PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory Podcast

Pill Pod 189 - Theorizing America's Trump Vote Nov 09, 2024

The federal union of the United States has decided to elect Presinald Trump as its leader from the years 2025-2029, as God wills.
Here, three Canadians provide you with unsolicited opinions about the meaning of this event or lack thereof.
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Pill Pod 186 - The Post-Political Singularity Everywhere (preview) Oct 30, 2024

Today we take the temperature of all the new futures popping up—the various Acc/s, the radical democracies, the Christofascists, and the Magacomms—and psychoanalyze them as all sharing one trait: they're too optimistic to be believed.
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Pill Pod 185 - Bataille on Fascist Psychology (preview) Oct 04, 2024

In 1933, Bataille linked Durkheim's sociology and psychoanalysis to the rise of fascism over the border. The parallels to the present moment are hard to miss.
Get the full episode and many more at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 184 - MAGACommunism & Philosophy: HAZ on Marx, Heidegger and Dugin Oct 04, 2024

MAGA Communism may strike you as contradictory and stupid sounding, but it is backed by 200 tweets of theory which include Marx, Lenin, Dugin, and Heidegger.
We plunge the depths of the MAGA Communist tractatus: "MARXISM IS NOT WOKE" to explore its theoretical aspirations.
Source text: https://x.com/InfraHaz/status/1672279505774448640
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Pill Pod 183 - Carl Schmitt on the Friend/Enemy Distinction (preview) Sep 20, 2024

We face the fact that only a Nazi could properly explain American politics.
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Pill Pod 182 - Bataille & Sacrifice (preview) Sep 07, 2024

Back to business—we talk Aztec myths and Bataille on Sacrifice from The Accursed Share.
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Pill Pod 181 - Hegelian EGirl Council ft. Jreg Aug 31, 2024

We don't often have current events to cover, but once in a while the current events are Hegel.
The Hegelian E-Girl Council was to be the head of a new cult, which fell into a Twitter flame war about a week after its launch. Our guest's studio was the physical origin site of the Hegelian E-Girl Council which first blasted into the real world in NYC, and then onto theorytwitter for a glorious week before bursting into flames for the internet's schadenfreude.This was, in our consideration, not the abortive event it may seem at first glance, but a sign for the near future of theory.
Sorry for the ads but all public episodes are ad-free for free at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills, plus more
Find Jreg's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@JREG and his podcast here https://www.youtube.com/@HSTPOD

Pill Pod 180 - The Gift by Marcel Mauss (preview) Aug 29, 2024

We move from Durkheim to Marcel Mauss and his book The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies. Referenced by Bataille, Levi-Strauss, Derrida and Baudrillard—this is a mandatory reading.
The full episode and many more are available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 179 - The Mana Principle (Preview) Aug 27, 2024

After a brief recap of the Deleuzo-Guattarian Australian breakdancer we read chapters 6 and 7 of Durkheim's Elementary forms of Religious Life and try to get a hold on the primordial concept of concepts: MANA.
The full episode and many more are available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 178 - We Solved the World with Diego Ruzzarin Aug 13, 2024

What 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/plasticpills
Be sure to check out the plasticpills YouTube channel for new CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT this week. https://www.youtube.com/c/plasticpills

Pill Pod 177 - Society as Magic, Society as Religion: Emile Durkheim Aug 06, 2024

Durkheim, one of the founders of sociology, slowly came to the discovery by the end of his career that consciousness, langauge and thought itself were of religious origin. We tried to retrace a few of his steps from The Elementary Forms of Religious Life and try to come up with some examples to illustrate his radical hypothesis.
All public episodes can be found ad-free, for free, on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Vance & The Dork Conservatives (Preview) Jul 29, 2024

The full episode (Pill Pod 176) and many more are available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 175 - The Straussian Plot Against America Jul 13, 2024

Conspiracy theory or actual conspiracy? Today we investigate how a small cabal of philosophers managed to take over America and caused the invasion of Iraq based on the writings of eminent political philosopher Leo Strauss.
Listen ad-free, for free, and get the source readings at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Trump v. United States (preview) Jul 09, 2024

We hear this is a big deal and the end of American democracy (or whatever), but we don't all know why. Lucky for us, Victor happens to read Supreme Court decisions on his spare time for fun. Has the sky fallen?
The full episode (Pill Pod 174) and many more are available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 173 - Biden v. Trump & The Economy of Fear Jun 30, 2024

We recap the Trump-Biden debate and then discuss the politics and economy of fear. Sources include Armageddon, Strauss, Hegel, and Durkheim.
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Dark Academia (preview) Jun 30, 2024

Some simulationist material analysis in the economy of signs from Pill Pod episode #172.
The full episode and many more are available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills
The "Look" of Dark Academia: https://www.pinterest.com/kathrynaesthetics/dark-academia-aesthetic/

Pill Pod 171 - Zizek Goes Monarchist Jun 13, 2024

We discuss Zizek's Hegelian defense of a monarchy to solve the problem of democracy.
https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/in-defense-of-hegels-notion-of-monarchy/
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Pill Pod 96 - The Malaise of Modernity (Taylor's Version) *UNLOCKED* Jun 10, 2024

Get the book (it's easy and small:https://amzn.to/3KxgjB3) or listen to the lectures by Charles Taylor starting here: https://youtu.be/j_losVdiARc?si=DCHifoFktqHQDJuw.
Find our second episode and all the others at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 170 - The Ethical Dilemma of Killing Nazi Children (Preview) Jun 05, 2024

We continue reading Simone DeBeauvoir's Ethics of Ambiguity, and try to sus out its particular ethical dilemmas.
The full episode and many more are available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

PP169 - Is Existentialism Ethical? Jun 05, 2024

We read Simone DeBeauvoir's defense of Existentialism as an ethic that is not hyper-individualistic, nihilistic or absurdist.
Get all our episodes for free, ad-free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills
Here's the homework: https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/ethics/de-beauvoir/ambiguity /

PP168 - Ecomarxism (preview) Jun 05, 2024

This is a preview of one of many exclusive episodes available at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills
Here is your homework in the meanwhile: https://monthlyreview.org/2024/01/01/the-dialectics-of-ecology-an-introduction/

Pill Pod 167 - Schopenhauer: Christianity is the Worst Religion May 11, 2024

We look at Schopenhauer's comparison of various religions' metaphysical explanations for suffering, and why conservative celebrities are converting to the dumbest one.
Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills
Schopenhauer on the Sufferings of the World: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10732/10732-h/10732-h.htm#link2H_4_0002
Ayaan Hirsi Ali converts: https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/
Russell Brand gets baptized: https://www.christianpost.com/voices/russell-brand-just-got-baptized-but-what-does-it-mean.html

Pill Pod 165 - Dissident Right Fight Night: Yarvin vs. Rufo Apr 25, 2024

Deviating from our usual strategies for the leftist future, we look to the strategists of the conservative future, as discussed in this article, where Christopher Rufo debates Mencius Moldbug aka Curtis Yarvin. It was pretty anti-climactic so we also veered into some more Moldbuggery found here.
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Pill Pod 163 - How to Control a Democracy ft. 1Dime Apr 10, 2024

This week we discuss how modern liberal democracies co-opt resistance and adapt to internal opposition as a mechanism of inverted totalitarian control. Our guest is Tony from 1Dime, who made a video on what he calls "contained opposition", find it here: https://youtu.be/7uPevWDAYFI.
Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills
Find the 1Dime podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0yQRX2YMFFsCMekReE9toW?si=798a164d02884310

Pill Pod 162 - Walter Benjamin: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (preview) Apr 04, 2024

Erik and Pills read Walter Benjamin's most famous essay (and perhaps the most famous essay of critical theory), The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
Get this episode and all other exclusive episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 161 - Andy Warhol and the End of Art Mar 27, 2024

We'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/plasticpills
Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 160 - Walter Benjamin on Leftist Content Creators (Preview) Mar 24, 2024

We read Walter Benjamin's (perhaps) undelivered address to the Anti-Fascist Club: The Author as Producer, and try to test whether or not it holds up.
Get this episode and all other exclusive episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 159 - The End of the University Mar 15, 2024

Most everyone agrees that the university has failed its ideal, but few agree as to the reasons for why this happened. Did it get too arcane? Too expensive? Too woke? Maybe there's a bit of everything, but these explanations forget the most material cause: the private-sector vampires sucking it dry. We read a case study that you can find here
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Pill Pod 158 - Walter Benjamin & The Idea of History (preview) Mar 15, 2024

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Pill Pod 157 - Progressive v. Reactionary Christianity ft. John Hamer Feb 21, 2024

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Although Conservative Christians are the most attention-seeking of the Flock, our patrons reminded us that there are progressive Christians out there. For the sake of fair and balanced reporting, we invited John Hamer from Centre Place Toronto to represent the leftist side of the Christian Flock. We asked about his view of the church in history and in politics, and read this Christofascist article together. Find more of John's work on Youtube.

Pill Pod 156 - Christofascism Feb 14, 2024

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What if, instead of letting history end or disappear, we hit the rewind button and let the Church have another shot? We navigate through some stars in the Christofascist constellation and read Why Liberalism Failed (https://amzn.to/3waNh6l) to see what the world might look like if the Catholic intellectuals had their way.

Pill Pod 155 - Jean Baudrillard & The Disappearance of History (preview) Feb 10, 2024

As all things disappear, we have our rountable on Baudrillard's "Illusion of the End." Get the full episode and all episodes ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/plasicpills

Pill Pod 154 - Christian Intellectuals at the End of History Feb 08, 2024

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While no one is exactly happy that history has ended, few are quite as perturbed about it as Christian conservatives. We delved into a treasure trove of the Christian brain trust—"The Imaginative Conservative"—to piece together what they think history is for, and how they react to it's having ended.

Pill Pod 152 - Fukuyama on The End of History (preview) Jan 14, 2024

Adjusted for inflation, Francis Fukyama received $1,311,814.68 to write The End of History and the Last Man (https://amzn.to/3tPo5Bt); we want to see what $1,311,814.68 is worth. Get the full episode and many more at https://www.patreon.com/plasicpills

Pill Pod 151 - The End of History Jan 14, 2024

We embark on the notion of "the end of history" by trying to figure out if we have an idea of history. This is mostly inspired by our reading of Fukuyama's book (https://amzn.to/3tPo5Bt) but the series won't be limited to it. Support our efforts and get the full series on https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 149 - Gothic Horror: Edgar Allen Poe & The Fall of The House of Usher Dec 01, 2023

Inspired by the new Netflix series, we read some Poe short stories and compared them to their TV adaptation. Victor Hainagiu (aka Litvic aka @horatiovictor) came on to help us put gothic horror into historical context. Half our episodes are here, but if you want the other half check us out on https://patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 148 - Badiou: Philosophy & Antiphilosophy Nov 24, 2023

Some oversimplified Badiou plus a look at Wittgenstein's Antiphilosophy (https://amzn.to/47xStiv) Want more episodes? Every other one is posted to https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 147 - Authenticity & Existentialism (preview) Nov 20, 2023

Dr. Phil battles Heidegger and Sartre. Get all of our episodes by becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills.

Pill Pod 146 - Heidegger on the Anaximander Fragment (preview) Nov 17, 2023

Anaximander, Apeiron, Heidegger, Derrida, Logocentrism. It's a mouthful. Get all of our full episodes by becoming a patron at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 145 - Metamodernism is just bad Nov 04, 2023

Postmodernism has fallen. All hail the new dumbuy cult: METAMODERNISM. We took its FRESH NEW RADICAL academic wing out for a spin, as seen in this book: https://amzn.to/3So0kKH. Find tons of content from our all-powerful postmodern windmill at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

There are no Democratic Systems (Pill Pod 144 Preview) Oct 27, 2023

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Pill Pod 143 - Gaza & Frantz Fanon on Violence Oct 21, 2023

We noticed a few Fanon name drops so this week we decided to read "On Violence" from Wretched of the Earth and see whether it's a useful heuristic for the discourse of violence in Gaza. You can read the chapter here. If you want all our episodes they are on www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 142 - Systems Theory Politics in the Shadow of Gaza Oct 14, 2023

Despite the shadow of Gaza hanging over our consciences this week, we try to introduce Systems Theory via politics. The book is Political Theory in the Welfare State by Niklas Luhmann (https://amzn.to/48Q6I3g), and we hope to give you a glimpse of what it looks like in practice. This is the sixth episode on systems theory, some of which are on here and all of which are on patreon at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 140 - Heidegger Nazi Debate No. 125,421 Oct 02, 2023

The timeloop continues: Another Ukrainian SS soldier in Canada and another wave of books and articles about the dangers of Heidegger following the publication of the third edition of History of Beyng, we reflect on air fryers and moralism after the end of history.

Affect Theory and Revolutionary Routines - Interview with Carolyn Pedwell Sep 08, 2023

Victor interviews Professor Carolyn Pedwell, editor of the Affect Theory Reader (two volumes) and Revolutionary Routines (https://amzn.to/44FykoA). Pedwell argues that minor gestures may be as significant as major happenings, revealing the potential in our ability to remake social or political habits and then to reinhabit everyday life.

Pill Pod 137 - Groomer Mythology Sep 01, 2023

Erik and Pills break down the myths of grooming, childhood, sexuality and the semiotic systems which produced them. The book is Roland Barthes, 195, Mythologies (https://amzn.to/47i5kpd) The rest of this series on myth is available at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 135 - Political Mythologies of the Left and Right ft. Diego Ruzzarin Aug 15, 2023

Diego Ruzzarin is back on the Plastic Pills Podcast to talk about mythologies of the Left and Right as analyzed by Roland Barthes in his 1957 book (https://amzn.to/47i5kpd). Our previous two episodes covering "Mythologies" (introducing the book and analyzing car commercials) are on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 132 - Fairy Tale Feminism Jul 26, 2023

With the release of the Barbie movie, the feminine symbol has been deployed this summer. But for thousands of summers previous, the role of the feminine was managed by folk stories and fairy tales. Featuring the literary stylings of Victor Hainagiu (known to us as Lit Vic) we broach the topic of the feminine symbolic through the story of Snow White. Check out this version of Neil Gaiman's Snow White in the form of a graphic novel: https://comiconlinefree.net/snow-glass-apples/issue-tpb/1 Follow Lit Vic on Twitter at @HoratioVictor There are many more episodes and tons of bonus content for our patrons at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 131 - Freedom Isn’t Free Jul 14, 2023

Everyone 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 130 - We Have Never Been Modern Jul 08, 2023

Pills 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 126 - Based Rousseau Jun 10, 2023

One 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

Pill Pod 124 & 125 - The Light of Reason and the Eye of the Mind (preview) Jun 09, 2023

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 123 - ”Western Civilization” According to Francis Bacon May 19, 2023

We 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 122 - Mosh Pit Sociology (Preview) May 13, 2023

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Pill Pod 121 - Obscurantism in French Philosophy: Searle on Foucault & Derrida Apr 28, 2023

Today 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 119 - Bernard Stiegler & Posthumanist Post-Marxism (ft. Diego Ruzzarin) Apr 14, 2023

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 117 - Baudrillard as Post-Marxist Mar 31, 2023

We 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 116 - Guattari & Negri: Communists Like Us (preview) Mar 24, 2023

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 115 - Althusser and Structuralist Marxism Mar 17, 2023

Erik 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 114 - POST-MARXISM ft. Diego Ruzzarin (Preview) Mar 16, 2023

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 113 - Slavoj Zizek vs Wokeness Mar 03, 2023

Zizek 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 111 - Spectacles of The Integrated Spectacle Feb 18, 2023

How 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 109 - SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE Feb 07, 2023

We'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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 108 - Psychogeography (preview) Feb 07, 2023

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 107 - Situationist Revolutionary Theory Jan 20, 2023

From 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 support our work! https://patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 106 - Introduction to The Situationist International (preview) Jan 20, 2023

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 27 - BURNOUT SOCIETY by Byung-Chul Han *UNLOCKED* Dec 23, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 105 - AI, Transhumanism & Silicon Valley Singularity Cults Dec 17, 2022

After 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 104 - AI & the New Crisis of Humanities Education Dec 09, 2022

Not 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 103 - Feminist Fight Night: Nussbaum vs. Butler (preview) Dec 09, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 101 - Democracy 101(preview) Dec 09, 2022

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/plasticpills

PILL POD 100 Nov 04, 2022

It'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 address

Pill Pod 99 - Edward Bernays (preview) Oct 28, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 98 - Ricky Rorty: Derrida vs. Habermas Oct 25, 2022

This 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 95 - Materialist Theogany ft. Diego Ruzzarin Oct 04, 2022

We covered this from every perspective we could get to, featuring some Spinoza, Marx, Benjamin, and corn among other references. Please enjoy us bumping into things and trying to figure out what a life's all about.

Pill Pod 94 - Kafka Metamorphosis Sep 26, 2022

Find 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 93 - Nick Land (preview) Sep 26, 2022

It's easy to get all the bonus eps and a lot besides on www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 91 - ADIEU LACAN Aug 26, 2022

Brace 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 get the other half of the episodes https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills @plasticpills @victorbruzzone @podpill @ledesr

Pill Pod 89 - The Myth of Atlantis (Preview) Aug 05, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 87 - The Idea of Communism IV ft. Diego Ruzzarin Jul 20, 2022

It'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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 86 - Know Your Enemy ft. Matthew Sitman Jul 12, 2022

It's a political theory day, speaking with the Know Your Enemy podcast's Matthew Sitman, a former young conservative. Starting with some Roe v. Wade, we then dive deep into the intellectual right's endless fascination with Straussian philosophy (that's Leo Strauss), its underlying esotericism, and its connection to the American right's current political projects. There's a lot of namedropping (both of individuals and institutions) in this episode, so if there are outstanding questions you can tweet them at @matthewsitman, @mattpolprof, and @victorbruzzone

Pill Pod 85 - The Word ”Communism” *Preview* Jul 01, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 84 - The Universality of Communism *Preview* Jun 24, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 83 - The Idea of Communism - Alain Badiou Jun 17, 2022

This 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/plasticpills

The Deleuze Seminars ft. Professor Daniel W. Smith Jun 14, 2022

Pills 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 want to see more, including more exclusive Deleuze videos, you can support us at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 82 - 1980s Nostalgia Jun 10, 2022

Reboots 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.

Pill Pod 81 - The Postmodern Condition *Preview* Jun 07, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 80 - Wittgenstein May 27, 2022

The team reassembles to talk Wittgenstein, champion of "ideas-don't-matter" philosophy, and about why he matters—even if ideas don't. The primary sources referenced throughout this ep are the Tractatus (https://amzn.to/3t0wD56) for Mr. Early Wittgenstein, and Philosophical Investigations (https://amzn.to/3wVfUkC) for Mr. Late Wittgenstein.

Kumbaya Posthumanism *Preview* May 14, 2022

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/plasticpills

Talking to America’s New Right (Interview) May 14, 2022

Matt and Victor interview Nate Hochman on conservative college campuses and America's new right.

America’s New Right Problem ft. WaPo’s Greg Sargent May 04, 2022

Greg 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.

Pill Pod 78 - The Posthumanism Manifesto Apr 29, 2022

Erik 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 77 -Trans/Post-Human Technics (Preview) Apr 22, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 76 - Posthumanism is Good Actually Vol. 1 Apr 16, 2022

Erik 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/plasticpills

PrePostPostHumanism *Preview* Apr 09, 2022

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/plasticpills

Christian Socialism Apr 08, 2022

Socialism and Christianity have had a tenuous relationship. Our guest this week, Aaron Anderson, argues that Christianity and socialism not only have shared goals, but that uniting these goals serves as a basis for organizing in opposition to the unholy alliance of Christianity and right wing politics. Aaron is co-founder of the Institute for Christian Socialism and editor of Bias Magazine. Find links to both at https://christiansocialism.com

Pill Pod 74 - Post Posthumanism Mar 25, 2022

This week the pod hosts Matthew Flisfeder (@MattFlisfeder), the Zizek/Hegel/Lacan/Jameson scholar who organized the Peterson vs. Zizek debate. He's working on a book about renewing humanism in opposition to some recent trends in philosophy of the posthuman/anthropocenic variety: new materialisms and object oriented ontology. The article discussed can be found at http://www.pomoculture.org/2021/12/17/renewing-humanism-against-the-anthropocene-towards-a-theory-of-the-hysterical-sublime/

Pill Pod 72 - Dugin: Russia’s State Philosopher Mar 11, 2022

In lieu of a basket of hot takes on the Ukraine invasion, we take a look at the TRUE cause behind all the madness: the Eurasian nationalist-pagan occultist-Heideggerian fascist-Orthodox Christian traditionalist-illiberal philosophy of Aleksandr Dugin. It's... um... well have a listen, but I ain't posting the reference texts here.

Hyperreal War *UNLOCKED* Pill Pod 57 Mar 09, 2022

We 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/plasticpills

Prison Abolition & Criminal Justice ft. Blake Wilson Mar 04, 2022

Victor (@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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 71 - Plato was an Idiot (preview) Feb 26, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 70 - Fanon (Preview) Feb 18, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 69 - The Jordan Peterson is Over Party Feb 11, 2022

Joe 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 41 - Fight Night 1: Baudrillard vs. Foucault *UNLOCKED* Feb 04, 2022

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.com/plasticpills

Futilitarianism: Neoliberalism and the Production of Uselessness (Bonus Interview) Feb 01, 2022

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 content+.

Pill Pod 68 - Lacan & Poe’s Purloined Letter Jan 29, 2022

It'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.

Pill Pod 67 - The Question Concerning Technology (preview) Jan 21, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 66 - Neologism in Technofeudalism Jan 15, 2022

Is 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, @mattpolprof

Pill Pod 65 - Don’t Look Up (preview) Jan 09, 2022

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 64 - Democrathy Dieth in Darkneth Jan 07, 2022

The 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 63 - Tourette‘s Tok (preview) Dec 14, 2021

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/plasticpills

Marx & Nietzsche: How to Philosophize with a Hammer and Sickle (ft. CCK Philosophy) Dec 04, 2021

Pills and Matt interview he who was once known as Cuck Philosophy, and who is now known as Jonas Čeika, author of How to Philosophize with a Hammer and Sickle. Get the book here: https://amzn.to/3Im0uuy

Pill Pod 62 - Phenomenology: The Body Schema (preview) Nov 26, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 61- Phenomenology of Marxism & Revolution Nov 19, 2021

Phenomenology 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 60 - New Consciousness (preview) Nov 12, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 59 - Phenomenology Could Save Your Lifeworld Nov 05, 2021

No 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 the public episodes (as there is for this ep), you'll be able to find them attached on Patreon, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A PATRON. That's at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Socialism & Liberalism: Mortal Enemies or Embittered Kin? Oct 22, 2021

The Pill Pod gets academic as our new volume is out, edited by Matt and featuring contributions Victor, Erik and our episode guest Ben (@benburgis) of Give Them an Argument. We argue that much of the antagonism between socialism and liberalism has been fabricated by internet creatures who want to piss off their dads. The exorbitantly expensive volume, meant to siphon money out of university library budgets, can be found here: https://amzn.to/3GjWJ8e

Pill Pod 57 - Hyperreal War (preview) Oct 21, 2021

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/plasticpills

Nietzsche: The Aristocratic Rebel Oct 08, 2021

Jordan DeJonge joins the pod to revisit the question "just how reactionary was Nietzsche?" as asked in Domenico Losurdo's newly translated intellectual biography: Nietzsche, The Aristocratic Rebel (https://amzn.to/3mF15gS). While most left-wing intellectuals read Nietzsche selectively, this 1000 page tome opts to take seriously the implications of Nietzsche's anti-democratic thinking.

Pill Pod 56 - Structuralism is a Lie (preview) Oct 01, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 55 - ”I Would Prefer Not To” Sep 24, 2021

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/plasticpills

FIGHT NIGHT: Zizek vs. Deleuze II (Preview) Sep 17, 2021

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/plasticpills

21st Century Socialism ft. Jeremy Gilbert Sep 14, 2021

Professor Jeremy Gilbert from across the pond gives a primer on his primer: Twenty-First Century Socialism. Gilbert gives a jargon-free explanation as to why buy-in to the system of consumer product bribery is no longer working, how "socialism" is being detoxified in the anglosphere, along with some proposed goals for socialists if we can avoid microwaving ourselves this century. Gilbert's (inexpensive) book: https://amzn.to/3k5CUZ3

FIGHT NIGHT: Zizek vs. Deleuze I (preview) Sep 10, 2021

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/plasticpills

Lacanian Analysis & Racist Jokes (ft. Jack Black) Sep 03, 2021

Jack Black (no, the Other Jack Black) joins the Pill Pod to discuss his new book "Race, Racism and Political Correctness in Comedy: A Psychoanalytic Exploration." Cover the hits from Hegel to Monty Python, and up to Žižek, Zupančič and Sacha Baron Cohen. Check out Jack's book here: https://amzn.to/3kGAEq6

Pill Pod 50 - Performativity & Performative Utterance (Preview) Sep 02, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 52 - Libghanistan Aug 27, 2021

In 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.

Pill Pod 49 - Project Cybersyn & Latin American Politics in Overview Aug 10, 2021

As 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.

Pill Pod 48 - Critical Theory is Conspiracy Theory Aug 06, 2021

Quarantine 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/plasticpills

Radical Democracy & Protest Politics (ft. David Matijasevich) Jul 16, 2021

Professor David Matijasevich, author of Radical Democracy and Its Limits, joins Matt and Victor to discuss the limits of radical democracy and the aesthetic ideal of protest politics, and how they are often the luxury of those who are already cozy in a political system wherein are not threatened by existing power structures. He contends that our understanding of political action should be broadened to include that which does not occur against the backdrop of liberal democracy, including his case studies in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Link to Radical Democracy and Its Limits https://amzn.to/3wNU1lg

Pill Pod 46 - Nihilism (preview) Jul 09, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 45 - FIGHT NIGHT: Political Theory is the Cops (Ranciere vs. Honneth) Jul 02, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 44 - Critical Race Hysteria (Preview) Jun 25, 2021

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/plasticpills

Therapy Culture & Happy Signifiers (ft. Ashley Frawley) Jun 16, 2021

Professor Ashley Frawley, author of The Semiotics of Happiness, joins us to discuss the cyclical history of some slippery signifiers: "self-esteem," "well-being," and "mental health," the only productive value of which is the generation of corporate consultants, conference panelists, and mind cops. In this interview, she explains how 'trauma discourse' reifies status quo politics. Find Ashley on Twitter (@AshleyAFrawley) and her book here: https://amzn.to/3grRLex

Pill Pod 19 - Derridalirium *UNLOCKED* Jun 11, 2021

The Pill Pod is off this week for an AFK project, so please enjoy this unlock from the exclusive patron vault, which sorta serves as an intro to Derrida, who's been hot on the pod lately. It's pretty old so our production requires some forgiveness. Cheers nerds!

Pill Pod 43 - FIGHT NIGHT: Foucault Slaps Back (Preview) Jun 04, 2021

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/plasticpills

Victor Interviews a Debate Bro (ft. Mouthy Infidel) Jun 02, 2021

Victor interviews Mouthy Infidel from the Mouthy Infidel YouTube channel, which features debates, debunks and arguments from a left perspective. This ranging discussion covers online debate culture, Mouthy's debate prep, some policy questions and proposals, and language games. You can find @MouthyInfidel on Twitter or on Youtube.

Pill Pod 42 - FIGHT NIGHT: Derrida vs. Foucault May 28, 2021

The Year is 1963 and our Versus Series continues with Fight Night Round 2, in which a young challenger, Jacques 'Derridevil' Derrida, comes at Dr. Archaeology himself, Michel Foucault, accusing him of committing the cardinal cosmological sin: METAPHYSICS. After a sound pounding through the first few pages, Derridevil lands a crippling blow, that Foucault's reading of Descartes was "naive," enough for Foucault to freeze him out for the next 20 years. Tune in next week for Foucault's long-awaited defense from 15 years later...

Libertarian Lulz ft. Ben Burgis May 21, 2021

Today we have a heady one for ya. This is some in-the-weeds political theory, where Ben, Matt, and Victor consider libertarianism via professional sophist, Jason Brennan. Are there good libertarian arguments? Or are they exclusively hasty consequentialist defenses of one sublime object: the market? Find out in our review of Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know. To stay on what Ben's up to follow @BenBurgis, or check out Give them an Argument on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/BenBurgisGTAA

Pill Pod 41 - FIGHT NIGHT, Round 1: Baudrillard vs. Foucault (Preview) May 21, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 40 - Non-Fungible Future: The Memeing of Mark Fisher (ft. Mike Watson) May 14, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 39 - Oculus Grift (preview) May 07, 2021

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.

Pill Pod 38 - A.I. Dreams and the Ghosts in Machines Apr 30, 2021

The 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/plasticpills

Cosmopolitan Socialism ft. Meagan Day Apr 28, 2021

Matt 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/plasticpills

Cartoons & Comics with J. Andrew World (Bonus Interview) Apr 20, 2021

Matt (@mattpolprof) and Victor (@victorbruzzone) are joined by cartoonist J. Andrew World (@rightaboutnow2) to talk Marvel, DC, and artists' intellectual property. World is perhaps best known 'round these parts as the cover artist for Michael Brooks' Against the Web, and you can find him inking on YouTube (www.youtube.com/jandrewworld) or on Substack: rightaboutnow2.substack.com

Pill Pod 37 - 'Reading' Adam Curtis (Preview) Apr 16, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 36 - Identity Shmolitics Apr 09, 2021

Matt 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.

In Defense of Anarchism (preview) Apr 08, 2021

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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 35 - Amnesty Intellectual (preview) Apr 02, 2021

The Pill Pod discusses the rage of elites: ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM. But that's not all! There's also the techno-material conditions for intellectuals, cocaine in coffee houses, and how the university itself has become an anti-intellectual institution. Listen to this episode and our other bonus audio/video content on Patreon, at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

The Words are Gifts: Indigenous Politics & Wittgenstein ft. Dale Turner Mar 25, 2021

Professor Dale Turner joins Matt and Victor to discuss Wittgenstein, 'ways of life', and their application to indigenous politics and treaty relationships in settler states. Turner is a political theorist at the University of Toronto and author of This is Not a Peace Pipe: Towards a Critical Indigenous Philosophy https://amzn.to/3fettog

Pill Pod 34 - The Snyder Nut: Psychoanalysis & Film Mar 23, 2021

Spoiler warnings: That new DC film, Fight Club, Starship Troopers. This is a performative attempt to theorize the relationship between popular cultural, moral totems, and a libidinal economy. Follow @PodPill and check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to dose up on exclusive episodes and video content.

Microdose - Gramsci (preview) Mar 19, 2021

Join Pills, Matt, and Erik for our Patreon voted topic: A romp through the Formation of the Intellectuals from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. Listen to this episode and our other bonus content on Patreon, at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 33 - Not Another Morality Episode! Mar 16, 2021

The accusations fly again this week: Who's more crypto-normativist? Who has fewer implied premises? Who really has the moral high ground? Whence Nietzsche? Who even picked this episode topic anyway? Follow @PodPill and check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to dose up on exclusive episodes and video content.

Matt Interviews a Conservative (ft. Nate Hochman) Mar 08, 2021

In an attempt to foster Rational Discourse™, Matt (@MattPolProf) interviews Nate Hochman (@njhochman) to discuss topics including insanity, Truth, and the common ground of the non-institutional left and right.

Pill Pod 32 - Accountability Studies (preview) Mar 05, 2021

Marcuse is trending? What year is it? Listen to this episode and our other bonus content on Patreon, at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 31 - (un)Happiness in Theory Feb 26, 2021

Doomscrolling, Cthulu, and Mark Fisher. Why's theory more cool when it's unhappy? We try to catheterize depressive tendencies and make happy based. Follow @PodPill and check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to dose up on exclusive episodes and video content.

The Nazi Conspiracies ft. Sir Richard Evans Feb 19, 2021

Was the Reichstag fire a false flag? Did the Nazis uncover secret alien technology in Antarctica? Was Trump a Fascist? The answers may shock you! The PillPod welcomes our first knight to the podcast, historian Richard J. Evans, author of the Third Reich Trilogy and the newly released The Hitler Conspiracies, available here: https://amzn.to/3azsMTP

Sociology of Religion ft. Galen Watts (preview) Feb 17, 2021

Matt interviews @Galen_Watts on liberal religion, i.e. those who identify as "spiritual but not religious," using the sociological method of Emile Durkheim. Listen to this episode and all of our other bonus content on Patreon, at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 30 - OWN the LIBS Feb 12, 2021

The 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.

Microdose - Semiotics and Semiology Feb 10, 2021

Pills and Erik kick off a new series on the SIGNificance of semiotics in 20th century. Check out the forthcoming episodes or our previous series on cybernetics and systems theory on the Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Kant Get You Out of My Head (preview) Feb 04, 2021

Before we can get to the other stuff we like in 20th century philosophy, we have to go back to the synthesizer of modern philosophy, the philosopher's philosophy, Immanuel Kant, to lay some groundwork. This is our best attempt to liven up the very dry Critique of Pure Reason. Listen to this episode and all of our other bonus content on Patreon, at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Socialism Yesterday, Socialism Tomorrow ft. Bhaskar Sunkara (Bonus Interview) Feb 03, 2021

Our political half is joined by Jacobin Magazine founder Bhaskar Sunkara to talk socialist history, the Nordic Model, and what happens five minutes after capitalism ends—themes undertaken in Bhaskar's book, The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality (https://amzn.to/36FlwTO)

Pill Pod 28 - Don't Go to Grad School Jan 29, 2021

We 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.

The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han (preview) Jan 26, 2021

Here's a brief introduction to The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han. Listen to this episode and all of our other bonus content on Patreon, at www.patreon.com/plasticpills Find the book here: https://amzn.to/3sW85IL

Fascism, Traditionalism, and the War for Eternity (ft. Ben Teitelbaum) Jan 18, 2021

Fascism, folk music, Bannon and Dugin: the Pill Pod's Matt and Victor interview Benjamin Teitelbaum, a scholar of contemporary European radical nationalism, to discuss his new book, War For Eternity (Find it at https://amzn.to/38QrC5q) Follow @PodPill @Victorbruzzone @Mattpolprof @BenTeitel for more work. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on exclusive episodes.

Pill Pod 26 - The Debatelord Chronicles (ft. Ben Burgis) Jan 15, 2021

Ben Burgis joins the Pill Pod to discuss the divide between analytic and continental philosophy before analyzing the geneology of debatelordism from Richard Dawkins to Ben Shapiro to whatever is happening on Twitch. Find links to Ben's Give Them An Argument Podcast, YouTube Channel, and other work at benburgis.com. Check out our bonus audio and video content on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Critical Theory of Video Games ft. Alfie Bown (Bonus Interview) Jan 12, 2021

Matt (@mattpolprof) calls up Alfie Bown (@Leftist_Gamer) to discuss the politics, psychoanalytic interpretation, and emancipatory potential of video games, for the left-brained. Check out Alfie's stuff at everydayanalysis.net

Pill Pod 25 - The Kayfabe Coup Jan 08, 2021

The 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.

Heidegger Helper *UNLOCKED* Dec 28, 2020

The Pill Pod is still off this week for mental recuperation, so please enjoy this unlock of one of our locked episodes: our fourfold discussion of Heidegger's Being and Time, his relationship to Husserl, existentialism, hermeneutics, and everything else concerning early Heidegger we could channel into being in fewer than 90 minutes. For more good theory video and audio content, join the Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Nietzsche Overdose *UNLOCKED* Dec 21, 2020

The Pill Pod is off this week for mental recuperation, so please enjoy this unlock of one of our episodes from back in the summer: a 5 course, two-hour-long discussion of Nietzsche, his significance to 20th century philosophy, our interpretations, and finally, the DANGER of his thought. For more good theory video and audio content, join the Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Zizek Microdose - Pill Pod 23 Dec 15, 2020

This 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 22 - Nerd Culture Industry (preview) Dec 09, 2020

Today we discuss the pervasive pastiche and corny conservatism of all our favourite nerd culture products (but not Star Wars 'cause it sucks ass). Find the full episode and our other content on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 21 - (Cry)sis, Cr(eye)sis, Cr(ISIS): A Radical Rethinking of the Heuristics, Historiography, and Post-Haptical Ecology of Rupture Nov 28, 2020

Is 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.

Pill Pod 20 - Fak News Nov 13, 2020

Join us for a relaxed topical episode discussing some of our local news, as well as the shifting place of "News" in the new media ecology, including its phenomenological effects on the embodied mind. We drop some Benjamin, McLuhan, and Merleau-Ponty, but this really serves as our collective detox of the last month or so. Chill vibes.

Autopoiesis: Cybernetics & Systems Theory II (preview) Nov 11, 2020

Here is a preview of our second episode in the series on Cybernetics & Systems Theory, the rest of which will be up on the Patreon www.patreon.com/plasticpills. Otherwise, check back later in the week for more free content! Here's the main book link: https://amzn.to/3kldF1V

The Ethics of Pandemics (Bonus Interview) Nov 03, 2020

Here's a new experiment! Pill Pod's Victor (@victorbruzzone) meets up with Michelle Charette (@michgenevievec) to co-host this interview with Professor Meredith Schwartz. They talk COVID and applied ethical philosophy. For more, check out Meredith's book The Ethics of Pandemics (https://amzn.to/34ODXoK)

Pill Pod 19 - Derridalirium (preview) Oct 30, 2020

We asked our patrons to give us a topic this week, and they were thirsty for this Derrida hottie. Catch the full episode up on our Patreon, https://patreon.com/plasticpills

Microdose - Cybernetics & Systems Theory Oct 29, 2020

Pure 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/3kldF1V

Pill Pod 18 - Socialism in Bidenland, Inshallah (ft. Shawn Gude) Oct 27, 2020

The Pill Pod gets schooled by Jacobin associate editor, Shawn Gude on American socialism past and present. We talk intra-left spats, whether theorists have a purpose, and the urban/rural divide in the history of American and Canadian organized labour. Find Shawn's work here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/author/shawn-gude More of our various creations at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Overdose - The Deleuze Tapes (ft. Charles Stivale) Oct 23, 2020

Today we are #blessed by the presence of OG Deleuze scholar and translator Charles Stivale, who is descending to impart his wisdom on Deleuze and "The Deleuze Seminars." The translated transcripts of these rare audio recordings offer an indispensable resource into the collaborative environment which spawned Deleuze (and Guattari's) works, and will certainly help both new and experienced readers get a grasp of wtf is going on! The Deleuze Seminars (English, Purdue University): 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 Support the podcast for more of the good stuff: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

Pill Pod 17 - LARPING in the Vampire Castle (Preview) Oct 19, 2020

Hey ya'll. Join us for a tour de Mark Fisher, as we read "Exiting the Vampire Castle" as well as Tankies' comments on Matt's article on liberal socialism. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to dose up on this and future exclusive episodes. Articles: Vampire Castle: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/exiting-vampire-castle Matt's article, "Socialist Don't Want to Destroy Liberalism": https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/10/socialism-liberalism-marx

Overdose - Marxism AND/OR/NOT Liberalism (ft. Igor Shoikhedbrod) Oct 19, 2020

Victor (@victorbruzzone) and Matt (@mattpolprof) grill Igor (@ishoikhedbrod) on his bold new book, Revisiting Marx's Critique of Liberalism, which argues that liberal notions of justice and right are not only not inimical to Marx's political vision, but are necessary shared foundations for a Marxist project (it is said that tankies everywhere wept on the eve of its publication). Get the book or ebook here: https://amzn.to/34cTCxR Read Matt's review of the book for Jacobin: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/10/karl-marx-liberalism-rights-igor-shoikhedbrod-review Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on exclusive episodes.

Pill Pod 16 - Getting Schooled in Frankfurt (Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse, Habermas) Oct 02, 2020

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.

Pill Pod 14 - Are Nietzsche and Heidegger too Dangerous to Read? Sep 18, 2020

The Pill Pod is joined by Professor Ronald Beiner, author of Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right (Link: https://amzn.to/33JC7DR). According to Beiner, the intellectual left has too uncritically accepted Nietzsche and Heidegger, who are extolled by modern fascists, and thus we are compelled to engage more rigorously with their illiberal philosophies. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on exclusive episodes.

Overdose - Nietzsche (Preview) Sep 09, 2020

Pour a coffee, or something stronger, because this is a special one: a 5 course, two-hour-long discussion of Nietzsche, his significance to 20th century philosophy, our interpretations, and finally, the DANGER of his thought. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on this and future episodes.

Microdose - John Rawls and Left Liberalism Sep 04, 2020

It's a political philosophy hour with @MattPolProf and @Victorbruzzone, who offer a leftist reading of John Rawls' concept of justice, and how it might be deployed in the organization of more equitable societies. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on this and future episodes.

Microdose - Process Metaphysics in Deleuze, Whitehead, Bergson Aug 27, 2020

Chris is back with Plastic Pills to talk about ontology and metaphysics, contrasting the "major philosophy" of substance metaphysics with the "minor philosophy" of process metaphysics and its significance to Deleuze and his canon of philosophy. Galaxy Brain. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on this and future episodes.

Pill Pod 13 - Worst Marx in the Class Aug 23, 2020

It's Culture War Day as the Pill Pod suits up to read the second worst take on Marxism ever, evidently served up to quell the debilitating anxiety of both conservative boomers and very-high-IQ 20-year-olds. From Quillette we read "The Challenge of Marxism" (https://quillette.com/2020/08/16/the-challenge-of-marxism/), which is at least as erroneous as it is popular. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on this and future episodes.

Pill Pod 12 (Preview) - The Dialectic of Recognition Aug 16, 2020

If you've heard of Kojeve, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Althusser, Lacan, or Zizek, you have heard some version of the dialectic of recognition. No surprise, it originates with Hegel. We have Borna back with us again to guide us through the Phenomenology of Spirit and beyond. Check out www.patreon.com/plasticpills to support the Pill Pod and dose up on this and future episodes. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit: https://amzn.to/2Fw7Qjq Kojeve's Lecture on Hegel: https://amzn.to/2Cw84Wv

Pill Pod 10 - The Last Hegel on the Left Jul 31, 2020

Our 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.

Pill Pod 9 (Preview) - Familiarizing Foucault Jul 24, 2020

@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.

Pill Pod 8 - What the Fouc is The State? Jul 23, 2020

@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.

Pill Pod 7 - Cancel Couture Jul 16, 2020

The party (@Mattpolprof, @plasticpills, and @victorbruzzone) discusses the fearsome cancel culture, the opposition fantasies of wokists and anti-wokists, and have a first read of the literati's Harper's letter. Check out Patreon to support the Pill Pod and dose up on all future episodes

Overdose - Deleuze & Guattari's Thousand Plateaus ft. Ian Buchanan (2/2) Jul 10, 2020

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/plasticpills

Overdose - Deleuze & Guattari's Thousand Plateaus ft. Ian Buchanan (1/2) Jul 08, 2020

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/plasticpills

Microdose - Intro to Deleuze Jul 06, 2020

In 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/plasticpills

Pill Pod 6 - The Amerika Episode Jul 01, 2020

We are joined by our very own European* critic to discuss American civic religion and its textured mythos of religion, rebellion, and race.

Pill Pod 5 - Revolution Rip Tide Jun 19, 2020

@Mattpolprof, @t8erik and @Plasticpills consider the value of "revolution" as a concept or as a political goal of left-wing politics. Starting with Alain Badiou, we discuss guillotines, Marxism, BLM, the sign economy, and the aesthetics of burning Wendy's.

Microdose - Vitalism and the Philosophy of Life Jun 13, 2020

Plasticpills and Christopher Satoor sit down to dialogue about vitalism, including philosophers such as Leibniz, Maine de Biran, Bergson, and Deleuze. What is it? What is it good for? Will it save the world? https://archive.org/details/TheHistoryAndTheoryOfVitalism

Pill Pod 4 - Conspiracy Brained Jun 11, 2020

The midwives of the soul discuss conspiracy brain--not individual conspiracies, but the political, psychoanalytic, and semiological dimensions of conspiracy including covid-5G and lizard aliens. Throwin down some Lacan, Deleuze, Baudrillard, but no Philip K. Dick. Our guest is the resplendent Matt McManus @mattpolprof

Pill Pod 3 - Quarantine Agamben! Covidical Theory and States of Exception Apr 15, 2020

Join us as we argue about this article, where Agamben (critical theorist) says coronavirus isn't real, and this article, dunking on his take. We then call each other libs after recapping the Sanders campaign. youtube.com/c/plasticpills

Pill Pod 2 - Realism, Antirealism & Coronavirus Mar 16, 2020

Join us for our sophmore episode, from quarantine, in which we discuss Baudrillard, Derrida, and whether or not Covid 19 is real.

Pill Pod 1 - Why Critical Theory? Reading Bruno Latour Mar 04, 2020

The 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/plasticpills

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