideological support for unwieldly bureaucracies. Against this mode of social organisation, Chuang Tzu proposes simplicity and bucolic peace. We discuss the resonances between this passage and 'classical anarchism'. [Free. 46 minutes.]
In this podcast, we look aback over 2023 and offer our prognostications for 2024. Amongst themes discussed are war, environment, economy and geopolitics. [Free. 52 minutes.]
In this podcast, we walk into the labyrinth of current affairs discourse surrounding the genocide taking place in Gaza. Considerations include: the possibility of escalation of violence into regional war, the geo-politics of Turkey and NATO, the strengths of the the Turkish army and Hezbollah, the opinions of world governments as reflected by the United Nation Security Council and the General Assembly, the opinions of the worlds' "street" and more. [Free. 43 minutes.]
In this podcast, we discuss the Chapter of the Chuang Tzu entitled Cutting Up An Ox. In this chapter, we see the application of non-doing (wu wei) to a specific practical task and how it enables the highest degree of skill. We expand on Chuang Tzu's phenomenology of this application of wu wei. We discuss the application of this skill to creative as well as artisanal tasks, and also to meditation and living in general. [Free. 53 minutes.]
In this podcast, we discuss two recent propaganda offensives that the BBC is engaging in and which the rest of the MSM are parroting. They are the propositions that (1) carbon capture and storage can mitigate climate disruption and we can accordingly go on with business as usual, and that (2) the Israeli state are the good guys. Needless to say, we dispute both of those propositions. [Free. 32 minutes.]
In this podcast, we consider a passage from the Chuang Tzu entitled Action and Non-action. We describe how the processes of action and non-action are not stark opposites but mutually dependent phases of a profound meditation on the Tao. [Free. 31 minutes.]
In this podcast, we discuss three political events reported in the UK on Monday morning [13/11/23]. They are: the sacking of the Home Secretary, the appointment of David Cameron as Foreign Secretary, and the Liberal Democrats call for a cease fire in Gaza. We relate all of these to the unfolding cataclysm in Gaza, and its history and geopolitics. [Free. 52 minutes.]
In this podcast, we reflect on recent events in Gaza. We pay particular attention to huge pro-Palestine marches and demonstrations across the earth, as well as geo-political shifts that are taking place this moment. We plead for immediate ceasefire. [Free. 1 hour 6minutes.]
In this podcast we reflect on three current events - the Tory byelection defeats in the UK, the crescendo in ongoing violence in Israel-Palestine, and the authoritarian crackdowns on the supporters of the people of Gaza in Europe and beyond. We show how these seemingly disparate events are intimately connected by being a part of the same complex pathology. We touch on the importance of geopolitical, global-economic and historical contexts. [Free. 27 minutes.]
This podcast is an introduction to our forthcoming series on the work of Chuang Tzu, and which builds on our long series on Lao Tzu. [Free. 27 minutes.]
In this podcast, we reflect on widely reported items from the 2023 Tory Part Conference, and plug into some of the wider political and philosophical issues they give rise to. [Free. 42 minutes.]
In this podcast, we engage with the final chapter [81] of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. In this chapter, Lao Tzu is suspicious of book learning and loquacious oratory, instead intimating that knowledge gained through meditation and clear seeing and plain speech are preferable. He also reminds us that non-doing is the way of both the sage and the Tao itself. [Free. 29 minutes.] For details and to book our forthcoming live event - http://peteyates.uk/live-events/
In this podcast, we outline the material we'll cover in our forthcoming series of live talks on zoom. The series starts on 15th October, 1pm BST and four more events follow at weekly intervals. To book, visit http://peteyates.uk/live-events/. [Free. 29 minutes.]
In this podcast, we discuss Chapter 80 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. In this chapter, Lao Tzu considers and recommends a life of rural simplicity in a 'small is beautiful' culture. There are many resonances with some strands of current environmental thinking which we draw out. [Free. 28 minutes.] [Find out about our forthcoming live talks on zoom HERE.]
This podcast deals with Chapter 79 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. Here, Lao Tzu considers debt and credit, both spiritual and financial. Lao Tzu recommends a spiritual abundance which urges us to forgive what we are owed and to honour what we owe. The trailer for our upcoming zoom events is included at the end of the podcast. For details and to book see HERE. [Free. 30 minutes.]
Join me on my constitutional as I entertain the suspicion that the UK right-wing government is on the brink of refocussing its culture wars on net zero, and eco-concern generally, and throwing everything it can muster at it. I place these speculations in a context of a brief and rough explanation of the hermeneutics of suspicion. The podcast ends with the trailer to our upcoming series of live zoom talks. See http://peteyates.uk/live-events/ [Free. 28 minutes.]
In this podcast, we consider Chapter 78 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching in the light of current affairs and alignment with the Tao. The theme of the power of the softness of water is a major concern for Lao Tzu here. [Free. 36 minutes.] To book into upcoming zoom event CLICK HERE.
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