PlasticPills - Philosophy & Critical Theory Podcast

Plasticpills

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The Pill Pod is hosted by a group of PhDs offering their irreverent (and unsolicited) takes on critical theory, philosophy, culture, and politics.

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176 episodes

Pill Pod 160 - Walter Benjamin on Leftist Content Creators (Preview)

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

8m
Mar 24
Pill Pod 159 - The End of the University

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 https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/private-pretensions-the-battle-for-canadas-universities-david-noble Don't miss an episode! find the full feed ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/plasicpills

1h 12m
Mar 15
Pill Pod 158 - Walter Benjamin & The Idea of History (preview)

Get the full episode and all episodes ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/plasicpills

13m
Mar 15
Pill Pod 156 - Christofascism vs. History

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

1h 13m
Feb 14
Pill Pod 155 - Jean Baudrillard & The Disappearance of History (preview)

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

10m
Feb 10
Pill Pod 154 - Christian Intellectuals at the End of History

Listen to our public episodes ad-free, for free, at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills While no one is exactly 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.

1h 8m
Feb 08
Pill Pod 152 - Fukuyama on The End of History (preview)

Adjusted for inflation, Francis Fukyama received $1,311,814.68 to write The End of History and the Last Man (https://amzn.to/3tPo5Bt 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

10m
Jan 14
Pill Pod 151 - The End of History

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

1h 24m
Jan 14
Pill Pod 149 - Gothic Horror: Edgar Allen Poe & The Fall of The House of Usher

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 https://twitter.com/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

1h 26m
Dec 01, 2023
Pill Pod 148 - Badiou: Philosophy & Antiphilosophy

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

1h 2m
Nov 24, 2023
Pill Pod 147 - Authenticity & Existentialism (preview)

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

5m
Nov 20, 2023
Pill Pod 146 - Heidegger on the Anaximander Fragment (preview)

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

6m
Nov 17, 2023
Pill Pod 145 - Metamodernism is just bad

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. https://amzn.to/3So0kKH. Find tons of content from our all-powerful postmodern windmill at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

1h 29m
Nov 04, 2023
There are no Democratic Systems: Pill Pod 145 - Preview

Get the full episode and whole lot more at www.patreon.com/plasticpills

5m
Oct 27, 2023
Pill Pod 143 - Gaza & Frantz Fanon on Violence

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 https://abahlali.org/files/On_Violence.pdf. If you want all our episodes they are on www.patreon.com/plasticpills http://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

1h 38m
Oct 21, 2023
Pill Pod 142 - Systems Theory Politics in the Shadow of Gaza

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

1h 9m
Oct 14, 2023
Pill Pod 140 - Heidegger Nazi Debate No. 125,421

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.

1h 16m
Oct 02, 2023
Affect Theory and Revolutionary Routines - Interview with Carolyn Pedwell

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.

1h 28m
Sep 08, 2023
Pill Pod 137 - Groomer Mythology

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) https://amzn.to/47i5kpd). The rest of this series on myth is available at www.patreon.com/plasticpills http://www.patreon.com/plasicpills

1h 20m
Sep 01, 2023
Pill Pod 135 - Political Mythologies of the Left and Right ft. Diego Ruzzarin

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

1h 30m
Aug 15, 2023
Pill Pod 132 - Fairy Tale Feminism

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 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

1h 32m
Jul 26, 2023
Pill Pod 131 - Freedom Isn’t Free

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

1h 12m
Jul 14, 2023
Pill Pod 130 - We Have Never Been Modern

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

1h 20m
Jul 08, 2023
Pill Pod 126 - Based Rousseau

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 https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

1h 15m
Jun 10, 2023
Pill Pod 124 & 125 - The Light of Reason and the Eye of the Mind (preview)

Pill Pods 124 & 125 cover a paper written by Pills, which argues that despite banishing figurative language for the sake of "clarity", Western philosophy has forgotten it was founded on a metaphor equating reason with vision, a metaphor we unknowingly reiterate on the daily. The episodes are available to patron subscribers at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

16m
Jun 09, 2023
Pill Pod 123 - ”Western Civilization” According to Francis Bacon

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

1h 16m
May 19, 2023
Pill Pod 122 - Mosh Pit Sociology (Preview)

Get the full episode, many others, and all the other exclusive content by supporting the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

11m
May 13, 2023
Pill Pod 121 - Obscurantism in French Philosophy: Searle on Foucault & Derrida

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

1h 15m
Apr 28, 2023
Pill Pod 119 - Bernard Stiegler & Posthumanist Post-Marxism (ft. Diego Ruzzarin)

How many posts can be fit into a title? Diego's back is back and so are we to have a look at why Stiegler believes that the class war is over, the techno/grammatological pharmakon is in and proletarianization has been total. We looked at the first half of "A New Critique of Political Economy", which was suggested to us by a patron (thank you). Find Diego's work (mostly esp) on the internet (he's easy to find). The even-numbered episodes and video lectures are at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

1h 36m
Apr 14, 2023
Pill Pod 117 - Baudrillard as Post-Marxist

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

1h 30m
Mar 31, 2023