I first came across Rick Roderick’s lecture series, Self Under Siege—Philosophy in the 20th Century, at the end of a long, disillusioning study session in graduate school. YouTube’s thumbnail image of the bearded, drably attired man crouching over a rigid dais suggested a mild tedium wildly incommensurate with the actual experience of watching the video. Rather than the lucid, studied intensity and sublime hilarity Roderick enacted in his talk, I expected something dryly informative that might compensate for the unwarranted neglect of proper book-learning I had assumed…
Category Archives: Theory and Theorists
Watch Badiou Act in his Own Play: Ahmed the Philosopher
Alain Badiou and Joe Litvak perform a scene from “Ahmed the Philosopher” about a curmudgeonly French demon who takes joy in informing for the police.
Incredible Candid Photos of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in Cuba
When people recount the lives of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, hanging out in boats with Fidel Castro and getting photobombed by Che Guevara seem to rarely make the cut.
What is an Economic Crisis?
goes undisputed – from newsrooms to academia to the world’s living rooms – that there has recently been a major global economic crisis. In fact, according to some, the economic crisis is not even finished; for others we are suffering from its after-effects; among still others – with startling Panglossian assurance – the whole thing has been one great opportunity. Despite the apparent consensus, however, it remains difficult to pin down what exactly an economic crisis is.
Free Read: Bare Life and Money
An excerpt from “Willing Slaves of Capital” by Frederic Lordon.
Listen: Stuart Elden on Thinking the Volume
A podcast on territory and volume with Stuart Elden.
What Makes a Good Book? Kafka’s Letters to a Friend
Reading letters of long-dead thinkers is always a fascinating journey. The literary prowess employed in private conversations with friends may uncomfortably remind many that the last text conversation with their significant other contained 13 emoticons and 3 insincere cases of “lol.” On the other hand, you’d probably quickly tire of unsolicited existential musings via text message.
Watch Judith Butler on Rage and Grief
This video, featuring Judith Butler, was filmed at Cooper Union in NYC for the 2014 PEN World Voices Festival in April.
New Critical Theory Podcast: Always Already
f you’re looking to get your fill on critical theory podcasts, another great option has recently emerged.
Professor of the Year, “If You Don’t Give Me Any of Your Shitty Papers You Get an A”
Slavoj Zizek fans and haters can finally agree on something: he probably doesn’t like any of you.