CryptoChamomile works in the Silicon Valley crypto space. He was raised a Jehovah's Witness, went secular, then went Christian. We talk about Silicon Valley, the problems with secularism, and why the pull of religion is more rational than people think. CryptoChamomile is on Twitter: @cryptochamomile . CryptoChamomile hosts the Youtube show Conversations with Chamomile . This podcast was originally recorded as a livestream. If you'd like to catch future livestreams, subscribe here and then click ...
Dec 01, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 26
John David Ebert is a cultural critic and the author of 26 books (with traditional publishers and self-published), including Art After Metaphysics , The New Media Invasion , The Age of Catastrophe and Dead Celebrities, Living Icons . You can support his work at patreon.com/johndavidebert . We talked about John's big ideas regarding long-term cultural dynamics, Oswald Spengler, Marshall McLuhan, Heidegger, film criticism, Jordan Peterson, the history of Christianity and Islam in Europe, John's re...
Nov 02, 2018•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 25
Mike Crumplar ( @mcrumps ) is one of many strange people who have entered my internet orbit in recent months. I can't tell you much about him because I can't understand or remember anything about anyone I interact with on the internet. In this video chat I will hopefully learn more about him. He recently wrote an essay in Jacobite about Bronze Age Pervert. That will be the initial pretext for our conversation. Where it goes from there, only time will tell. This conversation was originally livest...
Oct 31, 2018•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 24
Nyx Land is a blogger and internet persona in the accelerationist sphere. She explains to me her ideas about gender accelerationism and lesbian neoreaction. I believe this is the longest podcast I have ever done, clocking in just shy of 4 hours. Nyx's website is nyxus.xyz and her Twitter handle is @NyxLandUnlife. This podcast and my blog have now been unified! The website is now theotherlifenow.com . Big thanks to my supporters at patreon.com/jmrphy . You can also find other ways to support at t...
Oct 23, 2018•3 hr 59 min•Ep. 23
We talked about Joshua's music career, theory and psychoanalysis, Josh's time at the New School, Christopher Hitchens, neoreaction and patchwork, internet culture, instrumental rationality, and other things. With Zohra Atash, Josh is in the band Azar Swan. http://www.azarswan.com/ This podcast and my blog have now been unified! The website is now https://theotherlifenow.com . Huge thanks to my supporters at https://patreon.com/jmrphy...
Oct 23, 2018•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 23
Robin Hanson is an economist, futurist, and blogger at overcomingbias.com . I've been following Robin for a while now because he's a genuine intellectual: he thinks, speaks, and writes intensely and prolifically about whatever he wants, even if it seems weird to other people. His recently published book, co-authored with Kevin Simler, is called The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life . In this podcast, we talked about the new book; his larger motivation behind the book; which ...
Aug 31, 2018•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 22
Nick Land is a British philosopher living in Shanghai. Nick is one of the main figures in the school of thought known as accelerationism. He is currently writing a book about the philosophical implications of Bitcoin. We talked about accelerationism, cybernetics, ideology, the evolution of Nick’s perspective, Deleuze and Guattari, emancipation and dehumanization, artificial intelligence, capitalism, Moldbug, mathematics and the significance of zero, religion, blockchain/Bitcoin, Kantianism, synt...
Jul 19, 2018•2 hr 57 min•Ep. 21
Taylor Adkins is a translator of French philosophy. He has translated influential books by Félix Guattari, such as Machinic Unconscious (Semiotext(e) 2010), and lesser known works by Jean-François Lyotard and François Laruelle. He’s a philosophy/theory blogger at Speculative Heresy and Fractal Ontology , and co-hosts the podcast Theory Talk with Joe Weissman. You can support them and enjoy extra theory talk at patreon.com/theorytalk . Just a few of the books mentioned: Glas by Derrida Fashionabl...
Jun 21, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 20
Elizabeth Suhay is a political scientist who specializes in the study of public opinion and political psychology, especially regarding beliefs about the causes of inequality. In particular, her work has made some intriguing discoveries about how and why different individuals do or do not believe genetics are an important causal explanation for various phenomena. Dr. Suhay is Assistant Professor at American University, where she is also contributing to a large project on Evidence-Based Science Co...
Jun 07, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 19
Sean Trainor ( @ess_trainor ) is an historian, educator, writer, and podcaster. Sean has written for The Atlantic, TIME, Salon, and many other venues popular and academic. He is a professor at the University of Florida, where he is currently writing a book about beards in the nineteenth century. Sean co-hosts his own podcast, Impolitic . You can find more about Sean's work at his website, seantrainor.org . Sean is a socialist activist so we had some interesting debates about the prospects for ac...
May 30, 2018•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 18
Roman Montero ( @PantaKoina ) is the author of "All Things in Common: The Economic Practices of the Early Christians." We had a long conversation about religion and communism (duh), Christianity, Protestantism, Catholicism, rationality, love, and marriage. Roman's book can be found on Amazon here . Roman also wrote a short synopsis of the book available on Libcom.org. You can also find a video recording of our conversation here ....
May 18, 2018•2 hr 32 min•Ep. 17
Uriel Fiori ( @cyborg_nomade ) is a theorist and translator based in São Paulo, Brazil. He's an expert on the work of Nick Land, having translated and archived many of the various fragments Land has scattered around the web. We talked about Uriel's idea of "left-wing neoreaction (LRx)," how to combine a commitment to equality with realism about objective inequalities, Proudhon and early modern anarchism, mutualism, Nick Land, patchwork, blockchain, and we even snuck in some #cavetwitter at the e...
May 11, 2018•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 16
Philipp Streicher is a doctoral researcher in Informatics at the University of Sussex. Philipp studies photic brain stimulation, i.e. the use of light to boost brain activity. He is currently trying to combine light stimulation protocols with neurofeedback technologies, to help people improve their brain function. His startup, Augmind, recently won funding in the 2017 StartUp Sussex competition. I visited Philipp at his lab, he conducted one of his experiments on me, and then we recorded this po...
Mar 29, 2018•57 min•Ep. 15
Greg Osei is a Soul/R&B musician, performer, storyteller, and model. His music combines African, Latin, and Afro-Caribbean musical styles, in English and Spanish. He performs regularly throughout New York City. He describes his mission as creating spaces of "possibility, change, questioning, incitement, joy, helpful discomfort, and ultimately love through art and a collaborative creative experience with his audiences." Greg just released a new video of a performance at Sofar Sounds, which yo...
Mar 29, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 14
Geoffrey Miller is an evolutionary psychology professor at the University of New Mexico in the USA, and is best known for his books The Mating Mind (2001), Mating Intelligence (2008), Spent (2009), and Mate (2015). He has a B.A. from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and has also worked at NYU Stern Business School, UCLA, and University College London. He has over 120 academic publications addressing sexual selection, mate choice, signaling theory, fitness indicators, con...
Dec 10, 2017•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 13
Geoffrey Miller is an evolutionary psychology professor at the University of New Mexico in the USA, and is best known for his books The Mating Mind (2001), Mating Intelligence (2008), Spent (2009), and Mate (2015). He has a B.A. from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and has also worked at NYU Stern Business School, UCLA, and University College London. He has over 120 academic publications addressing sexual selection, mate choice, signaling theory, fitness indicators, con...
Oct 09, 2017•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 12
Will Sharkey is an ultraleft Catholic schoolteacher and Philosophy PhD. He is a member of the UK-based anti-capitalist organization Plan C . You can find more about Will and his work on his website, williamduncansharkey.com . You can also find him as @Anonyleftcommie . A lot of people ask how I can be interested in Catholicism and communism at the same time. With Will's help, this is now the single best thing I've produced on this topic to date. Will is also above average in his tolerance for wh...
Sep 06, 2017•2 hr 32 min•Ep. 11
Dr Ilan Zvi Baron is Associate Professor in the School of Government and International Affairs, and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics at Durham University. Baron has written multiple books, including Obligation in Exile: The Jewish Diaspora, Israel and Critique (Edinburgh University Press, 2015) and How to Save Politics in a Post-Truth Era (Manchester University Press, 2017). He has also published numerous academic articles on Jewish identity and sec...
Aug 18, 2017•59 min•Ep. 10
This is the audio from a talk I gave to Plan C London on January 19, 2016. You can find the slides for this talk at the following links: PDF or HTML .
Jul 31, 2017•50 min•Ep. 10
Sam Berkson is a poet and blogger. Sam is a really passionate and active writer, performer, and organizer (of culture and politics) in London. We recorded this podcast in Sam’s flat in Tottenham at 3am on a Friday night. Sam's recent book, Settled Wanderers , is out now with Influx Press . You can find more of Sam's work on his website and you can hit him up at @AngrySamPoet . Notes with timestamps general patterns of the universe!!! 00:01 full automation or nah? 00:03 what’s up with Red Bull ow...
Jul 12, 2017•50 min•Ep. 9
Russell Bentley is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Southampton, where he researches and teaches across the history of political thought, from ancient Greek to contemporary American politics. He also has experience in the upper echelons of university administration (formerly Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor of Education at the University of Southampton), from which he brings to us some uncommonly frank and revealing insights into higher education today. I invited Russell to chat w...
May 19, 2017•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 8
There's a tiny bit of static at the beginning but it goes away! Mindy Isser writes a low-key advice column newsletter in all lowercase. She is a labor organizer but also a very funny and sweet person who is fun to talk with. We used to be internet enemies but then became friends. We also made a movie together a few years ago. Here we talk about our romantic relationships, our different models of revolutionary politics, Drake (his record label made us remove the song we played, sorry Drizzy we st...
Apr 25, 2017•1 hr•Ep. 7
Diana S. Fleischman is an evolutionary psychologist, currently Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth. Her interests include sex, disgust, veganism, utilitarianism, effective altruism, polyamory, and genetics, among other things. Show notes with timestamps: 0:00 - 00:30 How we met on Twitter, how to make friends online, dissecting our online impressions of each other. Our weird ideological histories and intersections. Academics and drug use and talking about it on the internet. A thesis...
Apr 03, 2017•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 6
Dan Goss is a happy revolutionary. Unlike me Dan actually works hard on many active political campaigns. We first met through Plan C. Although Dan is a very committed and serious organizer, he's also very based and reflective and funny, too, which is why I asked him to do a podcast. We are joined by Rosie Hiscock, who is a working actress and musician. We recorded this podcast in Dan's home in London. Notes with timestamps: how to shut down a coal mine in South Wales (1:56) activist guilt, and w...
Mar 09, 2017•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 5
Most people think "communism" is crazy but actually it's really easy and hilarious. We're already doing it and it's great. Here, we teach you exactly how to start now.
Feb 26, 2017•3 min•Ep. 5
Dr. Jonathan Havercroft is Associate Professor of International Political Theory at the University of Southampton. He has published work on the historical development and transformation of state sovereignty, 17th century and 20th century political philosophy, space weaponization and security, global dimensions of indigenous politics and hermeneutics. He is currently working on the ethical dimensions of international norms, theories of political affect, and the role of agreement in democratic the...
Feb 17, 2017•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 4
Adriana is a mental health worker based in London. She is a member of Plan C ( http://www.weareplanc.org/ ). Notes How our ideas and speech can cut off liberation dynamics; the sociology of sorting in activist circles (00:07) Why we don't gossip or criticize other political groups, the futility of objections in favor of looking for new weapons, relationships (00:11) Adriana's experiences in mental health, NHS, CBT, etc. The power of meditation (fuck the haters). (00:15) Just because you're high-...
Jan 14, 2017•2 hr 15 min•Ep. 3
Dr. Jonathan Havercroft is Associate Professor of International Political Theory at the University of Southampton. He has published work on the historical development and transformation of state sovereignty, 17th century and 20th century political philosophy, space weaponization and security, global dimensions of indigenous politics and hermeneutics. He is currently working on the ethical dimensions of international norms, theories of political affect, and the role of agreement in democratic the...
Jan 14, 2017•3 hr 31 min•Ep. 2
Aria Alamalhodaei works on art history and sells groceries for a wage. Her writing has appeared in the journal History of Photography and online outlets such as Blind Field . Her website is alamalhodaei.tumblr.com . (Aria is also my spouse, which is probably the main reason she agreed to humor me for this first test run.) Also thanks and credit to Aria for making the cover art for this podcast. :-) Notes Why I'm starting this podcast. How we're so cool and smart. Are Jay-Z and Beyonce actual lov...
Jan 14, 2017•12 min•Ep. 1
