Outsider Theory

Theory on the outside, theory of the outside, outside of the theory

About the show

Outsider Theory is an interview-based podcast exploring the mutations of theories outside of the authorized spaces of intellectual life as well as theories of that ever-alluring figure, the outsider, and related subjects.

Outsider Theory on social media

Episodes

  • Romancing the Deep State; or, Dan Brown, Part 1 (Origins) with Pseud Dionysius MPH

    January 18th, 2022  |  2 hrs 14 mins
    alphabet agencies, dan brown, deception point, digital fortress, information bomb, nasa, nro, nsa, paul virilio, robert langdon, semiotics, symbology, the cathedral, the deep state, umberto eco, wasps

    Dan Brown is one of the best selling authors of all time, but is largely forgotten. Pseud Dionysius MPH returns to the show to investigate the unlikely rise of Brown, his protagonist, Harvard Professor Robert Langdon, and the fictional discipline of "symbology" out of the demise of the cold war techno-thriller and the new threats of the information age.

  • Hubbard, Burroughs, Foucault with Dr Benway

    January 7th, 2022  |  1 hr 41 mins
    dianetics, gilles deleuze, l. ron hubbard, michel foucault, psychoanalysis, scientology, technologies of power, technologies of the self, william s. burroughs

    Dr Benway returns to the show to discuss his extensive research on the vast oeuvre of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, as well as William S. Burroughs's prolonged engagement with Hubbard's doctrines and practices and their odd resonances with post-structuralist thought.

  • Plague and Myth with @fitnessfeelingz

    December 22nd, 2021  |  1 hr 57 mins
    coronavirus, covid-19, divinity, myth, pharmakon, pharmakos, religion, rené girard, ritual, sacrifice, scapegoating

    @fitnessfeelingz joins me to explore what René Girard can teach us about the Covid pandemic.

  • Monetary Long Covid with Fabio Vighi

    December 16th, 2021  |  1 hr 27 mins
    agamben, baudrillard, biopolitics, covid-19 pandemic, finance capital, marx, monetary stimulus, zizek

    "[The pandemic] is a monetary event aimed at prolonging the lifespan of our finance-driven and terminally ill mode of production."

  • The Very Online Novel with Timothy Wilcox

    December 8th, 2021  |  1 hr 39 mins
    donald trump, hari kunzru, hyperconnectivity, internet novel, lauren oyler, literature, patricia lockwood, social media

    Timothy Wilcox joins me to discuss three very online novels released in the past year: Hari Kunzru's Red Pill, Lauren Oyler's Fake Accounts, and Patricia Lockwood's No One is Talking about This.

  •

    Deep Internet History with Default Friend

    November 24th, 2021  |  1 hr 26 mins
    fandom, identity, multi-user domains, postmodernism, sherry turkle, the internet, theory, tumblr

    Default Friend joins me to discuss Sherry Turkle's early sociological studies of the effects of the internet on identity, community, and the popularization of theory.

  • The Paper of Record's Dismal Record

    November 18th, 2021  |  1 hr 19 mins
    1619 project, bari weiss, fake news, hitler, jayson blair, judith miller, misinformation, new york times, stalin, sulzberger family, walter duranty, wmds

    Ashley Rindsberg joins me to discuss his book "The Gray Lady Winked: How the New York Times's Misreporting, Distortions and Fabrications Radically Alter History."

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    Postmodern Medicine with Dr Benway and Pseud Dionysius, MPH

    November 11th, 2021  |  1 hr 29 mins
    evidence-based medicine, medicine, postmodernism, postmodernity, science

    My native informants from the realm of Science make the provocative case that medicine is now postmodern.

  • Poetry, Fascism, and Madness: the Fall of the House of Panero with Aaron Shulman

    November 2nd, 2021  |  1 hr 9 mins
    addiction, alcoholism, fascism, federico garcía lorca, felicidad blanc, juan luis panero, leopoldo maría panero, leopoldo panero, literature, madness, michi panero, poetry, roberto bolaño, schizophrenia

    The Panero family were literary royalty in fascist Spain; their descent into alcoholism, madness, and debauchery was the subject of the cult 1976 documentary "El desencanto." Aaron Shulman joins me to discuss his collective biography of the Paneros, "The Age of Disenchantments."

  • Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars: On Bill Cooper with Mark Jacobson

    October 26th, 2021  |  1 hr 26 mins
    conspiracy theory, hip-hop, mark jacobson, militia movement, william cooper, wu tang clan

    William Milton Cooper was one of the most influential conspiracy theorists of the 20th century. Mark Jacobson, author of Pale Horse Rider, joins me to discuss Cooper's life, ideas, and eclectic cultural impact.

  • "In the Stubborn, Bright Sun of Polish Liberty": Foucault in Warsaw with Remigiusz Ryziński and Sean Bye

    August 4th, 2021  |  1 hr 29 mins
    communism, homosexuality, michel foucault, poland, police, queer theory, surveillance

    Writer and philosopher Remigiusz Ryziński and translator Sean Bye join me to discuss "Foucault in Warsaw," a fascinating new investigation of a pivotal but little-known episode in Michel Foucault's career.

  • The Death and Life of Pagan America: On Dave Hickey, with Daniel Oppenheimer

    July 16th, 2021  |  1 hr 42 mins
    aesthetics, art, beauty, criticism, dave hickey, institutions, las vegas, populism, robert mapplethorpe

    Daniel Oppenheimer joins me to discuss his new book on the legendary art critic Dave Hickey, "Far From Respectable."

  •

    Fukuyama avec Berlusconi with Philip Cunliffe

    July 2nd, 2021  |  1 hr 34 mins
    donald trump, end of the end of history, francis fukuyama, jair bolsonaro, jeremy corbyn, left populism, nigel farage, political outsiders, silvio berlusconi

    Phil Cunliffe joins me to discuss his new (co-authored) book about our topsy-turvy political moment: The End of the End of History.

  • The Department of Social Praxis with Sam Munson

    June 17th, 2021  |  1 hr 6 mins
    administrative state, argentina, biopolitics, borges, cesar aira, dog symphony, plague

    Sam Munson joins me to discuss Dog Symphony, his prescient 2018 novel of plague and biopolitics.

  • Anaesthetic Aesthetics with Sterling Bartlett

    June 9th, 2021  |  55 mins 49 secs
    accelerationism, aesthetics, capitalist realism, hipsters, minimalism, postmodernism, recycling, retromania

    Illustrator and designer Sterling Bartlett joins Outsider Theory to discuss his comic book "How Did We Get Here?"

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    "A Thousand Unpieced Suns": On Jameson's Postmodernism, with Emmet Penney

    June 2nd, 2021  |  1 hr 20 mins
    fredric jameson, postmodernism, postmodernity

    Emmet Penney, writer and co-host of ex.haust podcast, joins Outsider Theory to discuss Fredric Jameson's canonical essay "Postmodernism, or the Culltural Logic of Late Capitalism."