English
Novara interview on almost everything (e.g. Crisis, Democracy, Syria, Israel-Palestine, Journalism at gunpoint)
, 22/02/2024
Ash speaks to Yanis Varoufakis and film director Raoul Martinez about their new film Eye Of The Storm: The Political Odyssey of Yanis Varoufakis, what the left got wrong after 2008 and the West’s complicity in the genocide happening in Gaza. You can buy ‘In The Eye of the Storm: The Political Odyssey of Yanis […]
PoliticsJOE interview on capitalism, technofeudalism, the Labour Party, Western Hegemony and Gaza
, 22/02/2024
Sat down to discuss the downfall of capitalism and Western hegemony, the Labour Party’s shunt to the right, and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Also, we discussed Raoul Martinez’s documentary In The Eye of the Storm: The Political Odyssey of Yanis Varoufakis
The Guilty Feminist Culture Club: In the Eye of the Storm with Yanis Varoufakis and Raoul Martinez
, 22/02/2024
Interviewed by by Deborah Frances-White in Brian Eno’s Studio, on the occasion of the launch of Raoul Martinez’s IN THE EYE OF THE STORM: Yanis Varoufakis’ Political Odyssey Recorded 15 February in London. Released 21 February 2024. For THE GUILTY FEMINIST side, click here.
The roots of European farmers’ anger were baked into the EU – UNHERD
, 22/02/2024
Manos, a sixth-generation farmer from Thessaly, put it to me bluntly when I asked him to explain why he was prepared to drive his tractor 400km to Athens to camp outside Parliament: “If I don’t, my farm will soon follow our village school, co-op, post office and bank branch into oblivion.” His story is neither […]
The Politics & Letters Podcast – a (joyous) discussion on my TECHNOFEUDALISM
, 22/02/2024
What isn’t ending? What isn’t on the verge of extinction? It’s a short list of exemptions these days, and we, us human beings, aren’t on it. Neither are bees, bipartisanship, butterflies, coastlines, childhood, civility, coral reefs, democracy, elephants, empire, facts, families, frogs, gender, glaciers, God, higher education, humanities, love, male supremacy, manatees, manhood, men, morality, […]
Jacobin Magazine’s David Moscrop reviews my TECHNOFEUDALISM
, 22/02/2024
The idea that we are entering an era of techno-feudalism that will be worse than capitalism is chilling and controversial. We asked former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis to elucidate this idea, explain how we got here, and map out some alternatives. The controversial concept of techno-feudalism suggests we have transitioned from capitalism to something even […]
FORTUNE Magazine’s Nick Lichtenberg reviews my TECHNOFEUDALISM
, 22/02/2024
When I admit to my fandom as we sit down for a zoom interview, he immediately tells me off. (This is exactly what I wanted.) “I don’t want fans in life, you know,” he says. “Ever since I entered politics, I acquired two things that I never wanted to have: enemies and fans.” You see, […]
Why is Labour still using the self-defeating, discredited ‘maxed out credit card’ analogy? The GUARDIAN
, 22/02/2024
It is one thing to U-turn on a modest green transition programme. It is another to do so using mendacious Tory economic paradigms. Rarely has a lacklustre policy been abandoned for a reason so bad that it threatens to inflict long-term damage on a society. Independently of whether the £28bn green investment programme was the […]
Technofeudalism -a video essay summarising the book
, 04/02/2024
Wherever we turn, we witness the triumph of capital. Capital has prevailed everywhere: in warehouses, factories, offices, universities, public hospitals, the media – in space but also in the microcosm of genetic engineering. So, how do I dare claim that capitalism has been killed? By whom? The deliciously ironic answer is that capitalism was killed […]
The Two Faces of the Euro: Jacques Delors and Wolfgang Schäuble – Project Syndicate Long Read
, 03/02/2024
Of all European politicians who never led their countries, Jacques Delors and Wolfgang Schäuble had the greatest impact on Europe. Between them, the two men, who passed away within a day of each other in December, shaped today’s European Union, warts and all. ATHENS – Of all European politicians who never led their countries, Jacques Delors and Wolfgang […]
In celebration of Rosemary Bechler 1951-2021 (text & video)
, 01/02/2024
I met Rosemary in February 2016 in Berlin, where we inaugurated DiEM25. After weeks of frantic emailing, in which she had made clear her determination to be part of our pan-European movement from its beginning to her very last breath (as it turned out), I first held her hand in mine fittingly in the Red […]
On the state of Europe (its Economy, Treaties, Migration, Italy&Greece) – interviewed by FOTOSINTHESI
, 15/01/2024
DiEM25 was born in 2016 to counter the oligarchies that control and influence the lives of European citizens. How has the situation changed in recent years? Our mission has failed. Instead of being democratised, power within the EU has become even more concentrated and opaque. As we had predicted, because it was not democratised, the […]
Q&A on Technofeudalism – interviewed by Lorenzo Tecleme for valori.it
, 13/01/2024
In our society, large companies wield a considerable amount of power, more inequalities spread within our systems, and lobbying pervades our democracy: how is it possible that capitalism is dying as you claim? My claim is that capitalism is being killed by a new form of highly toxic, highly concentrated capital (which I call cloud […]
NATO from the perspective of having grown up under US-sponsored neofascism – UNHERD
, 12/01/2024
It was early September in 1971. My mother had taken me in a taxi to a boutique hotel in a leafy northern Athenian suburb to visit my favourite uncle, her beloved brother. Before we got out the car, she put her arm around me and whispered words of courage in my ear. You see, Hotel […]
Wolfgang Schäuble (1942-2023)
, 27/12/2023
Wolfgang Schäuble was the embodiment of the political project of buttressing a monetary union in which he himself did not believe. To do so he had to impose violent austerity even in Germany and to dismantle democratic institutions in countries like Greece. In other words, Schäuble personified the explosive contradiction that gave birth both to […]
Wishes for 2024 in the midst of a genocide – a message on behalf of DiEM25
, 24/12/2023
This is Yanis Varoufakis with an end of year message to you all on behalf of DiEM25 – our paneuropean democracy in Europe movement. This year’s festivities come at a time of a genocide that will stigmatise our generation. Yes, we must look after our loved ones, celebrate their achievements, take care of the ones […]
Europe’s Bad China Bluff – Project Syndicate op-ed
, 24/12/2023
Against the backdrop of the new cold war between the United States and China, the European Union’s top brass seems to be adding to the pressure on China by issuing credible threats in response to four grievances. Alas, the Chinese authorities are probably more amused than alarmed. ATHENS – On the December 7, the presidents […]
Working toward snatching humanist hope from the jaws of the unfolding genocide in Gaza. In conversation with Owen Jones
, 13/12/2023
Owen Jones kindly invited me back to his show to discuss, what else, Gaza. We talk about the peculiarity of this genocide (i.e., that its perpetrators do not even care to hide their intent), the forgotten readiness of Western governments to brutalise not only foreign peoples (like the Palestinians) but also their own working classes, […]
Why Europe is not free to relate to China – China Daily op-ed
, 11/12/2023
As the 24th EU-China Summit concluded on Thursday, it is natural to want to look behind the declarations and official speeches to identify the deeper forces shaping the European Union’s relationship with China and its policies toward China. But to understand the nature of these forces, it is crucial to go back to the very […]
By continuing the persecution of Julian Assange, Biden jetissons the 1st Amendment – The Nation
, 11/12/2023
In early 2024, a new, grim chapter may be written in the annals of journalistic history. Julian Assange, the publisher of Wikileaks, could board a plane for extradition to the United States, where he faces up to 175 years in prison on espionage charges for the crime of publishing newsworthy information. The persecution of Assange is […]
On the causes and nature of Populism’s Surge – interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend
, 11/12/2023
Discussing the surge of ultra-rightist populism, where I argued it all started with the West’s response to the 2008 crash – just like after 1929. When $35 trillion was printed on behalf of financiers (between 2009 and 2022), while most people were subjected to some variant of austerity, and given the Left’s failure to defend […]
As bombs are raining down on Gaza again, it is no longer about Hamas or Netanyahu. It is about OUR humanity being tested – video message
, 01/12/2023
A genocide of Palestinians is happening in Gaza now, in tandem with Israel’s methodically opportunistic ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. We are here because our humanity is being tested – because future generations will censure us for letting the death count exceed 10 thousand, mostly children and women. We are here […]
Europe’s 15-Year Slump – Project Syndicate op-ed
, 22/11/2023
The European Union’s supporters celebrate the survival of the euro, the fact that public debt is no longer the threat it was, and, crucially, that their mercantilist business model remains intact. But it has come at a steep price: Europe’s permanent stagnation and continuing fragmentation. ATHENS – Europe is languishing in a long-term economic slump whose origins […]