Co-hosts Emmet and John plumb the depths of history, culture, and philosophy to understand why it is that despite calamities and rapid change nothing feels possible anymore. Guests include artists, scholars, and thinkers from all over the world. Subscribe to our Patreon to receive 2 extra exclusive episodes a month: https://www.patreon.com/exhaust
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Matt Kelly rejoins the boys to talk about Fukuyama's weird liberalism, econ theory, the triumphalism of the 90s, Fukuyama as an OG anti-Islamic type, and more! Check out Matt's Stuff: Substack: https://trapzoid.substack.com https://sociolegalfictions.wordpress.com Twitter: @DJDeepThought1 Closing Song: RiFF RAFF - Double Cup 2 Cups (KEIFER GR33N Remix) https://www.keifergr33n.com/...
Emmet and John begin their series on Fukuyama's seminal The End of History and the Last Man. They talk through its context, Fukuyama's background, trouble some of his assumptions, and kick the tires of his liberal triumphalism in the opening 50 pages. Closing Song: https://godshate.bandcamp.com/album/gods-hate
John returns and they finish out the show by finishing Fukuyama's book and reflecting on the experience of working on the show. Thanks to all of our listeners! It was a great run and we were overjoyed to have you with us.
Phil Cunliffe joins Emmet to talk about his opposition to the UK's sanctions against Russia, the politics of self-interest, what happened to the nation-state, and more. Phil's piece on the sanctions: https://unherd.com/thepost/its-time-to-end-gas-sanctions-on-russia/ Phil's piece on ChatGPT: https://unherd.com/thepost/chatgpt-a-morbid-symptom-of-our-declining-universities/ Phil's Twitter: https://twitter.com/thephilippics Bungacast: https://www.patreon.com/bungacast Closing song: https://chatpil...
In this episode, Mark Nelson explores the evolution and pedagogy of engineering in America, starting with his personal experience of growing up in an engineering family and his initial resistance. He traces the historical influences from French and British traditions to the establishment of land-grant colleges. Mark then delves into the demanding curriculum, covering foundational sciences like statics, material science, and thermodynamics, highlighting the "life-or-death" stakes and the practical intuition developed through real-world design challenges. The discussion culminates with a reflective account of a coal plant visit, underscoring the immense scale and responsibility inherent in the profession.
Alex Priou from the New Thinkery podcast sits down with Emmet to talk about Leo Strauss and his posthumously published lecture "The Three Waves of Modernity. They talk about the split between the ancients and the moderns, what Strauss was really after, the tasks modernity presents us with today, whether or not we can recover lessons from the ancients, and more! Check out the New Thinkery: https://thenewthinkery.com/listen/ The essay: https://archive.org/details/LeoStrauss3WavesOfModernityocr Sub...
Brett and Thomas from PsyOp cinema join Emmet to talk about the school shooter movie The Dirties (2013). They talk about Columbine, the role media plays in "traumatizing" its audiences, social engineering, media saturation as grand social atomizer, the figure of the "outsider," and more! Check out PsyOp cinema here! Closing Song: Do Not Reply by Stuck...
Geographer and author Jacob Shell joined me to talk about his obituary of the late Bruno Latour who rose to prominence critiquing science and then turned his back on his most influential works of critical theory in 2004. We discuss the postmodern turn, science as ideology, the problem of critical theory, epistemic authority, "trusting the science," and more! To hear the rest of the episode and get 2 exlusive episodes plus bonus content every month, subscribe to our Patreon! How Critical Theory L...
Author Michael Lind joins Emmet to talk about his research speech on democratic pluralism in the 21st century. They discuss regime type, managerialism and technocracy, sector bargaining, the beauty of big, dumb, and simple, his forthcoming book on labor called Hell to Pay, and more. To hear the rest, subscribe to our Patreon to get 2 exclusive episodes and bonus content every month! You can read Michael Lind's speech here: https://compactmag.com/article/democratic-pluralism-for-the-21st-century ...
Journalist Leighton Woodhouse joins Emmet to talk about the New Left of the 1960s and the values of the managerial class. They talk about progressive libertarianism, the difference between the old managerial order of the immediate postwar era and the post-70s era, cultural path dependency, the Port Huron statement, and more. " The Cult of the Individual: The Origins of the Nihilistic Left ," by Leighton Woodhouse. Subscribe to our Patreon to get two exclusive episodes plus bonus content every mo...
Kat Dee joins Emmet to talk about movies they couldn't stop texting each other about which they think define, in part, the millennial vibe. They talk about movies that give a shit that you're watching them, what happened to music as part of identity formation, the sexual weirdness of all three movies, being awkward as an early millennial meme, what millennials did to language, and more! Subscribe to our Patreon to get two exclusive episodes a month!...
Emmet and Josh wrap up their series on the Shock of the New. They discuss the modern art museum, Hughes's sick burns on everyone and everything, Superbowl Commericals as art appreciation ritual, Don Draper, and mourning the death of painting. Subscribe to our Patreon to get 2 exclusive episodes a month.
Essayist Michael Cuenco joins Emmet to talk about the totalizing permanence of the culture war. They talk about Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan, liberty, republicanism, oligarchy, living in a post-literate tribal world, and more! Check out some of Michael's Work: How Culture War Trumped Class War , Compact Magazine America's New Post-Literate Epistemology , Palladium "Victory Is Not Possible": A Theory of the Culture War , American Affairs Subscribe to our Patreon to get two exclusive episodes a month!...
Josh and Emmet talk over episodes 6 and 7 of Robert Hughes's The Shock of the New. They get into Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Rothko, and the dawn of the Weak Universal Forms. They discuss art as a window into the past and the schizo-world of television. And if painting can't matter in the way it used to, why did Hughes bother with the series? Subscribe to our Patreon to hear the rest and get two exclusive episodes a month!
King of The Work and co-host of What's Left, Oliver Bateman joins Emmet to talk about the illustrious career of pro-wrestling mogul Vince McMahon after he stepped down from WWE. They talk about the hustler and con man as American architects, the intimacy of kayfabe, what people get wrong about their stale "politics as pro wrestling" takes, and more! " Exit Vince McMahon, World Builder ," Oliver Bateman, The Washington Examiner. What's Left? Oliver's website. Subscribe to our Patreon to get 2 exc...
Matt Kelly rejoins the boys to talk about Fukuyama's weird liberalism, econ theory, the triumphalism of the 90s, Fukuyama as an OG anti-Islamic type, and more! To hear the rest, subscribe to our Patreon! Check out Matt's Stuff: Substack: https://trapzoid.substack.com https://sociolegalfictions.wordpress.com Twitter: @DJDeepThought1...
Emmet and John begin their series on Fukuyama's seminal The End of History and the Last Man. They talk through its context, Fukuyama's background, trouble some of his assumptions, and kick the tires of his liberal triumphalism in the opening 50 pages. To hear the rest of this episode, subscribe to our Patreon and get 2 exclusive episodes a month!
6-time author and host of the Power Hungry Podcast Robert Bryce sits down with Emmet to talk about the downfall of California, his time covering the Branch Davidian trials, our troubled electric grid, the balkanization of America, and more! " California's Energy War on the Poor " by Robert Bryce (Quillette) The Power Hungry Podcast Juice: How Electricity Explains the World A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations by Robert Bryce Subscribe to our Patreon to get two exclusive epi...
We're back! This one opens with some housekeeping, then we move on to talk about the energy crisis, regionalism, localism, PMC intermediation, American political tradition, and more! Subscribe to our Patreon to hear the rest. Special Guest: Mike.
Emmet sits Geoff Shullenberger and Default Friend to talk about their respective articles on the Uvalde shooting, school shootings in general, "zeitgeist killers," the spiritual hole in our society, and more! " The Faith of Mass Shooters " by Geoff Shullenberger, Compact Magazine. " Mass Shootings and the World Liberalism Made ," by Katherine Dee, Contra Closing Song: Lowered by Greg Puciato ft. Reba Meyers....
Geoff came onto the pod to talk about what's going on with conservatives and Disney, though it's really a conversation about cultural power, Lasch, the family, ideology, political anemia, and more. We're going on hiatus until July. Geoff's piece for Unherd: https://unherd.com/2022/04/disney-has-always-spread-propaganda/
Will Tavlin joins Emmet to talk about how the democratic promise of digital filmmaking turned into the current top-down Marvel hellscape we all live in. They talk about the insanity of the original multiplex model of screening, why digital is so hard to archive, the deadness of major blockbuster films, the importance of forming aesthetic communities to preserve cultural memory, and more! Digital Rocks: How Hollywood Killed Celluloid by Will Tavlin, n+1 Closing Song: Storyteller by Broadside ....
DF and Emmet take a look at Phillip K Dick's 1972 lecture "The Android and the Human." They dive into his idea that we can learn about our inner lives by looking at the world of machines, the integration of man and machine, empathy, rebellion, totalitarianism, and weirdly hanging out with teenage girls getting late term abortions. Here's the lecture . Subscribe to Default Wisdom. Subscribe to our patreon to get 2 exclusive episodes a month. Closing Song: Dream Evil - The Chosen Ones x Xavier Wul...
Recording times got bungled to do travel constraints, but here's an hour-long preview of Emmet's appearance on the Ryan Research podcast (the whole thing runs two hours). Peter Ryan invited him on to talk about nuclear energy, why nothing feels possible, what happened to the left, financial brain poisoning, and more! Follow the Ryan Research podcast to hear the rest when it comes out! Subscribe to our Patreon to get 2 exclusive episodes a month....
Monia Ali of the Exiled Fan Substack sits down with Emmet to talk about the cultic aspects of fandom, how marketers think about hijacking our need for love, attention, and community, what the world of fandom means for our future and much, much more. Love Beyond Reason: the consecration of fandom by Monia Ali , The Exiled Fan. Subscribe to our Patreon to get two exclusive episodes a month! Closing Song: Jiggalate by Dro Man (KEIFER GR33N Remix)...
Emmet and John began their reading of Koselleck's Futures Past. They situate his context, layout his questions and method, and then open the first essay. They discuss the transition into modernity, the nature of historical time, the waning of eschaton, the secularization of the political and thus the future, and medieval eschatological tradition, and way more. This is a teaser. To hear the rest and get the rest of our exclusive episodes, become a Patron!...
Scholar John Constable joins Emmet to discuss his recent lecture given at the Mont Pelerin Society last year entitled, "Misconceptions of the 'Industrial Revolution': Prospects for Individual Liberty in the Post-Pandemic Era." They discuss the discursive fiction of the "industrial revolution" and its uses, the green energy transition's misguidedness, economics' backwardness, why energy is the key to societal wealth and freedom, and more! Subscribe to our Patreon to get 2 exclusive episodes a mon...
Xander sits down with Emmet to talk about what's going on with American cities. What happened to them? Why won't congestion die? Do we have to get in the pod and eat the bugs? What makes a city beautiful? Why is it so hard to figure out what's going on in your city? Emmet harasses Xander with these questions and more. Become a patron to get two exclusive episodes a month and our entire paywalled back catalog, including our After Virtues and Christopher Lasch reading series. Closing Song: God's B...
Emmet and John finish Lasch's book and reflect on it as a whole. They considered some Roman historians at the top, summarize this final chapter, and weigh Lasch's contribution. What does it mean for us? What has he left us to endeavor that he did or could not? Become a patron to hear the rest and get two exclusive episodes a month!
James Lynch , a producer at Breaking Points and contributor to Newsweek, sat down with Emmet to talk about what it was like to politically come of age as a zoomer, the deficits and merits of left and right, what the "crisis of masculinity" really means, what to do about Big Tech, and more! The Mainstream Media Is Attacking Joe Rogan Instead of Admitting Its Own Failures by James Lynch, Newsweek The Working Class Is Up For Grabs. Which Party Will Claim It? by James Lynch, Newsweek How Progressive...
