What's Left? With Jovan + Freddie

What's Left? With Jovan + Freddie
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Politics

'What's Left?' is a progressive political podcast for the generation tasked with returning order to political chaos. With 'Left/Right' no longer a clear distinction for our politics, what does it really mean to be on the political 'left'? And given the enormous change we're living through, what is left of our values, institutions and political systems? Co-hosts Jovan Owusu-Nepaul and Freddie Feltham are ex-Labour Party staffers, who have scrapped with Nigel Farage and Andrew Tate between them. Through in-depth chats with friends and experts inside Westminster and beyond, we hope to reveal what's really at stake as civilisation crosses the AI Rubicon. This is a show for anyone fed up with the status quo; ready to listen, learn and do in pursuit of a better and fairer future. Oh - and we wanna have some fun with it too. Jovan + Freddie

  1. Oct 15

    Is Western Intervention Ever Justified? - Owen Jones

    In our latest escapade to widen discourse on the Left, we sat down with Owen Jones to discuss his latest book, 'The Fall of The West'. Certainly, Owen Jones is a polarising figure in British politics. Once upon a time, he was the leading talking head representing Labour under Corbyn. But he has since become a campaigner in his own right, now known across the globe for taking the mainstream media (and indeed his old party) to task over its coverage of the Middle East. Owen's latest book looks at the broader demise of the West - an analysis shared with many on the populist right. His argument is that hubris has created decline, pushing the West to wage backfiring foreign wars that have destroyed its credibility, created global instability and added huge debts to an already crumbling financial model. In this discussion we traverse the large expanse of modern foreign policy, how domestic politics has become polarised and address the numerous criticisms of Owen's anti-imperialist politics. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:47 How Do You Define ‘The West’? 10:12 Critiquing Corporatist Capitalism 14:45 Could The Left Predict The Rise of Fascism? 20:53 A New Left Political Economy 29:02 The Green’s ZiR Motion 38:42 The Two State Solution 47:47 ‘From The River To The Sea’ 52:12 Is Western Intervention Ever Justified? 1:02:02 NATO, Putin and Ukraine 1:10:38 What About Anti-Western Ideology? 1:22:15 How Should We Defend Ourselves?

    Is Western Intervention Ever Justified? - Owen Jones

  2. Oct 8

    Can 'Trauma' Bring You Clout? - Catherine Liu

    JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft **** Catherine Liu is literally the best. That’s all you need to know. Slip into this portal of coherent dissent and slide on to the class politics bandwagon. We take the scalpel to identity politics, liberal illiberalism and bioated bureaucracy. What’s your universal principle? Ours is to increase the labour share of surplus value relative to capital. A perennial struggle. Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:45 Was Identity Politics A Psyop? 05:35 Woke 1 Was Crazier 09:53 Is Egg Freezing Anti-Feminist? 14:17 The Professional Managerial Class 21:22 Why Class Analysis Went Out of Vogue 26:36 Is Catherine’s ‘Working Class’ Ahistorical? 38:12 University’s IdPol Script 44:20 Depressed Wages and Mass Migration 51:35 Left-Liberal Death of Vision 55:46 The Satanic Panic 1:00:18 Ever-Enlarging Bureaucracy 1:06:20 Institution Building 1:16:17 Zombie Liberalism and Disability Dependency 1:22:30 Does Work Give You Dignity 1:27:08 Mimetic Theory

    Can 'Trauma' Bring You Clout? - Catherine Liu

  3. Sep 27

    Will The AI Bubble Burst - AI Minister Kanishka Narayan MP

    We're delighted to be joined by the Rt Hon Kanishka Narayan MP. In our first episode from Labour Conference 2026, we discuss the backlash to AI doomsday warnings, the fragility of the AI economy and how this tech will be used - to the benefit or detriment of workers. As listeners will know, we've approached AI with a healthy dose of scepticism. Technology is itself neutral but the politics emerges in its application. We have plenty examples in history of how industrial revolutions disempowered workers before inevitable backlash and revolution. Do we need to wait for things to get bad? Or does the UK have a serious plan for a future that harnesses the white heat of technology? We delve into all of this and more, asking how the UK is preparing for the moral mission of worker-centric AI.

    Will The AI Bubble Burst - AI Minister Kanishka Narayan MP

  4. Sep 23

    Should The Left Talk About Birthrates - Stephen J Shaw

    JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft **** Demographer Stephen J Shaw's research on global birthrates has become a cause célèbre of the radical right. Since publishing his data on delaying parenthood as the cause for "unplanned childlessness", Stephen has been welcomed to the upper echelons of Right-wing discourse - with the likes of Jordan Peterson and appearances at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. Undoubtedly, these are places that don't share our politics. So why have we hosted Stephen? Well, because Stephen's research and his methodologies have been peer reviewed. His data, as much as we might find it uncomfortable, is real. And if the Left doesn't have an analysis for the effects of global birthrate decline, then the Right certainly will. In this discussion, we explore Stephen's findings and why there has been cross-cultural delaying of parenthood. In particular we question why population decline would be harmful, how attitudes toward parenthood have changed and why the Right have co-opted this issue as their own. Is there a case for a left-natalism, drawing on the innovations and heritage of social democracy? Chapters 00:00 Intro 05:43 Are Birthrates "Collapsing"? 13:03 Population Apocalypse? 16:05 Is Immigration a Fix? 22:00 The 'Replacement' Debate 26:03 Why The Left are Suspicious of Stephen 31:51 The Challenge of Ecological Collapse 37:42 Freddie and Jovan's Theory of Birthrate Decline 45:30 The Vitality Curve 51:24 Is 'Unplanned Childlessness' a Fair Term? 58:25 Can Delayed Parenthood be Reversed? 1:05:21 Is 'Hypergamy' Real? 1:11:20 The Loneliness Epidemic 1:15:02 Do Freddie and Jovan Want Kids 1:21:33 Have Romantic Relationships Changed? 1:25:50 Why Religious Fundamentalists Are Pro-Natalist 1:29:36 Is There A Case for Left-Natalism? 1:36:02 How Do AI and Demographics Affect Labour and Capital? 1:40:00 Should People Move To Africa? 1:45:18 How Can We Talk About Birthrates Maturely?

    Should The Left Talk About Birthrates - Stephen J Shaw

  5. Sep 16

    Don't Worry About AI Apocalypse - Cory Doctorow

    JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft Meet Schrödinger’s AI apocalypse - it is / isn’t happening. Cory Doctorow is the final boss of AI criticism. His sophisticated understanding of computer science paired with science fiction writing talents means he gets a good story about the future. AI companies have been spending billions. Much of it has been in data centre buildout that is filtering out into the US economy though at a ~2% growth rote. But the rest has been in marketing budgets, selling us an ideological story about how AI will take on all the menial tasks we don’t want to do. We don’t have our heads in the sand. There have been some monumental breakthroughs in computing power that is solving millennial maths problems, creating hyper-targeting weaponry and surveillance, advancing exotic isotope development for cures for cancer. It is enhancing what some, who use the software proficiently, are able to achieve. Yet AI is not infallible. AI will not inevitably replace human labour. Like every political tradeoff, it is a choice. Something has changed in recent days. En masse, the major AI players of Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Elon Musk have agreed to a slowdown in AI buildout. Why? Because, they say, too many AI safety researchers are raising alarm bells of a mass extinction possibility from this tech. So is it time to hit panic stations? Cory Doctorow is not convinced. All the most threatening things tech is capable of: shutting down economies, ransomware cyber attacks, monopoly rent extraction, are risks we are already living with. If you’re worrying about the future, you should be worried about today. 00:00 Intro 07:09 Is the AI Apocalypse Happening? 12:30 Is The Crita-Hype View Cynical? 19:28 Stock Valuations from Storytelling 27:40 Can AI Replace Labour? 35:30 Who Wins From Automation Adoption? 43:52 Slowdown in Buildout and the AI Bubble 50:50 Digital Sovereignty Is Not About AI 59:05 A Post-American Internet 1:08:01 Can the Left Get Serious? 1:13:01 Are the Elites Divided?

    Don't Worry About AI Apocalypse - Cory Doctorow

  6. Sep 8

    Exposing The Slopulist-Right Money Machine - Decoding The Gurus

    JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft **** If you want a counter-counter-culture take based on FACTS and LOGIC, look no further than the Decoding the Gurus podcast. Who said there is nothing sexy about being sceptical about scepticism, defending institutional arguments or stress-testing scientific methodologies? Matthew Brown and Chris Kavanagh have been dissecting the internet’s favourite gurus for over 5 years - debunking conspiracies and critically evaluating the totalising philosophies of these alternative media sensations. It certainly seems that there are more gurus today than ever before. The internet and in particular video-based media is servicing a special kind of cult-like business, enabling mass dissemination and pseudo-community. So why is it that there are more right-wing gurus than left-wing ones? What do the politics of online gurus tell us about wider society? Is there a grievance-mongering machine that is pointing people away from organised religion to a digital silo where they must pay for a worldview? We answer all of this and so much more! Chapters 00:00 Introduction 04:20 Are There More Gurus Than Ever? 10:01 The Relation Between Gurus, Science and Modernity 20:21 Is Grievance Culture Driving Gurufication? 26:02 How Does Economic Crisis Explain The Growing Market of Gurus. 30:30 Don’t Trust Faux Centrists 36:12 Does the Traditional Political Spectrum Exist Anymore? 42:10 The Alt-Right Political Content Industry 47:25 What Psychological Needs Are Met By Ideology? 51:15 Why Are There Fewer Left-Wing Gurus? 56:02 Is Gary Stevenson a Guru? 1:09:55 Have We Become Addicted to Frictionless Capitalism? 1:13:55 How Betting Has Got Out of Hand 1:20:11 Do We Need To Suffer More for Social Cohesion?

    Exposing The Slopulist-Right Money Machine - Decoding The Gurus

  7. Aug 25

    Will Andrew Tate Face Justice in the UK? - Matt Shea

    JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft **** Friend of the show, Matt Shea, returns for an update on the Andrew Tate case and a meaty analysis of Looksmaxxing CEO Clavicular. Are young boys really looking up to these jokemen? Has the media misunderstood the manosphere as a moral panic? Or does it reveal something deeper about the gender wars and who is funding them? Matt is your most hated grifter's worst enemy. An ex-VICE documentarian, Shea has investigated some of the most notorious stories. It led him to making a series of docs on Andrew Tate, where he spent intimate time with the Tate brothers and their 'War Room' in Romania. Shea now co-hosts the BBC's new podcast 'Top Comment' which looks at disinformation and online subcultures. It's worth a listen if you've exhausted all your WL episodes while poolside chilling this summer x Chapters 00:00 Intro 03:54 Louis Theroux’s Manosphere Documentary 07:48 Manosphere Ideology 10:15 Truth About Looksmaxxing 17:35 What’s Wrong with Clavicular? 24:06 The Online Freak Show Circus 27:10 Ceuta Crisis and Foreign Interference 34:25 The Right Wing Amplification Network 37:45 Tate’s Links to Russia 41:10 Andrew Tate’s Lunatic Lawyer 47:41 Latest Updates in The Criminal Investigation 54:01 It’s a Cult 1:01:56 Deep-seated Male Insecurities 1:05:08 What Is Positive Masculinity? 1:12:45 Changing the Culture

    Will Andrew Tate Face Justice in the UK? - Matt Shea

  8. Aug 18

    The Anti-Tech Revolution is Coming - Beeban Kidron

    JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content **** Baroness Kidron completed Hollywood. She could be living the high life. Instead she's outchea trying to take down the latest Frankenstein of Capitalism: Big Tech. Beeban is a crossbench peer in the House of Lords and has dedicated the latter stage of her career to keeping children safe online. It's somehow a contentious topic. Are children safe on the internet? Or has our generation been exposed to irreparable harms? We discuss all this and more: what does AI sovereignty look like? How has Britain been captured by American corporate interests? What can we do to fight back? Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:15 Growing Up With Socials 07:20 Gen-Z, The Anxious Generation? 13:08 Does Big Tech Own Us? 17:03 Corporate America's Capture of Westminster 22:00 How the Tech Broligarchy Took Over 26:35 AI Sovereignty 32:05 What Could Spark the Anti-Big-Tech Revolution 39:15 The UK's AI Security Institute 43:23 Temporarily Embarassed Millionaires 48:14 Destruction of Real Life Communities 52:15 Britain's Dependency On US Tech 56:45 Gen-Z and Unemployment 1:03:01 Left-Wing Patriotism and National Service

    The Anti-Tech Revolution is Coming - Beeban Kidron
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

'What's Left?' is a progressive political podcast for the generation tasked with returning order to political chaos. With 'Left/Right' no longer a clear distinction for our politics, what does it really mean to be on the political 'left'? And given the enormous change we're living through, what is left of our values, institutions and political systems? Co-hosts Jovan Owusu-Nepaul and Freddie Feltham are ex-Labour Party staffers, who have scrapped with Nigel Farage and Andrew Tate between them. Through in-depth chats with friends and experts inside Westminster and beyond, we hope to reveal what's really at stake as civilisation crosses the AI Rubicon. This is a show for anyone fed up with the status quo; ready to listen, learn and do in pursuit of a better and fairer future. Oh - and we wanna have some fun with it too. Jovan + Freddie

Information

  • Creator
    What's Left? With Jovan + Freddie
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    49
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Freddie Feltham 2025
  • Show Website
    What's Left? With Jovan + Freddie

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