Critique of the Podcast Form

CTWG
  • 5.0 (4)
  • PHILOSOPHY

A critical theory podcast by critical theory work group.

Episodes

  1. Episode 9: Fighting About Lukács Again

    3D AGO

    Episode 9: Fighting About Lukács Again

    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.

    1h 22m
  2. Episode 8: The Anime Question

    12/26/2025

    Episode 8: The Anime Question

    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.

    1h 20m
  3. Episode 7: Lukács - Nope or Yup? Discussing "Legality and Illegality."

    12/11/2025

    Episode 7: Lukács - Nope or Yup? Discussing "Legality and Illegality."

    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?

    1h 48m
  4. Episode 6: Introduction to the History of Left Communism

    11/26/2025

    Episode 6: Introduction to the History of Left Communism

    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.

    1h 26m
  5. Episode 5: A Conversation About Dialectical Biology.

    11/13/2025

    Episode 5: A Conversation About Dialectical Biology.

    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 Damerow Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/crittheoryworkgroup

    1h 4m
  6. Episode 4: Amadeo Bordiga and the Murder of the Dead

    11/01/2025

    Episode 4: Amadeo Bordiga and the Murder of the Dead

    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

    1h 12m
  7. Episode 3: Ghassan Kanafani: Realism Against Reality

    10/31/2025

    Episode 3: Ghassan Kanafani: Realism Against Reality

    “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 Kanafani In 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

    2h 4m
  8. Episode 2: Politics of Early Critical Theory

    10/31/2025

    Episode 2: Politics of Early Critical Theory

    Join your hosts J.E. Morain and James Crane for an introduction to the rogue's gallery of far left dissidents (communists, socialists, anarchists) who formed the core of the 'Frankfurt School' from the early 1920s through late 1940s. Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/crittheoryworkgroup

    1h 29m
  9. Episode 1: Introducing Racket Theory

    10/31/2025

    Episode 1: Introducing Racket Theory

    Critics and theorists! Our first official episode of "Critique of the Podcast Form," a discussion with J.E. Morain, Mac Parker, Re Tejus, and James Crane on the CTWG's recent "Racketology" dossier: https://ctwgwebsite.github.io/blog/category/racketology/ Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/crittheoryworkgroup

    1h 20m
  10. Episode 0: Debrief MN1

    10/10/2025

    Episode 0: Debrief MN1

    Critics and Theorists: the CTWG is proud to present "Episode 0: Debrief on Margin Notes Vol. 1" of "Critique of the Podcast Form," a critical theory podcast! Make sure to watch this space and also bother us for more episodes. Please support us at: https://www.patreon.com/crittheoryworkgroup

    34 min
  • 10 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

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A critical theory podcast by critical theory work group.

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