Big times call for big Bunga

Welcome back, happy new year. Hope you're strapped in for 2024. The turbulence of our times – to extend the aviation metaphor – is no longer just nauseating but feels increasingly feels dangerous. So we'll be ramping up our coverage of global politics this year to keep abreast of it all.

Here's what's coming up in February:

• El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele has locked up 2% of his population trying to combat drug gangs, introduced Bitcoin, and pissed off China. He's set to be re-elected in a landslide in a few days. We'll be talking about how 'Bukelismo' is gaining fans across the region. 
• The biggest country no know ever talks about: Indonesia is going to the polls in Feb and we'll have deep coverage of the country's past and future.
• Performative crying? Trauma-mongering? Ashley Frawley is back on the pod to talk about public emotionalism.
• Philosopher Nina Power will join us to talk evil, hatred and new divides. 
• That '1914' vibe is getting stronger. How likely is a big regional war? We'll be discussing this and responding to your questions and criticisms in 'Aufhebonus Bonus'.
• And the new revamped Reading Club begins at the end of the month.... more info soon.

ICYMI:

• Lias Saoudi of the band Fat White Family talked to us about our dead culture, romanticism, and transgression.
• Amber Frost was on to dissect the millennial Left – and her role in it. 
• We also talked through Trump's second coming and the elite vibe-shift with Amber. 
• Will a Chinese world be a harmonious one? Giovanni Arrighi thought so. We concluded the 2023 Reading Club by discussing his Adam Smith in Beijing 
• In a world in which even shallow liberal utopias like human rights are fading fast, do we need to stare into the abyss? Juliano Fiori talked through our predicament.
• The millennial left is dead. But it did the best it could, just like the 20th century left told itself too – but this wasn't good enough. So maintained Chris Cutrone in our episode.
• And for the general public, we unlocked our episode from October with Lily Lynch on NATO and neutrality. 

Bunga Elsewhere:

Phil was in UnHerd, serving up Lenin's lessons for liberals: 

...greater democratic influence in politics is needed as a counterweight to blithe liberals blundering into a new era of great power rivalry and permanent war. [...] being 'as radical as reality' today means drawing the masses back into politics —not as a revolutionary act but nonetheless as a necessary one.