The most interesting, apropos observation to occur recently in this otherwise increasingly necrotic podcast, revealing the magic of psyche all the more beautifully for being totally unintentional, was a comment delivered by the verbose Mr. Feiler at the end of the anxious yet strangely soporific “Rituals” episode, wherein, with this final statement, he was inadvertently very much on point: “We need an end of the podcast.” Well said, Sir. I agree. The demise of Siegfried is nothing to be celebrated, but open recognition of the sad event of his death is at least a balm for the distress of any who love to hear the truth spoken. Even more painful than the death of the solar hero is to see his executioners further disrespect the corpse by denying it a decent burial. Currently they insist on dragging it through the streets and making its mouth to move in a grotesque simulacrum of its former wisdom.
A few of the recent comments here extolling the principled nature of the remaining cohosts appear to be just crying out for rebuttal. I leave it to a more virtuous man to avoid that temptation, lest we begin to be confused, for lack of clear speech about it, as to what principled behavior actually is and looks like. All information available in the public sphere about current cohost Deb and Lisa’s actions related to the running of TJL of late reveals that they have, in fact, acted in a distinctly unprincipled and frankly cruel manner in their dealings with their co-founder and co-host Joseph, whether or no their behavior in other spheres of activity may fairly be viewed as more laudable. In connection with the spirit of Lisa’s alleged extraction of significant sums from the LLC coffers without the prior knowledge or approval of her business partners, whether or not it quite fits the legal definition of embezzlement, the phrase “crime of moral turpitude” nevertheless comes to mind. While people have many reasons for consuming podcast content and no one is required to align themselves with a policy of listening to only that content created by personalities whose behavior they consider above reproach (indeed, few people, if anyone, would qualify) it seems deeply ironic to me that any should take advice about, essentially, cultivating the health of one’s soul from those so relentlessly in service to the preservation of their own personas. Then again, who can say where others find the necessary food of growth and reflection? And also: Lisa and Deb’s behavior towards Joseph meets the true definition of a scandal, and it is important that we allow ourselves be sufficiently capable of drawing distinctions that we are able to recognize it as such.
Recent guests to the podcast, one cannot fail to observe, have been a rotating cast of male analysts who, one could reasonably suspect, are in at least a few cases being quietly auditioned for the role of Joseph’s replacement— albeit unsuccessfully, as fortunately for all of us, human beings are not merely replaceable cogs. These guests’ decision to appear in the deeply compromised TJL space at this time has positioned them in the very dubious light of tacitly condoning the actions of their hosts in exchange for the opportunity to publicly burnish their credentials and declaim their perspectives in a dead house. In lending, by their presence, any legitimacy they may have been independently seen as possessing to Lisa and Deb’s attempt to steal from and discard their one-time partner like so much refuse, they have chosen to extend a veneer of respectability over a sepulcher. I feel entirely confident time and patience will demonstrate this to be so. Meanwhile, this vulnerable behavior on the part of individuals who have made it their business to guide others in their own integration of psychic material promotes in me far more dismay than any discourse I see in the political landscape we are so often called upon, often by these same minds, to bemoan as irretrievably debased.
Finally, I feel bound to say to those who delight in extolling the virtue of ruthlessness that the virtuous aspect of any quality resides to the greatest degree in its right application, which implies it is skillfully directed at the proper object in due proportion to the circumstances. To that I would add that, outside of very extreme circumstances, the most frequently necessary and useful place for that particular virtue to be directed is not in our dealings with our fellow man or other creatures even more defenceless, but in the clarity of our own reflections about the motivations driving our own actions. It is a virtue that takes great wisdom to wield wisely, and looking at this situation I would say it has been loved by the cohosts not wisely but too well.
