Theory & Philosophy

Jean Baudrillard's "America"

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In this episode, I tackle Jean Baudrillard's "America." This book came out of Baudrillard's travels to America where he observed the desolate nothingness that was the American hologram.

Roberto Calasso's "The Ruin of Kasch" (Part 2/2)

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In this episode, I conclude my exploration of Calasso's "The Ruin of Kasch" by outlining his criticism of Marxism for failing to consider the possibility that it is society itself that is oppressive, not capital.

Roberto Calasso's "The Ruin of Kasch" (Part 1/2)

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In this episode, I explore the the lesser known Roberto Calasso and his "The Ruin of Kasch." Calasso is a thinker of sacrifice and ceremony, and proposes what these components of the 'old order' mean in the age of modernity. To do this, Calasso traverses from the tale of the ancient kingdom of Kasch to the Napoleonic politician Talleyrand to the limitations of Marxism.

Jean Baudrillard's "Fatal Strategies" (Part 2/2)

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In this episode, I continue my exploration of "Fatal Strategies" to present something of a Baudrillardian pragmatics that accounts for the acceleration of this oppressive system.

Jean Baudrillard's "Fatal Strategies (Part 1/2)

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In this episode, I begin my exploration of Baudrillard's "Fatal Strategies." This is the text that Baudrillard becomes extremely critical against the obscenity machine that forces everything into appearance. Against this, he proposes his own theory--that we are to drive these systems to their radical conclusion. This takes the form of a fatal strategy.

Sara Ahmed's "Differences that Matter" (Part 3/3)

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In my last episode of this text, I focus on the stories and films that Ahmed analyzes as being fundamentally "postmodern," but that rely on classical constructions of women and (not so) subtly maintain oppressive imagery against women.

Sara Ahmed's "Differences that Matter" (Part 2/3)

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In this episode, I continue my exploration of Ahmed's "Differences that Matter" and turn my attention to ethics, and the construction of women in Western Philosophy. Ahmed presents some tough criticisms here, but is equally proficient at constructing her own theoretical approach that stands opposed to the hegemony-laden approaches indicative of Western thought.

Sara Ahmed's "Differences that Matter" (Part 1/3)

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In this episode, I shift gears to explore Sara Ahmed's first book, "Differences that Matter." In this book, Ahmed points to the limitations of postmodern thought to account for those marginalized groups most often affected by structural inequalities.

Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari’s “A Thousand Plateaus” Chapter 13: “Apparatus of Capture” (Part 2/2)

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In this episode, Curtis and I continue our exploration of Plateau 13 from A Thousand Plateaus, "Apparatus of Capture." Specifically, we locate the implications of this chapter alongside the advent of algorithms, big data, and technological surveillance.

Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari's "A Thousand Plateaus" Chapter 13: "Apparatus of Capture" (Part 1/2)

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In this episode, I'm joined by Curtis Allen, PhD candidate in Theory and Criticism, whose work focuses on the work of Deleuze and Wittgenstein. We discuss the implications of this complicated plateau by expounding upon Deleuze & Guattari's theorization of the relationship between the war machine and the state.