Critical Theory

Critical Theory

episodes

Interviews with scholars of critical theory about their new books.

Katharina Stevens, "The Ethics of Argumentation" (Routledge, 2025)

August 5, 2026

The Ethics of Argumentation

Katharina Stevens
Hosted by Thomas Discenna

The Ethics of Argumentation (Routledge, 2025) offers a new approach to the theory of argumentation that conceptualizes argumentation as a fundamentall…

Valena Beety, "Pink Crime: Fighting Against the Criminalization of Motherhood, Pregnancy, and Queer Identity" (New Press, 2026)

August 4, 2026

Pink Crime

Valena Beety
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

A woman miscarries—and is charged with murder. A new mother tests positive for a drug her hospital administered—and loses custody of her newborn. Four…

Marios Koutsoukos, "Restoring the Ancient Religion: The Theurgic Orthopraxy of Iamblichus" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2026)

July 30, 2026

Restoring the Ancient Religion

Marios Koutsoukos
Hosted by Michael Motia

Restoring the Ancient Religion: The Theurgic Orthopraxy of Iamblichus (Palgrave MacMillan, 2026) reconsiders Iamblichus’ Response to Porphyry, Late An…

Lisa Blaydes and Samuel Helfont eds., "Ba‘thist Iraq Through Archives: Reflections, Explorations, and Opportunities" (Stanford UP, 2026)

July 29, 2026

Ba‘thist Iraq Through Archives

Lisa Blaydes and Samuel Helfont
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The opening of Iraq's Ba'th Party archives revolutionized the study of Iraqi politics and history, offering scholars unprecedented access to the i…

Paul Langley and Andrew Leyshon, "Fintech Capital: The Digital Transformation of Everyday Money and Finance" (Princeton UP, 2026)

July 28, 2026

Fintech Capital

Paul Langley and Andrew Leyshon
Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How is finance changing in the contemporary world? In FinTech Capital: The Digital Transformation of Everyday Money and Finance (Princeton University …

Toby Miller and Joan Pedro Carañana, "Global Sports Go Green—Or Do They?" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026)

July 26, 2026

Global Sports Go Green—Or Do They?

Toby Miller and Joan Pedro Carañana
Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Just how much damage is sport doing to the planet? In Global Sports Go Green—Or Do They? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026) Toby Miller, Profesor Distinguido …

Todd McGowan, "Self-Sabotage: How We Try Not to Flourish" (Polity Press, 2026)

July 25, 2026

Self-Sabotage

Todd McGowan
Hosted by Helena Vissing

Self-Sabotage: How We Try Not to Flourish (Polity Press, 2026) contends that an unconscious impulse to undermine our own interests plays a dominant ro…

Lily Kelting, "Against Heritage: The Reinvention of Traditional Foods" (UNC Press, 2026)

July 24, 2026

Against Heritage

Lily Kelting
Hosted by Kelly Spivey

The rise of “heritage” foods—that is, the reinvention of traditional foods—has enjoyed a high profile thanks to the oft-praised efforts of chefs such …

Elad Lapidot, "State of Others: Levinas and Decolonial Israel" (Indiana UP, 2025)

July 21, 2026

State of Others

Elad Lapidot
Hosted by Amir Engel

Elad Lapidot is Professor of Jewish Thought at the University of Lille, France. His work is guided by questions concerning the relation between knowl…

Kurt Warner, "False Idols: How Diversion is Destroying Democracy" (Vernon Press, 2024)

July 21, 2026

False Idols

Kurt Warner
Hosted by Dessy Vassileva

False Idols: How Diversion is Destroying Democracy (Vernon Press, 2024) examines how modern forms of diversion shape civic life and weaken democratic …

Timothy Mitchell, "The Alibi of Capital: How We Broke the Earth to Steal the Future on the Promise of a Better Tomorrow" (Verso, 2026)

July 21, 2026

The Alibi of Capital:

Timothy Mitchell
Hosted by Thomas Kingston

Stealing the future and concealing the theft—capitalism’s method, as examined by the author of the acclaimed Carbon Democracy Today, extraordinary wea…

Caste as a Material Question with Rahul Sonpimple

July 20, 2026

Caste as a Material Question

Rahul Sonpimple

This episode featured a conversation with Rahul Sonpimple, founder of the All-India Independent Scheduled Castes Association. Our conversation began w…

Martin Fitzgerald, "The Umbrella Man and Other Stories: What We Talk about When We Talk about the JFK Assassination" (Biteback Publishing, 2026)

July 19, 2026

The Umbrella Man and Other Stories

Martin Fitzgerald
Hosted by Dave O'Brien

What does the JKF assassination mean to us now? In The Umbrella Man and Other Stories: What We Talk About When We Talk About the JFK Assassination, (B…

175 The Caste Pod: a Crossover episode with Ajantha Subramanian (JP)

July 16, 2026

175 The Caste Pod: a Crossover episode with Ajantha Subramanian (JP)

Ajantha Subramanian

In the spirit of Hannah Arendt's natality principle (that new things are always and should always be being born, each one unique and endowed with limi…

Luna Sabastian, "Fascism in India: Race, Caste, and Hindutva" (Harvard UP, 2025)

July 16, 2026

Fascism in India

Luna Sabastian
Hosted by Sachin Nikarge

Fascism swept the world in the 1920s and 1930s, but not only because of the seductive rhetoric of Mussolini, Hitler, and their collaborators. In India…

Heidegger in Ruins

July 13, 2026

Heidegger in Ruins

Richard Wolin
Hosted by YIVO Institute

Martin Heidegger’s sympathies for the conservative revolution and National Socialism have long been well known. As the rector of the University of Fre…

Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach, "Freedom to Know: Creating Community with Ambedkar, Du Bois, Iqbal, Ramabai and Tagore" (Edinburgh UP, 2025)

July 10, 2026

Freedom to Know

Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach
Hosted by Jessica Zu

Freedom to Know: Creating Community with Ambedkar, Du Bois, Iqbal, Ramabai and Tagore (Edinburgh University Press, 2025) asks how a (world) community …

Alexandre Frenette, "Blame the Intern: On (Not) Breaking Into the Creative Economy" (Princeton UP, 2026)

July 6, 2026

Blame the Intern

Alexandre Frenette
Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Who gets to be a creative worker? In Blame the Intern: On (Not) Breaking Into the Creative Economy, (Princeton University Press, 2026) Alexandre Frene…

Gajendran Ayyathurai, "Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India: Deep Resistance Against Caste" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 4, 2026

Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India

Gajendran Ayyathurai
Hosted by Sanjukta Poddar

Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India: Deep Resistance Against Caste (Oxford University Press, 2026) explores Tamil Buddhism in modern India, …

Joseph Turow, "The Problem with Personalization: How Advertisers Learned to Make and Break Us from Ancient Times to the AI Age" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

July 3, 2026

The Problem with Personalization

Joseph Turow
Hosted by Pete Kunze

A respected voice on technology shows how seemingly simple ads help dismantle democracy and public discourse. Whether you’re intentionally shopping o…