BONUS MINI-EPISODE!

After Labour's worst case scenario loss in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Freddie asks who still votes Labour and why?

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content

Joe Biden’s Tech Adviser (2020-2) Tim Wu joins us for a deep dive into the ‘Age of Extraction’. Wu is a Columbia Law Professor who writes regularly for the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Economist. He’s published an array of literature that focuses on big tech, monopolies and how the attention economy has restructured modern economic life.

In this episode, we discuss what went wrong with the Biden administration, how big tech giants are extracting value from our economic system and what Progressives must do to win.

Too often, our discussions centre on everything going wrong with the world. Yes, there are myriad critiques we could make about our system based on the evidence available. But if there’s one thing we need to be better at, it’s coming up with a vision to fix things. What is our alternative?

And it’s at this juncture that the Left splinters into a kaleidoscope of political imagination. We believe there is space to unite factions that have been economically disempowered, perhaps with a more agnostic form of liberal social politics that respects different groups’ competing rights. An anti-polarisation, pro-economic populism politics without all the purity tests. A boy can dream.

Tim's latest book, 'The Age of Extraction' contributes greatly to this discussion, diagnosing a new strain of crony capitalism and prescribing a return of political power to the people not corporate interests. We want real democracy. And most of us want the same things.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:28 Starmer + Biden Parallels

13:28 Why We’re Living In The ‘Age of Extraction’

24:15 The Corrupting Power of Billionaires

33:45 Are We Returning To Feudalism

44:06 Is This Capitalism?

59:15 Europe Needs Sovereignty

1:10:04 How The Democrats Lost Their Way

1:21:50 Big Tech Is Too Powerful

1:25:30 Democrat Nominee For 2028

1:30:52 We’re Living Through A Revolution

1:38:01 The Death Of Neoliberalism

JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content **********************************************

Dr. Andrew Lownie has been vindicated. After putting his reputation on the line with his investigations into rogue members of the British Royal family, Lownie faced a barrage of criticism aimed at discrediting him. A well-respected academic historian, he trusted the veracity of his sources and stood by their claims with regards to the disgraced royal, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Lownie's latest book, 'Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York', has been flying off the shelves. It documents arguably the greatest crisis to grip the British Royal Family, following claims of corruption, criminal associations and cover ups.

In this interview, we explore the wider ramifications of the Epste1n files on the state of liberal democracy. When elites are not held to the same accountability as the rest of society, what happens to the legitimacy of our systems? Where are the checks and balances? What can be done to regain trust?

This really feels like a moral reckoning, where justice must be meted out for the victims and accountability must be returned to public life. Our leaders must be beyond being bought.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:55 Lownie's Investigations Into The Royals

07:12 Shocking Allegations Against Prince Andrew

11:15 Russian or Israeli Assets?

16:30 Royals Are Above The Law

21:27 Elites and Societal Breakdown

25:50 Royal Narcissism and Psychological Disorders

30:23 Globalisation and Elite Corruption

35:05 Are We Tending Toward Revolution?

39:15 How To Save Liberal Democracy