Culture Sex Relationships

Latest Episodes:

Ask Justin: Men Treat Me Badly Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

My latest Ask Justin is another one where I read out the blog post I've written. Which makes this a shorter but more focused podcast. Yay shorter podcasts. This has been out for over a week already at the Patreon and they also get the blog post (with all the links I mention) and also other bonus material. I am going to start to do Patreon exclusive content soon because I need more Patrons (money) for the work (labour) which I am doing and trying not to disavow (like we are supposed to in the creative industries). We covered this when we talked about anti-capitalist prn a few months back. So please consider signing up from just £1 a month at patreon.com/culturesexrelationships

Event Horizon - Part Two Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

Here's part two of the interview I did with Jacob and Bonni about their amazing new book 'Event Horizon'. It's not going to make as much sense if you haven't listened to last week's episode first I don't think, but I don't like telling you what to do. In this part we talk about: - the idea of 'cuteness' - selfies (comparing selfies with Lacan's idea of the Mirror Stage) - the sexual non-relation - heteropessimism - expanding our idea of the erotic. If you want to buy the book here's the link https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/event-horizon-sexuality-politics-culture

Event Horizon Part One Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

Event Horizon: Sexuality, Politics, Online Culture, and the Limits of Capitalism When our desires become the product of tech giants, what ways are there left for us to dream? in an age where Silicon Valley dictates what it means to innovate, a painless future, knowledge and enjoyment are fertile breeding grounds of political contestation. But it’s not exactly democracy. We are controlled through platforms that turn us into data for the profit of billionaires. Control has become so playful that we carry it in our pockets, as we continue to crave likes and followers. What is to be done? Should the Left continue to cling to the promise of a political Event, patiently waiting for a revolutionary rupture where new possibilities emerge? Is there a way to delineate its horizons amidst the chaos? Through a psychoanalytic interrogation of the intersections of online culture, sexuality, and politics, Bonni Rambatan and Jacob Johanssen explore such horizons at the limits of capitalism. Event Horizon examines how capitalist ideology functions in our current moment, and, more importantly, how it breaks down. With the increasing urgency of formulating a proper Leftist response to the rapidly growing violence that seriously threatens the lives of marginalised communities, this book could not be more timely. I’ve split this episode up into two. This first half is: A general overview of the book and some of the problems it seeks to address An introduction to Lacan and why it’s his analysis in particular which is so relevant for the present day An explanation of Lacan’s discourses, particularly the 5th discourse of capitalism How the master signifier is now the database which undergirds platform capitalism The role of conspiracy and its relationship to capitalism (and the discourses) How trolling is an essential part of this conspiracy thinking (the jouissance of this being an excess which capital can profit from). If you like this podcast generally you should buy the book. It's about 11 quid. https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/event-horizon-sexuality-politics-culture Jacob has of course appeared on the show in our conversation about Fantasy and Online Misogyny. Scroll back a few episodes in the feed to find it.

Ask Justin: I've Never Had An Orgasm Feb 18, 2022

Show notes

It's another Ask Justin week and this time I'm reading out an article I've written which is available at patreon.com/culturesexrelationships 'I’ve Never Been Able To Orgasm.' There are a lot of aggregated ideas about sex and bodies in your question which I think would be useful to examine up close to see how much we can see them shifting. The way that you refer to orgasms, the body, and the self could all do with being allowed to move. Please help support the podcast by either signing up to the Patreon or you could also buy some of the resources that I made with Meg-John Barker. Find those at megjohnandjustin.com/publications Justin

Tina Sikka: Sex, Consent and Justice Dec 22, 2021

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I think many of us might agree that #MeToo has been an important and much needed movement. Putting consent, sexual violence, instutional power, and genderered power dynamics, into our everyday conversations. But in what way has it transformed our understandings of consent and justice, and the possibilities for sex. Probably not a lot. It has both uncovered and reinforced very basic and binary notions of consent, justice, and sex and has seemingly got stuck in an endless dialogue which, compared to #BLM, is anything but transformative. But what if we really expand the meanings and possibilities of both consent and justice. How can this both prevent harm on an individual and institutional level. What can we learn to do differently going forward? How can we transform society so that the sociological and legal standard for sex is care, mutuality, co-creation, embodiment, and autonomy? Tina Sikka has written an amazing book about this called Sex, Consent, and Justice and she joins us today. You can buy the book here https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-sex-consent-and-justice.html however (I’m sorry to say) it’s an academic book and so hugely expensive.

Rebecca Saunders Bodies Of Work: the labour of sex in the digital age Dec 09, 2021

Show notes

When we talk about porn it’s invariably about what effects it causes. What is it doing to our sexualities, what is it teaching kids about sex, and blaming it for hacking into and hijacking our desires. More interesting is to look at porn in culture just as we might look at any other media such as social media industries and streaming platforms. What kinds of active relationships might we have with it, and it on us, on an individual and also on a cultural level. What is the relationship that porn has with capitalism? Looking at porn has gone from being a frowned upon unproductive activity, to a still frowned upon but now productive activity for capital. With the major porn streaming sites being as popular as other streaming media, they have managed to turn viewing into labour. They keep viewers attentive, but also distracted, with the seemingly endless opportunities to view and click elsewhere. The data from the viewer is used to inform the production of porn (which is also owned by the free streaming sites). In an age where work has become dominant and also valorised, the content itself has gone from representations of desire to the representation of hard work. Performers are finely tuned athletes paying constant attention to both their appearance but also to ensure that they are fit enough to do such demanding work. Often this hard work is punishing, exploitative, and unethical - just as with other modes of production. How has ethical or feminist porn responded to this and in what ways are these just valorizing another kind of labour? But also can anti-capitalist porn provide us with an exemplar of labour in post neoliberal capitalism, and perhaps also a gentle reminder of the ‘labours of love’ that are necessary for the erotic to become. I’m delighted to be joined by Rebecca Saunders to talk about her book Bodies of Work - the Labour of Sex in the Digital Age.

Jacob Johannsen: Fantasy, Online Misogyny and the Manosphere Nov 26, 2021

Show notes

Regular listeners of this podcast will know that we recently had Scott Burnett on the show to talk about his work on understanding online communities of men related to the No Fap movement, the manosphere, and the alt-right. His work charted these groups and some of the often dangerous and worrying views they espouse. In today’s show we are going to take a more psychoanalytic approach. How are men in the manosphere constructing their masculinities. How does this relate to fascist ideas now, but also the fascist histories of the early 20th century? How can men in the manosphere both repress sexualities yet also built entire communities talking about it? What fantasies are told about the threat to masculinities and how are they both necessary and necessarily destroyed? And what are our best hopes for how we can respond, or how these men might respond? Is there ever a way back for violently misogynistic men? Jacob Johanssen has written an excellent and engrossing book called ‘Fantasy, online misogyny and the manosphere’ We chatted about: Why psychoanalysis for this work? What does it bring us? Broad overview of the manosphere and who it is we are going to speak about. Hegemonic masculinities of the manosphere (in the post feminist and post-fordist era) The Friekorp (the militias in early 20th century Germany post WWI) and the manosphere - key similarities and differences (and why it's a useful analysis) The fantasy of women (the other) as something necessary but also needing to be destroyed Dis/Inhibition The armour of these communities (and what community does for them) The potential role of sex education Recognition His book is here https://www.routledge.com/Fantasy-Online-Misogyny-and-the-Manosphere-Male-Bodies-of-DisInhibition/Johanssen/p/book/9780367468651 And the next book Event Horizon is published on Zero books in January (it looks amazing) https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/event-horizon-sexuality-politics-culture Support the show at patreon.com/culturesexrelationships Check out the rest of the ALE collective at alternativeleftentertainment.org

Dave Pickering: Podcasts Oct 29, 2021

Show notes

This week I chatted with the critically acclaimed, and multi award winner and nominee, podcaster Dave Pickering about podcasts. You will hear: - Dave doing an intro about their podcasts and history with them - why people might listen to them, what are the motivations - the danger of neoliberalism 'self improvement' and podcasts - the parasocial relationships that we have with podcast hosts and guests and how much that is part of why we listen (atomised, alienated from those around us we might turn to these kinds of relationships maybe?) - recommendations for good shows Dave’s own projects are Getting Better Acquainted Stand Up Tragedy The Family Tree Down to a sunless sea: memories of my dad (I’ve listened to the first of these, it’s really moving and excellent. Current (Client) projects: Who Hurt You (formally Made of Human) (I sort of mentioned this) The Restart Project Race Reflections AT WORK The Breakup Monologues Check all those out via Dave’s website http://dave-pickering.squarespace.com/ Also follow them on twitter for their excellent recommendations (usually on a Friday) https://twitter.com/goosefat101 Please consider supporting the Patreon for this show patreon.com/culturesexrelationships Your support means that I can get paid to make the show and I can also pay other freelance guests. The more support I get the more shows I can make. Speaking of shows, the easiest ones for me to make are the 'Ask Justin' advice shows. So if you have any questions about relationships, sex, your relationship to your self, you can ask me. I will anonymise your question and will also give an excellent, long, and thoughtful answer. Email culturesexrelationships at gmail dot com

Kim Loliya: The Body, Trauma, Oppression, and Solidarity Oct 15, 2021

Show notes

As many of us are getting used to opening up our lives again in the middle of a pandemic, we might start to feel different kinds of feelings and thoughts about how safe and comfortable we might feel. Being at the pub, cafe, theatre, cinema, meetings, conferences or protests now has a very different set of concerns or anxieties for many of us. Also over the last couple of years the protests around the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sarah Everard, and also the Kill the Bill protests have been a reminder to us that our capacity to feel safe and comfortable in public spaces has been extremely unfairly distributed in the modern era. And furthermore we maybe now have a greater awareness how people’s experiences of systemic oppression might show up in people’s bodies in the context of complex post traumatic stress disorder. So I thought it would be timely to talk about the body and to invite Kim Loliya onto the show to talk about her work as a therapist, particularly somatic therapy, and for us to learn more about how we might connect with our bodies and where this can be a necessary part of a broader politics of solidarity too. Please support the Patreon! patreon.com/culturesexrelationships

Sex Jams 7: Je t'aime (moi non plus) Oct 01, 2021

Show notes

We're back with another Sex Jams. This time it's the classic of the genre, Je t'aime (moi non plus). I love you (me neither). Dr Eleanor Janega and I (Justin Hancock) analyse it to death and ruin it for everyone. You're welcome! Dr J's blog is here https://going-medieval.com/ her Patreon is here https://www.patreon.com/GoingMedieval and her other excellent podcast We're Not So Different is here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/were-not-so-different/id1551657923 Hope you enjoy it.

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