Macrodose
Planet B Productions
0
Macrodose is a weekly economics podcast hosted by James Meadway. Each episode provides a concise update on key economic developments and trends. The show aims to make economics accessible and engaging for a general audience.
Episodi
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The Downward Spiral of Public Procurement 23.07.2026 24min"The biggest problem is that they choose the lowest bid. That ends up being paid by the worker."Our taxes might be used to exploit cleaners through public contracts. But how does it work, who is responsible for this, and what can we do about it?In this episode, we follow the money. We expose how "public procurement"—the system by which governments award cleaning contracts—has created a race to the bottom. When contracts go to the cheapest bidder, the savings come from one place only: workers' wages, hours, and dignity.In this episode, we hear from:🇫🇮Niina Autio from Finland, a cleaner and team leader who has worked in schools, museums, and police stations. She describes the "ethical stress" of watching colleagues lose negotiated salaries and holiday pay when contracts change hands—and why the "cheapest offer is not the best offer."🇪🇸Natalia Higueras Lopez from Spain, a cleaner for 18 years, always under outsourced public contracts. She explains how Spain's high rate of temporary employment traps cleaners in part-time, precarious jobs—and why the "lowest bid" means fewer staff, no replacements for sick leave, and chronic fatigue.📚Dr. Karen Jaehrling, labour researcher and contributor to the ProcuFair project. She explains how public authorities have the power to set fair conditions—and why simply writing good rules isn't enough; monitoring is essential.🇧🇪Joost Engelaar, Regional Secretary at the Belgian Union ABVV Brussels (FGTB), who led a national campaign to stop the race to the bottom. He describes mobilising cleaners at the airport, in schools, and on small sites—and why collective action can force clients to "procure responsibly."🔔Subscribe now and join us every week as we bring to the forefront the hidden stories behind Europe’s most essential workforce who hardly get any credit.🎧Unsung Cleaners is a podcast by UNI Europa, co-funded by the European Commission. The show is produced by Seden Anlar. Interviews and narration by Gail Rego. Project coordination and interpretation by Alessia Mora and Mark Bergfeld. Special thanks to all the cleaners and union organisers who shared their stories as well as Katharine Shaw Nelson for dubbing. -
Monkey Market Collapse 22.07.2026 20minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at who new prime minister Andy Burnham has chosen to be his Chancellor of the Exchequer (0:42), how wildfire season is increasingly becoming a wider phenomenon driven by rising global temperatures (9:01), and how the collapse in the market of lab monkeys is impacting biomedical research around the world (14:03).Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station -
The Hidden Cost of Night Work and Split Shifts 16.07.2026 38min"We are the invisibles. We clean when no one is around."Most people work during the day. But for nearly half of Europe's cleaners, the shift begins when everyone else goes home.In this episode, we examine the hidden toll of night work and split shifts—and why daytime cleaning is a proven, humane alternative. We hear from two cleaners living in two different realities: one trapped in the exhaustion of the night, and the other working under a better system but with its own challenges.In this episode, we hear from:🌙Steffi (Stephanie) Wlodraski, who worked as a cleaner in Germany since she was fifteen. She now represents her colleagues as the German representative on the European works council. She describes the physical and social destruction of working while the world sleeps—lost friendships, disrupted family life, and a body that "eventually breaks down."☀️Naemy Aasen, a cleaner and trade unionist from Norway who works continuous daytime shifts. She explains how daytime cleaning allows her to see her children, attend their activities, and have a life outside work—and why her country's model could work anywhere.📊Karin Sardadvar, a sociologist in Vienna who researches split shifts and night work. She reveals how split shifts create "time theft," destroy social integration, and leave cleaners commuting for hours—sometimes not seeing their children all week.🇮🇹Paola Basetti, National Secretary for Cleaning at CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour). She explains how fragmented schedules don't just exhaust workers—they make it nearly impossible for unions to organise them, trapping cleaners in a cycle of precarity.🔔Subscribe now and join us every week as we bring to the forefront the hidden stories behind Europe’s most essential workforce who hardly get any credit.🎧Unsung Cleaners is a podcast by UNI Europa, co-funded by the European Commission. The show is produced by Seden Anlar. Interviews and narration by Gail Rego. Project coordination and interpretation by Alessia Mora and Mark Bergfeld. Special thanks to all the cleaners and union organisers who shared their stories as well as dubbers Maureen Hick and Alessandra Giannessi. -
El Nino Profiteering 15.07.2026 13minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at the impact of the unholy pairing of the El Nino phenomenon and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (0:46), how one hedge fund is looking to capitalise financially on disruption caused by El Nino (7:00), and how the European heatwave continues to underline the need for climate adaptation (9:41).Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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A Day In The Life of Europe's Cleaners 09.07.2026 29min"The only time people notice what a cleaner does is when she doesn't do it."They disinfect hospital wards, scrub office floors, and sanitise the spaces we all rely on. Yet cleaners are among the most invisible workers in Europe.In this first episode, we pull back the curtain on a typical day in the life of a cleaner. From the marble corridors of the European Parliament to a high-dependency hospital unit in Ireland, we hear what it really means to do essential work that almost no one sees.In this episode, we hear from:🧹Hayat Elhore, a cleaner at the European Parliament in Brussels, union representative, and mother who fought for daytime cleaning. She shares what it's like to clean a building that symbolises democracy—while often being treated as invisible.🏥Lisa Stenson, a hospital cleaner in Ireland with over 16 years of experience. She explains the pride of cleaning life-saving equipment like incubators, the terror of being assigned to the first COVID ward, and why cleaners are "skilled workers" who deserve to be paid properly.📖Véronique Achille-Revillod, General Secretary of CFDT Services and author of "Essential, If Essential" (Essentiels si essentiels). She traces how cleaning work has been devalued for centuries—from enslaved people to today's outsourced workforce—and argues it's time to recognise the real skills behind the mop.🇮🇹Giusy Sferruzza, collective bargaining officer at FISASCAT-CISL (Italian Confederation of Workers' Unions). She reflects on how the pandemic briefly made cleaners "essential" in the public eye—and why that recognition failed to translate into lasting economic or regulatory change.🔔 Subscribe now and join us every week as we bring to the forefront the hidden stories behind Europe’s most essential workforce who hardly get any credit.🎧 Unsung Cleaners is a podcast by UNI Europa, co-funded by the European Commission. The show is produced by Seden Anlar. Interviews and narration by Gail Rego. Project coordination and interpretation by Alessia Mora and Mark Bergfeld. Special thanks to all the cleaners and union organisers who shared their stories as well as dubbers Seden Anlar, Alessia Mora and Alessandra Giannessi. -
Data Centre Meltdowns 08.07.2026 18minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how heatwaves are breaking data centres (0:33), how Trump is refusing to renew his own North American trade deal (5:44), and a listener question all about Modern Monetary Theory (9:50).Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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High Cost Heatwaves 01.07.2026 14minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the cost of extreme heat requires urgent attention from our political leaders (0:36), if Andy Burnham’s speech this week laid out more of his economic vision (4:43), and how the straight of Hormuz may well be reopening, but the impacts are still to come (10:30).Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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Burnham's Plan For Britain 24.06.2026 16minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at likely next prime minister Andy Burnham and his economic agenda for Britain (0.43), the current heatwave gripping the UK and large parts of the rest of Europe (9:30), and the daft idea of putting data centres in space (13:00).Heatstrike: heatstrike.notion.siteSubscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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Food As A Site Of Struggle w/ Jonas Marvin (Norwich Transformed) 17.06.2026 27minJames is away this week so we have for you an event recording from Norwich Transformed, a festival of socialist ideas and culture.Joining James is Jonas Marvin, author of the forthcoming book, the Breaking of the English Working Class. Together, they discuss the economics affecting food in a changing global climate, why so many are struggling to eat well, and what to do about it.Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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Oil War w/ Laleh Khalili 15.06.2026 1h 6minLast night, after more than 100 days since the US and Israel went to war against Iran, the US and Iran reached a partial framework for peace. When the war began at the end of February, it was all but impossible to make sense of the irrational explosion of violence. In the months since, that sense of irrationality has hardly ebbed, not least as the economic impacts of the war and resulting closures of the Strait of Hormuz—on food and oil prices, and on the supply of goods like ammonia and aluminium—have begun to bite.The destructiveness of this war is clear. Less clear is what it could mean for the future of an industry at the heart of the region and the conflict: oil.Our guest today is Laleh Khalili, a Professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and author of several books, including Sinews of War and Trade. In this episode, she breaks down the mess of the US-Israeli war on Iran, shifting relations among the region’s petro-states, the US as an empire in decline, and the future of global energy. -
Godzilla El Nino Incoming 10.06.2026 18minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the first signs of the incoming “Godzilla” el nino (6:29), how the big tech market crash could finally be arriving (0:47), and a listener question on what public investment looks like in a high-interest world (12:17).Chuang (18 May 2020), “Free to move, forced to move: The present state of the hukou system”. http://chuangcn.org/2020/05/free-to-move/Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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Hukou Overhaul 03.06.2026 17minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how tech firms are cutting back AI spending after blowing budgets on it (0:42), how progressives are taking on the UK political culture of bond market fear (6:23), and how a recent change in China’s welfare system will have global consequences (10:06).Chuang (18 May 2020), “Free to move, forced to move: The present state of the hukou system”. http://chuangcn.org/2020/05/free-to-move/Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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LIVE: The BREAK—DOWN Issue 3: Airborne w/ Geoff Mann, Daniela Gabor and Oliver Eagleton 01.06.2026 59minWe're celebrating the launch of The BREAK—DOWN's spring issue, Airborne! On May 6th, The BREAK—DOWN hosted a live podcast where editor Adrienne Buller was joined by Geoff Mann, Daniela Gabor and Oliver Eagleton to discuss climate crisis through and beyond the contents of AIRBORNE.ISSUE #3: AirborneThe engines of industrial production that power the modern economy release vast quantities of carbon and pollutants into the air, seeping into our soil, our water, and even our bodies. Air pollution alone is responsible for around ten million deaths each year. And yet this everyday emergency has not fundamentally reshaped how we understand our place in the world.This issue explores the tensions between global causes and local effects, between the invisible and the immediate, by looking closely at the air itself: the medium that surrounds us, connects us, and sustains life, even as it is increasingly contested and compromised.Featuring essays by Adam Almeida and Shruti Iyer on the inequalities of air pollution across time and place, from New York to India; Zsuzsanna Ihar on a spaceport in the outer Hebrides; Vera Huwe on the political history of air travel; Mae Losasso on the origins of “the environment” in airborne chemical warfare; Cecilia Rikap on Big Tech and the cloud; Drew Pendergrass on complexity and planning; Natasha Heenan on the politics of climate repair; a photo essay by Amelie David and Ségolène Ragu on the fight for clean air and energy in Beirut under renewed military assault; and an interview with journalist David Wallace-Wells.Go to The BREAK—DOWN's website to become a member and get your copy of their latest issue - and follow their socials. -
Adaptation Economics 27.05.2026 11minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the question of adaptation to our changing climate has returned amidst Britain experiencing another heatwave (0:58), and how market-led solutions to adaptation will only entrench further inequality (6:48).Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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Burnham & The Bond Markets 20.05.2026 11minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how talk of the bond markets is back after Andy Burnham announced his byelection candidacy and ambitions for Number 10 (0:44), a note on “Godzilla El Nino” - as the world is set to be hit by the mother of all weather disruptions (5:49), and reports that the UK government is pushing to cap the price of essential foods (9:36).Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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LIVE: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters w/ Aditya Chakrabortty, Clara Mattei & Juliano Fiori 14.05.2026 1h 17minToday's episode is the final in Season One of AFTER ORDER. It was recorded as a live show in collaboration with the Alameda Institute at the Art House in Bethnal Green, East London, earlier this week. The conversation is hosted by Juliano Fiori (Alameda), featuring James Meadway (Macrodose), Clara Mattei (University of Tulsa), and Aditya Chakrabortty (The Guardian).Together they explore the idea that we are no longer living between stable political and economic systems, but through an era defined by overlapping and ongoing crises.From economic turbulence to geopolitical fragmentation, many of the frameworks that once made sense of the world are breaking down. The discussion asked what might replace them - and how we rethink political economy for a world shaped by uncertainty, conflict, and rapid technological change.Across the evening, the panel reflected on what these shifts mean for power, politics, and the possibilities for building a different future.It is your support that makes this show possible. Pleases consider becoming a subscriber today: patreon.com/Macrodose. To learn more about the work we do, head to planetbproductions.co.uk. -
Starmer's Last Stand? 13.05.2026 12minOn this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at how the political turmoil around Starmer's ailing premiership is affecting the UK’s economic outlook (0:38), and how governments around the world will respond to the current chaotic state of the global economy (7:04).Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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Domination Without Hegemony? w/ Juliano Fiori 07.05.2026 53minEvent Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters (May 12th) Welcome back to After Order - a series from Macrodose and the Alameda institute exploring power, sovereignty, and crisis in today’s unstable world.This week, James is joined by Juliano Fiori, Director at Alameda, to look back at the series so far, and discuss its core premise: that we’re not living through what Antonio Gramsci called an “interregnum” - a moment where the old world is dying and the new struggles to be born. Instead, that our world is now one of sustained disorder. In his own writing, Juliano takes this one step further, arguing that the very notion of order as we’ve come to understand it is tied to the system of US hegemony that has dominated global politics since the end of the second world war.For Juliano this “order” is not only conceptual, but material. Sustained first by the unparalleled industrial base of American capitalism, and then by its transformation into the hub of global trade and finance - secured at every turn through military might. He argues that, in losing sight of this, progressives too often take this exception for granted, and with it the belief that its decline will organically precipitate the rise of a new stability - perhaps one governed by a more just or democratic set of institutions. But this is not a mistake we can afford to make. With the dominance of the dollar waning, the US grip on global capital is beginning to slip. And Trump's warmongerings, from Venezuela to Iran, now appear as the violent shocks of an empire in sharp decline.The materiality of what we once called “order” is coming to an end. So what, if anything, comes next? The continued rise of China? A patchwork of competing regional powers? And a world defined by domination without hegemony?All that and more, in this week’s After Order. -
Psychedelics - The New Frontier Of Profit w/ Kojo Koram 06.05.2026 12minWhile James Meadway is away for the local elections, this week's Macrodose is guest-hosted by Kojo Koram - author of the upcoming book 'The Next Fix: The Winners & Losers In The Future Of Drugs'.For today's episode, Kojo explores the changing world of psychedelics - and how we’re on the cusp of a wave of corporate interests ready to sweep in to monopolise a new market.Subscribe to support the show at patreon.com/Macrodose. Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.Purchase a copy of Kojo's new book 'The Next Fix' here:https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/kojo-koram/the-next-fix/9781399807715/Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk.Event Tickets: The Break—Down Issue #3 Launch Party!Event Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to planetbproductions.co.uk.Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station
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Power in the Periphery w/ Gabriel Tupinambá 30.04.2026 41minEvent Tickets: Political Economy in a Time of Monsters (May 12th)Welcome back to After Order - a series from Macrodose and the Alameda Institute - exploring power and crisis in today’s unstable world.In this week’s episode, we’re turning to the concept of Popular Sovereignty. At a moment when the old order is breaking down - when states are less able to guarantee rights, stability, or even the basic conditions of life - what does it mean for movements, communities, and working people to build power for themselves?Joining James to explore that question is Gabriel Tupinambá, Senior Researcher at Alameda. In an upcoming paper titled ‘Popular Sovereignties Under Peripheral Conditions’, Gabriel looks to social movements, especially those in Brazil, to understand how communities are attempting to reclaim sovereignty on new terms. Gains that once seemed durable - access to land, political representation, legal recognition - now appeared increasingly fragile. Right-wing forces are reorganising both inside and outside the state, and progressives are too often clinging to outdated institutions that have themselves become unstable. Under these conditions, Gabriel argues that we need to rethink sovereignty from the ground up. Not as a juridical status, or as participation in a national project, but as something more material and immediate, the means of life itself - food, land, shelter, social reproduction - as the basis for any sustained political struggle.Was the stability of the postwar period always more fragile than it appeared? Are the conditions long associated with the global periphery now becoming generalised across the world? And if movements today can still disrupt systems of power, why is it so much harder to build alternatives that last?All that and more, in this week’s After Order.Image Credits:Arquivo e Memória, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST)Sebastiao Salgado c/o https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=2560,quality=82,format=auto,fit=contain/filestore/images/after-months-of-occupation-of-the-cuiaba-plantation-by-landless-families-the-peasants-celebrate-the-official-expropriation-state-of-sergipe-brazil-1996.jpgWellington Lenon c/o https://www.brasildefato.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MST-_-Foto-Wellington-Lenon.jpg Gilvan Oliveria, c/o https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2024/01/22/lasdless-workers-movement-celebrates-40-years-and-becomes-the-longest-running-peasant-movement-in-brazil/Douglas Mansur, c/o https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2024/01/22/lasdless-workers-movement-celebrates-40-years-and-becomes-the-longest-running-peasant-movement-in-brazil/Eraldo Peres, c/o https://www.thenation.com/article/world/brazil-mst-landless-workers-movement/Alf Ribeiro, c/o https://dissentmagazine.org/article/brazils-landless-workers-rise-mst-land-occupation/Duda Oliva c/o https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/03_Duda-Oliva-2.jpgJudy Duarte c/o https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/02_Juliana-2.jpgNatália Gregorini c/o https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/04_Natalia-2.jpgArtworksDuda Oliva c/o https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/03_Duda-Oliva-2.jpgJudy Duarte c/o https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/02_Juliana-2.jpgNatália Gregorini c/o https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/04_Natalia-2.jpg
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