My favorite part is the sexual tension

I enjoy this podcast and listen to it all the time. But I can’t help but notice that they often use psychoanalytic theory to arrive at political conclusions that align with standard academic leftism. I’m sure they would argue that these theoretical traditions just inherently align with leftist politics. But that just feels too easy…. I would think their Psychoanalytical approach would give them unique insights into all ideologies and political beliefs, which includes analyzing and critiquing their own. Their politics don’t bother me—most of my friends are academic leftists!—but it seems like a missed opportunity to better understand the last 10 years or so.

I enjoyed The Symptom

It’s a good show.

Been listening to this show for several years. The hosts have a way of explaining some pretty out there ideas in ways you can actually grasp even if you’re dumb like me. Also refining long familiar concepts you thought you understood but didn’t quite. And also go read Ryan’s piece on the techno feudal implications of streaming mentioned in the ep of 2/16/2025

Hegel explained by Casablanca, I wish I’d thought of that

i listened to all the episodes but they keep making more 👍 and i’m here for it

And would you please do an episode on Baby Reindeer?

Absolutely amazing podcast. The hosts are phenomenal ;) I would love their take on the Pittsburgh Hegelians (especially Brandom’s semantic reading of the intro to the Phenomenology).

Todd was a fantastic professor of mine at Southwest Texas State University…now Texas State Umiversity. So happy I found him here…happy to hear him again, etc. BRIAN W

But can we stop saying “like” twice in every sentence? Makes everything sound, like, American juvenile.

I started with this pod when it first came out and over the last several years I’ve been able to read more and more theory. Thanks to these guys who are also generous in their responses when I’ve asked.

I just listened to your Barbie podcast & to your point about freedom from responsibility in fascism, I’d like to recommend doing an episode on Steven King’s The Stand. King deftly explored this topic in this book from way back in ‘78. I think it’d make a great pod. Thanks

I often benefit from the clarity Ryan and Todd will shed on different corners of theory. Yet, they frequently segue into what sounds to me like basic MSNBC politics, which tends to snap me out of the experience because the connections seem tenuous, and I get the sense that the politics precede the theory and shape where they are willing to go with critique.

You guys have made reading philosophy so much less overwhelming for me and helped me see how fascinating theory can be. I really appreciate the recommendations, especially the filmic ones, so keep them coming. <3

I mean they’re just spewing absolute nonsense in both episodes. No original thought, just twitter regurgitations. It’s a shame because they’re obviously smart guys (at least in a certain type of way), but they’ve become absolutely delusional in the current climate

In listening to the Film Noir episode, I was disappointed to hear the bigoted, casually anti-Catholic references to Joseph Breen. Without the Production Code there would have been no Golden Age of Hollywood. It would have been 1974 in 1934. Not only would it have been bad for cinema if there was no Code, but it would have been a fractious dissolute culture that needed to face WWII and the conquering of the Depression.

Great program; I’d love to see these folks play ringolevio with the lads from Very Bad Wizards.

Five stars

McGowan and Engley are intelligent, intelligible, funny, informative, and entertaining all at once. If you guys ever made a Patreon, I’d be first in line to donate. Also I second whoever suggested an episode on Deacon Blues. Might be hard to wring an hour of content, but a theory approach to Steely Dan would be the coolest thing ever.

Someone suggested this already but I would like to add on if you can improve the sound quality, it is hard to hear, thanks

We need a Jung episode and it needs to be 5 hours long

Is there any way to boost the decibels of these recordings? It’s the only podcast I listen to that’s too quiet to listen to on the subway.

You guys should do a list episode. What’s the theory take on end-of-year lists? What’s on your list?

Are you going to deal with it??? Isn’t there theory about the fact that the ecology is collapsing around us?? Or it’s of no concern outside the Critical Theory Tenure Tower?

Amazing show. Wild how you can hear the hosts coming up with great ideas and reactions in real time. Or at least they make it sound like they are coming up with the ideas during the show? It’s about time Freud returned from the realm of the repressed

Love the podcast! I’m a psychoanalyst and philosophy professor so it was more or less made for me. Also, I got my undergraduate philosophy professor into the show and he’s loving it too. Only one weird thing and I don’t know if it’s Apple or some kind of internal resistance on my part but every time I subscribe to the show a few days later it’s gone and I have to add it again. This never happens with any other show, just this one.

Available on Plex

The episodes I’ve listened to anyway. I keep my ears pretty open. And I hear things here that I want to talk to people about that I don’t hear anywhere else.

Can y’all please provide more complete show notes that include the books, authors, films, etc., that you mention (sometimes in passing)? I would be eternally grateful.

Huge fan of your podcast. It’s made me a Lacanian. Can you guys dedicate an episode to Seminar X “Anxiety”? Can you explain Lacan’s graph of anxiety, which seems more successful at inducing anxiety than explaining it. If anything, I want to hear you guys discuss “the lack of the lack.”

Love the show- can y’all do one on work and leisure?

The hosts are knowledgeable and engaging. They cover a decent range of topics and are always entertaining.

Been a listener for a while and admittedly helped me on my journey to pursue being a lacan psychotherapist. But also I have a request if y’all could do a review and analysis of Julia Ducournau’s film Titane (2021). There’s a transgressive, transformation of bodies as well as so much more. It’s quite a dense film and one of the things that interested me was how it presented sublimating aggression and the desire of penetrating orafices. But yes would love to hear both of you guys thoughts on the film! Thanks as always for the great discussions; basketball tangents and all. 🤗✨

Overall probably my favorite philosophy or theory podcast. Todd and Ryan do a good job elucidating difficult ideas. They’ve gone a long way towards winning me over to Lacan/Hegelian thought. If I have to gripe, it would be that they tend to be too rigidly wedded to the Lacan/Hegel framework, and can seem a bit uncharitable to other lenses. I appreciate the proselytes zeal, but perhaps there is a willful confusing of the map for the territory at times. Still great and illuminating content.

Browns fan here. Congrats Todd. Now do Levinas.

More Todd, less Ryan cutting off Todd’s thoughts please.

I believe that I understand some of this. It’s very good. Most likely the rest is even better.

Plsss do a show on the sopranos

Todd’s well established brilliance is always on display. Ryan is perhaps the most interesting theorist of serialist/television writing today. They are as personable as they insightful. Never pretentious. Often funny.

You know a show is good when the only low reviews are triggered foucauldians

This show should be called “Why Hegel is Great and Here’s Some Lacan to Explain Why (but only kinda)”. I followed this show because the topics are so enticing. But they do such terrible readings I have to give up. Their series on Deleuze was laughably bad, the episode on Biopower closed with a bizarre attempt to discredit Agamben, and I can’t even finish this Adorno episode. I’ve finally come around to the pattern: bring up a concept, interpret it poorly, discredit it, and then “isn’t Hegel so much better?”

Great show into the psychoanalytic left

Don’t engage a thinker without having a working grasp of that thinker’s thought. The Foucault caricature presented in the intro to biopower episode is two for one on the end cap at bad-faith mart.

Would really enjoy future discussions of the work of Jacqueline Rose and Amy Allen

to be continued ?

Good pod. Typically awesome stuff all around Was listening to an old episode and heard Todd say something ab what rejecting the LTV would do to Marxism. got me thinking, I would love an episode from you guys dealing with modern Marxian value-form theory/value criticism (heinrich, elson, wertkritik, etc.).

The only genuinely good theory podcast out there. These guys actually know what they’re talking about

Great conversations, great chemistry

Incredible podcast, thank you for the work you do for it! Have you considered doing an episode on Adorno?