Cruel optimism and the elusive academic good life

Climate crisis, market opportunity?

In this episode of Cultural Economy in the Kitchen, Philip Roscoe and Addie McGowan explore the climate driven convergence of crisis, finance, and technological optimism. They are joined by Dr Robert Dorschel, Professor Daniel Beunza, and Dr Matthias Taeger, to examine how climate change has been transformed into a market opportunity and a new financial logic. Robert unpacks the rise of green tech firms and the discursive work through which private companies position themselves as the natural saviours of the planet. These firms promise techno-fixes while reproducing the assumptions that created ecological crisis in the first place. Matthias and Daniel trace the emergence of “climate risk” as a powerful market device, from stranded assets to disclosure frameworks and financial scenario modelling. We find out how markets are being reorganized around climate futures, and wonder if this means a new kind of politics or simply business as usual. The academic journal podcast from the Journal of Cultural Economy editorial collective.

Cruel optimism and the elusive academic good life

Addie McGowan and Philip Roscoe shine the Cultural Economy in the Kitchen lamp on the university itself, exploring the changing cultures of academic work in an age of metrics, precarity, and exhaustion. Joined by Dr Thais Franca and Dr Ming-Te Peng, the conversation traces how neoliberal reforms have reshaped academic life across different national contexts. In the post-COVID pessimism in Portuguese universities Thais unpacks the “cruel optimism” of contemporary academia, where aspirations for meaningful intellectual life collide with insecurity, overwork, and shrinking futures. Ming-Te examines the relentless performance assessment regimes of Taiwanese higher education. We hear how rankings, evaluations, and bibliometric systems cultivate the entrepreneurial academic self, transforming scholars self-disciplined, metricized producers. The conversation wonders whether universities can still remain spaces for critical thought, collegiality, and resistance amid the grinding machinery of marketisation. From Cultural Economy in the Kitchen, the academic journal podcast from the Journal of Cultural Economy editorial collective.

Artisan ambiguities and the price of ethical production

Craft promises authenticity, care, and resistance to the anonymous churn of mass production. But what happens when ethical making becomes a luxury few can afford? Or when it's not possible to disentangle craft from commerce, if indeed it ever was? In this episode of Cultural Economy in the Kitchen, Philip Roscoe and Addie McGowan explore the ambiguities of craft with Dr Steve Marotta and Dr Ola Berta. From Portland maker workshops to the woven mats, and necklaces of the Marshall Islands, the conversation traces how handmade goods carry histories of colonialism, migration, nostalgia, and survival. Ola Berta reveals how weaving practices move between culture and commerce across rural atolls and diaspora communities, while Steve Marotta examines the moral economies of ethical production in post-industrial America. Together, the guests show craft not as an escape from capitalism, but as a fragile and inventive way of living within it. From Cultural Economy in the Kitchen, the academic journal podcast from the Journal of Cultural Economy editorial collective.

Platinum tickets and secret concerts: how platforms rewired live music

What does it mean to buy a concert ticket in an age of algorithms and platforms? In this episode of Cultural Economy in the Kitchen Philip Roscoe and Addie McGowan explore the hidden architectures of the concert economy with Dr Victor Pires and Dr Loïc Riom. Victor unpacks Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing as a powerful market device, where algorithms shape demand, organise time, and offer a platinum take on the age-old ploy of scalping. Loïc turns to Sofar Sounds, showing how secret concerts and the promise of “exposure” try to remake what it means to perform and be paid. Together, they reveal how platforms do far more than sell tickets or organise gigs. They actively compose the economic reality of live music, redistributing risk, value, and possibility across artists, audiences, and intermediaries. Yet their real play may not be the business of music at all. Cultural Economy in the Kitchen, the academic journal podcast from the Journal of Cultural Economy editorial collective.

In mistrust we trust

What happens to trust when it goes digital? Could mistrust be more important? In this episode of Cultural Economy in the Kitchen, Philip Roscoe and Addie McGowan are joined by Kristoffer Albris, James Maguire, and Matt Spencer to explore the strange, shifting world of digital (mis)trust. From platforms and crypto to cyber security certification, mistrust emerges not as a failure but as a force that shapes systems, infrastructures, and decisions. Along the way: stories that undermine expertise, certificates no one quite believes, and the surprising idea that security might depend less on control than on care. In a digital world of scams, AI, and uncertainty, what does it mean to trust at all - and how does mistrust help that happen? The academic journal podcast from the Journal of Cultural Economy editorial collective.