Critique of the Podcast Form
Critique of the Podcast Form is a bi-weekly podcast by the Critical Theory Working Group. It covers topics such as Critical Theory, socialism, philosophy, Marxism, and social theory. New episodes featuring a rotating cast of hosts and guests are posted every other Thursday.
Episodes
Episode 28: On meta-meta science
The CTWG Marxist science subcommittee returns! In this episode, we discuss Pietro Daniel Omodeo’s Political Epistemology, which develops the Berlin school of historical epistemology (discussed in episode 19!). We examine Omodeo’s enlarged conception of ideology as the dialectic of identity and position as applied to science studies broadly construed, what political epistemology even is, and how ac
Episode 27: A History of Marx's Charaktermaske feat. Billie Cashmore
Nora and Imogen are joined by Billie to discuss her forthcoming essay 'Charaktermasken: Value, Relation and Performance in Marx's Critique of Political Economy' in which she traces the history of Marx's concept of the Charaktermasken.. With excursions into Goethe's Faust, the critique of Marx brought to bear by Black radical thinkers (namely Sylvia Wynter and Fred Moten), the antinomies of the str
Episode 26: MUG Moment (ft. Ben L)
Resident CTWG Infantiles Morrain and Cam meet CTWGs resident Marxist Unity Group member Mac, with backup from NYCDSA MUG member Ben, to get to the bottom of what the heck this renegade Kautsky guy is all about and why today's hot TV stars such as Bill Maher can't get enough of him. In play is Lars Lih's book Lenin Rediscovered, as well asRevolutionary Social Democracy: Working-Class Politics Acros
Episode 25: Cisification of the Bourgeoisie (ft. Ashley)
Nora, Imogen, and Helen are joined by friend of the pod Ashley to discuss two articles from the new volume of Mediations: Emma Heaney's "On the Cisness of the Bourgeoisie" and Amy De'Ath's "Two Substantialisms: On Value and Sexual Difference." Together, they answer a burning question of our movement: are trans women bourgeois?
Episode 24: Schelling’s Clara: Conversations on the Absolute.
For episode 24 and part 2 in our Schelling series, James is joined by Imogen and Nora to discuss one of Schelling's unfinished works: Clara, or On Nature's Connection to the Spirit World. After situating the text within Schelling's wider oeuvre and patiently clearing the author from accusations of dark magic, we ruminate on its themes of resurrection, transmigration, the singularity of the soul an
Episode 23: Schelling's Early Philosophy of Nature
In this episode, Anatarah, Bile, and Crane discuss the introduction to Schelling’s 1797 Ideas for a Philosophy of Nature and the introduction to Schelling’s 1799 First Outline. Working up to Schelling’s ambitious declaration that philosophy is a “natural history of our mind,” the hosts discuss some of the fundamental concepts—like force, equilibrium, and organism—in Schelling’s philosophy of natur
Episode 22: Everybody Female
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
Episode 21: A Critical Theory of Christianity? (Ft. Julian Assele)
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-T
Episode 20: Inside the Manesar Labor Movement (ft. Shreya)
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
Episode 19: Peter Damerow and the Ontogeny of Thinking
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
Episode 18: Rupture Theory (Ft. Cam West)
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)
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)
Episode 16: Who Paid The Riddler of Western Marxism? (Part 1)
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 wis
Episode 15: Wokeness Must be Defended
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
J. E. and Anatarah discuss Johan Huizinga's classic book Homo Ludens, a foundational work for game studies.
Episode 13: Discoursing the Discorsi
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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 Ethi
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
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
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,
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 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 Gha
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
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
Bonus: Debrief Margin Notes 2, Excavations
Critics & theorists, this is a bonus episode containing a recording of the presentation and discussion of “Excavations,” the second volume of our E-Journal Margin Notes: A Journal of Critical Theory, which took place on zoom on the 19th of September, 2026.The link to the journal: https://ctwgwebsite.github.io/projects/3_project/If you want to support the show, donate to our Patreon, and visit
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
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