Critical Ponerology (WHAT IS “EVIL”?) with Kenneth MacKendrick

Critical Ponerology (WHAT IS “EVIL”?) with Kenneth MacKendrick

What is evil? Who is evil? Does evil exist? Who decides? Can we scream over turkey at grandma’s house? Let’s chat Critical Ponerology with scholar, professor, author of Evil: A Critical Primer, and a gem of a person, Dr. Kenneth MacKendrick of the University of Manitoba. He’s been teaching courses on the notion of evil for 25 years and it’s a much deeper rabbit hole than you’d ever expect. So rub your fingers together and enjoy a discussion about different cultural approaches to evil, if your toddler is evil, vampires, angry mobs seeking vigilante justice, news personalities saying unhinged things, and subjects vs. objects. Also: why you should be nicer to your coffee table.

Get Dr. MacKendrick’s book, Evil: A Critical Primer, on Amazon or Bookshop.org

A donation went to North Point Douglas Women’s Centre

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love, Demonology (EVIL SPIRITS), Vampirology (VAMPIRES), Teratology (MONSTERS), Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY), Momiology (MUMMIFICATION), Witchology (WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT), Indigenous Pedology (SOIL SCIENCE), Environmental Toxicology (POISONS + TRAIN DERAILMENT), Disinfectiology (BLEACH), Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD), Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF), Medieval Codicology (WEIRD OLD MANUSCRIPT ART & MEMES & SNAILS), Victimology (CRIME VICTIMS), Artificial Intelligence Ethicology (WILL A.I. CRASH OUT?)

400+ Ologies episodes sorted by topic

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!

Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky

Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee

Managing Director: Susan Hale

Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth

Transcripts by Aveline Malek

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episoder(502)

Ornithorhynchology (PLATYPUSES) with Tahneal Hawke

Ornithorhynchology (PLATYPUSES) with Tahneal Hawke

Duck bills. Beaver tails. Underground lairs. Eggs. Milk. Venom? A platypus has it all. Scholar, conservationist, and Ornithorhynchologist Dr. Tahneal Hawke is here to run through the baffling anatomy ...

18 Des 20251h 9min

Bonus Episode: Nutritional Microbiology (GUT HEALTH & DIET) with Miguel Freitas and Elaine Hsiao

Bonus Episode: Nutritional Microbiology (GUT HEALTH & DIET) with Miguel Freitas and Elaine Hsiao

The microbiome is back! In 2018, we chatted with Dr. Elaine Hsiao - a UCLA microbiome researcher– and learned all about the hot cauldron of your guts. In this 2025 update bonus, we chat again with Dr....

15 Des 202548min

Astrobromatology (SPACE FOOD) with Maggie Coblentz

Astrobromatology (SPACE FOOD) with Maggie Coblentz

Dehydrated eggs. Airborne tortillas. Pouches of chicken. Tang. Work up an appetite for space food with artist, designer and Astrobromatologist, Maggie Coblentz. She shares how the intersection of desi...

10 Des 20251h 11min

Pteridology (FERNS) with Fay-Wei Li

Pteridology (FERNS) with Fay-Wei Li

Fronds. Forest dwellers. Spores. Houseplants. Queer icons. We’ve got ferns. The charming and hilarious professor and author of “Ferns: Lessons in Survival from Earth’s Most Adaptable Plants,” Dr. Fay-...

3 Des 20251h 3min

NEW 2025 Interview: Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY) Part 2 with Dirk Moses

NEW 2025 Interview: Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY) Part 2 with Dirk Moses

Note: if you haven’t already heard it, please start with our original, May 2024 episode with Dr. Moses: Genocidology (CRIMES OF ATROCITY) Part 1A lot has happened since then, and author, scholar and g...

27 Nov 20251h 11min

Bisonology (BUFFALO) Encore with various bisonologists

Bisonology (BUFFALO) Encore with various bisonologists

Bison bison! Not just something to holler into the sky, but also the scientific name for North America's majestic wild bovines. In this encore, we explore a beast that once roamed the plains in the te...

19 Nov 20251h 30min

Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 2 with R. J. Gutiérrez

Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 2 with R. J. Gutiérrez

We’re back with Dr. R.J. “Rocky” Gutiérrez to answer listeners’ questions on owls. How much wisdom lies behind those big, immovable eyes? Are owls good or bad omens? What’s their proclivity for snatch...

13 Nov 20251h 11min

Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 1 with R.J. Gutiérrez

Strigiformology (OWLS) Part 1 with R.J. Gutiérrez

OWLS. FINALLY. In no particular order: what’s up with their eyes, legs, hoots, feathers, silent flight, nests, folklore, necks, barfs, conservation status, and omens? Go take a walk or sit on a porch ...

5 Nov 202555min

Populært innen Humor

papaya
rss-spartsklubben
enkel-servering
harm-og-hegseth
storefri-med-mikkel-og-herman
tore-og-haralds-podkast
tusvik-tnne
folk-flest-med-linn-og-nils
topp-3-med-wold-og-fladseth
ma-pa-behandling-med-morten-ramm
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
misjonen-med-antonsen-og-golden
rss-snorre-med-gaute
wolfgang-wee-uncut
hanna-de-heldige
jan-thomas-og-einar-blir-venner
rss-det-alle-snakker-om-med-siri-og-kim
verdens-verste
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
gutta-backer