Why Theory

Ryan and Todd discuss the political implications of the societal tendency toward euphemism. They theorize euphemism ultimately as a tool of the reactionary forces and as a way of blunting the necessit...

30 Mar 20251h 11min

Ryan and Todd define and explore the key psychoanalytic concept of the symptom. They contrast the psychoanalytic understanding of the symptom with the therapeutic version and then think about how we m...

16 Mar 20251h 15min

In this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss the erosion of the public under contemporary capitalism. Using Jurgen Habermas's influential writing on the public sphere as a jumping off point, the hosts move ...

3 Mar 20251h 23min

On this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss Rick Boothby's terrific recent book, Embracing the Void: Rethinking the Origin of the Sacred. First they discuss how the book begins its argument by intervening ...

17 Feb 20251h 15min

Ryan and Todd discuss Lacan’s Seminar XVI: From an Other to the other. They focus on Lacan’s modification of Marx’s surplus value into surplus enjoyment and the implications of this discovery for the ...

2 Feb 20251h 22min

Ryan and Todd pay tribute to David Lynch’s life and work by discussing each of his ten feature films in order of value as artworks (in the view of one of the cohosts). They explore the role of fantasy...

20 Jan 20251h 41min

Ryan and Todd work through Jacques Lacan’s Seminar X: Anxiety. Since this is the seminar that provides a great deal of Lacan’s initial theorizing of the objet a, they devote much of their time to this...

5 Jan 20251h 18min

In their annual Christmas special, Ryan and Todd explore the Lesbian Christmas film and the theoretical contribution that this specific type of film makes to the Christmas film genre. They discuss Car...

20 Des 20241h 35min