Spring Podcast

Since ‘The personal is political’ became the mantra of the 1970s feminist movement, sexuality and sexual politics have been central to the development of left-wing ideology. Gay and women’s liberation groups became an integral aspect of the left, informing its discourse and cultural development. Today the concept of the personal extends beyond the broad catchments of race, gender and sexuality – into mental health, weight and the many intersecting identities which make up a personal experience. How far has the personal entered left politics, and how much further does it have to go? Speakers- JOANNA WILLIAMS- author and academic, University of Kent DAVID ALDERSON- author of 'Sex, Needs, and Queer Culture; from liberation to the post-gay' (Zed Books) DAVID WILKINSON- lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of the upcoming ‘Post-Punk, Politics and Pleasure in Britain’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) Recorded at the Spring conference 2016 Saturday May 21st 2016 People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Manchester.

In an article accusing comedy website The Onion of being the most effective Marxist propaganda machine in America, a journalist reflected that ‘from King Lear’s Fool to Samuel Clemens, humor is often the cover by which the radical reaches the mainstream’. From the Chartist usage of seditious, mocking cartoons to Da’esh’s bizarre Twitter trolling of the White House, satire has been long utilised as a tool to ridicule the established order. What is the state of satire in Britain today? What does the profusion of new online satirical rags from the Daily Mash to Newsthump tell us about our modern media environment? What role does Satire play today in defining the left, critiquing power and imagining tomorrow? Speakers- DAVID STUBBS, author & editor at The Daily Mash, recent author of ‘Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany’ (Faber & Faber, 2014) ANGELA NAGLE, journalist and researcher Recorded at the Spring conference 2016 Saturday May 21st 2016 People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Manchester.

A whole generation of left-wingers in the United Kingdom have never had to deal directly with the question of wielding political power. But following a momentous summer, shocked socialists have found themselves with a radical Labour leadership advocating a ‘new politics’ and espousing ambitious economic vision. Do these developments make traditional strategies of ‘pushing Labour leaders left’ seem… outdated? Can this seismic shift relate to ideas of challenging capitalism? And what can be imagined from ‘Corbyn’s Labour’ – should it attempt to set parameters for an attainable social democratic government in 2020, or can it be something far beyond that? Speakers- ALEX WILLIAMS- co-author (with Nick Srnicek) of ‘Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work’ (Verso, 2015) KEN SPOURS- Professor of Post-Compulsory Education at University College London and author of ‘The Osborne Supremacy: why progressives have to develop a hegemonic politics for the 21st century’ (Compass, 2015) CHARLOTTE NICHOLS- national Women’s Officer of Young Labour Recorded at the Spring conference 2016 Saturday May 21st 2016 People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Manchester.

Many cultural movements relate to the crowd – from music, to football, to theatre. Being a part of a mass is clearly an integral aspect of the cultural drive… an event witnessed alone can be quite different from the same event in isolation.The scale of audience and participation builds into what defines the moment – feeds the tension, itself it is part of the spectacle. The experience of many thousands moving together, singing together or watching silently, together – all help define our relationship with the art. What drives this desire to immerse ourselves in humanity? What is the connection between our cultural habits and the collective? What kind of culture does collectivity help to build – and why do we crave it? Speakers- ALEX NIVEN - Author of ‘Oasis’ Definitely Maybe’ for Bloomsbury’s ’33/3′ series and lecturer in English at Newcastle University. OWEN HATHERLEY - Author of ‘Militant Modernism’ (Zero, 2009) and more recently ‘Landscapes of Communism’ (Allen & Unwin, 2015) and ‘The Ministry of Nostalgia: Consuming Austerity’ (Verso, 2016. ABI WILKINSON - Freelance journalist. Recorded at the Spring conference 2016 Saturday May 21st 2016 People’s History Museum, Left Bank, Manchester.