Why Theory

Todd McGowan & Ryan Engley

Why Theory brings continental philosophy and psyc…

  • 1 hour 35 minutes
    Lesbian Christmas

    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 Carol, Happiest Season, and Let It Snow in terms of their depictions of desire and the importance of desire itself coming out.

    20 December 2024, 4:30 am
  • 1 hour 17 minutes
    Hegelian Praxis

    Ryan and Todd explore the possibilities for praxis in the vein of the notorious philosopher who expresses disdain for the possibilities of a philosophical praxis—Hegel. They look at instances of Hegelian praxis in action, including the church of contradiction developed by Peter Rollins. Hegelian praxis focuses on contradiction, failure, disappointment, and universality. Most importantly, it never operates through a preestablished road map.

    8 December 2024, 11:09 pm
  • 1 hour 13 minutes
    The Beautiful Soul

    Ryan and Todd explore Hegel’s concept of the beautiful soul as he lays it out in the Phenomenology of Spirit. They discuss the contemporary political situation in terms of this figure and theorize about its predominance in today’s landscape. The beautiful soul also becomes a way of thinking through the difference between Kant and Hegel or between morality and politics.

    25 November 2024, 2:42 am
  • 1 hour 17 minutes
    Hegel & Feminism

    Ryan and Todd address the fundamental connections between Hegelian philosophy and feminism. They discuss the role of contradiction in both lines of thought and focus on some of the major feminist readers of Hegel’s philosophy, including Gillian Rose, Catherine Malabou, and Rebecca Comay.

    11 November 2024, 1:17 am
  • 1 hour 14 minutes
    Aufhebung (Sublation)
    Ryan and Todd work to explain Hegel's central idea of Aufhebung (translated as "sublation"). This unique German term, which means to cancel, to preserve, and to lift up, provides the key for understanding the movement of Hegel's philosophy, but it is also the site for misunderstanding Hegel's project, which the show discusses.
    26 October 2024, 12:00 am
  • 1 hour 47 minutes
    Contemporary Horror
    Ryan and Todd continue their discussion of the horror film by focusing on the genre since Psycho. They discuss Night of the Living Dead, Carrie, The Shining, The Blair Witch Project, It Follows, and The Substance. Their theorize the modern horror film in relation to the psychoanalytic notion of the death drive.
    14 October 2024, 1:57 am
  • 1 hour 14 minutes
    Fredric Jameson
    Ryan and Todd pay tribute to the recently deceased theorist Fredric Jameson. They note his deep and wide-ranging contributions to a variety of fields and his unique ability to find something valuable in the object of his critique.
    29 September 2024, 1:57 am
  • 1 hour 29 minutes
    Horror Film
    Ryan and Todd explore the classical horror film in terms of the antagonism between life and the beyond, inclusive of death. They focus on the films The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Frankenstein, Invisible Man, Godzilla, and Psycho.
    16 September 2024, 2:11 am
  • 1 hour 32 minutes
    Heist Film
    Ryan and Todd develop their theory of the heist film as a genre, which they see as structured through the opposition between desire and its object. They examine closely Rififi, The Killing, Heat, Ocean's 11, and Inside Man, as well as touching on many other key films of the genre. Hugh Manon's film noir podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0aQXewYjXrMtTjwpJ18rg6
    2 September 2024, 1:35 am
  • 1 hour 41 minutes
    Sports Film
    Ryan and Todd explore the genre of the sports film, focusing on important entries in the genre such as Chariots of Fire, Rocky, and Heaven Can Wait, among others. They define this genre through the category of the impossible and discuss the relationship between possibility and impossibility as it plays out in the sports film.
    18 August 2024, 2:35 am
  • 1 hour 22 minutes
    New Introductory Lectures
    Ryan and Todd discuss what they see as the important moments from Freud's New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis--both its highlights and its lowlights. They explore the role that Freud's 1920 discovery of the death drive plays--or doesn't play--in this work.
    4 August 2024, 7:36 pm
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