The Guardian has published an edited version of my N+1 essay on stupidity and Trumpism as a Long Read.
‘Repeal the 20th century’
I’ve reviewed When the Clock Broke by John Ganz for the latest London Review of Books, asking how the rise of Trump might change what we consider to be a ‘model case’ of a crisis, and its correlates in the UK.
Interview with Smart Cookies podcast
I discussed the frightening new mutations on the reactionary Right and its economic conditions with the Smart Cookies podcast. Watch on YouTube below or listen on Apple podcasts here.
‘Stupidology’
I have a (currently paywalled) piece in the new N+1, examining the charge of ‘stupidity’ that has been leveled so frequently against the Trump administration, and asking what are the background conditions of a ‘stupid’ age.
‘Bonfire of the bureaucrats’
I have written the cover story for this week’s New Statesman, an essay on the new wave of anti-bureaucratic sentiment sweeping states around the world.
Interview with Novara
This interview with Ash Sarkar covers lots of things, well beyond Elon Musk: the nature of the current conjuncture, crisis or ‘vibeshift’; the threat of the Trump presidency and authoritarianism; the state of neoliberalism; the challenges and contradictions confronting the Labour government; and more.
‘Peter Thiel: Big Tech’s dark prophet’
I reviewed Max Chafkin’s book on Peter Thiel, The Contrarian, for The New Statesman
Essay: Populism & the Limits of Neoliberalism
The surge in so-called ‘populism’ over the past year, largely of a right-wing variety, has provoked an ongoing debate as to how we should characterise its central driver. To put this somewhat crudely (though not much more crudely than some of the debate’s protagonists), the choice comes down to a simple binary: economics or culture? Class or identity? An awkward new category of ‘the left behind’ has emerged in political discourse to capture the unexpected supporters of Donald Trump, Brexit, Marine Le Pen and other nationalist movements. Continue reading “Essay: Populism & the Limits of Neoliberalism”
Long Read on statistics
‘How statistics lost their power – and why we should fear what comes next’, published in The Guardian, February 2017.
This is also available as a podcast.