Critique of the Podcast Form

Episódios

• Episode 22: Everybody Female 26.06.2026 55min

  Imogen, Helen, and Nora kvetch about "The Logic of Gender" from Endnotes 3. Topics include whether capital is a totality (it is), whether Butler reduces gender to the value-form (they don't), and whether this article gets into enough detail regarding the history of the family (absolutely not.)Texts:The Logic of Gender in Endnotes Vol 3: https://www.endnotes.org.uk/issues/issue-3/endnotes-the-logic-of-gender
• Episode 21: A Critical Theory of Christianity? (Ft. Julian Assele) 13.06.2026 1h 37min

  In this episode, Crane is joined by Julian Assele to discuss Max Horkheimer’s long-running critical engagement with contemporary Neo-Thomism, the history of Catholic thought, and the social content of theological controversies dating back to the early Christian church. Starting from Horkheimer’s 1930s short-form polemics on the church and fascism, the hosts turn to his extensive criticism of Neo-Thomism in “Conflicting Panaceas” from Eclipse of Reason (1947)—as well as the earlier version of the text, the unpublished “The Revival of Dogmatism” (1943)—and conclude with a critical look at the late Horkheimer’s neo-conservative instrumentalization of religion in “Theism and Atheism” (1963), posing the question: what might a “critical theory of religion” look like today?Texts:“On the Concept of God” [or: “Thoughts on Religion”] (1935): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-horkheimers-fragments“On Theodor Haecker’s Der Christ und die Geschichte [The Christian and History]” (1936): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-the-materialist-as-polemicist“The Revival of Dogmatism” (1943): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-society-and-reason-1944“Conflicting Panaceas,” in Eclipse of Reason (1947)“Theism and Atheism” (1963), in Critique of Instrumental Reason (1974)Follow Julian on Substack https://substack.com/@julesnotesIf you want to support the show donate to us on PatreonVisit our website for writing and updatesFollow our socials:TwitterBlueskyInstagram
• Episode 20: Inside the Manesar Labor Movement 28.05.2026 58min

  Mac and Re are joined by Shreya from the Center for Struggling Trade Unions (CSTU) to discuss the recent workers strikes in various industries of North India. Since March, workers in the automobile and garment industry were joined by domestic service workers to mobilize against low wages, unpaid overtime and deteriorating labor conditions. We also discuss the history of the workers mobilization in North India and raise some questions of the problems of labor organizing today.History of the Manesar automobile workers struggle: https://class-notes.org/2025/06/04/maruti-story-book/If you want to support the show donate to us on PatreonVisit our website for writing and updatesFollow our socials:TwitterBlueskyInstagram
• Episode 19: Peter Damerow and the Ontogeny of Thinking 14.05.2026 1h 12min

  Anatarah, Mac, and Re return once more to the realm of science studies. This time it is to discuss the indomitable Peter Damerow and the Max Planck history of science’s program of historical epistemology via their book Abstraction and Representation: Essays on the Cultural Evolution of Thinking. We discuss the usage and development of (reflective) abstractions, the similarities between Piaget and Hegel, and finally the genesis of the number concept. Along the way, we discuss Damerow's theory of writing and language as well as his concept of historiogenesis.Recommend readings:The new Damerow translation by the Marxism & Science JournalThe Creation of Numbers from Clay by McLaughlin & SchlaudtEye of the Master by PasquinelliMaterial Engagement Theory by Malafouris
• Episode 18: Rupture Theory (Ft. Cam West) 30.04.2026 1h 15min

  J. E., Cam, and Mac are joined by Cam West of Negation Magazine to discuss his essay "Rupture Theory" and the possibility of politics at a distance from the state. We discuss the status of the party-form, the dialectic of spontaneity and organization, and so on, especially as they pertain to the last 10 years in the US.Cam West's article = https://www.negationmag.com/articles/rupture-theory
• Episode 17: Who Paid The Riddler of Western Marxism? (Part 2) 21.04.2026 1h 11min

  By popular demand, J. E. and Crane unite in a two-part episode (of which this is the second part) to, uh... review? critique? lampoon? Gabriel Rockhill's book Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism Inter alia, they answer pressing questions like, who controls the academic world? (Probably not annoying "idealist" grad students) Did the Frankfurt School destroy the American labor movement? (No, lol) And, what does it mean to use wissenschaftlich DHM hermeneutics to dialectically situate subjective agency with the objective totality of material conditions? (Hell if we know!)
• Episode 16: Who Paid The Riddler of Western Marxism? (Part 1) 21.04.2026 1h 11min

  By popular demand, J. E. and Crane unite in a two-part episode to, uh... review? critique? lampoon? Gabriel Rockhill's book Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism. Inter alia, they answer pressing questions like, who controls the academic world? (Probably not annoying "idealist" grad students) Did the Frankfurt School destroy the American labor movement? (No, lol) And, what does it mean to use wissenschaftlich DHM hermeneutics to dialectically situate subjective agency with the objective totality of material conditions? (Hell if we know!)
• Episode 15: Wokeness Must be Defended 03.04.2026 1h 13min

  The description: JE, Cam and Re interrogate Foucault's mid 1970s lectures at the Collège de France, Society Must be Defended. They discuss Foucault's method, his genealogy from Race Wars to Racism and modern conspiratorial thinking among other things.
• Episode 14: Theoretical Players' Ball 21.03.2026 1h 6min

  J. E. and Anatarah discuss Johan Huizinga's classic book Homo Ludens, a foundational work for game studies.
• Episode 13: Discoursing the Discorsi 05.03.2026 1h 31min

  Helen, Esther, and Crane tackle the first book of Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy, reading Machiavelli as a precursor to historical materialism and a radical republican. In the process, they pose the question: what can the critical theory of society learn from Machiavelli today?
• Episode 12: A User's Guide to Montaigne and the Function of Skepticism 20.02.2026 1h 57min

  Crane and Helen talk about Horkheimer's 1938 essay "Montaigne and the Function of Skepticism," which sees Horkheimer both show the skeptical core of both religious dogmatism and philosophical skepticism, as well as its changing valence throughout the development of the capitalist mode of production.
• Episode 11: Situationism and the Critique of Reification 06.02.2026 1h 25min

  Imogen, Sebastian, and Sam discuss Situationism as a vindication of Hegelian Marxism and a critique of reified life through its various forms of appearance: artistic production, urban planning, and student life.
• Episode 10: Working Through the Past with Ernst Bloch 23.01.2026 1h 15min

  Esther and Sebastian discuss the 1932 fragment Nonsychronism and the Obligation to its Dialectics from Bloch's Heritage of our Times. Our hosts talk about their personal encounters with Bloch, revolutionary traditions and the meaning of the communist dictatorship of the present over the past. Special guests include: Kanafani, Amel, and Pasolini. Bloch's essay, as Walter Benjamin commented, "takes its place inappropriately". Perhaps its time was never there, perhaps it contains a utopia waiting to be excavated.
• Episode 9: Fighting About Lukács Again 09.01.2026 1h 21min

  Mac and Crane are joined by J. E. to continue the discussion about Lukács's politics and his essay "Legality and Illegality." This episode goes into depth on the historical and political context of Lukács's work, debates in the Comintern, and the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution.
• Episode 8: The Anime Question 26.12.2025 1h 19min

  The culture industry is at it again! Their new weapon: anime. Their strategy? The media mix. In this episode, the anime subcommittee of the CTWG tackle the anime media-form by discussing Marc Steinberg’s anime’s media mix. We talk about modern anime’s history, the emergence of the media mix, and transition from Fordism to post-Fordism.
• Episode 7: Lukács - Nope or Yup? Discussing "Legality and Illegality." 11.12.2025 1h 47min

  Mac and Crane discuss the essay "Legality and Illegality" by György Lukács (Georg Lukács) in the context of his broader development: after joining the Communist Party in 1918, Lukács would play an important role in the leadership of the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic (March to August 1919), around which time he would write many of the essays later collected and published in Tactics and Ethics: 1919-1929, only to reverse some of his positions on core issues in his subsequent exile in Vienna, resulting in History and Class Consciousness (1923). In their discussion of the vicissitudes of fate and philosophy, Mac and Crane attempt to answer the fundamental question tragically left out of E40's classic song "Choices": Lukács - Nope or Yup?
• Episode 6: Introduction to the History of Left Communism 26.11.2025 1h 26min

  J. E. is joined by Cam for an introduction to the history of left-communism, specifically the German/Dutch (councilist), Italian (Bordigist) and French (ultraleft) traditions. The books we mention are the following: Histoire Critique de l'Ultragauche by Roland Simon The Future of Revolution by Jasper BernesThe Science and Passion of Communism edited by Pietro BassoThe Communist Left in Germany by Denis Authier and Gilles Dauvé The Italian Communist Left by Philippe Bourrinet Rupture dans la Théorie de la Révolution edited by François Daniel.
• Episode 5: A Conversation About Dialectical Biology. 13.11.2025 1h 3min

  In this episode, Mac Parker and Anatarah Bin AlKaf have a casual chat on Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins seminal book the Dialectical Biologist. They cover why this book remains a key contribution to Marxist theory, philosophy of nature, and philosophy of technology. Along the way, the conversation tackles the influence of Friedrich Engels on Marxist science historiography and science critique from Boris Hessen to the Max Planck institute’s historical epistemology research program. Our discussion culminates in a call for an integrative approach—one that unites political philosophy and science, the local and the global—in the spirit of the dialectical biologists’ vision.The books discussed were (or alluded to):- The Dialectical Biologist (1985) by Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin- Biology Under the Influence (2007) by by Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin- The Social and Economic Roots of the Scientific Revolution (2009) ed. Gideon Freudenthal and Peter McLaughlin- Abstraction and Representation (1996) by Peter DamerowPlease support us at: https://www.patreon.com/crittheoryworkgroup
• Episode 4: Amadeo Bordiga and the Murder of the Dead 01.11.2025 1h 11min

  In this episode, join your hosts Sam Thomas (resident Italophile), J.E. Morain, and James Crane for a discussion taking the 1951 polemic, “Murder of the Dead,” as a point of departure for deeper dive into Amadeo Bordiga’s bellicose and beautiful run of essays in eco-communism throughout the 50s and 60s. Topics of discussion include: Bordiga’s critique of a version of the ‘state capitalism’ thesis, the conceptual matrix of living/dead labor and variable/constant capital, the theoretical and stylistic function of ‘invariance’ in Bordiga's writings, coal mine collapses, the flooding of symbols of national pride, and scientific-scatological reflections on the ‘how’s of abolishing the antithesis of town and country. We end with a few remarks on the conquest of the fear of death and the “natural condition of the prosperity of the species” in Bordiga's 1961 “In Janitzio Death is not Scary.”Other Bordiga essays discussed in the episode:“The Filling and Bursting of Bourgeois Civilisation” (1951)“The Human Species and the Earth’s Crust” (1952)“The Spirit of Horsepower” (1953)“Weird and Wonderful Tales of Modern Social Decadence” (1956)“The Legend of the Piave” (1963)Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/crittheoryworkgroup
• Episode 3: Ghassan Kanafani: Realism Against Reality 31.10.2025 2h 4min

  “The motive for realism is never the confirmation of reality but protest.” —Alexander Kluge“I want my stories to be one hundred percent realistic while at the same time presenting something unseen.” —Ghassan KanafaniIn this episode, join your hosts Sebastian Kokesch and James Crane for a discussion of the necessary connection between aesthetic autonomy and revolutionary political commitment in Ghassan Kanafani's best-known literary writings in English translation: Men in The Sun ('62), All That’s Left to You ('66), & Returning to Haifa ('69). From the perspective of the 'undivided' project of Ghassan Kanafani—as novelist, critic, and militant—we read each of these novels as a contribution to the same culture of resistance he theorized and organized.Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/crittheoryworkgroup