The Econoclasts is a new podcast from UnHerd hosted by economist Yanis Varoufakis and journalist Wolfgang Munchau. While they don’t always agree politically, they are united in one conviction: the consensus is rotten. Mainstream economics has consistently failed to predict the events that shape our world, yet this broken orthodoxy still dominates policy and media. Each week, they choose two pillars of the established orthodoxy — the “settled facts” — and shatter them, cutting through the spin to connect the dots between money, geopolitics, and the real forces shaping our future.
Curated by: UnHerd (58 videos)
🔗Go to https://sponsr.is/hypnozio_unherd and use code UNHERD15 to grab 15% off your first subscription with Hypnozio. 🔗 Click the following link to get tickets to 'The Econoclasts LIVE' in London on March 23rd: https://unherd.com/econoclastslive 📰 Subscribe to UnHerd today at: https://bit.ly/3Qdkd5y In this special year-end edition of The Econoclasts, Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Munchau dissect 2025 - a pivotal year and annus horribilis for the European Union in a world reshaped by a G2 power structure, where a resurgent Russia, a technologically dominant China, and a tariff-wielding Trump administration have left Europe and the UK strategically "snookered." From the collapse of international law and the death of the green transition to the rise of Cloud Capital and autonomous AI warfare, Yanis and Wolfgang shatter the comforting myths of the centrist establishment. As capitalism mutates into a predatory digital feudalism, how can we make the distinction between empirical optimism and the necessity of human hope as we enter 2026? Watch it on the UnHerd website: https://unherd.com/watch-listen/2025-review-the-year-the-west-lost-control/ Listen to the podcast: plinkhq.com/i/1685475850 Advertise on UnHerd @ zoe.white@unherd.com Follow UnHerd on social media: Twitter: https://x.com/Econoclasts Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unherd/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unherd/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unherdtv //TIMECODES// 00:00 - 00:52 – A Year of Upheaval 00:52 - 01:13 – Intro 01:13 - 03:17 – Three Upsets: Russia, China, and Trump’s Wins 03:17 - 05:32 – Sponsor 05:32 - 08:16 – Europe’s Crisis and Changing World Order 08:16 - 10:13 – The Death of the Green Transition & International Law 10:13 - 11:13 – Far-Right Surge and Unintended Political Shifts 11:13 - 13:22 – The Rise of Tech: AI, Macroeconomics & Crypto Gains 13:22 - 16:16 – Cloud Capital: Redefining Power in the Digital Age 16:16 - 19:42 – Techno-Optimism vs. Dystopia: The Role of AI 19:42 - 23:48 – Cryptocurrency, Cloud Capital, and the Power Elite 23:48 - 26:48 – Self-Restraint, Military AI & Europe’s Vulnerabilities 26:48 - 28:13 – Hope vs. Optimism in the Face of Concentrated Power 28:13 - 28:49 – Wrapping Up: Looking Towards 2026 #UnHerd #YanisVaroufakis #China