Culture, Power, Politics » Podcast

Jeremy Gilbert

A podcast about politics, contemporary culture and the ideas that help us understand them. The podcast began life as recordings of a regular seminar on radical theory, culture and politics, and still features seminar recordings from in-person and online seminars, but it now mainly consists of episodes recorded specifically for the podcast.
Hosted by Jeremy Gilbert, Professor of Cultural and Political Theory at the University of East London.
See culturepowerpolitics.org for more information.

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100 episodes
Updated July 24

Episodes100

Newest first

July 24 · 1 hr 49 min
Emergency Podcast: Burnham Begins
In this episode, Alan and Jem discuss the first few days of Andy Burnham’s leadership of the Labour Party and the United Kingdom. We talk about his dramatic acceptance speech, his appointment of a new government and try to work out if he and they really think they are going to make a historic break with neoliberalism. correction – contrary to what we said on the show, Louise Haigh is MP for Sheffleld Heeley. Not sure where I got the idea she was representing a Notts constituency. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
July 21 · 2 hr 51 min
Universities in Crisis (part 3)
In this epic episode, Alan and Jem conclude their discussion of the crisis in the UK university sector. We summarise and develop some of the analysis from the previous episode, talk about why the tech sector hates universities, and then finally get into talking about possible futures, political responses that both governments and progressive forces could make, and what an ideal future for universities could look like. We’re aware that this is a huge topic so if listeners have questions, feel free to email them to jemgilbert@culturepowerpolitics.org with the subject line ‘university question’. We’ll try to address them in future. Note: At one point in the conversation we refer to a famous debate from the 1950s. This is what we were alluding to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
July 16 · 1 hr 20 min
Universities in Crisis (part 2)
In this episode, Alan and Jem continue their discussion of the crisis in the university sector. How have universities changed in the eras of Fordism, post-Fordism and Platform Capitalism? How has the intersection of this history with the politics of neoliberalism and financialisation brought the entire sector to the brink of catastrophe? For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
July 16 · 1 hr 14 min
Universities in Crisis (part 1)
In this episode, Alan and Jem discuss the crisis in the university sector, mainly in the UK, but in a transatlantic context. We talk about the history of the universities since the mid 20th century and how they have ended up in the current situation, with tens of thousands of staff having been made redundant since 2020 despite astronomical levels of student debt. *A correction on a historical point here: at some point Jem repeats the assertion that the John Major cabinet had fewer graduates of ancient elite universities than Tony Blair’s. This is one of those things that used to get said by journalists or commentators in the 90s that I never bothered to go and check, but after listening back to the episode, I thought to myself ‘that can’t be right’, and it turns out, on checking, that it wasn’t. I think there was this vibe around that this might be true because Major didn’t go to university whereas Blair himself went to private school and Oxford, but the claim as such was completely inaccurate. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
July 14 · 1 hr 54 min
The Battle for Britain with John Clarke (part 4)
A recording of an online seminar, discussing the fourth and final section of The Battle For Britain: Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture with author John Clarke. With the expert help of Jo Littler, we talk about the background to the book, the introduction and the first two chapters, covering the different ways that our present moment in Britain can be understood, spatially and temporally. This seminar is part of a series: https://culturepowerpolitics.org/the-battle-for-britain/ If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, it’s here. Part 2 is here. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
July 3 · 1 hr 37 min
Emergency Podcast: The Rhetoric of Burnhamism
In this episode, Alan and Jem discuss Andy Burnham’s speech launching his formal bid for the Labour leadership, bringing to bear the full force of Alan’s rhetorical analysis techniques. We talk about the nature of rhetoric, the relationship between vibes and content, and what it might mean that Burnham’s may well be the first authentically ‘soft left’ Labour government. Before that, we chat about the appointment of James Purnell as Burnham’s chief of staff. (A couple of errata – Jem referred to David Miliband having become an MP at the 2005 UK general election, but he meant 2001. He also referred to Andrea Egan as leader of Unite, but he meant leader of Unison.) For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
June 30 · 1 hr 49 min
The Battle for Britain with John Clarke (part 3)
A recording of an online seminar, discussing the third section of The Battle For Britain: Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture with author John Clarke. With the expert help of Anamik Saha, we talk about the background to the book, the introduction and the first two chapters, covering the different ways that our present moment in Britain can be understood, spatially and temporally. This seminar is part of a series: https://culturepowerpolitics.org/the-battle-for-britain/ If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, it’s here. Part 2 is here. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
June 23 · 1 hr 46 min
The Battle For Britain with John Clarke (Part 2)
A recording of an online seminar, discussing the second section of The Battle For Britain: Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture with author John Clarke. With the expert help of Sarah Bufkin talk about the background to the book, the introduction and the first two chapters, covering the different ways that our present moment in Britain can be understood, spatially and temporally. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, it’s here. This seminar is part of a series: https://culturepowerpolitics.org/the-battle-for-britain/ For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
June 19 · 1 hr 30 min
Emergency Podcast: History Made in Makerfield
A few weeks ago we predicted that Andy Burnham would defy the predictions of many experts and win this week’s Ashton-in-Makerfield by-election by a comfortable margin. In this emergency podcast, Alan and Jem discuss the implications of Burnham’s crushing victory over the far right in yesterday’s historic by-election. Featuring a thrilling blow-by-blow account of Jem’s trip to the constituency and an extended set of speculations on what a Burnham government might try to do. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
June 16 · 1 hr 46 min
The End of the World as We Know It: Catastrophe Culture
Alan and Jem discuss the role that images of total catastrophe play in our culture and our politics: from fears of nuclear war to visions of environmental and social breakdown. We talk about, among many other things, the post-war peace movement, Hobbes’ vision of society and The Lord of the Rings. (Jem also misremembers the plot of Silent Running, but gets the general vibe right). Some books that helped us with this one: The Anthropocene Unconscious: Climate Catastrophe Culture by Mark Bould (Eco)Anxiety in Nuclear Holocaust Fiction and Climate Fiction: Doomsday Clock Narratives by Dominika Oramus Nuclear Fictions :Violence and the Narration of the Anglosphere by Michael Gardiner For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
June 12 · 41 min
Emergency Podcast June 12th 2026
Alan Finlayson is back to discuss with Jem the resignation of the UK Defence Secretary and the appropriate level of optimism and pessimism to have about Andy Burnham’s campaign to become MP for Ashton-in-Makerfield and then (presumably) Prime Minister. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
June 7 · 1 hr 22 min
The Battle For Britain with John Clarke (Part 1)
What were the historical, political, cultural conditions for Brexit? Jeremy discusses the first section of The Battle For Britain: Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture with author John Clarke. We talk about the background to the book, the introduction and the first two chapters, covering the different ways that our present moment in Britain can be understood, spatially and temporally. The conversation will continue in a series of seminars on the book which will be recorded and podcast. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
June 6 · 2 hr 8 min
Black Theory in Britain
In this episode Jem is joined by Dhanveer Singh Brar and Ashwani Sharma to discuss their 2019 article ‘What is This ‘Black ‘in Black Studies? From Black British Cultural Studies to Black Critical Thought in UK Arts and Higher Education’. We actually recorded this in March 2026 We talk about the history of academic and non-academic responses to the experience of racism and radicalisation in Britain since the 1960s, with particular reference to the 1980s Black Arts movement, Cultural Studies in the 1990s, more recent debates over ‘Afro-pessimism’, and the revival of militant anti-racism. We make a couple of references to Ash & Dhan’s more recent article about the work of filmmaker Steve McQueen, but we will have them on the podcast again to discuss that. Here are some links to more information about things we discuss: Black Audio Film Collective https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Audio_Film_Collective Stefano Harney and Fred Moten The Undercommons https://www.minorcompositions.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/undercommons-web.pdf Afro-Pessimism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-pessimism_(United_States) The Empire Strikes Back https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780203639948/empire-strikes-back-centre-contemporary-cultural-studies Hammer and Hope: https://hammerandhope.org/ Together Alliance: https://www.togetheralliance.org.uk For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
May 31 · 1 hr 52 min
Stuart Hall: Class, Race and Conjuncture (part 2)
In this epic effort, Jem completes his narrative account of Stuart Hall’s career and public images, from Marxism Today to the posthumous revival of his reputation, concluding with some remarks on his own relationship to Hall’s work since the 1980s. *Note from Jem*: Having listened back to the podcast I noticed a couple of historical details I think I got wrong while in full flow. I don’t think the 1988 Labour Policy Review was recommending moving from nationalisation to mutualisation in the case of public utilities, as I say on the show. Instead I think it was recommending this approach to other kinds of business. The 1996 article by Hall and Jacques, denouncing New, Labour that I mention was in the Guardian rather than the New Statesman, I’m pretty sure. Some publications and projects referred to in the show: Soundings: https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/soundings/ English Stitch on Resonance FM: https://www.resonancefm.com/programmes/69d794db50000b3c06000001 Stuart Hall Foundation: https://www.stuarthallfoundation.org Stuart Hall Archive Project: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/stuarthall Common-Sense Neoliberalism by Stuart Hall and Alan O’Shea: https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/soundings/vol-2013-issue-55/abstract-7411/ The Dig podcast episode on Policing the Crisis: https://thedigradio.com/podcast/policing-the-crisis-w-michael-denning/ The Great Moving Right Show: https://banmarchive.org.uk/marxism-today/january-1979/the-great-moving-right-show/ Duke University Press series: https://www.dukeupress.edu/series/stuart-hall-selected-writings For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
May 29 · 1 hr 6 min
Stuart Hall: Class, Race and Conjuncture (part 1)
In this episode, Jem offers an introduction to the career and ideas of British cultural theorist, political activist and pubilc intellectual, Stuart Hall. This episode covers the period 1960-85. The next episode will carry on from there. (Apologies if the editing is a bit rough – I had a cough and was leaning heavily on the pause button) For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt. Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
May 15 · 48 min
Answers to Questions May 2026
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert answer questions posed by listeners during the live recording of the previous episode, covering topics from the internal politics of the Labour Party to the meanings of nationalism in the different parts of the UK. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt. Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
May 15 · 1 hr 46 min
Emergency Podcast Live! May 2026
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert discuss the crisis in the Labour Party following the cataclysmic local and devolved election results of the previous week. The Greens and Reform UK are destroying Labour’s voter base from left and right respectively, nationalist parties are cleaning up in Scotland and Wales, and it looks like Andy Burnham may be about to become the UK’s most hypothetically left-wing Prime Minister since the election of Harold Wilson in 1974. Can any of this really be happening? This episode was recorded live online, with listeners posting questions in the chat as we went along, some of which we addressed in this episode, the rest of which we responded to in the following episode. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt. Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
May 8 · 52 min
Religion and Politics Part 3
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert conclude their exploration of the relationship between religion and politics in the twenty-first century. We look at the big historical picture: what has happened to the relationship between religion and politics in the age of ‘postmodernity’. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt. Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
May 8 · 1 hr 16 min
Religion and Politics Part 2
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert continue their exploration of the relationship between religion and politics in the twenty-first century. We ask the crucial question: are religion and socialism compatible? For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here: https://patreon.com/culturepowerpolitics If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/xu2grba5tt. Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf
May 8 · 1 hr 12 min
Religion and Politics Part 1
In this episode, Alan Finlayson and Jeremy Gilbert begin an exploration of the relationship between religion and politics in the twenty-first century. We discuss some of the key issues in thinking about this historically crucial issue, as well as talking about our own religious or non-religious backgrounds. For more information about Culture, Power, Politics, including information about live events, see culturepowerpolitics.org If you can support us with a small regular donation, please do so here. If you’d like to make a one-time donation, please do so here. Btc donations: bc1q64590fsdzxe7rmfgp7f2jc97v7rp8fr4n0lspf