The Pop Doctrine

Episode 15 - The Politics of (Mental) Health - Colette Shade / @MsShade (pt. 2)

Welcome to part 2 of my chat with American writer Colette Shade [https://twitter.com/MsShade?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor]! Last week we had a chat about her article 'The Politics of Mental Health' [https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/02/mental-health-is-a-political-problem] and in this episode we dive into some of her other writings [http://www.coletteshade.com/selectedbylines], including her January article for the Nation 'The Problem With Mental Health Awareness' [https://www.thenation.com/article/society/mental-health-awareness/]. Here's a link to the book Colette mentioned, 'The End of the Myth' [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250179821]by Greg Grandin  Keep an eye on Colette's twitter for details about her upcoming book 'This Sucks'...

Episode 14 - The Politics of (Mental) Health - Colette Shade / @MsShade (pt. 1)

Back in March, American writer Colette Shade [https://twitter.com/MsShade?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor]was generous enough to have a chat with me about her recent article for Tribune Magazine 'The Politics of Mental Health' [https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/02/mental-health-is-a-political-problem] and her thoughts on why it's a mistake to think of mental illness as an individual, apolitical issue. We look at how rates of mental illness can be positively correlated with economic and political oppression and what incentives exist for the those in power to mystify this relationship.  We talked for almost an hour and a half so I've split the chat into two parts. Tune back in next week to hear us talk about some of Colette's other work [http://www.coletteshade.com/selectedbylines], including discussions on the value of mental health awareness campaigns, what the end of the American Empire could mean for how we feel in our heads, and why being encouraged to cry at work isn't the progressive shift some may think it is...  Sorry this one took so long to get to you! Been a very busy few weeks but I'm aiming to return to our regular schedule :)

Episode 13 - The Morals of the Market - Jessica Whyte

Back at the start of 2021, I was very lucky to have a chat with Australian writer and academic, Jessica Whyte [https://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/our-people/jessica-whyte], about her 2019 book The Morals of the Market: Human Rights and the Rise of Neoliberalism. The book looks at the simultaneous rise of Neoliberalism and the modern day human rights movement, showing their shared moral and historical roots and how the latter has ultimately been co-opted by the former.  I reached out to Jessica after hearing her interviewed on ABC Radio National and considered it an aspirational gesture - I had only just started releasing episodes and Jessica was exactly the kind of writer I'd wanted to speak to when I conceived of this project. I'm very grateful to her for taking the time to answer my questions.  You can buy Jessica's book here [https://www.versobooks.com/books/3087-the-morals-of-the-market] or if you're a Perth local, shoot me a message on insta and you can borrow my (heavily and messily annotated) copy.

Episode 12 - When Workers Won - Chloe Koffman / @chloelou_k

UK writer and activist, Chloe Koffman (@chloelou_k [https://twitter.com/chloelou_k]on twitter) joined me for a chat about two of her recent pieces for UK socialist publication, Tribune Magazine: 'Remembering Australia’s Green Bans [https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/03/remembering-australias-green-bans]' and 'Remembering Wave Hill: When Australia’s Indigenous Fought Back [https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/08/remembering-wave-hill-when-australias-indigenous-fought-back]'. Both pieces look into the history of the Australian workers movement, highlighting the roles of the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) and Indigenous Australians respectively in challenging capitalist power in the mid-late 20th century.  As well as discussing these two historical events, we look to the present and speculate on the potential for similar change to occur in our current age of neoliberal realism and hyper individualism.  ** a warning that this episode contains the names of Indigenous Australians who have passed away **  Chloe also writes for Morning Star, New Matilda, and Crikey News. You can find more of their work here [https://www.clippings.me/users/chloekoffman], including the Steven Donziger piece we discuss in the interview.

Episode 11 - The Show About Shows - Matt Christman / @cushbomb [of Chapo Trap House, Time For My Stories, and CushVlog]

What a way to bring in the start of season 2!  About a month ago, I was very lucky to have a chat with Matt Christman [https://twitter.com/cushbomb?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor] about his new podcast (with Felix Biederman [https://twitter.com/ByYourLogic]) Time For My Stories [https://www.stitcher.com/show/time-for-my-stories]. The series focuses on the rise of television as an artistic medium, what precipitated this, and what the cultural impact has been.  In our chat, we talk about the changing face of prestige television, the fall of the antihero, the moral complexity and / or depravity of Tony Soprano, and what the future holds in our age of streaming and scolding.   Other podcasts / series you may know Matt from are Chapo Trap House [https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house] and his much-tweeted-about CushVlogs [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iSSoHOslXE&list=PLhxUDrMFUqyMQSozC1ES-Q4BkT8MJbY_1].  If you haven't listened, check them out, I wouldn't be doing this podcast if it weren't for Matt's work!