Why Theory

As Freud famously said to Jung upon their arrival in the United States for a lecture series at Clark University, “They don’t realize we are bringing them the plague.” Now, lots of people say Freud never said this, upon seeing the Statue of Liberty, referring to psychoanalysis as “the plague,” but Lacan said that Jung said that Freud said it, and who among us is going to let a possibly dodgy game of telephone get in the way of a good story? Either way, bringing the plague to your ears is this episode of Why Theory. Recorded with special guest Hugh Manon of Clark University, the only place Freud ever lectured in America, we discuss CGI, Anxiety, The Last Jedi and a whole bunch of other stuff. Get excited. Get the plague and, as always, thanks for listening.

On this episode, Todd and Ryan discuss the Oscars. They make an argument for the importance of this oftentimes maddening awards ceremony by going over famous slights in Oscars history, like Citizen Kane not winning best picture, while Todd makes the claim that 1989 might be the greatest year in film history. The latter half of the episode sees us give extended takes on a number of the best picture nominees from 2017, with the most substantive conversation centering on The Shape of Water and Get Out.

On this episode, Todd and Ryan discuss ideology and ideology critique. They begin with basic definitions and move on to cultural political analyses of ideology today. They end with a brief discussion of race and racism and a full throated endorsement of Karen and Barbara Fields’ 2014 book Racecraft. In fact, don’t listen to this podcast. Buy that book instead. Thanks for listening. We hope you all enjoy the conversation.

On this episode, Todd gives Ryan the floor to discuss my dissertation research on seriality. The conversation focuses on the effects of the serial form, the trouble with endings, and the unexplored resonances that the serial form has with psychoanalytic theory. A lot of these ideas are in development so listen to Ryan move from being totally articulate and professional to saying “like” as though it was machine gun fire while he tries to bridge one thought to the next. Again, thanks for listening. Hope you all enjoy the conversation.

In this episode, Todd and Ryan discuss Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be. After a brief-ish plot run through, Todd and Ryan talk about the radicality of Lubitsch's film and how it offers an effective and theoretically rich gloss on issues of the copy and authenticity(among other things). They attempt to justify the claim that this film is the greatest comedy in the history of cinema.

In this episode of Why Theory, a podcast that brings continental philosophy and psychoanalytic theory together to explain cultural phenomena, Todd and Ryan discuss "fake news"...without ever talking about fake news. More specifically, this episode looks at the psychic and philosophical structure that undergirds seeing certain news as fake, distrusting information outside of the self entirely, and what to do with "bias." (Apologies for the audio issues in the early part of this episode.)

In this "state of the theory" podcast, Todd and Ryan talk about the recently completed LACK conference held from October 19-21 in Colorado Springs. We discuss the major themes of the conference, which include discussions of the social tie, the master signifier, the universal and the particular (as it relates to race and sexuality especially), and a searing defense of Denis Villeneuve's Arrival.

In this episode, Todd and Ryan discuss Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049. The conversation centers around how the film depicts ideology and what we mean when we say "ideology"; how the film conceives of desire ensuring subjectivity; and how the relationship between police and capital in the film exposes a link to how the two function in everyday life.

In this first episode, Todd and Ryan stamp out a provisional definition of theory (as we'll be employing it) and discuss Todd's new book, Only A Joke Can Save Us: A Theory of Comedy.