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PODCAST

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy

The Pill Pod is hosted by a group of PhDs offering their irreverent (and unsolicited) takes on critical theory, philosophy, culture, and politics.

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

58:46

Marcel Mauss - The Gift // 180 (unlock)

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/04/10

Find All Episodes ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/c/plasticpills.We read the eminent The Gift (https://amzn.to/3NAenx3) by Marcel Mauss which is important to later theorists including Georges Bataille, Jean Baudrillard, and Jacques Derrida.(originally recorded 08/24)

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53:59

Emile Durkheim on Mana - The Original Floating...

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/04/06

Find All Episodes ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/c/plasticpills.We read Durkheim's Elementary forms of Religious Life (https://amzn.to/4c1ubkB) and try to get a hold on a primordial concept, what for Claude Levi-Strauss exemplifies the floating signifier: it's MANA (originally recorded 08/24).

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15:56

Why Critical Theory is Never Enjoying Anything // 246...

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/04/02

This is a preview but you can find all our episodes and other work ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills. In this episode we read Sloterdijk's proposal for how to fix Philosophy from The Critique of Cynical Reason.

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11:05

Why Philosophers Fear their own Farts // 245 (preview)

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/04/01

This is a preview, find all our episodes and other work ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills.In this episode we cover Peter Sloterdijk's Critique of Cynical Reason and why Philosophy needs to incorporate disrespect, sacrilege, and fart jokes if it is ever going to be relevant again.

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63:49

The Critique of Cynical Reason - Sloterdijk // 244

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/03/31

Find all our episodes ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/c/plasticpillsPeter Sloterdijk wrote a philosophy bestseller in 1983 called The Critique of Cynical Reason. In this episode, we try to communicate what he means by cynical reason. https://monoskop.org/images/7/7b/Sloterdijk_Peter_Critique_of_Cynical_Reason.pdf

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22:37

Cynicism // 243 (preview)

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/03/30

This is a preview but you can find all our episodes and other work ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills. In this episode we cover the Cynical school of Diogenes and contemporary philosophers in his lineage.

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75:29

It's Hyperreal Fascism then? // 242

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/03/03

We discuss the proposition of hyperreal fascism as presented in this video essay (https://youtu.be/R9fpm-lorIU) and its relationship to current events and the Trump Administration

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71:11

The Philosophy of Jeffrey Epstein // 240

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/02/17

Jeffrey Epstein is not primarily known as a philosopher, but his emails illustrate that he had higher ambitions than pedophilia. We explore both the latent and manifest content of Jeffrey Epstein's theorizing, as well as who enabled him, and come to realize that he was the victim of a rare psychotic illness. Join our patreon to get the epsidoes not posted here https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

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54:24

Simulation World Order // 239

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/02/02

Everyone is talking about Canada leading the charge into the New World Order. Are we excited yet? Watch the glorious father of our nation deliver the goods at Davos, or not.Join us on Patreon to get all our eps ad-free: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

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77:43

Epicureanism MOGS Stoicism // 238

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/01/26

Stoicism is on its comeback among dumb 20 year olds, which is too bad because Epicureanism is the superior Athenian philosophy. We discuss hedonism, happiness, and the Swerve™. Only half of our episodes are posted here! Find the other half ad-free at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

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92:16

Stoicism at the End of the World // 236

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2026/01/10

The history of Stoicism is long and complicated, and we didn't want to end with AI alpha male YouTube channels, so here is a rundown focused on Greek Stoicism, some comparisons to Buddhism, and whether or not this philosophy could help in 2026. Get all episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

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95:53

Samantha: From Zero to American Hero // 233

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/12/06

From Zero to hero: Samantha Fulnecky has been honoured by the Oklahoma government and named "an American hero" for her paper submission to her Psych course in which she claimed it is demonic to believe in more than one gender. Still, the Pill Pod heats up over whether she deserved the grade she received…More Pill Pod: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpillsRead Samantha's essay and the instructors' comments

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96:06

Analytic vs. Continental Philosophy 2025 // 231

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/11/29

It's the bi-yearly event in the ongoing race war between analytic and continental philosophy. Philosophers of all stripes invited themselves to partake in the latest and stupidest skirmish, and so we have undertaken a reading of the match that lit the powder keg: How Continental Philosophers "Argue": On the Unseriousness of the Discipline (https://benthams.substack.com/p/how-continental-philosophers-argue)

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63:38

The Nick Fuentes Signifying Chain // 230

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/11/14

Access exclusive episodes https://www.patreon.com/plasticpillsA Signifying Chain (or symbolic chain, or signifying web) is a structuralist concept developed by Jacques Lacan and others ("The Agency of the Letter"; https://amzn.to/4p6wx6l).Signifying chains structure discourses and we believe, explain the growing rift in conservative politics.

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73:15

Pill Pod 229 - Theory of the Gooner: Baudrillard vs...

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/10/31

Have a look at our exclusive content https://www.patreon.com/plasticpillsThe Pill Pod reads Daniel Kolitz' anthropology of the gooners in Harper's Magazine https://harpers.org/archive/2025/11/the-goon-squad-daniel-kolitz-porn-masturbation-loneliness/ and we find it's all connected manOther sources cited included Lacan Seminar X, Freud Beyond the Pleasure Principle, and Baudrillard Transparency of Evil

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95:57

Pill Pod 228 - Lacan: Traversing the Fantasy $♢a

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/10/30

Full Ad-free Lacan series: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpillsWe conclude our Lacan series with what Fink says is the desired end of Lacanian psychoanalysis. And, the ends of psychoanalysis coincide with some valuable insights for Lacan's theorizing beyond psychoanalysis. Works cited are Fink's Lacanian Subject (ch. 5; https://amzn.to/4qz1Fgx) and A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis (ch. 10; https://amzn.to/4hAIKh5).

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47:41

Freud on Film: An Interview with Richard Ledes

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/10/09

Richard Ledes, director of the films Adieu Lacan and V13, explains his process, namely, adapting French plays about psychoanalysis into English-language films. He connects the seduction of nascent fascism in 1913 Vienna to the present moment a century later.Find V13 on AppleTV, Prime VideoFind Ledes' catalogue at https://www.richardledes.com/Always more content at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

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72:46

Pill Pod 225 - Lacan on the Pervert

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/10/06

The Pill Pod looks at the structure of the perverts in Episode 5 of our series on Lacan. Find the other episodes at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpillsSources:Jacques Lacan - Seminar X, "The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire in the Freudian Unconscious", EcritsBruce Fink - Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis

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78:10

Pill Pod 224 - ChatGPT Psychosis: A Lacanian...

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/09/19

The Pill Pod looks at the chatbot psychosis phenomenon and compares it to Lacan's clinical structure of psychosis.This is Episode 4 of our series on Lacan. Find the other episodes Ad-Free at https://www.patreon.com/plasticpillsSources:Jacques Lacan - Seminar IIIBruce Fink - Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis"People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies" Rolling Stone:

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67:56

Pill Pod 221 - Capitalist Realism

PlasticPills Critical Theory & Philosophy ·

2025/09/12

1Dime joins Erik and Victor to discuss Mark Fisher's Capitalist Realism. We cover the popularity of the book, the term, and then wonder whether left-populist electoral campaigns perform the same cathartic function as anti-capitalist TV shows.See more from 1Dime: https://www.youtube.com/@1DimeeAll our public episodes are ad-free: https://www.patreon.com/plasticpills

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