Episode 11: The Panama Papers, Pt. 2 - Tax, Tax, Tax

This is Episode 11 of the State of the Theory Podcast. Politics. Power. Popular Culture. And other stuff, probably. In this series, we’re like super nerdy philosophical DJs: mashing up Serious Academic Questions with the most topical news and trends in pop culture. Each week, we’ll tackle a new topic and collide it with ‘critical theory’ (we’re pretty loose with our definitions, though, so expect the unexpected). Our aim is to destroy the stuff we know, explore the stuff we don’t and unsettle everything we think we know about the world. We take the obvious, the commonsensical, the certain, and then we rip it all to shreds. We are your theory doctors and we are always on call. In this episode, we look at the Panama Papers. In the second of a two-parter, we examine on the politics of whistleblowing. We examine the attitudes about tax and taxation as revealed by the way the Panama Papers story has been treated in the media. We see how taxation plays a role in creating a sense of the nation-state, and calibrates the relationship between nation-state and citizenry, and what this has to say about neoliberalism and democracy. The Bernie Sanders speech can be seen here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0mAwRAFC2U) Our theme music is "The Face of God" by The Agrarians (freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Agra…he_Face_of_God) State of the Theory is brought to you by Hannah Fitzpatrick and Anindya Raychaudhuri Find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stateofthetheorypodcast/?fref=ts) or Tweet us @drhfitz and @DrAnindyaR