Culture
Philosophize This! 52 episodes here
Checked Sep 15, 5:00 PM
Beginner friendly if listened to in order! For anyone interested in an educational podcast about philosophy where you don't need to be a graduate-level philosopher to understand it. In chronological order, the thinkers and ideas that forged the world we live in are broken down and explained.
Episode #252 ... Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut Aug 29, 2026 / 34:41 Today we talk about Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse-Five. How war stories can distort the reality of war, how trauma can fracture our experience of time and identity, and why Billy Pilgrim becomes attracted to the strange philosophy of the Tralfamadorians. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #251 ... You Must Change Your Life, Pt. 2 - The Worlds That Make Us Aug 8, 2026 / 35:25 Today we talk more about Peter Sloterdijk’s book You Must Change Your Life. We talk about Heidegger, the subject-object view of the world, how environments form us, symbolic immunity, modern cynicism, vertical tension, base camps, civilizations as collective immune systems, and why Sloterdijk thinks humanity may need a new form of co-immunity. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #250 ... You Must Change Your Life. - Peter Sloterdijk Jul 14, 2026 / 35:59 Today we talk about half of the book You Must Change Your Life by Peter Sloterdijk. From criticism towards views of change that he thinks are far too centered on belief and moral strength, to a reworking of how to view human beings at the level of anthropology. We talk about how our view of religion might change under this new perspective... as well as how culture should be seen as a kind of monastic rule. Hope you're having a great week and enjoy the episode. :)
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Episode #249 ... The Trap of Modern Cynicism - Peter Sloterdijk Jun 27, 2026 / 34:23 Today we talk about the book Critique of Cynical Reason by Peter Sloterdijk. Cynicism as a defense mechanism. Why the cynic isn't crazy. The way it ladders up into institutions and infects things like our language. Diogenes as a counter example of a mode of being that rejects pieces of society. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #248 ... What philosophers say about lying. May 31, 2026 / 36:53 Today we talk about some of the best arguments for and against lying in the history of philosophy. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #247 ... The Failure of the Modern University - Alasdair MacIntyre May 10, 2026 / 28:53 Today we talk about some of Macintyre's later work. How he thinks philosophy isn’t optional. It’s already hiding inside everything we do. How he thinks modern universities create experts who know their field but not what their work fully means. How real education should produce judgment, not just technical skill. And how important phronesis (practical wisdom) becomes at holding ourselves and our leaders accountable. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #246 ... The Myth of the Self-Made Person - Alasdair Macintyre Apr 26, 2026 / 32:41 Today we talk about Macintyre's book Dependent Rational Animals. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #245 ... The Rival Moral Approaches of the Modern World - Alasdair Macintyre Apr 12, 2026 / 32:31 Today we talk about the book Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry by Alasdair Macintyre. We talk about each of the different sets of assumptions people bring to moral debates that often contain the true location of the disagreement. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #244 ... After Virtue - Alasdair MacIntyre (why moral conversations feel unsatisfying) Feb 11, 2026 / 36:51 Today we talk about the book After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre. We talk about his genealogy of moral discourse. The teleologies of Aristotle. The failure of the Enlightenment moral project. Our modern culture of Emotivism and the sorts of characters that thrive in it. Shared practices and community as a way to revitalize moral conversation. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #243 ... Hamlet - William Shakespeare Dec 27, 2025 / 30:41 Today we talk about the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare. We compare more traditional takes on the themes of the play to a more modern, philosophical analysis of the play done by Simon Critchley and Jamieson Webster. We talk about Hamlet and his inability to take action. Surveillance in 16th century England. Ophelia as the tragic hero of the play. How ultimately Hamlet may best be described as a play about "nothing". Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #242 ... Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare Nov 29, 2025 / 31:00 Today we talk about the philosophy behind the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. We talk about how ineffective violence and honor codes are as ways of maintaining the stability of a society. How catastrophe may be a deterrent to violence. The tension presented by Shakespeare between a Christian view of love, marriage and salvation and an alternative religion of love from his time. How in the kinds of love we most admire there is sometimes an element of irrationality that makes it possible. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #241 ... The Tragedy of Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare Nov 16, 2025 / 29:42 Today we talk about the philosophical themes of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. We talk about the hypocrisy and false nostalgia of political violence. The ironies of living by a moral ideal like honor. Rhetoric as a site of where political power is won and lost in a republic. And Brutus as a unique kind of tragic hero somewhere between Stoicism and Christianity. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #240 ... Varieties of Religion Today (Charles Taylor) Nov 8, 2025 / 29:23 Today we talk more about the work of Charles Taylor and his book The Varieties of Religion Today. We look at different answers to a classic question around religious belief. The sociological and structural role that religion plays at any given point in history. Paleo, Neo and Post Durkheim versions of religious society. What religion becomes in the age of authenticity we live in. We paint a picture of the very unique spiritual predicament the modern person has to navigate. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #239 ... Authenticity and the history of the self. (Charles Taylor) Oct 17, 2025 / 34:55 Today we talk about the work of the philosopher Charles Taylor. First, we trace the historical origins of how he views the modern self. From the Greeks to the Reformation. From Descartes to Rousseau. The modern self to him is something "irreconcilably multileveled". Then we talk about our modern focus on authenticity as a moral ideal and why Taylor thinks many people misunderstand what it requires. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #238 ... Frankenstein - Mary Shelley Oct 8, 2025 / 29:06 Today we talk about the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. We talk about the mix of Romantic and Enlightenment attitudes and how it leads to problems without the proper oversight. We talk about technology and the responsibility that comes with creation. We talk about how ostracized people often learn to resent the world they live in. Hope you love it and have a great week! :)
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Episode #237 ... The Stoics Are Wrong - Nietzsche, Schopenhauer Sep 30, 2025 / 28:56 Today we talk about two famous critiques of Stoicism. One by Friedrich Nietzsche who thought the Stoics weren’t life affirming enough and so rob themselves of some of the best parts of life. The other by Arthur Schopenhauer who thought the Stoics were too life-affirming of worldly things to ever reach a deep understanding of things. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #236 ... Meditations - Marcus Aurelius Sep 13, 2025 / 34:39 Today we talk about the collection of journals known as Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. We mark the differences between Stoicism, modern Stoic ethics, and the journals of Marcus Aurelius. We talk about the divine logos, indifferents, and how metaphysical assumptions ladder up into the virtue ethics of the ancient Stoics. We talk about some of the context that Marcus was writing each of these journals in. All of this while trying to relay some of the biggest ideas that he wrote about. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #235 ... The Philosophy of Zen Buddhism - Byung Chul Han Sep 4, 2025 / 37:02 Today we talk about one of Han's earlier books where he offers an alternative to classic western ideas about subjectivity. We talk about Zen as a religion without God. Substance and emptiness. Alternatives to the reified self. Dwelling nowhere. Original friendliness. And death as an event we desperately try to control. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #234 ... The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera Aug 13, 2025 / 32:41 Today we try to produce a philosophical guide for the book The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. We talk about Parmenides, Nietzsche's eternal recurrence, kitsch as something more than just an aesthetic category, existential codes and his animal test of morality. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #233 ... A philosophy of self-destruction. (Dostoevsky, Bataille) Aug 4, 2025 / 30:41 Today we talk about two different theories for why we ritualize self-destructive behavior. We check out a lesser-known work from Dostoevsky called The Gambler. We consider how much we can hold people morally accountable for this kind of stuff. Then we look at the work of Georges Bataille, his book The Accursed Share, and how a hidden underlying economics may be a way we can understand self-destructive behavior from a new angle. Hope you love it and have a great week. :)
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Episode #232 ... Byung Chul Han - The Crisis of Narration Jul 7, 2025 / 29:41 Today we talk about the book The Crisis of Narration by the philosopher Byung Chul Han. We talk about the history of storytelling. Walter Benjamins distinction between a Paris fire and a revolution in Madrid. The effects of social media on memory. Story telling vs story selling. AI as pure Intelligenz lacking Geist. The ability for stories to give shape to suffering. The importance of boredom for self-discovery. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #231 ... The Late Work of Wittgenstein - Language Games Jun 28, 2025 / 26:02 Today we talk about the late work of Wittgenstein in Philosophical Investigations. We talk about the meaning of words. Augustine's theory. Forms of life. Rules and practices. Grammar. Geometry. Family resemblance. And the role of a philosopher on the other side of accepting this view of language. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #230 ... Hope as an Existentialism (Ernst Bloch) Jun 14, 2025 / 28:43 Today we talk about the early work of Ernst Bloch. Hope as anticipatory consciousness. The darkness of the lived moment. Educated hope vs false hope. Music as an experiential metaphysics and gateway to the Not-Yet. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #229 - Kafka and Totalitarianism (Arendt, Adorno) May 25, 2025 / 28:58 Today we talk about Kafka's book The Castle and how the symbolism is interpreted by two powerhouse philosophers: Theodore Adorno and Hannah Arendt. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #228 ... Albert Camus - Kafka and The Fall May 12, 2025 / 30:36 Today we talk about Camus' book The Fall and what the main character represents in his larger project. We also talk about someone Camus deeply admired, Franz Kafka, and how to think of the images he created in his work. We talk about the experience of the modern individual in relation to politics. We also talk about what Camus and Kafka disagreed on. Hope you love it. :)
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Episode #227 ... Albert Camus - On Exile Apr 18, 2025 / 34:29 Today we talk about the concept of exile from the work of Camus. We focus on a couple stories from his book Exile and The Kingdom. We talk about why Camus insists that true lucidity can only arise from the jarring lived experience he calls “exile,” not from armchair reflection. We talk about Janine’s desert epiphany in “The Adulterous Woman.” We talk about school‑teacher Daru in “The Guest,” trapped between France and Algeria, whose double exile shows how history can choose for us. We talk about the everyday escape hatches—nostalgia, comfort contracts, curated news bubbles—that let people dodge exile until reality blindsides them. Hope you enjoy it! :)
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Episode #226 - Albert Camus - The Rebel Apr 4, 2025 / 31:53 Today we talk about Camus’ concept of rebellion and how it offers a powerful alternative to abstract ideologies. We talk about solidarity as the foundation for justice without systems. We talk about the death penalty as a symbol of premeditated murder disguised as virtue. We talk about rebellion as something closer to art than politics—an act rooted in experience, defined by limits, and carried out with sincerity. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #225 ... Albert Camus - The Plague Mar 27, 2025 / 30:07 We look at Albert Camus' The Plague. We talk about a common misreading from the Myth of Sisyphus. We talk about different cycles of his work from his earlier individual confrontation with the absurd to a more community focus. We talk about solidarity. Absurd heroes. Empathy and metaphysical rebellion. Hope you enjoy it, my friends. :)
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Episode #224 ... Albert Camus - The Stranger Mar 15, 2025 / 28:50 Today we talk about the book The Stranger by Albert Camus. We talk about why Camus saw himself as an artist and not a philosopher. We talk about happiness. The absurd and it's full implications. The Mediterranean lifestyle. The sun as a symbol of immanence. Revolt against the absurd as a descriptive claim-- not a normative one.
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Episode #223 ... Religion and the duck-rabbit - Kyoto School pt. 3 Mar 3, 2025 / 33:37 Today we talk about the relationship between philosophy and religion. We talk about the duck-rabbit as a metaphor that may have something useful to teach us about the way we experience reality. We talk about the enormous difficulty of fully addressing the question: what is religion? We talk about Schelling's historical view of revelation and its connection to a possible new era of Christian religious practice. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #222 ... Dostoevsky - Love in The Brothers Karamazov Feb 16, 2025 / 38:32 Today we talk about the philosophical themes around love in The Brothers Karamazov. We talk about Dostoevsky's existential, tragic form of Christianity. Family as a microcosm of society. Active love as an experiential framing. The Grand Inquisitor. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #221 ... Dostoevsky - The Idiot Feb 1, 2025 / 35:59 Today we talk about the book The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky. We talk about the curse of sainthood. The connection between beauty and morality via his moral-aesthetic spectrum. Realism vs. Idealism. And how beauty can save the world. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #220 ... Dostoevsky - Demons Jan 13, 2025 / 38:16 Today we discuss the philosophical themes of the book Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky. We talk about western liberalism, the lack of moral leadership, the promises of Nihilism, the Madman and the Saint, and Dostoevsky's complicated relationship to faith. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #219 ... Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment Dec 23, 2024 / 32:03 Today we talk about the philosophical themes that Dostoevsky had in mind when writing Crime and Punishment. We talk about Russian Nihilism and its consequences. Rational Utilitarianism and Egoism. A common misunderstanding of Raskolnikov as an embodiment of Nietzsche's work. Confession. Guilt. Affirming life through consent. And much more. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #218 ... Dostoevsky - Notes From Underground Dec 17, 2024 / 33:37 Today we talk about the philosophical themes of one of Dostoevsky's most famous books: Notes From Underground. We talk about contemplative inertia, the "stone wall" of rationality, utopian socialism, the tension between love and freedom in the modern world, self-loathing as a defense mechanism, and much more. Hope you enjoy it. :)
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Episode #217 ... Religion and Nothingness - Kyoto School pt. 2 - Nishitani Dec 6, 2024 / 44:37 Today we talk about expanding our view of what a religious quest includes. The limits of dualistic thinking. Technological enframing and obsession with utility. Self-emptying. Consciousness, Nihility and Sunyata. Sunyata as immanence. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #216 ... The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism - Kyoto School pt. 1 - Nishitani Nov 18, 2024 / 34:02 Today we look at the work of Keiji Nishitani. We examine Nihilism in a deeper way than we've ever covered on the podcast before. We talk about The Great Doubt. Zen Buddhism. Sunyata. The self as similar to structural linguistics. Hope you enjoy it! :)
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Episode #215 ... How Mysticism is missing in our modern lives. (Critchley, Heidegger) Oct 30, 2024 / 31:16 Today we talk about whether it's possible to achieve not just freedom of the will, but freedom from the will. The technological enframing of reality from the perspective of Heidegger. Misconceptions about Mysticism. The ways that modern life prevents us from having more of a connection with Being. Some ways to start practicing mystical types of experiences using the resources that we have available to us. We do all of this via some points made by Simon Critchley in his new book On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy.
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Episode #214 ... Framing our Being in a completely different way. (Heidegger) Oct 21, 2024 / 37:54 Today we look at Heidegger's critique of metaphysics and the traditional subject-object framing in philosophy. How multiple framings are necessary for a fuller picture of our being. His challenge to thinkers like Nietzsche and Descartes. Dasein, the limitations of objectivity. Phenomenology as an alternative focusing on the importance of lived experience. And his ideas on temporality and death as a horizon of our being. Hope you love it! :)
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Episode #213 ... Deleuze Interprets Nietzsche (Difference, Joy, Affirmation) Oct 13, 2024 / 37:03 Today we talk about Deleuze's interpretation of Nietzsche's work. We talk about difference taken to radical new levels. The image of thought from the history of philosophy. Nietzsche framed as the enemy to the dialectic. Active vs Reactive forces. Deleuze's thoughts on art as a vehicle for the creation of the new instead of our typical approach via acquiring more information. Hope you love it! Be well. :)
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Episode #212 ... Nietzsche and Critchley on the tragic perspective. (Amor Fati pt. 2) Sep 30, 2024 / 38:29 Today we begin by talking about Nietzsche's concept of life-affirmation. Contrasting it with the renunciative, rational traditions of Western thought. The episode then delves into Greek tragedy through the lens of Simon Critchley's work; making a case for how these ancient plays offer a life-affirming perspective by embracing the ambiguity of human existence.
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Episode #211 ... Nietzsche returns with a hammer! Sep 22, 2024 / 40:32 Today we talk about Nietzsche's views on the decay of western society. We talk about his problems with Socrates. The genealogy of Egalitarianism that has led to our modern societies, and how to contextualize his concept of the Ubermensch within modern culture. Hope you enjoy it! :)
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Episode #210 ... The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Paulo Freire, Education) Sep 12, 2024 / 38:42 We talk about Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. His critique of the banking model of education. The importance of critical consciousness. His Existentialist influence. The dialectic between oppression and liberation. The problem-posing model of education. The role of dialogue in learning and the co-creation of knowledge. Marx's influence on Freire. The flexibility of Freire’s pedagogy. And some response to critics of Freire.
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Episode #209 ... Improving our world through applied ethics. (Peter Singer, Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek) Aug 26, 2024 / 36:03 Today we talk about Peter Singer's response to an anticapitalist critique of his work. Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek's thoughts on the wrong ways to be thinking about ethical terminology. Philosophy in schools. Creative activism. The ongoing impact of the Effective Altruist movement. Hope you enjoy it! :)
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Episode #208 ... The moral evolution of a philosopher. (Peter Singer) Aug 18, 2024 / 44:18 On this episode, we track the changes in Peter Singer's ethical views throughout his career. We talk about Emotivism. R.M. Hare's Prescriptivism. Nozick's Experience Machine. Some thought experiments from Derek Parfit. Henry Sidgwick and Objectivist Hedonistic Utilitarianism. Hope you enjoy it!
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Episode #207 ... Fear is toxic to a democracy. (Martha Nussbaum) Aug 1, 2024 / 35:54 Today we talk more about the work of Martha Nussbaum and her book The Monarchy of Fear. We discuss emotions as important appraisals of reality. The comparison of shame and guilt and their social implications. The prevalence of fear and its toxic impact on democracy. The importance of practical hope in fostering democratic participation. Hope you enjoy it! :)
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Episode #206 ... Capitalism is dead. This is Technofeudalism. (Yanis Varoufakis) Jul 21, 2024 / 37:28 Today we talk about the concept of Technofeudalism as described by Yanis Varoufakis. We talk about the comparisons of our world to the feudal system, the origins in the economic policy of 2008, and a few potential paths forward centered around important questions to be revisiting. Hope you enjoy it! :)
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Episode #205 ... Why a meritocracy is corrosive to society. (Michael Sandel) Jul 1, 2024 / 32:02 Today we talk about the dark side of meritocracy, the effects it has on the way people see each other, the dialectic of pride and humility, education reform, and a rethinking of the way we see government officials. Hope you enjoy it. :)
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Episode #204 ... The importance of philosophy, justice and the common good. (Michael Sandel) Jun 24, 2024 / 37:53 Today we talk about some of the benefits of being a practitioner of philosophy. Michael Sandel's view of the three main approaches to justice throughout the history of philosophy. The strengths and weaknesses of all three. The consequences of replacing social norms with market norms. And the importance of the common good as a piece of a just society that is able to endure. Hope you enjoy it! :)
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Episode #203 ... Why the future is being slowly cancelled. - Postmodernism (Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism) Jun 17, 2024 / 39:46 Today we continue developing our understanding of the ideas that have led to what Mark Fisher calls Capitalist Realism. We talk about tolerant relativism, postmodern artwork, the slow cancellation of the future, Hauntology and Acid Communism. Hope you enjoy it! :)
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