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PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 205 - PlasticPills Discovers BuddhismAfter a long hiatus, Pills returns to the main show with some new musings over The Last Samurai, Buddhism and the phenomenology of religion. The Kyoto School and Nagarjuna were mentioned in the episode, but we didn't get into much depth this time round. Find everything we make at the feed at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2025-04-291h 12
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastCults of Cleansing | Plastic Pills on Religion IIThe cults of COVID may never go away, but this is why they are to be expected.This is part II of the plasticpills diatribe on religion focusing on metaphor as the original decision making process in a world and specifically the metaphors of religious laws that begin with keeping your hands clean but end with the mass extermination of people.Listen ad free at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2025-04-111h 01
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastDeath Cult Logic | Plastic Pills on Religion IChristo-techno-fascism? I'm hunting down the impulse producing the end of the world and how religion functions as a social technology. As it turns out, we're all still religious.All the full episodes are available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpillsThe videos are available at https://www.youtube.com/plasticpills2025-03-281h 00PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 178 - We Solved the World with Diego RuzzarinWhat do Adin Ross, China, RFK and the Cult of the Individual have in common? This episode... that's it.All episodes are found only at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpillsBe sure to check out the plasticpills YouTube channel for new CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT this week. https://www.youtube.com/c/plasticpills2024-08-131h 45PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 161 - Andy Warhol and the End of ArtWe're still on why everything's ending, this time with another pillar of civilization: art, and modern art in particular. Part of the discussion comes from Frederic Jameson's Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, the cover of which features a (particularly ugly) Warhol print (https://amzn.to/3PD4M6m). The other two books referenced are The Diary of Andy Warhol and The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, written by the man himself. Check out the Plasticpills YouTube channel to see the new video about why Warhol is to blame for killing art: https://www.youtube.com/c/p...2024-03-271h 16PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 131 - Freedom Isn’t FreeEveryone speaking on freedom but nobody's asking what it means. "Freedom-from interference" is a 400-year-old definition that covers a few bases but not much beyond that. We looked to Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology in this book (https://amzn.to/3OdpzwL) to give us something a little better. Pill Pods #59, #60, #61, #62 are all about Merleau-Ponty in more detail. Find all the episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-07-141h 12PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 130 - We Have Never Been ModernPills and Erik celebrate Latour Day. Cracking one of our old favs (https://amzn.to/3O2fLVp), to discuss the theory island chain, the scheme of actor network theory, and why reality is more complex than theoretical models. All our episodes are up at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-07-081h 20PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 126 - Based RousseauOne of those guys we rarely think about but who single-handedly pulled the track lever in the history of philosophy, it's Rousseau. We read Discourse on the Origin of Inequality this week and appraised its significance. Get all our exclusive episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills 2023-06-101h 15PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 124 & 125 - The Light of Reason and the Eye of the Mind (preview)Pill Pods 124 & 125 cover a paper written by Pills, which argues that despite banishing figurative language for the sake of "clarity", Western philosophy has forgotten it was founded on a metaphor equating reason with vision, a metaphor we unknowingly reiterate on the daily. The episodes are available to patron subscribers at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-06-0916 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 123 - ”Western Civilization” According to Francis BaconWe revisit Atlantis, the new one, in this Victor Hainagiu (Lit Vic) episode where we peer into the the early modern, colonial, proto-capitalist imagination. Find the short story here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2434/2434-h/2434-h.htm Follow Victor @HoratioVictor Get all our eps at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-05-191h 16PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 122 - Mosh Pit Sociology (Preview)Get the full episode, many others, and all the other exclusive content by supporting the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-05-1311 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 121 - Obscurantism in French Philosophy: Searle on Foucault & DerridaToday we discuss how to pet your professor's ego to get better marks, and review John Searles sassy attempt to take down Derrida by quoting Foucault gossip. Sources come from Reiterating the Differences: A Reply to Derrida and Limited Inc. https://amzn.to/3oIfJc0 More content—video and audio—at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-04-281h 15PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 119 - Bernard Stiegler & Posthumanist Post-Marxism (ft. Diego Ruzzarin)How many posts can be fit into a title? Diego's back is back and so are we to have a look at why Stiegler believes that the class war is over, the techno/grammatological pharmakon is in and proletarianization has been total. We looked at the first half of "A New Critique of Political Economy", which was suggested to us by a patron (thank you). Find Diego's work (mostly esp) on the internet (he's easy to find). The even-numbered episodes and video lectures are at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-04-141h 36PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 117 - Baudrillard as Post-MarxistWe are still on the lookout for some worthwhile post-marxisms, we found a dude who is post-everything. Our reading is from "Ironic Strategies" from Baudrillard's Fatal Strategies (https://amzn.to/3ZqeDhS), and it turned out to be a pretty seductive text all around. All episodes: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-03-311h 30PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 116 - Guattari & Negri: Communists Like Us (preview)New week, new book, and we're still on the hunt for a "post-Marxism" that hits. As usual, we were split on which ingredients we look for in the recipes of political theorists. This is a preview of our debate and all our arguments can be found at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-03-2414 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 115 - Althusser and Structuralist MarxismErik and Pills duo on Althusser, reading "Contradiction and Overdetermination" from the book For Marx. We read this anticipating a couple episodes trying to figure out what "post-marxism" could mean, and we don't want to strawman, and this is one of my (Pills') favourite bites attempting to delineate what Marxist theory can and cannot aspire to.Get all the exclusive eps at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-03-171h 25PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 114 - POST-MARXISM ft. Diego Ruzzarin (Preview)n the 80s, Laclau and Mouffe decided they wanted to succeed Marxism with discourse stuff and some identity politics thrown in. We read their apologetic for Post-Marxism and while Post-Marxism is interesting as a direction, this version of it leaves something to be desired. Find the full episode and many more on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-03-1610 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 113 - Slavoj Zizek vs WokenessZizek allegedly wrote an article on the problems of wokeness and we argued about it. Reactionary? Transphobic? Trolling? We don't agree (with each other). The article: https://compactmag.com/article/wokeness-is-here-to-stay The rest of our episodes are available at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-03-031h 33PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 111 - Spectacles of The Integrated SpectacleHow many of the intellectual left were assassinated by the CIA? THE TRUTH WILL SHOCK YOU! Guy Debord's head inflates by the time he gets to his book written about his own book, Comments on the Society of Spectacle https://amzn.to/3lLEsLa then we argue over whether America or China is more spectacular, in this last episode of our series on the Situationist International. If you like this kind of content there's more at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-02-181h 24PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 109 - SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLEWe've been leading up to it, and here is the first spectacle of 2 on Debord's popular book (https://amzn.to/3HRp0pj). Stay tuned for future spectacles. Get the full series on Debord and the Situationist International at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-02-071h 23PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 108 - Psychogeography (preview)This is a preview on our episode covering the Situationist concepts of psychogeography and unitary urbanism, from back when we hoped for such things. Get the full episode and plenty more at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-02-0706 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 107 - Situationist Revolutionary TheoryFrom 1957 to 1972, the Situationist International published a slew of articles, pamphlets, films and journals trying to bring theoretical Marxist debates into everyday life and change public consciousness. Today we read a few of these articles on topics including art, revolution, and the Los Angeles Watts riots to see what of their imagination might be recovered. Links to Articles: "The Revolution of Modern Art and the Modern Art of Revolution" https://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/modernart.html "The Decline and Fall of the Spectacle-Commodity Economy" https://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/decline.html Don't miss any episodes and s...2023-01-201h 35PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 106 - Introduction to The Situationist International (preview)We are starting a series on the theorists and artists of the Situationist International and their most well-known export: The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord. Get all exclusive episodes, bonus content, and help support our efforts at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2023-01-2006 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 27 - BURNOUT SOCIETY by Byung-Chul Han *UNLOCKED*It's been a while since we released an exclusive episode, but I thought this that this episode is as pertinent as it ever was, so enjoy this release from two years ago, and Merry Christmas. It's a discussion of The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han (whom we had then recently discovered, by the sound of it). Find the book here: https://amzn.to/3sW85IL As always, get more of this every week by joining us at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-12-231h 16PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 105 - AI, Transhumanism & Silicon Valley Singularity CultsAfter our episode claiming that ChatGPT would destroy university education as it currently exists, we had to de-mythologize the dumb philosophy status quo of Silicon Valley and its weird mix of objectivism, stoicism, and effective altruism. References from https://www.kurzweilai.net/the-transhuman-singularity All episodes and exclusive videos at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-12-171h 30PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 104 - AI & the New Crisis of Humanities EducationNot with a whimper, but with a bang: it's time for another crisis of the Humanities. Students, then teachers, then administrators will realize that AI has nullified our current evaluation methods in academia. In this episode we discuss the implications of OpenAI for essay writing, and how to prevent universities from devolving into AIs reading AIs. Get access to all the episodes and other media at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-12-091h 09PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 103 - Feminist Fight Night: Nussbaum vs. Butler (preview)What was a niche, inter-feminist fight in the 90s proves to be prophetically relevant this week. Pills and Victor narrate Martha Nussbaum coming at Judith Butler and almost split the difference. Get access to the full episode and many more at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-12-0905 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 101 - Democracy 101(preview)We glance at Ranciere's Hatred of Democracy which suggests that hatred, not equality, is the animus of so-called democracies, and then debate whether or not the term even matters anymore. Get access to the full episode and many more at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-12-0907 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPILL POD 100It's a "party" for our 100th episode! Thanks for everyone who helped us reach this milestone by listening, guesting, supporting us on patreon, or whatever else, and special thanks to everyone who submitted voice clips. To find out what everyone's working on mentioned in this episode: Diego: @DiegoRuzzarin https://diegoruzzarin.com/Chris: @aufgehendeRest https://epochemagazine.org/56/the-influence-of-plato-on-schellings-living-cosmos-the-timaeus-the-freedom-essay-and-ages-of-the-world/ Matt: @MattPolProf https://areomagazine.com/2022/04/11/is-postmodernism-neo-marxist/ Victor: @victorbruzzone Pills: @plasticpills https://www.youtube.com/c/plasticpills Erik: No fixed address2022-11-041h 53PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 99 - Edward Bernays (preview)Today we read Freud's nephew, the "Father of PR," Edward Bernays' book "Propaganda" and compare his theory and practice to other opinions on the purpose of propaganda, and how it compares to the later neo-marxist conception of "ideology" and whether theorizing about democracy matters at all when private interests run the state. Get all the episodes plus ~60 exclusive eps for just 4 bucks at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-10-2808 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 98 - Ricky Rorty: Derrida vs. HabermasThis resembles one of our FIGHT NIGHT episodes, except the whole of it is mediated by another philosopher, Richard Rorty. We give a bit of background to philosophical pragmatism before trying to get a read on what philosophy is for according to each of these three authors. Is it for self-help? Can it solve 'real' problems? Or is philosophy just cope? Find the public link on our patreon page https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-10-251h 22PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 94 - Kafka MetamorphosisFind the whole text here https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5200 Find LitVic on Twitter! @HoratioVictor Always looking for more suggestions for the lit stuff, someone suggested this several months ago and we bore it out! We are joined by LitVic for a literature episode, looking at the puzzling tale of the guy who gets turned into a bug. Find the whole text here https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5200 Find LitVic on Twitter! @HoratioVictor Missed any eps? Want to support the podcast? join us at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-09-271h 28PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 93 - Nick Land (preview)It's easy to get all the bonus eps and a lot besides on www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-09-2711 min
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 91 - ADIEU LACANBrace yourselves for two and a half hours focused on Lacan's psychoanalytic method. We are joined partway through by Director/Auteur Richard Ledes, who has brought Lacan to the silver screen in a film we're proud to hype up: ADIEU LACAN. To watch the film, (which is pretty safely the only decent depiction of psychoanalysis we've ever seen) you can find it on Amazon and Apple in English, or go to https://www.richardledes.com/films to watch it in other langauges. If you enjoy our content, help us keeping making it by sharing, algo-boosting, rating or joining our Patreon to...2022-08-262h 29PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 89 - The Myth of Atlantis (Preview)We turn our attention to the ur myth of civilizational collapse... and accidentally find political philosophy. Ah well. Get the other half of our episodes and support our continued efforts at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-08-0503 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 87 - The Idea of Communism IV ft. Diego RuzzarinIt's more answers without questions, in part IV of our "Idea of Communism" series. We're getting the hot takes from Diego Ruzzarin (@DiegoRuzzarin) on what he thinks the Idea of Communism means for Latin America particularly, what's up with psychoanalysis, and the other stuff he's working on. Find our content mill over at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-07-201h 56PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 85 - The Word ”Communism” *Preview*We have another heated discussion on the sense and meaning of the word "communism," this time from a Heideggerian communist. Get all the goods at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-07-0106 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 84 - The Universality of Communism *Preview*This week we read the article by Susan Buck-Morss "The Second Time as Farce... Historical Pragmatics and the Untimely Present" from, again, The Idea of Communism https://amzn.to/3xZJjMw All of our episodes and extra content are available for an inconsequential contribution to our group project at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-06-2512 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 83 - The Idea of Communism - Alain BadiouThis is our first in the reading series on the Idea of Communism conferences, covering Alain Badiou. Our readings will come from The Idea of Communism I https://amzn.to/3xZJjMw, The Idea of Communism II https://amzn.to/3OkDYVd, and The Idea of Communism III https://amzn.to/3b8e3lb Join up with us on Patreon to get all of the upcoming episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-06-171h 26PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastThe Deleuze Seminars ft. Professor Daniel W. SmithPills is graced by the presence of the eminent Deleuze scholar, editor, and translator, Daniel W. Smith. Dan explains how he came to Deleuzian philosophy, why it's important, and previews the exciting Deleuze Seminars project, which is almost finished translating 20 years of Deleuze's lectures into English. The Deleuze Seminars project can be explored here: https://deleuze.cla.purdue.edu/ Si vous pouvez comprendre le français, il y en a plus a la Bibliotheque Nationale de France https://gallica.bnf.fr/html///und/enregistrements-sonores/gilles-deleuze-cours-donnes-luniversite-paris-8-vincennes-saint-denis-1979-0?mode=desktop This interview was too good to keep to ourselves, but if you wa...2022-06-141h 14PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 82 - 1980s NostalgiaReboots and renewals, bodies and images, city and pasture. The Pill Pod takes a crack at analyzing the desire structure of 80s nostalgia in popular media. New episodes and videos not found here are up at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills so check that out for more content.2022-06-101h 10PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 81 - The Postmodern Condition *Preview*Pills, Erik and Victor tackle the boogeyman: Lyotard's Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, with reference to Wittgenstein's language-game methodology. Is postmodernism when there are too many gay characters on TV? Or is it the legitimacy crisis of state knowledge precipitated by finance capital, the computerisation of information, and the subsumption of politics by public relations? Get the full episode and a ton more audio and video at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-06-0704 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastKumbaya Posthumanism *Preview*We venture into the weeds of ignorance, science, and anthropomorphism, and not even immuno-responses can stop us. We look at posthumanism a la Francesca Ferrando (Philosophical Posthumanism), Donna Haraway (Staying with the Trouble), and James Lovelock & Lynn Margulis (The Gaia Hypothesis). Get the full episode and many more at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-05-1416 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastAmerica’s New Right Problem ft. WaPo’s Greg SargentGreg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) from the Washington Post joins Victor and Matt to discuss America's burgeoning illberal right wing. While often painted as reactionary and unintelligible, America's new right may have more coherent principles and goals than first meet the eye. If you're done with the feed and interested in what else we have on offer in theory and philosophy, check out https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills for weekly content.2022-05-0439 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 78 - The Posthumanism ManifestoErik and Pills do the thing, because everything needs to be manifestoed eventually and I needed a title. If you wonder whose name is being referenced throughout, it's the forgotten sociologist, Niklas Luhmann. You can follow us at @podpill and @plasticpills, but we don't go there much. Find anything you might've missed at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-04-291h 28PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 77 -Trans/Post-Human Technics (Preview)Pills and Erik talk about transhumanism as opposed to posthumanism, and compare their positions on human technology and technics. Heidegger, McLuhan, Latour and Stiegler are all noteworthy theorists of technological posthumanism, the foundation of which we try to lay out here. Get a lot of content for not a lot of money at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-04-2212 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 76 - Posthumanism is Good Actually Vol. 1Erik and Pills cover posthumanism in the context of systems theory and what makes it a viable model as an alternative to humanist explanatory frameworks of how society functions. We reference Niklas Luhmann (https://amzn.to/3ObXyUq) quite a few times as well as Francesca Ferrando's "Philosophical Posthumanism" (https://amzn.to/3rtH8Nv). There are more episodes of systems theory to be observed at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-04-161h 20PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPrePostPostHumanism *Preview*This is a brief introduction to our defense of posthumanism. Find our extended deliberations about philosophy and whether or not it matters at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-04-0911 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastHyperreal War *UNLOCKED* Pill Pod 57We recorded this months ago but feels relevant enough for a public post. Regularly scheduled content will continue as usual! The video referenced is this one: https://youtu.be/JgJhmvzcb28 If you've missed anything you can more at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-03-091h 13PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPrison Abolition & Criminal Justice ft. Blake WilsonVictor (@victorbruzzone) interviews Professor Blake Wilson from California State University about the Rittenhouse trial, the legitimacy of law, and prison abolition. Blake is a defense-attorney-turned-philosopher who writes and teaches on criminal justice and the philosophy of law. Visit his website here: https://www.mblakewilson.com All exclusive episodes can be found at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-03-041h 41PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 71 - Plato was an Idiot (preview)Plato has had it too easy. We take an hour and a bit to divide the philosophers from the sophists. This is what we do every week at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-02-2604 min
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 70 - Fanon (Preview)This was one of the top topics from the previous patron vote--Fanon's postcolonialism. Get all our exclusive eps on https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-02-1809 min
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 69 - The Jordan Peterson is Over PartyJoe Rogan hosted JBP to discuss fracking, Abraham, and Nietzsche, and we are here for those hot and not-so-hot takes on our first in-person, video podcast episode. Before we bid adieu to the University of Toronto's melodramatic guru, we cover the hits of his latest interview. Our co-authored, deep read of JBP: https://amzn.to/34yIQF1 Follows: @plasticpills @mattpolprof @victorbruzzone @HoratioVictor All content, including how to read Nietzsche properly: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-02-111h 40PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 41 - Fight Night 1: Baudrillard vs. Foucault *UNLOCKED*This week's episode is going to be late, because we are planning something a little different. This episode is an unlock from a This episode features an exciting 1977 bout between the young iconoclast, Jean Baudrillard and the king of the French academy, Michel Foucault, as found in the provocatively titled: Forget Foucault. Can a well-timed tag team with Deleuze save Foucault? Or will Baudrillard be forever condemned to circle in the Disneyland teacups alone? If you missed this the first time around and want the other 5 Fight Night episodes, everything we do that isn't here is at https://www.patreon...2022-02-041h 20PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastFutilitarianism: Neoliberalism and the Production of Uselessness (Bonus Interview)Neil Vallelly (@NeilVallelly) joins Matt (@mattpolprof) for a cheery discussion of neoliberalism and futility, the central themes of Neil's new book, which can be found at https://amzn.to/32LjkLO or https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/futilitarianism. Matt's full review is here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/12/neoliberalism-powerless-review-neil-vallelly-futilitarianism Some perhaps unfamiliar namedropping occurs in this episode, and a non-exhaustive list includes the utilitarians Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Henry Sidgwick, along with critics such as Herbert Marcuse, Wendy Brown, Mark Fisher, Byung Chul Han, Jessica Whyte, and Jodi Dean. Join us at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills if you want c...2022-02-0157 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 68 - Lacan & Poe’s Purloined LetterIt's another literature corner episode, featuring The Purloined Letter and the interpretive stylings of the illustrious Lit Vic (find more of his utterances on Twitter @HoratioVictor). We discuss the short story as well as Lacan's psychoanalytic interpretation of it found in the seminar from Écrits. Join us at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills if you like content.2022-01-291h 17PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 67 - The Question Concerning Technology (preview)This episode topic was chosen by our patrons. Get the episode and have your say on the next one over at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-01-2111 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 66 - Neologism in TechnofeudalismIs capitalism over? Whether or not it is, Friday is a good day to coin some new academic terms. We discuss making up words to advance your career and then a new term drop: techno-feudalism. Find the full interview with Zizek and Varoufakis here: https://youtu.be/XIgFnfHhcRc There are many vids and pods for you to consume at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills Tell us what you think @podpill, @plasticpills, @victorbruzzone, @mattpolprof2022-01-151h 24PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 65 - Don’t Look Up (preview)Movie episode! This is more than a film, it's now a cultural event, and content is content and we are serious about that content. Please time your molly accordingly. Get all our exclusive episodes, video lectures, and bonus CONTENT at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-01-0902 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 64 - Democrathy Dieth in DarknethThe resurrection took longer than expected as the Pill Pod got COVID, but we're back with a sprawling 100 minutes of sex, drugs, and democracy: Chile elected a socialist (again); France failed to become a communist state in '68; and we ask whether an authoritarian turn the only way to prevent climate catastrophe, because we read an article which asks that. Find the article on our Patreon, even if you aren't a https://patron www.patreon.com/plasticpills2022-01-071h 40PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 63 - Tourette‘s Tok (preview)Kids be getting Tourette's from TikToK? This episode features Pills, Victor, and Erik taking on mass sociogenic illnesses from the phenomenological perspective, then a dash of psychoanalysis for good measure. Get this episode and all our exclusive content by supporting us over at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-12-1410 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 62 - Phenomenology: The Body Schema (preview)Here's 10 minutes of a 100 minute episode on how Merleau-Ponty's analysis of the Schneider case forever changed the philosophy of mind. Get all our exclusive eps, including this one, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-11-2610 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 61- Phenomenology of Marxism & RevolutionPhenomenology is sometimes viewed apolitically, today we try to get a handle on Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological Marxism. The sections of the text we read of this ep can be found on Patreon (even if you're not a patron). That's at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-11-191h 02PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 60 - New Consciousness (preview)Here we go back a few pages to discuss the "prejudices" in philosophy of mind including empiricism, intellectualism, psychologism, and clinical physiology. For 4 bucks you get immediate access to this and 40 more exclusive episodes, and maybe one day we can pay off our student loans: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-11-1207 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 59 - Phenomenology Could Save Your LifeworldNo politics, no metaphysics, no grand narratives, as this week, and for the following weeks, the Pill Pod is going back to the things themselves. That's right—we are talking phenomenology. Our touchstone text will be Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty, but we do not expect to stay within the lines. Today, we try to get a handle on "lifeworld", "horizon", and a few of MMP's particular goals as a phenomenologist. If this goes well, after a few weeks we hope to help you feel less insane as denizens of Feedworld. If there are sections of text attached to th...2021-11-051h 13
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 57 - Hyperreal War (preview)We are name dropping that Baudrillard, Virilio and trying to remember what Emmanuel Levinas said, giving a biased review of the new Pills vid, and trying to figure out what's up with all the images. Get the full ep and hours more educational content by supporting our efforts over at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-10-2209 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 56 - Structuralism is a Lie (preview)Erik brings a shocking discovery to the Pill Pod, oh yea and what the hell is structuralism anyway? Get the full ep and hours more educational content by supporting our efforts over at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-10-0106 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 55 - ”I Would Prefer Not To”Evoked by no less than Agamben, Byung-Chul Han, Deleuze, and Zizek's wardrobe, Bartleby is a compelling character. This week we are joined by Lit Vic to bust us into some literary analysis of a prophet of American capitalism: Herman Melville, in his text "Bartleby, the Scrivener." Read the text for free here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11231 Anything you've missed is up at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-09-241h 25PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastFIGHT NIGHT: Zizek vs. Deleuze II (Preview)Parts I and II comprise 3+ hours of discussion on Zizek's Organs Without Bodies: On Deleuze and Consequences. Join up with us on Patreon to get it all and 30+ exclusive episodes www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-09-1710 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastFIGHT NIGHT: Zizek vs. Deleuze I (preview)Part 1 of our reading of Zizek's attempt to take down Deleuze, whom he calls an ideologist of late capitalism in "Organs Without Bodies." Join up with us on Patreon to get the full dish, and find out who reigns supreme in the final decision next week www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-09-1014 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 50 - Performativity & Performative Utterance (Preview)This is a preview for a 2.5 hour romp through performativity and performative speech acts in analytic and continental philosophy, stopping off at J.L. Austin, Louis Althusser and others on the way to Judith Butler. Get the full ep and hours more educational content by supporting our efforts over at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-09-0310 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 52 - LibghanistanIn memoriam of the coalition state-building adventure in Afghanistan, we look to the inveterate morons who continue to ventriloquize the "humanitarian empire" of the United States, including Canada's own failed philosopher king: Michael Ignatieff. Way back in 2001, Ignatieff painted the picture of the Afghanistan project in the New York Times, which now deserves a second-look. Find the article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/28/magazine/nation-building-lite.html As always, all exclusive episodes and other content are available on Patreon at www.patreon.com/plasticpills.2021-08-271h 14PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 49 - Project Cybersyn & Latin American Politics in OverviewAs a supplement to Plastic Pills' new documentary on Project Cybersyn, the Pill Pod is joined by Marion, who is usually our Foucault correspondent but here in her capacity as a Mexican political theorist. We get through a segment on some unanswered questions about the documentary, and then an brief overview of Latin American politics, as well as some correction on the misconceptions and stereotypes about the region propagated by anglophones. As always, our bonus content is available through Patreon (www.patreon.com/plasticpills) where you can also see the pre-release of the doc.2021-08-101h 44PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 48 - Critical Theory is Conspiracy TheoryQuarantine Agamben! He's at it again! This episode we getinto it the kindred bond between critical theory and conspiracy theory, how states do and do not dominate in response to pandemics, and how Deleuze dominates Agamben in response to Foucaults. Find Agamben's blog post here: https://www.quodlibet.it/giorgio-agamben-cittadini-di-seconda-classe Get all episodes at https://patreon.com/plasticpills2021-08-061h 15PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 46 - Nihilism (preview)Here's a preview of this week's episode featuring Uncle Bob, Baudrillard, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Lacan and the simple question: Dude, why not just bin "meaningfulness" as an evaluation of life? Full episode is a click away at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-07-0906 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 45 - FIGHT NIGHT: Political Theory is the Cops (Ranciere vs. Honneth)In Round 4 of the Pill Pod's Fight Night, we feature a theoretical battle over the foundation of politics: is politics founded on the struggle for recognition? Or is it the aesthetic creation of a future? French Insurrectionist Jacques Ranciere pits himself against the chief of the Frankfurt School's third generation, Axel Honneth. If you're partial to the format, you can find Round 1: (Baudrillard vs. Foucault) and Round 3: (Foucault vs. Derrida) over at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-07-021h 33PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 44 - Critical Race Hysteria (Preview)This week we depart from the usual solemnities to diagnose the latest object of conservative hysteria: critical race theory. It's being banned from curricula, bounced around conservative media outlets, and kicking off the careers of some new fear-mongering pundits. But what actually is it? Find all our exclusive episodes over on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-06-2509 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 43 - FIGHT NIGHT: Foucault Slaps Back (Preview)Not to be called a n00b, Foucault slaps back at Derrida (eventually) with "My Body, This Paper, This Fire" defending his Madness and Civilization from Derrida's critique (see Pill Pod 42). Foucault claims Derrida can't read Latin properly, and more substantively, that Derrida includes subsumes madness under the dreaming philosopher, while Descartes juridically separates them so as to exclude madness from meditation. Listen to this and all exclusive episodes over at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-06-0407 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 41 - FIGHT NIGHT, Round 1: Baudrillard vs. Foucault (Preview)Welcome to Round 1 of our new series, which covers theorists' takedowns of other theorists. This episode features an exciting 1977 bout between the young iconoclast, Jean Baudrillard and the king of the French academy, Michel Foucault, as found in the provocatively titled: Forget Foucault. Can a well-timed tag team with Deleuze save Foucault? Or will Baudrillard be forever condemned to circle in the Disneyland teacups alone? Get access to this episode and all the other exclusives up on www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-05-2108 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 40 - Non-Fungible Future: The Memeing of Mark Fisher (ft. Mike Watson)Mike Watson of the Acid Left (@_leftaesthetics) joins Matt (@mattpolprof) and Pills (@plasticpills) to talk about Acid Communism, Adorno, and The Memeing of Mark Fisher, Mike's new book (due out September 2021). As always, all the extra content is still at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-05-141h 17PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 39 - Oculus Grift (preview)The Pill Pod is joined by Meaghan, a real life cognitive scientist and VR researcher, to answer our ignorant questions about brains, behaviour, and perception while we try to deduce whether or not Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology holds up in virtual reality. Visit www.patreon.com/plasticpills for this and the rest of our exclusive episodes.2021-05-0706 min
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 38 - A.I. Dreams and the Ghosts in MachinesThe Pill Pod takes on two definitive philosophers opposed to the fantasies of uploading consciousnesses into machines: John Searle and Hubert Dreyfus. Apologies in advance but we gotta burst your 20-year-old-cousin-who-retweets-Elon-Musk's techno-utopian bubble in a Chinese room. If you've gone through the public feed there's more exclusive audio and video content on www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-04-301h 23PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastCosmopolitan Socialism ft. Meagan DayMatt and Victor are joined by Meagan Day (@meaganmday) to discuss Michael Brooks' ambitious proposal for cosmopolitan socialism, its relation to particularity and difference, and what it could mean for the future of the left. Find Meagan's article Unions are Essential for Eliminating Racism here www.jacobinmag.com/2020/07/multiracial-solidarity-unions If you've finished the public feed, all of our exclusive episodes and bonus video are up at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-04-2843 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 37 - 'Reading' Adam Curtis (Preview)So we had some different interpretations as to whether Can't Get You Out of My Head is art, history, documentary, art-history, history-documentary or art-documentary. In any case, it's one of the more interesting media artefacts of the year. Listen to this episode and our other bonus content on Patreon, at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-04-1608 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 36 - Identity ShmoliticsMatt tricks the Pill Pod into reading analytic philosophy: "Personal Identity" by Derek Parfit (1971), who challenges intellectualist ideas of selfhood with thought experiments about splitting brains and sending your consciousness to Mars. Are you your soul, your memories, or nothing at all? Follow @PodPill and check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to dose up on exclusive episodes and video content.2021-04-091h 28PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastIn Defense of Anarchism (preview)We'll be back on Friday with our regularly scheduled program, and here's a clip of this week's exclusive content up at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2021-04-0802 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 30 - OWN the LIBSThe PillPod's bubbling civil war over political theory finally boils over into full-blown conflict. @Plasticpills and @T8Erik face off against @MattPolProf and @VictorBruzzone, debating the value of liberalism. Follow @PodPill and check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to dose up on exclusive episodes and video content.2021-02-121h 33PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 28 - Don't Go to Grad SchoolWe get asked this question frequently, and the answer is NO, DON'T GO (or maybe do it). This episode is required listening before making a life-altering decision that you can quite easily change at any time. The Pill Pod is @plasticpills, @victorbruzzone, @mattpolprof, @t8erik. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to dose up on exclusive episodes and other content.2021-01-291h 27
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 25 - The Kayfabe CoupThe Pill Pod (@plasticpills, @victorbruzzone, @mattpolprof, @t8erik) debates the reality, or lack thereof, of a bullheaded Q shaman in the legislature. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on exclusive episodes.2021-01-081h 16
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastZizek Microdose - Pill Pod 23This is the first Pill Pod & Plasticpills co-release on the philosophy, cultural significance, and reception of Slavoj Zizek. Check out the video at www.youtube.com/c/plasticpills. Keep up with us on twitter! @plasticpills @mattpolprof @t8erik @victorbruzzone Join the Patreon for more theory audio and video content www.patreon.com/plasticpills2020-12-151h 22PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 21 - (Cry)sis, Cr(eye)sis, Cr(ISIS): A Radical Rethinking of the Heuristics, Historiography, and Post-Haptical Ecology of RuptureIs the sky falling? The Pill Pod (@mattpolprof, @Victorbruzzone, @t8erik, @plasticpills) take down this top shelf topical episode considering CRISES: of capitalism, of the spectacle, of meaning and of ecology. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on all our exclusive episodes.2020-11-281h 20PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastMicrodose - Cybernetics & Systems TheoryPure theory. Join @plasticpills and @t8erik for an introduction to cybernetics and systems theory. Politics has tired us out so we are retreating to the high bastions of abstract thought--where we feel safe. The rest of this series, including the concepts of autopoiesis, feedback, and the perturbations of social media on our collective unconscious, will emerge on our Patreon soon at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills Here's the main book link: https://amzn.to/3kldF1V2020-10-291h 27PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 16 - Getting Schooled in Frankfurt (Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse, Habermas)Returning to the Frankfurt School, the Pill Pod (@mattpolprof, @t8erik, @plasticpills) + guest SHALON, figure out a plan for using a few small Neo-Marxist books to stop the tsunami of popular music, film, art, and news. No problem! Find Shalon's blog and site at: https://www.shalonvantine.com/secondasfarce. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on exclusive episodes.2020-10-021h 19PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 10 - The Last Hegel on the LeftOur colleague BORNA joins @mattpolprof, @t8erik, @plasticpills to attempt the impossible: explain Hegel's politics of the State. Is Hegel the bad Walmart of philosophy? Or may his ethics yet have emancipatory potential for left-minded thought? We sometimes offer definitive answers and even evidence in accordance with the historical development of our freedom. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on exclusive and future episodes.2020-07-311h 31
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 9 (Preview) - Familiarizing Foucault@Plasticpills, Matt McManus, Erik, and Marion offer a rundown of what we consider the most important concepts of Foucault's thought and doubles as an introduction if you're rusty. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on this and future episodes.2020-07-2410 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 8 - What the Fouc is The State?@Mattpolprof, @plasticpills, @victorbruzzone, @t8erik and guest, Marion, take an open approach to understand two words: State and Power. We pretty much end up just discussing Foucault for an hour and half. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on all future episodes.2020-07-231h 22
PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastOverdose - Deleuze & Guattari's Thousand Plateaus ft. Ian Buchanan (2/2)PlasticPills and Chris sit down with Ian Buchanan, founder and editor-in-chief of the Deleuze and Guattari Studies Journal. In Part 2 we discuss the work of Deleuze and Guattari's notion "deterritorialization" with respect to racism, their concept of 'The Refrain' from Thousand Plateaus, and Ian stokes some philosophy drama between Deleuze, Alain Badiou, and Slavoj Zizek. Oh yea and we talk about Disney's Cars and storm troopers in Disneyland. Ian's new book, Assemblage Theory and Method, hits shelves Sept 2020. For our exclusive content, and other doses, join PlasticPills on Patreon www.patreon.com/plasticpills2020-07-1055 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastOverdose - Deleuze & Guattari's Thousand Plateaus ft. Ian Buchanan (1/2)PlasticPills and Chris sit down with Ian Buchanan, founder and editor-in-chief of the Deleuze and Guattari Studies Journal. In Part 1 we discuss the work of Deleuze and Guattari, the relationship of their work to that of Foucault, and consider their extrapolation of Desire and the State. Ian's new book, Assemblage Theory and Method, hits shelves Sept 2020. For our exclusive content, and other doses, join PlasticPills on Patreon www.patreon.com/plasticpills2020-07-0845 minPlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastMicrodose - Intro to DeleuzeIn advance of our chat with Ian Buchanan, who's a "big deal" Deleuze scholar, Chris and PlasticPills sit down to talk about why Deleuze matters, how to navigate his texts, and how to negotiate the central themes of his work, i.e. the rhizome, creativity, and how to be a nomad. For our exclusive content, and other doses, you can join the Pill Pod at www.patreon.com/plasticpills2020-07-061h 05PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory PodcastPill Pod 1 - Why Critical Theory? Reading Bruno LatourThe second first episode of the PlasticPills pod. There may be a reason to podcast on critical theory, and we try to figure out what that is through reading this article by Bruno Latour: http://www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/89-CRITICAL-INQUIRY-GB.pdf @plasticpills youtube.com/c/plasticpills2020-03-041h 33