LEFT/OVER Podcast

With the UK government seeing more changes in personnel than an average season at Chelsea FC and the economy on the verge of total collapse, we bring you a little update on the cornucopia of clownery that is British politics in 2022. After the announcement of former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's neoliberal wet dream of a Growth Package sent the value of the Pound hurtling downwards, we have seen several weeks of unabated chaos, and of course the resignation of PM Liz Truss which happened in the time between the recording of this episode and its release. Happy times!

Since the dissolution of Estonian cultural collective ZA/UM, the minds behind 2019's hit indie video game Disco Elysium after being forced out by the money men, in a story that could very well have come from the game itself, we take a look at the quagmire that is the video games industry. Rife with abusive practices ranging from sexual assault and cover-ups to crunch culture and predatory practices such as microtransactions, video games as the biggest entertainment industry in the world has no shortage of things to talk about. 

In the wake of riots between Hindus and Muslims in Leicester that were frightfully reminiscent of some of the worst scenes of violence from the Subcontinent, we take a look at Hindutva as a global force. We are joined by legendary activist Amrit Wilson in order to discuss the way in which the Hindu far right has gone about influencing politics in the UK, exporting its ideology with tactics from a familiar playbook, as well as the way in which the very inception of Hindutva was the result of the history of colonial rule. 

In light of a three-part documentary series by Al Jazeera detailing the various ways in which the Corbyn project was sabotaged from within the Labour Party there is a great deal to discuss. We are joined by one of left Twitter's most prolific polemicists Archie Woodrow to discuss everything from the lack of Labour's democratic processes, the seemingly never-ending antisemitism 'crisis' and the firmly established hierarchy of racism within the party. Apologies in advance for the audio quality for this episode - we had some major technical issues!

We recorded this discussion about Spike Lee's classic 1989 film Do The Right Thing 2 months ago around the time of the heat wave. A story of rising racial tensions in a multi-ethnic Brooklyn neighbourhood on the hottest day of the year which lead to tragedy and police violence, it is a film which became quickly adopted into the canon of great American cinema. It has also unfortunately gained even more relevance through the years as we all witnessed the murders of Eric Garner, George Floyd and so many more. We discuss all the events around Sal's Famous Pizzeria as well as Spike Lee's wider filmography and unique aesthetic style and much more. 

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are  feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive  content coming your way soon!

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It has been nearly 2 months now since our wonderful, talented and forever hilarious co-host Rory tragically passed away and it has been very difficult to resume the podcast since. However we are finally back, joined by our long-time collaborator and friend of the show Jack Frayne-Reid to discuss the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II, an event that has predictably led to the nation collectively losing its mind. We discuss everything from the Shadow Cabinet's choreographed change of social media profile pictures to why everyone's favourite immigrant animal might in fact have a secret fascist pas, as well as the new monarch's close association with various noted paedophiles and much more. Thank you all so much for your patience and support through what has been a very difficult time.

We are back again with a good old dunking episode, this time on one of Aarjan's personal heroes - renowned Canadian psychologist Jordan B. Peterson. Joined by longtime adversary of the IDW Eiynah, also known as NiceMangos, we discuss everything from Peterson's recent troubles on Twitter, his medically induced coma in Russia, his bizarre relationship with his daughter, and more broadly the state of the IDW in 2022. Content warning for one of the worst dreams you have ever heard of narrated in JP's own voice. 

Fresh off the heels of the biggest rail strike in over three decades, we are joined by RMT rep Tony Collins to discuss how we got here and what we might be in store for over the summer. We discuss everything from the media's predictably hare-brained response to the strikes, how the unmitigated disaster of railway privatisation led us to this point, and how the movements across various sectors from teachers to postal workers may play out in the coming months. Solidarity to all workers, join a picket line, support strike funds!

June is a month in which it has become increasingly apparent that we are in the midst of tectonic changes to our society, whether with landmark court cases being reversed, or with people across multiple industries saying enough is enough and organising. We take a look at some of the highlights from this month, including the cocaine-addled mind map of a certain intelligence adjacent journalist, and some inspiring scenes of people power.

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive content coming your way soon!

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At a time when discussion around organised labour is finding newfound fervour in the face of a summer of strikes across the UK, we are joined once again by podcasting brother in arms Jack to discuss acclaimed screenwriter and long-time Martin Scorsese collaborator Paul Schrader's directorial debut, 1978's "Blue Collar". Starring Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto as Detroit auto workers at the tail end of the era of Reaganomics which destroyed the backbone of the American unions, the film takes a rather more jaded look at organised labour than the current Mick Lynch mania would suggest, as the three friends decide to rob their own union, and everything goes wrong. An uncompromising look at the daily hardships of American working class and the tragedy of how the insidious structures of capitalism find their way to undermine worker solidarity, Blue Collar is also something of an anomaly within Paul Schrader's filmography, as Jack and Connor get deep into.

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are  feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive  content coming your way soon!

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Nostalgia is a potent emotion, as well as a ubiquitous presence in our lives, both as an advertising tool as well as an ideological principle in politics. Britain in 2022 celebrates the queen's Platinum Jubilee by spending £1 billion in the midst of the worst living standards crisis in decades, desperately nostalgic and yearning for the lost glories of imperial domination in the past, where history has become a hotly contested ideological battleground in the wake of the toppling of Edward Colston's statue, and where the World War 2 callbacks are simply inescapable. We are joined by historian Hannah Rose Woods whose latest book takes a look at how societies throughout history have in fact looked to the past when faced with unprecedented change.

The long-protracted Partygate sage has, if anything, proven that the popular liberal conception of the law as being a neutral arbiter is deeply flawed, and it is easy for us as leftists to become increasingly cynical of it. However the law is still a very real thing which is being instrumentalised by right-wing governments around the world to strip people of basic civil liberties. We are joined by barrister and activist Zehrah Hasan to discuss four recent pieces of legislation in the UK, as well as how they exist as part of a global phenomenon from the US to India to Israel.

After the horrific shootings at both Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York, the debate around gun control in the US has found itself once again in the spotlight. We are joined by returning guest Sam Knight this week to discuss these shootings, the role of the police, the deeper underlying causes of US gun culture, and crucially, if there is any hope whatsoever of breaking this vicious cycle of often racialised violence. 

For the second of our Patreon episodes for this month we are bringing an update to some of the topics discussed recently, considering how the news cycle seems determined to give us many addendums daily. From the continued phenomenon of sexual misconduct in Westminster to Elon Musk's continued antics in trying to buy Twitter as well as quash certain allegations, May has been full of incident, and it is simply our job to chronicle it.

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive content coming your way soon!

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This week we are joined again by frequent collaborator and friend of the pod Jack Frayne-Reid from Reel Politik to discuss the long-awaited album by Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. This episode covers the context for the album as well as Kendrick's discography and back catalogue, while the second half, available with the full episode on the Patreon feed, goes into the album itself and covers it from track to track. We discuss everything from Dr. Dre's influence over a lineage of West Coast Hip Hop to the similarities in the careers of Kendrick Lamar and Bob Dylan and much more. 

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive content coming your way soon!

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After renowned Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered at the hands of IDF forces, the whole world witnessed not only Israel's immediate disinformation campaign but even more horrifically the way in which her funeral procession was attacked. Aarjan is on the ones again this week joined by writer Hamza Ali Shah to discuss not just this incident but also Israel's ongoing war on journalism as well as the parallels to the dangers under which journalists in India also operate.

In the wake of the recent local elections we are joined by friend of the pod Sinan to touch base with the goings on in UK politics after a few weeks which have given us no shortage of things to talk about. From all the worst people in the commentariat losing their minds over the result of the Tower Hamlets election to Keir Starmer 4d checkmating himself into potentially resigning over the Partygate scandal to the pervasive culture of sexual abuse in Westmister, we hold our noses as we dive into the Eldritch horror that is living in Britain in 2022.

Aarjan by himself this week joined by none other than returning champion Amardeep Singh Dhillon to touch base on the motherland of all content, India. A year on from the Kisan Andolan, or Farmer Protests, that were the subject of our previous collaboration, we take a look at its historic victories, as well as the present political landscape in India. After a year in which Modi's stranglehold on Indian politics seemed to have begun to buckle, it seems back on track once again with a resounding BJP victory in the recent Uttar Pradesh state elections. The recent attacks in Jahangirpuri and the hijab ban in Karnata have also shown the extent to which, 8 years into Modi's rule, Muslims have effectively become second class citizens in India. With the backdrop of Boris Johnson's visit at the end of April, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the governments of the UK and India are on some very similar trajectories. 

As the Amber Heard vs Johnny Depp court case heats up we take a look at its spiritual predecessor: David Fincher's 2014 adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel Gone Girl. Joined by recent exile from Elon Musk's new hellsite, friend of the pod Joseph joins us from all the way across the Atlantic to discuss the story of Amy and Nick Dunne, which has achieved something of a cult status over the past years and inspired an entire generation of Girlbosses.

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This week we take a deep dive into the weird and wonderful world of wrestling, sports entertainment and combat sports, and its intersection with politics. From looking at the origins of UFC as a means for a notorious Brazilian family to show the world they can beat anyone up, to the antics of Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki, particularly when he entered politics, to how the inane performative stupidity of the British political class can essentially be viewed as kayfabe, nothing is left off the table. Or ladder, or chair.

Apologies to all our listeners for the irregular programming over the past few weeks but we are back with a banger this week, joined by fellow podcaster Jordan Hartley from Comradio. We discuss everything from the debacle with P&O Ferries sacking 800 members of its staff with no prior notice via video call, to the fact that the current "Cost of Living Crisis" has in fact been the reality for many millions for over a decade, to the Home Office's recent announcement to make asylum seekers Visit Rwanda. Thank you all for your patience and we promise there's some great stuff headed your way.

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As we all collectively try to heal from the trauma of witnessing this generation's 9/11 - Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars - we are joined by superstar Medieval historian Eleanor Janega to discuss the far right and its misappropriation of history. The concerted effort to reframe and revise particularly struggles of power throughout history is not a project limited to the far right, as we discuss, but in fact, creeping government policy. We discuss all this and more, particularly why it is important for us all to have historical literacy.

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What with the timeline being as depressing as it is, this week we decided to visit a favourite film of ours - Martin Scorsese's often overlooked The Last Waltz, welcoming back three-time returning superstar guest Jack from Reel Politik. On November 25 1976 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Fransisco a star-studded (and cocaine-fuelled) rock concert was held that would go down as one for the ages, which Scorsese documented on film - a goodbye not just to Canadian-American group The Band after 16 years on the road, but also to an entire era of rock'n'roll. We take an in-depth look at what is surely one of, if not the greatest rock documentary of all time, from the influences to the fallouts to the heartbreaks, and not to mention the absolutely electrifying music.

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And we are back! After a short hiatus during which time we sadly had to say goodbye to Rory from the podcast due to his upcoming commitments for his internship at the Tesla Epic Bacon Foundation to bring you a lowdown on the state of the UK's hospitality with none other than Oli, AKA FermentTheRich, and their years of invaluable experience in the beer industry. Everything from the way in which COVID left thousands of workers up and down the country totally fucked, to a certain Scottish brewery and their infamous antics, to the way in which pubs form a central focal point of British society - nothing is off the table.

We have unfortunately had to say goodbye to Rory from the podcast who, due to his upcoming commitments for his internship at the DJ Khaled institute for excellence, will no longer be able to co-host, and after a brief Elden Ring-inspired goblin mode break, we are back with our monthly review. February has left us all leaving increasingly nihilistic as Ukraine and Russia go to war and the British commentariat loses its minds even more than usual in assigning all the blame on the wokes. Massive thanks to everyone as always for your patience and your support! Regular episodes resuming this Friday.

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive content coming your way soon!

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Recorded just before Russia's wanton and extremely illegal invasion of Ukraine, Fiona Edwards of Stop the War Coalition joins us to discuss the hubris and reckless expansionism of NATO after Fukayama's end of history which poked a rabid Russian bear, and the endless demonisation of the British anti-war movement which mobilised a million people in the streets against the Iraq War that is needed now more than ever. We recap the crimes and dirty history of NATO, an organisation that is in no way committed to peace or democracy, and depressingly look to a looming Cold War arising with China. Bad times.

We speak to the bravest man we know, Jonny, aka sensiblehuman96, a titan of British Twitter who flipped the lid on an infamous British crime syndicate that exploited the labour of the beloved Captain Tom Moore: his family. PapaSombra, better known as Shadow Daddy, or simply Pip, also joins us to discuss an absolutely crucial chapter of British history - the walks, the cash, the Barbados holiday, the Captain Tom trademark gin - which kept a nation's spirits up and enabled a government to happily oversee a borderline failed state.

TrashFuture host Riley joins us to explain all the baffling nerd stuff behind the latest grift of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which have provided us with endless things to make fun of over the past year but absolutely nothing of artistic merit. We cover the pointless energy consumption, insufferable grindset culture, and neverending scams of the 'crypto community', and discuss what it tells us about our extremely fake economy and backwards, superficial culture. The real apes were inside us all along.

Somewhat predictably 2022 is off to an absolute stormer as we discuss the potentially imminent collapse of Johnson's leadership helped in no small part by the intervention of former pub landlady Sue Gray. We also talk about Elizabeth Holme's masterful command of The Voice which allowed her to gain the trust and investment of so many rich idiots on her way to make Theranos a $3 billion company. All of this and much more on this month's Patreon episode.

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive content coming your way soon!

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To commemorate 50 years since the horror of Bloody Sunday, when the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment killed 14 unarmed civilians in Derry, we speak to writer Daniel Baker about the historical and continuing depravity of British colonialism in Ireland. Though cold facts about the massacre are now finally broadcast in the UK, its context is often softened and the events isolated to portray it as an aberration rather than the natural climax of a brutal occupation. It did not simply 'unfold' out of nowhere.

As the Tories finally make a move to fulfill their implicit campaign promise to completely gut the BBC, we speak to sociologist Tom Mills of Media Reform UK about how the institution has served as an extremely useful tool for British political parties in power, the absurd licence fee funding model, and the possibility of change. It's still difficult to feel any sympathy towards it as an institution after the farce of the 2019 election.

The Matrix returned, albeit in cynical and forced circumstances, after almost 20 years of sustained cultural significance. Culture writer Oluwatayo Adewole helps us understand the complex legacy of the series and the Wachowskis more generally. We inevitably talk white dreadlocked henchmen, dance orgies, and most importantly, the central metaphor of a class of robots subjugating us and stealing our lifeforce through deception.

Another DC Sentinel Sam joins us, this time Sacks, to discuss how posting broke a once great journalist with terrible politics, Glenn Greenwald. We give the man all due respect for his work on the Snowden Leaks and Vaza Jato, but try to make sense of his nonsensical blend of right wing politics, unhinged dedication to culture wars he is on the wrong side of, and most of all his original take on belligerent contrarianism which spawned a whole generation of annoying Twitter guys. Sorry we aren't as cool as the Red Scare girls.

Producer Connor passed the probation episode and returns to discuss the thankful termination of 2021. December brought us the welcome and surprising guilty verdict of Ghislaine Maxwell as well as the victory of Gabriel Boric in Chile. The Tory heartland of North Shropshire went Lib Dem followed by small time Labour inexplicably claiming a moral victory. Most importantly, we are stunned by the harrowing loss of a man's apes from his cryptocurrency wallet.

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive content coming your way soon!

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The British media that stuck with Boris Johnson through borderline genocide has drawn the line at lockdown cheese and wine, and with the shell of a Labour Party pulling ahead without a single policy, a change of Prime Minister doesn't look far away. Marcus Barnett joins us to discuss his potential successors, all extremely right wing, but one uniquely odd in Liz Truss. We reflect on the past two years of weird pandemic politics, cover-ups and obvious corruption in an increasingly failed state, and wonder how change still seems so far away now everything is broken.

Marcus Daniel from Media Diversified gives us an extremely concerning glimpse at the consequences of the Nationality and Borders Bill for millions of British people with migrant backgrounds. In order to understand racism in the modern British state, we inevitably address the disgraceful Windrush Scandal and revisit this year's laughable Sewell Report. To trace how the citizenship-stripping precedent was set we go back to the Theresa May years and arrive at the grim media debacle surrounding Shamima Begum, when many people correctly predicted where this was heading.

One of the most respected and accomplished posters in the Southern Hemisphere, Sipho Hlongwane joins us from Joburg to discuss the tragedy, accomplishments and humour of Madiba's young nation. De Klerk is dead, Zuma is somehow avoiding serving his prison sentence, and the ANC is still very much in power, but the shoots of a young and hopeful left are rising and coming after power, pulling down those dumb statues en route.

50 years on from the Liberation War that gave birth to Bangladesh, De Montfort University's Dr. Fatima Rajina lends us her expertise on a nation and diaspora still scarred from one of the worst genocides in history. We start at the partition, when East Bengal became East Pakistan, chart the rise and hope brought by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League's newly won independent state, and the struggles and many coups and counter-coups that have so far marked a young country.

Ghislaine Maxwell is in front of her accusers in court, Robert Maxwell is in a tomb on the Mount of Olives (or is he??), but what are the chances of her and her endless list of elite British and American sickos facing justice for the lives they have ruined? Alice Caldwell-Kelly from all the other podcasts joins us to discuss how Ghislaine is going to get whacked, and the political and cultural significance of her life to this nation, Nonce Island.

Our momentous first premium episode and triumphant podcasting debut of producer Connor dissects November 2021, giving it mostly low marks. COP26 reached a predictable anticlimax, that little ratboy Kyle Rittenhouse got away with the not insignificant crime of killing people, and brazen government corruption came to light but was diminutively labeled 'sleaze'. In better news, Barbados escaped and British columnists are extremely mad.

Subscribe at patreon.com/leftoverpod for £5 a month (or more if you are feeling generous) for the full episode as well as lots more exclusive content coming your way soon!

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Book nerds and choo-choo drivers are on strike and it's cold as hell: the 1978 Winter of Discontent is back babey. We talk to Birkbeck professor Ashok Kumar about his unreasonable demands to have some money saved for his frail elderly days, and take a look at this country's seething contempt for people who request slightly more money for performing their jobs. Never cross a picket line, solidarity always.

We take a delicious dip into British food culture: AA Gil's Mao drip, the unhinged ego of our boy Giles, and the deeply weird relationship between food and class. But first we try to understand the enigma of Nusret Gökçe, more commonly known as Salt Bae. Is he an artist, a genius, a fraud, the oppressor or the oppressed? Yes, and much more.

James Greig joins us to discuss the broad and radical origins of the fight for LGBT equality, its rich and unbreakable ties to anticolonial, antiracist and anticapitalist struggles, and how it has been sanitised and coopted by corporations, geopolitical interests and the United States navy. We consider what Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and James Baldwin would have made of the USNS Harvey Milk, and try to find a solution to the phenomenon of pinkwashing.

As Liz 2 slowly comes towards the end of her extremely long reign and Barbados wisely chooses a more normal political system where you choose the head of state, postingdad and sanitarynaptime join us to discuss the inexplicable popularity of the serf life in modern Britain. The lows of Diana's suspicious death, Prince Andrew's sweat glands, Bermuda slush funds and the lack of acceptance of a royal of colour ultimately haven't dampened the Anglo's addiction to the taste of boot, but is there any future for monarchy with the undoubtedly much less beloved Charles?

Annie Kelly and Aisling McCrea join us to talk antivaxxers and ivermectin, the horse dewormer that almost killed Joe Rogan and plunged the podcast universe into disarray. We start with a history of vaccination cynicism, understandable when it comes from vulnerable people, but exploited by sinister grifters like Andrew Wakefield. We finish on the Intellectual Dark Web, who would all deny being antivaxxers, but just enjoy dipping their toes into the Marketplace of Ideas and solely purchasing really right-wing conspiratorial ones.

Hasan and the other one kick off their new show by charting Elon Musk's meteoric rise from Apartheid emerald mine inheritor to guy who built a small tunnel underneath Las Vegas and made some cars that use artificial intelligence to murder your family. Rob Rousseau weighs in from Canada, another deeply cursed product of British colonialism, to discuss whether Musk's split from kawaii goth gf Grimes spells the end of humanity (almost certainly).

Former Extinction Rebellion organiser Sam Knights joins us for a light discussion on Mother Nature being murdered by an economic system that can't stop producing infinite varieties of Funko Pops. Is there hope for mankind against the droughts, floods, Ronas that drop daily? Yes, but everything must change.