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Image credit: The prophets Elias and Khadir at the fountain of life, late 15th century. Folio from a khamsa (quintet) by Nizami (d. 1209); Timurid period. Opaque watercolor and silver on paper. Herat, Afghanistan.
In this episode, Professor Saul Newman delves into post-anarchism, examining the enduring relevance of Max Stirner and Etienne de La Boétie in understanding voluntary servitude and radical egoism. He connects their ideas to Lacanian psychology, revealing how power structures become internalized and why traditional anarchism's view of natural freedom is naive. Newman then introduces political theology, discussing Carl Schmitt's model and advocating for more radical interpretations that unlock religion's potential for emancipatory political movements and social justice.
The podcast delves into two seminal anarchist texts: Étienne de La Boétie's "Discourse on Voluntary Servitude" and Max Stirner's "The Ego and Its Own." It examines La Boétie's 16th-century analysis of why masses accept tyrannical rule, attributing it to habit, propaganda, and economic complicity, and his call for withdrawing consent. The episode then explores Stirner's 19th-century philosophy, which advocates for liberating oneself from "spooks" (fixed ideas and identities) to embrace the "unique one's" power of self-definition, forming "unions of egoists" based on mutual interest. Both thinkers highlight a pre-political struggle for individual freedom.
Dr. Beatrice Bottomley discusses the Andalusian Sufi master Ibn Arabi, challenging the traditional "Sufi" label and exploring his complex concept of wujud, meaning both "existence" and "finding/being found." The conversation highlights the "science of letters" in pre-modern Islam, its surprising parallels with Jewish Kabbalah, and the role of lunar mansions in ordering the universe. Ultimately, the episode questions the boundaries between esotericism and rationality, revealing how these concepts co-evolved and influenced early modern science and philosophy.
Musicologist and producer Francesco Fusaro discusses world-building music across the centuries. Credit: Francesco Fusaro, Tafelmusik Var. I, 2021. Collage, 65x92. Courtesy of the artist.
6-years old Arturo Campagna discusses children’s literature and dispenses advice to writers for children. Image credits: Rain Wu, Arion , 2019. Stoneware clay and glazes, 9x11cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Federico Campagna presents the philosophical take on children’s world-view and culture in Elemire Zolla’s 1994 “Children’s Awe” and Cristina Campo’s 1971 “The Flute and the Rug”. Image credits: Ivan Bilibin, Stage-set design for Scene Two, Act Four of the opera the "Tale of the Lost City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia" by Rimsky-Korsakov, 1929.
Liberation theologian Father Paul Butler discusses the radical interpretations of the Christian message. Image credits: The oldest surviving depiction of Saint Francis, Benedictine abbey of Subiaco, painted between March 1228 and March 1229.
Federico Campagna presents Russian theologian (and mathematician, engineer and philosopher) Pavel Florensky’s 1920 essay “Reversed Perspective” and his interpretation of the language of sacred forms. Image credits: Andrey Rublev, The Trinity or The Hospitality of Abraham , 1411-1427.
Ignota publishers Sarah Shin and Ben Vickers discuss their ongoing cultural work on the “techniques of awakening”. Image credits: Hildegard von Bingen, God, Cosmos, and Humanity , 1165.
Federico Campagna presents Russel Hoban’s 1980 science-fiction masterpiece “Riddley Walker” and the problem of post-future life and culture. Image credits: Punch with the Judge and the Hangman , 1870. Litograph.
American philosopher Tom Cheetham discusses the parallels between Henry Corbin and Jungian psychoanalyst James Hillman, looking in particular at the practice of “Creative Imagination”. Image credits: Elijah and Khidr praying together, XI century. Illuminated manuscript version of Stories of the Prophets .
Federico Campagna presents Henry Corbin’s 1964 “History of Islamic Philosophy” and his esoteric interpretation of philosophy and of religion. Image credits: Sultan Mohammed, The Miraj of the Prophet , 1539-1543. Opaque watercolor and ink on paper.
Bill Sherman, director of the Warburg Institute, discusses the work of Frances Yates and Aby Warburg’s library. Image credits: Aby Warburg, Der Bilderatlas Mnemosyne , 2020. Exhibition view. Courtesy of Silke Briel / HKW
Federico Campagna looks at Frances Yates’ work on the philosophy of mnemotechnics in her 1966 book “The Art of Memory”. Image Credits: Giulio Camillo, Memory Theatre , 1510.
Stefano Gualeni presents his philosophical take on digital worlds and virtual subjectivity. Image Credits: ‘Here’, video game by Stefano Gualeni. 2018.
