Citations Needed
Really interesting take on the term ‘tax-payer’ and how such language is leveraged by both the right and left to justify austerity and underfunding services. Raul Carillo, of the Law and Political Economy Project and Associate Research Scholar at Yale Law School, is a guest on the show and offers wisdom around how the law upholds such ideas. The conversation gets slightly meta around what money is and the speakers also touch on Modern Monetary Theory.
Ah how funny was it when the hedge funds lost loads of money… alas this episode shows how the Redditors vs Hedge Funds wasn’t really as David & Goliath as they were making it out to be on Wall Street Bets. The participants were certainly not ‘revolutionaries’ or protesting the hedge funds as much as they were trying to make a quick buck lol.
REALLY interesting episode about how the West has used IP laws to prevent the Global South from accessing the IP to produce their own vaccines. This means the Global South has to rely on vaccine charity in the form of COVAX and wait for Western countries to donate their surplus. The issue isn’t even that the IP is expensive or anything - unfortunately the justification is much more sinister. The West just don’t want to set a precedent for future medical access.
I actually did a bit of further research after listening and found out that around 100 countries signed a proposal to waive the IP laws - https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/12/urgently-waive-intellectual-property-rules-for-covid-19-vaccine/
It’s just horrific to gate-keep access to a vaccine in the midst of a GLOBAL pandemic which cannot be fully resolved without universal vaccination. It’s especially gross when you realise a minority of rich countries have hoarded supplies (think the UK’s bought 5.5 doses per person, Canada 9.6 per person) meaning that a large proportion of the Global South won’t come close to being fully vaccinated until 2023/2024.
Weekly Economics Podcast
Similar episode to the one above but with more detail around specifics like manufacturing, costs etc.
Really damning episode on the cronyism shown by the government throughout the pandemic. Debunks myths that private companies are more efficient than public companies. Indeed, the NHS did a much better vaccination and test-and-trace programme than what the private consultancies tried to come up with.
Very laughable that the UK’s government, perceived as having high standards and low corruption, actually encouraged the civil service to award contracts to friends of MPs lol. Only 1 in 100 contracts related to the pandemic (e.g. sourcing PPE) were given out to competitive tender. The rest were awarded to friends, to the detriment of us all. Isn’t capitalism supposed to breed competition and in turn innovation? Ha!
‘Modern slavery’ has become a popular phrase for businesses and the government to throw around and condemn. This episode demonstrates that what causes modern slavery is actually borders, economic disparities and structural inequality. It is not a phenomenon caused by a lack of policing and criminalisation which is what Priti Patel would have you believe.
If you’re a person who cares about marginalised people, politics and general society, you have probably noticed how things have been Not Good for quite a long time now. This episode provides some solace and sets out some ways the Left can recover from the past few years…
Today in Focus
Spotify is soooo bad lol. So bad for not compensating artists. Poor musicians.
Musicians contribute over £5bn to the UK economy but have been completely left behind in Brexit negotiations as opposed to industries like fishing which comparatively contribute much less (around £1bn).
This episode also features the wonderful Arlo Parks <3
I was shocked to find out the subscription you pay to Spotify doesn’t really go towards who you listen to. It gets distributed rather, based on the number of streams in total… So your money’s basically going towards artists like Ed Sheeran.
This was just a sadly relatable and sweet episode. Our neoliberal society/government only recognises monogamous cohabiting relationships lol. RIP to single people’s love lives loll… Also around 70+% of 20-29 year olds aren’t in cohabiting relationships - that was a relief to find out lol.
Interesting exploration of the justice (or lack thereof) system in the UK. In the UK, you cannot rlly access transcripts of cases without having some kind of paid membership to websites like WestLaw or LexisNexis. In the US (a country which is notoriously known as not being equitable in their justice system), you can access court trial’s transcripts online for free.
Also I know that it’s even hard to access accurate UK legislation online. The government websites are frequently out of date. So yeah, you likely need a lawyer to even tell you the basics of what’s against the law and what isn’t…
The series also informs you of how in the UK, if you’re charged with a crime you can’t even see the evidence that’s used against you. And it’s police officers that write down the evidence? So they usually miss things bc it’s an onerous process. Whereas in the US, you naturally have the right to access all those documents in their raw form as well, which makes it much easier to appeal a wrongful conviction (at least in Louisiana).
The series also points to how legal aid has been cut massively because of austerity. It is extremely difficult in this country to access a fair trial if you are not wealthy.
It’s a bit long to listen to all of the episodes, but I would recommend it. Tbf I love these kinda true crime long series though.
This episode made me cry multiple times. Very moving stories of what it was like to work on the Aids ward of a London hospital.
The Log Books
This is part of a series which explores the HIV/Aids crisis of the 1980s in the UK using archive footage from Switchboard (a helpline for LGBT+ people) and interviews.
I was inspired to listen to it from the previous Today in Focus episode. The nurse from that episode is also featured in this series. Really moving tales, again, I cried. Very strongly recommend you listen to this and the rest of the series but if you’re short of time, listen to the Today in Focus one.
We Are Not the Virus
Moving and heart-wrenching stories from people living in the Moss Park encampment in Toronto. An important spotlighting of unhoused people and their lives. I think I cried. I was pointed to this podcast by The Heart by Mermaid Palace.
Planet Money
This episode starts with the story of an ex-prisoner Michael Taylor. He’s served 40 years for selling drugs. He owes an extortionate amount of money to the Oklahoma state for having been imprisoned. He’s homeless. If he doesn’t pay his debts, he goes back to prison. He’s already been locked up twice for failing to pay. One time he missed it by two days and the other time by a week.
The episode brings light to an issue in the US of ex-prisoners being indebted to the state, by having to pay fees once released.
Many of the ‘fees’ which they owe to the state are completely unrelated to the crime they committed, such as having to pay a fee to maintain the court’s website.
It is important to note such fees are not their punishment for committing a crime. Incarceration was their punishment. So why are they being charged with these fees? To raise money for the local government.
Many courts across the US are putting ex-prisoners in debt in order to raise revenues, in light of people voting for hard caps on taxes and the lack of political appetite to overturn such issues.
It’s just so unfair especially when you consider that more often than not, people in prison are working full-time for literally no pay. Also, they have to pay inflated prices for basic necessities. In some prisons, you even have to pay to read books (per hour).
Abolish the prison-industrial-complex AGH! (includes border detainment centres etc)
(Why can’t they just raise taxes?! It’s more expensive to put people in prison!!!!! i am so angry lol)
Accessible and easy-to-understand introduction to MMT… Essentially the idea is that a country with its own sovereign currency does not need to “balance the books”. A country’s budget is not like a household’s lol. And yes inflation is an issue when pumping a lot of money into the economy but it’s also true that inflation has been too low for the past few years.
Countries don’t use tax revenue to pay for services. Taxes help keep inflation in check!
(also imo quantitative easing has not been working … and the way that the gov allocates money is v arbitrary - look at how quick they are to spend billions to bail banks etc, which is fine, but have to be bullied into paying, in relative terms, pocket change to feed literally millions of children over school holidays)
Switched on Pop
Really cool analysis of how Kaytranada uses samples and musical history in his sounds.
Really interesting insight to how classical music has always been quite erotic and exciting. The speakers mention four hand piano pieces and how flirty and seksy these were haha.
I think that’s the round-up so far. I hope you enjoy learning and listening to all these episodes as much as I did !!!!
I am also always open to suggestions!!
