1/200 PodcastS

The media/pol class are finally admitting that Luxon is not fit for purpose, while his coalition partners go from disaster to disaster, and his own Ministers propose wildly destructive policy. Meanwhile, NZ still isn’t anywhere near close to the speed of decline faced by the US.

Last weekend Destiny Church was directed by their leader, Brian Tamaki, to undertake terrorism. They duly complied, storming a library to attack a children’s story event, injuring at least one person and forcing children and caregivers to barricade themselves in a room. We discuss the conditions that led to this and the need for a strong, ongoing response in the face of a political and media climate that, at best, isn’t interested.

We discuss the destruction of public services in Education and Health and the purely extractive nature of neoliberal privatisation. We then peer through time (at the current situation in the US) to understand where these decisions by the National Party coalition government are going to end up.

We weigh in on the accelerating fascist destruction of the administrative state in the US and consider how this impacts NZ, possible steps to take, and the way that media and politics here is being set up in a way to clear the path for rabid extraction and decline, particularly via the ACT Party.

We talk education and ECE reforms, the issues with Labour alongside the role of unions, and the news about ex ACT Party President Tim Jago having name suppression lifted after 2.5 years, following his convictions for sexually abusing two teenage boys in the 1990s.

We discuss the current state of western politics, modern day fascism and its roots.

With Trump’s inauguration so close what did the Biden presidency offer the world and what impacts might we see under a president roundly labelled as an outright fascist? Why are all the political parties in “western democracies” so avidly breaking institutional norms for reactionary reasons?

What are the early signs of discourse for 2025, and what might they signal in politics and culture for the year ahead?

Will the rightwing implode in 2025 or is it all theatre? What’s on the cards for Western and NZ politics as we enter a new year.

In the final(??) current events episode for the year we discuss the ways in which western politics, especially on the rightwing, is intentionally creating a policy framework to support fascism. We talk education, criminality, the alignment of capital with the far right, and try to think of some high points.

Oliver Neas spent months this year investigating and conducting interviews to reveal what happened behind the scenes before & after the Wellington council debated selling shares in their own airport. We discussed what processes & principles were at play, how the issue connects to local economy governance, and how best to treat these debates in your community.

The Commerce Commission gets slightly more aggressive as the supermarket duopoly and government lean into failed, repressive carceral policy. The alleged UHC shooter has been caught -what does this mean for populos? TPM’s vote share looks to be on the rise, Māori continue to be the most likely electoral party for driving change. And the spectre of climate change is becoming a very violent poltergeist.

We host freelance reporter Glen Johnson and genocide researcher Kieran Kelly to discuss the recent events in Syria and what it might mean for the region.

Join us for the week that was! We talk about the death of the United Health Care CEO, the concept of Social Murder, political issues in South Korea and France and the (willing) appropriation of legacy media as a propaganda network alongside Western government authoritarianism.

We’re joined by Jathan Sadowski, AI critic and co-host of This Machine Kills to discuss his “ruthless criticism of AI and Capitalism and how it fits into the NZ context.

Back with current events after a few midweek episodes! We talk proxy wars, the fascist turn, and the increasing propensity of “centre left” parties in the west to be the ones moving towards authoritarian policy - particularly in regards to immigration and freedom of speech.

We are joined by PATHA president Jen Shields to discuss the recent government release about puberty blockers, the realities of trans healthcare and the extremely nasty attacks by right-wing parties.