Why Theory

In this episode, Ryan and Todd chronicle the varied evolution of the concept of jouissance in the thought of Jacques Lacan and offer their idea of the best formulation of this concept. They touch on the key moments, from the association of jouissance with transgression in Seminar VII to the identification of jouissance with the failure of the sexual relationship in Seminar XX.

In this special episode, Ryan and Todd comment on the recent attempted coup in the United States. They address the significance of this act of domestic terrorism for the actuality of Right and Left on the political scene.

In this episode, Ryan and Todd analyze the new Christopher Nolan film Tenet. They discuss the film in terms of the concept of Nachtraglickeit or retroactivity, as well as exploring the conflicted politics that Nolan proposes in the film.

In this episode, Ryan and Todd investigate the theoretical implications of popular music, focusing on groups such as the Replacements, the Talking Heads, and Roxy Music. They consider how the unconscious, drive, fantasy, and enjoyment manifest themselves in the works from these bands and others.

In this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss the phenomenon of German Idealism through its four primary figures--Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. Rather than focusing solely on these figures as thinkers, they delve into the gossip surrounding each of them as well. Focusing on a significant contribution of each, they look to each of them as theorists of the simple and everyday.

This episode is the third in a seven part series devoted to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. Ryan and Todd discuss the second major section, Self-Consciousness, with a special focus on the master/slave dialectic. They also explore the transition from Consciousness and then the transition to Reason.

In this special episode, Ryan and Todd analyze the recent US presidential election. They note that Joe Biden's victory covers over several problems inherent in the moderate politics of the Democratic Party. They also discuss the appeal of Donald Trump to those who do not benefit from his policies.

In the third and final episode devoted to the thought of Gilles Deleuze, Ryan and Todd discuss the Deleuze of the 1980s, the Deleuze after Guattari. Their primary focus in this episode is on the cinema books. They explore the relationship between the movement-image and the time-image, concluding with an assessment of the attempts to marry Deleuze with psychoanalysis.

Other media mentioned in the show:

Cooper Cherry’s Podcast

https://soundcloud.com/podcast-co-coopercherry

Ben Hagen’s Reading Difference and Repetition blog

https://sketchingapresent.com/2013/06/22/slow-reading-1-1-gilles-deleuze-difference-and-repetition-pg-1/

Short introduction where Andrew Culp explains the aims of his book Dark Deleuze

https://alienocene.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/dark-d-to-print.pdf

In this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss Gilles Deleuze's early thought, prior to his collaboration with Felix Guattari. They focus primarily on his major works from this period--Difference and Repetition and The Logic of Sense.

Here is the podcast that Ryan mentions in the episode: https://share.transistor.fm/s/488221f4