Radical Thoughts is an attempt to read through as many texts in the Verso Radical Thinkers series as possible in order to come to a better understanding of radical theory and its tendencies. Our goal is to find the problems and frameworks worth addressing in order to move beyond radical thought into radical practice. Radical Thoughts is an independent project and not associated with Verso Books in any way.
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick Amogh, the cohost of the old Symptomatic Redness podcast, sits down with Patrick to discuss the Marxist obsession with method and totality, interrogating what this implies about the unanswered questions of the communist project. -- Rob Lucas on "Feeding the Infant": https://soundcloud.com/swampsidechats/150-error-and-feeding-the-infant
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick Patrick sits down with communist theorist Søren Mau to discuss his book Mute Compulsion, forthcoming in English through Verso Books, and his theory of the impersonal economic power of capital. We discuss Value Form Theory, Foucault, and some future prospects for Marxist research. Order the book here: https://www.versobooks.com/products/2759-mute-compulsion?_pos=1&_psq=mute+compulsion&_ss=e&_v=1.0
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick Patrick sits down with Seth Wheeler to discuss cycles of struggle after the Corbyn and Sanders moments, the UK Left, and the new edition of In and Against the State.In and Against the State through Pluto Press: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745341811/in-and-against-the-state/ Seth Wheeler on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sethnotes
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick Djene Bajalan joins the show in a discussion concerning the state, international politics, and the destructive effects of Left-wing navel-gazing
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick Independent writer and editor for Verso Books John Merrick joins Patricknin a discussion about the history of Verso, the Radical Thinkers series, and the cultural project of publishing
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick In this special crossover episode, Patrick talks with C Derick Varn of Varn Vlog about the legacy of Jean-Luc Nancy. While both bemoan the more frivolous stylings of French theory, the discussion appreciates the serious questions that Nancy raised about the nature of community and the assumptions that underpin the concept.This episode was released as a crossover episode also available to Varn Vlog Patreon supporters. Varn Vlog Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/varnvlog/ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy page for Nancy: https://iep.utm.edu/nancy/ Verso Interview: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/5150-jean-luc-nancy-communism-means-conceiving-being-in-common
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick In this episode, PH sits down with our first recurring guest, C Derick Varn, to give more context to the work of Jean Baudrillard. We discuss his relation to the Situationists, his break with Marxism, and the ultimate conclusions of his theory of simulation and simulacra.
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick In this bonus episode, Andrew and Patrick sit down to read through some of Franco Moretti's recent work on "Distant Reading" (and one additional essay by Ted Underwood). Does this approach constitute a whole new framework for cultural sociology? Or is it mostly a disparate set of statistical methods? What are the "cabbages of literature"? Find out as we discuss: "Hidden in Plain Sight" - Moretti & Sobchuk "Operationalizing" - Moretti "The Roads to Rome: Literary Studies, Hermeneutics, Quantification" - Moretti "A Genealogy of Distant Reading" - Underwood
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick n this Patron-only bonus episode, Patrick interviews philosopher and psychoanalyst Adrian Johnston on the work of Slavoj Žižek, Lacanian psychoanalysis, theories of materialism, and more. This episode follows our discussion of the work The Metastases of Enjoyment, so you may want to listen to that episode first. NOTES: -Johnston's article on Lacan in the Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy -Less Than Nothing by Žižek -Self and Emotional Life: Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, and Neuroscience by Adrian Johnston and Catherine Malabou
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick Following our discussion on Virilio, Patrick sits down with sociologist Hartmut Rosa to discuss social acceleration and modernity. The conversation touches on the types of acceleration we face in a modern world, classic and late modernity, and Rosa's concept of "resonance." MORE BY ROSASocial Acceleration: A New Theory of ModernityResonance LSE Lecture: Do We Really Live in an Acceleration Society?
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick In this interview, Patrick sits down with the scholar Anton Jäger to talk more about Chantal Mouffe's political theory, the rise of left populism, and the contemporary shape of political struggle. Jäger's piece "Making Sense of Populism" can be read for free online.
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick In this bonus episode, Patrick sits down with David Broder, a historian of French and Italian political history and European Editor for Jacobin Magazine, to talk about the politics of post-war Italy. Hear us discuss the relationship between the Action Party and the Communist Party, interpretations of Antonio Gramsci, and the effect of the Historic Compromise.
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick In this bonus episode I talk with C Derick Varn - an educator, podcaster, and editor for Zero Books - about Adorno's conception of domination, and the pitfalls and insights that accompany his critique of modern life. Listen to more of Varn's analysis of the Marxist research program on the Mortal Science podcast through Emancipation Network: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/mortal-science-WObZ5daMXxL/ Listen to Varn discuss the history of Marxism in politics over on the Zero Books channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjH4yubnVHc Our next episode will be on Norberto Bobbio's Liberalism and Democracy, check it out if you'll be reading along: https://www.versobooks.com/books/45-liberalism-and-democracy
As the Radical Thoughts Podcast is no longer active, I am making these old bonus episodes from Patreon publicly available so that listeners don't have to pay for an inactive podcast. - Patrick In this bonus episode, Patrick sits down with James Turley to discuss Louis Althusser, his theories, and his political situation, in greater detail. Turley is a supporter of the Communist Party of Great Britain and has written for the CPGB newspaper The Weekly Worker.Gregory Elliott's Book: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/286-althusser The Weekly Worker: https://weeklyworker.co.uk/
This is a preview of our guest episode with Amogh Sahu.Amogh sat down to discuss the Marxist obsession with method and totality, interrogating what this implies about the unanswered questions of the communist project.You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to our Patreon.
Andrew and Patrick review a series of debates between Bloch, Lukacs, Adorno, Benjamin, and Brecht on the relationship between aesthetics, politics, theory, and practice. Aesthetics and Politics: https://www.versobooks.com/books/127-aesthetics-and-politicsOur next read is Late Marxism by Frederic Jameson: https://www.versobooks.com/books/127-aesthetics-and-politics
Andrew and Patrick sit down to discuss Ernesto Laclau's Emancipation(s). How relevant is his theory of democracy and hegemony? Does this prefigure other radical turns away from a unified theory of class as subject? Are we twirling towards freedom?PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughts NEXT BOOK: Aesthetics and Politics
Patrick sits down with communist theorist Søren Mau to discuss his book Mute Compulsion, forthcoming in English through Verso Books, and his theory of the impersonal economic power of capital. We discuss Value Form Theory, Foucault, and some future prospects for Marxist research.Preorder the book here: https://www.versobooks.com/books/4107-mute-compulsion
Andrew and Patrick discuss the Elvis of Philosophy's book on one of the obscure greats: Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling. We go a bit into Zizek's view of evil, the state, and riff a bit on 90s-to-early-2000s philosophical trends.SHOW NOTES:Peter Dews's Critique of Zizek's Schelling: The eclipse of coincidence: Lacan, Merleau‐Ponty and SchellingOur next read: Laclau's Emancipations
Patrick sits down with Seth Wheeler to discuss cycles of struggle after the Corbyn and Sanders moments, the UK Left, and the new edition of In and Against the State. In and Against the State through Pluto Press: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745341811/in-and-against-the-state/ Seth Wheeler on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sethnotes
Patrick and Andrew discuss On The Shores of Politics, a collection of essays by Jacques Ranciere, anti-Platonist extraordinaire! What is politics? Or democracy for that matter? Maybe we'll find out!Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RadThotsPodNext Month's Read: The Indivisible Remainder by Slavoj Zizek
Djene Bajalan joins the show in a discussion concerning the state, international politics, and the destructive effects of Left-wing navel-gazing.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsDiet Soap Media: https://www.dietsoap.net/ This Is Revolution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uDM4rFf_4w
Independent writer and editor for Verso Books John Merrick joins Patrick in a discussion about the history of Verso, the Radical Thinkers series, and the cultural project of publishing.Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RadThotsPodCulture and Politics: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3824-culture-and-politicsInternet for the People: https://www.versobooks.com/search?q=internetWork Without the Worker: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3869-work-without-the-worker
Althusser has returned and this time we talk much more about Rousseau and Montesquieu than we do Marx.Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughts Politics and History: https://www.versobooks.com/books/129-politics-and-historyNext read - On the Shores of Politics: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3635-on-the-shores-of-politics
Baudrillard is back, and we still don't really know what he's on about.We read Fragments (Vol. III of Cool Memories) and chat about the use of fragments for or against the purpose of theoretical criticism. Support us on PatreonFragments - BaudrillardCool Memories: Baudrillard and the Crisis of Reading - Mike GanePolitics and History - Althusser
We're releasing this bonus interview with Loren Goldner, discussing his history with the New Left, to our public feed as thanks to our dedicated listeners.
We discuss Paul Virilio's Strategy of Deception, a book ostensibly about the Kosovo War. But maybe about a whole lot more... maybe, we're not entirely sure...Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughts Next Book: Fragments by Jean Baudrillard
In this episode, we discuss the controversial Giorgio Agamben's early work Infancy and History: The Destruction of Experience and the intersection of language, praxis, history, and experience.Support us on Patreon for bonus episodesOur next read will be Paul Virilio's Strategy of Deception
In this bonus episode, Patrick talks with the writer-activist Loren Goldner about his experiences with the Left from Berkeley in the 1960s, through Cambridge in the 80s, all the way to South Korea in the 90s. We talk about the popularity and disappearance of Marxist politics, the influence of Noel Ignatiev and Race Traitor, and much more.This is a preview. To listen to the full episode, subscribe for $3/month on our Patreon.Read Goldner's work on his website breaktheirhaughtypower.orgYou can also read his contributions to Insurgentnotes.com
In this episode, we discuss Antonio "Toni" Negri's Political Descartes and debate the theory of ideology, the development of the bourgeoisie, and the political effects of nostalgia.PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsNEXT BOOK: https://www.versobooks.com/books/128-infancy-and-historyCITATIONS AND RESOURCES:Political Descartes: https://www.versobooks.com/books/138-political-descartesReview by Knox Peden: https://www.radicalphilosophyarchive.com/issue-files/rp145_reviews.pdfReview by Robert T Tally Jr: https://digital.library.txstate.edu/handle/10877/3927Negri Clip Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLa0Xk9XCDs&t=821s
As our second season gets rolling, we are releasing this bonus interview for free to all of our listeners.Patrick sits down with Phil O'Brien of the Raymond Williams Society and the journal Keywords to discuss Williams's theory of culture, his interactions with other theorists, and the newly released archival work that O'Brien has been collecting.Subscribe to our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsCulture and Politics: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3824-culture-and-politicsRaymond Williams Tapes: https://soundcloud.com/user-902721807-400345305Raymond Williams Foundation: https://www.raymondwilliamsfoundation.org.uk/Raymond Williams Society: https://raymondwilliams.co.uk/Key Words Journal: https://raymondwilliams.co.uk/journal/Radical Thoughts Culture and Materialism episode: https://radicalthoughtspod.buzzsprout.com/865147/2692846-culture-and-materialismRadical Thoughts interview with Andrew Milner: https://radicalthoughtspod.buzzsprout.com/865147/3088609
In this episode, we discuss Peter Dews's Logics of Disintegration: Post-Structuralist Thought and the Claims of Critical Theory, an attempt to provide an immanent critique of Derrida, Lacan, Foucault, and Lyotard.Next month, we'll be discussing Political Descartes: Reason, Ideology, and the Bourgeois Project by Antonio "Toni" Negri. Listen to our bonus interviews by subscribing to our Patreon.
In this episode, our first of Season 2, we discuss Raymond Williams' posthumous work Politics of Modernism, investigating the relationship between the cultural traditions and cultural foundations of modernism, as well as the current possibilities for new, confrontational ways of life.This episode has been produced with the support of the Raymond Williams Foundation as part of a series of resources celebrating Raymond Williams' thought for the centenary of his birthday.You can learn more about Williams and the Foundation, as well as discover other material from the centenary explainers project, on the RWF website here: http://www.raymondwilliamsfoundation.org.uk/
PH sits down with our first recurring guest, C Derick Varn, to give more context to the work of Jean Baudrillard. We discuss his relation to the Situationists, his break with Marxism, and the ultimate conclusions of his theory of simulation and simulacra.Our next book is Politics of Modernism by Raymond Williams Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughts Follow us on Twitter: @radthotspod
What is the difference between a serial object and a model object? What is a gizmo? What is consumption in the modern world? In this episode, our season one finale, we read Jean Baudrillard's exposé on the dizzying system of objects that makes up contemporary consumer society.We will be on break for a few months while we prepare for season 2, but we will continue making Patreon-exclusive bonus episodes during that time. Support us for just $3 a month if you want to keep listening while we prepare for our next set of roundtable episodes, starting with Raymond Williams's The Politics of Modernism. Join our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsThe System of Objects: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3146-the-system-of-objectsPolitics of Modernism: https://www.versobooks.com/books/136-politics-of-modernism
In this special bonus episode, Patrick sits down with practicing psychoanalyst and author Patricia Gherovici to discuss her work on transgender issues in psychoanalysis, questions of embodiment and subjectivity, and the accessibility of psychoanalytic practice today.RESOURCESPatricia's Website: https://www.patriciagherovici.com/articles-and-book-chapters.html(Das) Unbehagen Collective: http://dasunbehagen.org/Psychoanalysis in El Barrio (Documentary): https://vimeo.com/223464423The whole film can be accessed on PEP: http://www.pep-web.org/ PATREONIf you want to listen to other bonus episodes like this, subscribe to our Patreon for $3 a month: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughts After we finish The System of Objects we will be taking a break from our roundtable episodes for a couple months before starting season 2. We will only be releasing bonus episodes during that time, so don't miss out!
This episode, Patrick and Andrew sit down and discuss Franco Moretti's early collection of essays on everything from Frankenstein and Dracula to James Joyce and T.S. Eliot. Unfortunately, Donald was too unwell and overworked to join us on this episode, but we think it turned out as a pretty good discussion on the connection of literature to sociology.Support us on Patreon to listen to our bonus episodes. We have a discussion with psychoanalyst Patricia Gherovici that will be recorded very soon to follow up our discussion of Jacqueline Rose.Our next book (the end of season 1!) is Jean Baudrillard's The System of Objects.
In this episode, Patrick and Andrew discuss Sexuality in the Field of Vision by Jacqueline Rose. We go a little further into our impressions of Lacanian psychoanalysis, its interactions with feminism and film theory, and whether this is a good book to turn to for newcomers to psychoanalytic theory.You can support our podcast and listen to our bonus episodes by subscribing to our Patreon.Grab a copy of Franco Moretti's Signs Taken for Wonders if you want to read along.
This is a preview from one of our patron-only bonus episodes. In this episode, Patrick interviews philosopher and psychoanalyst Adrian Johnston on the work of Slavoj Žižek, Lacanian psychoanalysis, theories of materialism, and more. - Support us on Patreon to hear the entire conversation. -Read Johnston's article on Lacan in the Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy
We discuss Slavoj Žižek's book The Metastases of Enjoyment and discuss the merits of psychoanalysis, the concept of trauma and cause, and the perverse enjoyment of seeing others as victims.Support us on PatreonOur next read will be Jacqueline (not Gillian, like I say in the episode) Rose's Sexuality in the Field of Vision.
Following our discussion on Virilio, Patrick sits down with sociologist Hartmut Rosa to discuss social acceleration and modernity. The conversation touches on the types of acceleration we face in a modern world, classic and late modernity, and Rosa's concept of "resonance."This is a preview from one of our bonus episodes. If you would like to help us pay our hosting fees and get access to more interviews and extras, please consider supporting us on Patreon for $3 a month. MORE BY ROSASocial Acceleration: A New Theory of ModernityResonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the WorldLSE Lecture: Do We Really Live in an Acceleration Society?NEXT READSexuality in the Field of Vision by Gillian Rose
In this episode, Andrew and Patrick talk about French cultural theorist, architect, and philosopher Paul Virilio and his book The Information Bomb. We discuss speed, the 90s, information, and more.Our next episode will be on Slavoj Zizek's The Metastases of Enjoyment. Check it out if you want to read ahead.Support us on Patreon and get an extra bonus each month for just $3/month.
In this bonus episode, Patrick sits down with the author Peter Salmon to discuss the life of Jacques Derrida and contextualize his philosophical project (if there is such a thing). We go over Derrida's upbringing, his academic life, and his conception of friendship in and outside of his theoretical work. Salmon brings his viewpoint after researching and writing a new biography of Derrida, forthcoming from Verso Books this October.This bonus episode is being made available in full on our public feed. If you want more bonus content every month, you can subscribe to our Patreon for $3/month for extra interviews.An Event, Perhaps by Peter Salmon: https://www.versobooks.com/books/3678-an-event-perhapsRick Roderick on Derrida: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvAwoUvXNzU&t=151sOur next book is The Information Bomb by Paul Virilio: https://www.versobooks.com/books/42-the-information-bomb
We sit down to talk about the (in)famous French philosopher Jacques Derrida and his book The Politics of Friendship. Listen as we discuss the instrumentality of friendship, the role of friends and enemies to define politics, and whether we actually understand anything we read.Support us on Patreon and get an extra bonus episode featuring an interview every month: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsOur next read will be The Information Bomb by Paul VirilioDerrida's lecture on friendship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTIvyRIrquI
This is a preview for our latest bonus episode. Patrick interviews Anton Jäger - a PhD candidate in history at the University of Cambridge working on populism in the US - on the political theory of Chantal Mouffe and its connection to contemporary political movements.If you want to hear the full episode, you can subscribe to our Patreon for $3 a month. Patreon subscribers receive a monthly bonus episode in addition to our regular reading series.
This is the second half of our conversation on Chantal Mouffe's The Return of The Political. We delve further into the trap of idealism, NGO-styled radicalism, and the influence of populism on real-life movements like Podemos and Britain's New Labour.Our next bonus episode will discuss Left Populism in theory and practice with special guest Anton Jäger. If you want to hear the discussion, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsThe next book for discussion is The Politics of Friendship by Jacques Derrida.You can check out the Aufhebunga Bunga episode we mentioned here.
In this episode, we begin our discussion of Chantal Mouffe's book The Return of The Political. We discuss the concept of the friend/enemy distinction, debates between Liberalism and Civic Republicanism, and whether or not political struggles have to remain fragmentary and non-universal.We decided to divide our discussion of Mouffe into two episodes because 1) the discussion was pretty long anyway, and 2) we uploaded more content than usual this month so our hosting subscription was running out of space until it renews. We'll upload part 2 at the start of August and follow up with our next discussion later that month.Next Month's Read: The Politics of Friendship by Jacques Derrida
This is a clip from a discussion with David Broder, a historian of French and Italian political history, and European Editor for Jacobin Magazine.You can hear the full conversation by subscribing to our Patreon for $3 a month.Broder's new book First They Took Rome is now available through Verso Books.
In this special bonus episode, Patrick talks with his friend Misha about current events. The discussion touches on everything from rural/urban divides, the complications of identity and community, the American conception of East Asia vs. its reality, and the implications of recent BLM struggles.This bonus episode is being made available to both the standard feed and the Patreon feed. A bonus episode with guest David Broder on Norberto Bobbio is forthcoming for the Patreon feed. The bookclub discussion will also continue later this month with Chantal Mouffe's The Return of the Political.
In this episode, we discuss the Italian legal theorist and politician Norberto Bobbio and his text "Liberalism and Democracy." We talk about the history of Liberalism, the relationship of the individual to the State, and how radicals should conceive of democracy.Other texts mentioned in this discussion:- "The Affinities of Norberto Bobbio" by Perry Anderson- "Law and State as Holes in Marxist Theory" by Mike Macnair- "Liberty Before Liberalism" by Quentin Skinner- "Citizens to Lords" and "Liberty and Property" by Ellen Meiksins WoodNext month's text:- "The Return of the Political" by Chantal MouffeSupport us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/radicalthoughts
In this preview I talk with C Derick Varn about Adorno's conception of domination, and the pitfalls and insights that accompany his critique of modern life.If you want access to the full episode while supporting us, you can join our Patreon for $3 a month and receive monthly bonus episodes in addition to our regular roundtable discussions: www.patreon.com/radicalthoughtsListen to the roundtable discussion on Minima Moralia here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/865147/3800207-minima-moraliaOur next episode will be on Norberto Bobbio's Liberalism and Democracy, check it out if you'll be reading along: https://www.versobooks.com/books/45-liberalism-and-democracy
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
