The Point Podcast

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Society & Culture

The Point is a magazine founded on the suspicion that modern life is worth examining. www.thepointmag.com

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Episodes

Why everything is hyperpolitical now (with Anton Jäger)

On this episode of The Point Podcast, Jonny Thakkar talks to our resident anatomist of the global political zeitgeist: Anton Jäger, a historian of political thought at the Catholic University of Leuven. Anton joins us to discuss his essay for issue 29, “Everything Is Hyperpolitical,” an ambitious attempt at historicizing our hyperpolitical present, which he diagnoses as the culmination of a trajectory from mass politics to post-politics. Hyperpolitics beyond the intuitive definition (3:20) The r...

Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Selected Essays | Christian Lorentzen on George Trow

On this episode of The Point podcast, we’re introducing a new series called “Selected Essays”—about essays you should read but probably haven’t. Jess Swoboda and Zach Fine talk to the critic Christian Lorentzen about George Trow’s “ Within the Context of No Context ,” an essay that took up almost an entire issue of the New Yorker in 1980, and they revisit Christian’s cover story from the April 2019 issue of Harper’s , “ Like this or Die: The Fate of the Book Review in the Age of the Algorithm ”—...

Apr 11, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Stanley Cavell's style (with Lola Seaton)

On this episode of The Point podcast, Jon Baskin talks to a fellow long-suffering Cavellian: the writer and New Left Review editor Lola Seaton. Lola joins us to discuss her essay for issue 28 of The Point, “The Sound Makes All the Difference,” on her relationship to Stanley Cavell’s unmistakable and infectious—if sometimes infuriating—writing style. Timestamps: Literature as an act of communication. ( 5:46 ) Cavell’s reading of King Lear and its deep insight about parental bribery ( 7:40 ) How C...

Dec 08, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 2

National conservatism after the midterms (with James Pogue and Joey Keegin)

The Point podcast is back after a long hiatus with an episode about the 2022 midterms. Point editors Jon Baskin and Joey Keegin are joined by the journalist and native Ohioan James Pogue to debrief two key elections—JD Vance in Ohio and Blake Masters in Arizona. What will Vance's victory—and Master's defeat—mean for the National Conservative movement that has embraced them? Jon, James and Joey talk about the emerging fissures in the conservative coalition: In the fight to claim the mantle of Tru...

Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Afterthoughts - Issue 25: Moralism, Memory and the Political Novel, with Ryan Ruby and Becca Rothfeld

Afterthoughts is a discussion series from The Point where our editors talk to writers and readers about new issues of the magazine. On this episode, a recording of a Zoom event held on November 1st, Jon and Rachel talk to literary critic Ryan Ruby (author of “Resisting Oblivion” in issue 25) and critic and Point editor Becca Rothfeld (author of “Sanctimony Literature” in Liberties) for a discussion about the political novel today. The political significance of the novel was discussed with anguis...

Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 33 min

Afterthoughts - Issue 24

Afterthoughts is a discussion series from The Point where our editors talk to writers and readers about new issues of the magazine. On this episode, Rachel, Jon and Joey are joined by Michelle Taylor and Daniel Silver to discuss their essays in issue 24.Essays discussed in this episode:“The Logic of the Like” by Daniel Silver: https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/the-logic-of-the-like/“No One Is Talking About This” by Michelle Taylor: https://thepointmag.com/criticism/no-one-is-talking-about-th...

May 08, 2021•1 hr 8 min

Rather Be Reading, Episode 3: Bad Desires

On Episode 3 of Rather Be Reading, Anastasia Berg interviews Andrea Long Chu about her debut essay in n+1 “On Liking Women” and the problem with trying to get our desires to conform to our political principles (1:03). Then Rachel Rosenfelt, the founding editor of the New Inquiry and new publisher of the New Republic, joins us to talk about the history of Occupy at leftist magazines and the future of the New Republic (26:24). Finally, we call up Jon’s mom for her two cents on Doris Lessing, sexis...

May 22, 2018•45 min

Rather Be Reading, Episode 2: Sex Pests

On Episode 2 of Rather Be Reading, The Point podcast, we discuss the #MeToo social media campaign, shitty media men, and moral education with Becca Rothfeld and Jennifer Frey (00:54). For Charitable Reading, Jon Baskin talks to literary critic Nicholas Dames about Franco Moretti and the so-called "digital humanities bust" (27:22). Plus, we call up comedian David Heti to get his opinion on Larry David's controversial SNL monologue—and hear his latest Holocaust jokes (44:17).Editors: Jon Baskin, A...

Nov 17, 2017•56 min

Rather Be Reading, Episode 1: Conservative Intellectuals

Is there such a thing as a conservative intellectual? In the inaugural episode of Rather Be Reading, The Point Magazine podcast, we discuss the "What Happened to the Public Intellectual?" panel that we attended during the Brooklyn Book Festival and why there is resistance to the notion that conservative intellectuals exist. Plus, a "Charitable Reading" segment on why lefties despise David Brooks (featuring famous Brooks hater Jake Bittle) and a bit where we check in with Jon's mom.Editors: Jon B...

Sep 21, 2017•35 min

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