Published in 1967, Guy Debord's book La Société du Spectacle ("The Society of the Spectacle") is nothing less than a radical attack on modern society, in which, in Debord's words, "being" had declined into a state of "having", and "having" merely meant "appearing".

But what exactly was the spectacle? Was it consumerism? Was it mass media? And how does Debord's theory let us understand modern spectacles such as the London Olympics and the royal jubilee?

In the latest episode of the Big Ideas podcast, Benjamen Walker talks situationism with Guardian columnist John Harris, academic Meghan Sutherland and Debord archivist Emmanuel Guy