Why we're still postmodern (whatever that means)

Sean Illing talks with Stuart Jeffries, journalist and author of Everything, All the Time, Everywhere, about why postmodernism is so hard to define, and why — as Jeffries argues — it's still a very active presence in our culture and politics today. They discuss whether our desire should be understood as subversive or as a tool of capitalism, how postmodernism is inextricably linked with neoliberalism, and how to navigate our current culture of ubiquitous consumption and entertainment. What should we watch on TV: Boris Johnson's resignation speech, or the reality show Love Is Blind?

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), Interviews Writer, Vox

Guest: Stuart Jeffries, author; feature writer, The Guardian

References: 

Everything, All the Time, Everywhere: How We Became Postmodern by Stuart Jeffries (Verso; 2021)

"The post-truth prophets" by Sean Illing (Vox; Nov. 16, 2019)

The Postmodern Condition by Jean-François Lyotard (Univ. of Minnesota Press; 1979, tr. 1984)

Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard (Univ. of Michigan Press; 1981, tr. 1983)

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970–1990 (exhibition catalog, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK; Sept. 24, 2011 – Jan. 15, 2012)

"Postmodernism: from the cutting edge to the museum" by Hari Kunzru (The Guardian; Sept. 15, 2011)

"You're sayin' a foot massage don't mean nothin', and I'm sayin' it does" by James Wood (Guardian Supplement; Nov. 19, 1994)

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This episode was made by: 

Producer: Erikk Geannikis

Editor: Amy Drozdowska

Engineer: Patrick Boyd

Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: Amber Hall

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