This week two conversations with the feminist theorist and writer Judith Butler: one recorded the week Trump won the presidency in 2016 and one recorded a few days ago, as his presidency (just maybe) approaches its end. We reflect on what has changed over the last four years, what has stayed the same, and whether our worst fears were realised. Plus Judith tells us what she sees when she sees Biden and what she hopes might come next. Two linked conversations about misogyny, racism, representation, empowerment, hope, rage, and the damage one man can do to democracy.

Further Learning: 

• Judith Butler: on COVID-19, the politics of non-violence, necropolitics, and social inequality
• Judith Butler for the LRB on Trump’s death drive
• ‘Judith Butler wants us to reshape our rage,’ from The New Yorker 
• Judith on performativity and Black Lives Matter
• Gender Trouble, Judith Butler
• Precarious Life, Judith Butler
• The Force of Nonviolence, Judith Butler

And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking