Speaking Body

[S][J][P]

3.0 (2)
SOCIETY & CULTURE
MONTHLY

From the clinic to culture, where psychoanalysis meets the everyday.

23 APR

Judgment v. Noticing in Psychoanalysis

Neil Gorman hosts a short solo episode of The Speaking Body Podcast, continuing his argument that psychoanalysis is oriented by not knowing, privileging the unknown because it generates desire and questions, unlike other therapies that rely on the practitioner knowing. He extends this by distinguishing judging from noticing: judging is tied to knowing and aims to assert conclusions or make something happen, which can stop the process, while noticing involves highlighting what stands out without knowing the outcome, proposing observations to see what they provoke. Using clinical examples, such as a patient repeatedly claiming they want to stop procrastinating, he contrasts forcing an insight through judgment with naming patterns or inconsistencies to see what response emerges. He invites feedback via speakingbody.substack.com and mentions ways to support the show. 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:21 Recap Not Knowing 01:43 Science and Ethnography Link 02:35 Judging Versus Noticing 04:23 Noticing in Practice 07:15 Procrastination Case Study 09:23 Knowing Versus Proposing 11:08 Listener Feedback and Contact 11:34 Core Takeaway Summary 12:16 Thanks and Support the Show

13 min
7 APR

Psychoanalysis, Science, & Ethnography

A short solo episode of The Speaking Body Podcast, building on a previous discussion of psychoanalysis as a clinical practice that does not take up the patient’s supposition that the analyst knows the patient’s unconscious, instead offering curiosity and a position of lack of knowledge. Neil argues this stance is unusual in the U.S. psychotherapeutic marketplace, where many therapies emphasize teaching skills, tools, and expert knowledge, but that the underlying ethic is not unique to psychoanalysis. He compares psychoanalysis to science, where experiments are driven by unanswered questions and results generate further questions, and to ethnography, where researchers enter unfamiliar settings with nonjudgmental curiosity to learn how people live. He references Chris Arnade’s “thick culture/thin culture” distinction and restates it psychoanalytically as unconscious plot versus conscious stage settings, and invites listeners to respond via speakingbody.substack.com.00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:27 Recap Key Claims 01:50 Lacan and Curiosity 03:00 Beyond Psychoanalysis 05:08 Science as Not Knowing 05:57 Experiments and Replication 08:44 Ethnography Explained 11:45 Shared Ethic Across Fields 12:53 Chris Arnade Example 14:41 Thick vs Thin Culture 15:19 Closing and Support

17 min
23 MAR

Psychoanalytic Curiosity & Not Knowing

In this short solo episode of The Speaking Body Podcast, I (Neil Gorman) try a new format and invite listeners to email feedback about whether they like it. I explain a key difference between how psychoanalysis is practiced versus many forms of psychotherapy, coaching, or other helping relationships: when someone seeks help, they often engage in transference by supposing the helper has knowledge, authority, and power. In many cases, the helper accepts this supposition and provides advice, tools, or a treatment plan, which can be helpful. By contrast, I argue that psychoanalysts do not take up this supposition of knowledge; instead, they adopt a position of not knowing and respond with curiosity, offering hypotheses and questions rather than prescriptions. I close by noting this stance is essential to psychoanalytic work and share where to learn more at speakingbody.substack.com. ---Table of contents 00:00 Welcome and Format 00:37 Big Idea Setup 02:02 Psychotherapy Side Explained 03:34 Transference and Authority 05:32 Helper Model Benefits 06:46 Switch to Psychoanalysis 07:58 Not Taking Transference 09:19 Curiosity Over Knowing 11:41 Interpretations as Hypotheses 13:02 Continuum Not Binary 13:54 Key Takeaway and Wrap 15:17 Thanks and Where to Find

16 min
18 FEB

Relaunch: InForm is now Speaking Body

In this episode, I announce that I’m rebranding and relaunching my podcast, previously called the Informed Podcast, as Speaking Body. I explain that Speaking Body will be both a podcast and a website (speakingbody.com) that will archive my writing, offer a newsletter, and occasionally include video episodes on YouTube, while keeping the same RSS feed for subscribers. Going forward, I will focus less on applying psychoanalytic theory and more on psychoanalysis and on how psychoanalytic work leaves the consulting room and affects everyday life and subjectivity. While I will sometimes use specialized Lacanian terms (e.g., jouissance, discourse of the master, object a, imaginary/symbolic/real, drive), I aim to restate key ideas in more commonplace language whenever possible.

13 min
06/03/2024

InForm: Peter Rollins on Psychoanalysis, Theology, Community, and the Work He Does

In this episode of the InForm: Podcast, I speak with Peter Rollins, the man behind pyro-theology, the Wake festival, the Spark retreat, Atheism for Lent, and many more things that can provoke all sorts of interesting experiences and elaborations. I first became aware of Pete's work many years back as I was attempting to build up my own understanding of Lacan. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I found a video of him discussing Lacanian ideas, in which he explained them in ways I found intelligible and useful. This led me to watch more of his videos, listen to his podcast, and then read his books. Today, what interests me about Pete's work is the way that he goes about building engaged communities that work and struggle together to acknowledge, experience, and communicate about the lacks and antagonisms that are at the center of human subjectivity (or the human condition if you prefer that language), which is the main thing I speak with him about in this informal but hopefully informative conversation. We do, of course, go in other directions as well; we even tell a few jokes, which I hope you all find amusing. One last thing: near the end of the interview. REFERENCED: 1. Pete's Patreon & his Website2. Todd McGowan's YouTube3. Analysis Laid Bear 3. The Aims of Analysis

1hr 8min
31/01/2024

InForm: Isolda Alverez Talks about the Psychoanalytic Clinic of Freud, Lacan & Today

On this episode of InForm:Podcast, I speak with practicing Lacanian psychoanalyst Isolda Alverez about the way the aims of the psychoanalytic clinic have changed from Freud's time through Lacans and into the present day. Recommendations: 1. Band: Yo La Tango (Spotify, Apple Music) Album: "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out" (Spotify, Apple Music)2. Lucifer (TV Show on Netflix, Comic) 3. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Amazon)

1hr 3min
14/06/2023

InForm: Nathan Gorelick on psychoanalysis, psychedelics, psychosis, delusions, science, & mysticism

On this episode of InForm: Podcast, Neil talks with Nathan Gorelick about psychoanalysis, psychedelics, psychosis, delusions, science, & mysticism. The result is a long, hopefully informative conversation. Nathan is Term Assistant Professor of English at Barnard College in New York. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and he has completed the six-year cycle of the Training Seminar in Lacanian Psychoanalysis with Gifric in Quebec City, Canada. He has published widely on the theoretical and historical intersections of psychoanalysis with diverse topics including ecocide and catastrophe fetishism, psychedelic drugs, Continental philosophy, the Haitian Revolution, Islam and Islamophobia, and the theory of the novel. His first book, The Unwritten Enlightenment, sets out a new theory of the relation between literature, ideology, and the unconscious, and is forthcoming early in 2024 from Northwestern University Press. REFERENCED DURING THE EPISODE: 1. Žizek video on ideology 2. Freud's -- Future of an Illisuion, Civilization & its Discontents, Moses & Monotheism, Analysis Terminable & Interminable. 3. Otto Rank -- The Trauma of Birth 4. Éric Laurent -- Guiding Principles for Any Psychoanalytic Act 5. The Lacanian Review #7 "Get Real"

1hr 51min
22/03/2022

InForm: Psychoanalysis in the Classroom with Ryan Engley

In this episode of Inform: Podcast I interview Why Theory's Ryan Engley about psychoanalysis in the classroom. (Tod McGowan, the other half of Why theory was interviewed about this same topic on an earlier episode of InForm.) Our conversation ranges all over the place, but one of the consistent themes is the idea of sustaining the analysand's/student's desire/curiosity. Some of our references include: Lacan's Seminar 17 T.R. Johnson's book The Other Side of Pedagogy The Pedagogy of the Oppressed The TV Show: Peep Show, and (of course) Mad Men

1hr 24min

See All (14)

3

out of 5

2 Ratings

Truly Informative

22/09/2021

Typical Podlistener

This is essential listening for anyone who is either studying psychoanalysis or just has an interest in it. I’ve been reading Freud, Lacan etc for years but still get something from each episode. I started listening to the early episodes which are just the superb Neil flying solo. Those initial efforts are great episodes, but I know the solo podcast style isn’t for everyone, so if you prefer a more conversational style then start with season 2 when Neil brought in the cat’s meow of the podcasting world, the lovely Jared.