Audio

The Burner Episode #236: Tick, Tick, Tick – and Technocracy
Sunak softens his economic instincts: so what does that say about what’s coming? Is organised labour really in a position of strength? Plus – what does the pandemic mean for the future of technocracy?
The Burner Episode #235: Your Fault
Boris Johnson changes the lockdown rules – but is he also trying to shift the blame?
#ACFM Trip 10: How It Feels to Be Free
Nadia, Jeremy and Keir search for the feeling of freedom, moving from Nina Simone to Buddhist House via Jeremy Clarkson.
The Burner Episode #234: on Victory
James Butler considers the 75th anniversary of VE Day: what are the politics of memory? Plus, Georgia Anderson catches us up on the story of the Nightingale hospitals.
The Burner Episode #233: the Totem and the Cipher
Ash Sarkar asks whether the long shadow of Corbyn stops us seeing Keir Starmer clearly. Plus, the government fears we’ve become “addicted” to income support. James Meadway breaks it down.
The Burner Episode #232: Get Free?
Papers are awash with stories of the ‘bonking boffin’: but with the highest death toll in Europe, is that what matters? Plus, what does the pandemic reveal about the nature of the state and what might it really mean to be free?
The Burner Episode #231: Lessons in Winning, Right-Wing Leninism?
As the left wonders how to make a better world out of the crisis, Aaron Bastani asks: are there lessons we can learn from how the right does politics? Plus, James Butler on the politics of freedom.
The Burner Episode #230: Enemies, Foreign and Domestic
How will the lockdown end? James Butler asks: why is the US so intent on blaming China? Do states need ‘official enemies’?
The Burner Episode #229: the Cause of Labour Is the Hope of the World

James Butler delves into the strike wave prompted by the coronavirus: might the pandemic mean a stronger position for workers? Plus, we hear from a participant in Oxford’s vaccine trial. And James wishes a happy birthday to Resonance FM.

The Burner Episode #228: Boris Johnson’s Two Bodies
Ash Sarkar ponders whether the media's elevation of Boris Johnson to symbol of the nation's health is a sign of something rotten in the state of politics. Plus, Matt Hancock's testing pledge comes a cropper as South Korea's test, trace and isolate strategy bears fruit.
The Burner Episode #227: Behemoth Pulls the Peasant’s Plough?
‘Stare long enough at a bean, or a grain, or an ear of corn, and you’ll begin to see everything – the whole world – inside it.’ James Butler dives into pandemic food shocks and the deep links between capitalist farming and viral outbreaks.
The Burner Episode #226: Labour Pains + Food Crisis
Aaron Bastani asks: where on earth is Labour going on economic policy? Can it avoid fighting the last war? Plus, James Butler asks: are we facing a food crisis? Why?
The Burner Episode #225: Disaster, Natural and Man-made
Why are Tory politicians speaking about the pandemic as if it’s just a natural disaster? Will the borders close for good – and what happens where they’re already locked shut? Plus, Dominic Cummings in the room: does it matter?
The Burner Episode #224: Covid Conspiracy Theories
From 5G to bioweapons to “globalism”, the pandemic provides ample material for conspiracy theorists. James Butler asks: why? And does it tell us anything about the nature of politics?
The Burner Episode #222: One Time a Great Nation
Aaron Bastani asks: what does the pandemic reveal about Britain’s real position in the world? Plus, James Butler takes a look at the European tussle over how to pay for the recovery.
The Burner Episode #221: Of Cows and Coffee
How bad could the economic crisis get? Who will it touch? What hope of recovery – and what shape will it take? And does political leadership really matter?
The Burner Episode #220: They Knew
An explosive story over the weekend exposed just some of the government’s failures in dealing with the pandemic. James Butler asks: what did they know? And what do we know?

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