web02.fireside.fm Wed, 29 Apr 2026 05:27:42 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Outsider Theory - Episodes Tagged with “Institutions” https://outsidertheory.fireside.fm/tags/institutions Wed, 31 Aug 2022 08:00:00 -0400 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. en-us episodic Theory on the outside, theory of the outside, outside of the theory Geoff Shullenberger 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. no critical theory, conspiracy theory, outsider intellectuals, outsiders, the outside Geoff Shullenberger gshullenb@gmail.com The Rule of Midwits with Brian Chau https://outsidertheory.fireside.fm/rule-of-midwits edb4833c-1bd7-4082-b19f-8da484a5d3d9 Wed, 31 Aug 2022 08:00:00 -0400 Geoff Shullenberger full Geoff Shullenberger Brian Chau joins me to discuss institutions and why midwits rule them, decentralization, sorting mechanisms, right-wing aesthetics, Curtis Yarvin, William F. Buckley, and more. 1:41:14 no Brian Chau (Cactus Chu on Substack, @psychosort on Twitter) joins me to discuss institutions and why midwits rule them, decentralization, sorting mechanisms, right-wing aesthetics, Curtis Yarvin, William F. Buckley, and more. https://cactus.substack.com/ https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/rule-of-midwits midwits, institutions, universities, sorting mechanisms, decentralization, right-wing aesthetics, Curtis Yarvin, Peter Thiel, JD Vance, Blake Masters, William F. Buckley Brian Chau (Cactus Chu on Substack, @psychosort on Twitter) joins me to discuss institutions and why midwits rule them, decentralization, sorting mechanisms, right-wing aesthetics, Curtis Yarvin, William F. Buckley, and more.

https://cactus.substack.com/

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/rule-of-midwits

]]> Brian Chau (Cactus Chu on Substack, @psychosort on Twitter) joins me to discuss institutions and why midwits rule them, decentralization, sorting mechanisms, right-wing aesthetics, Curtis Yarvin, William F. Buckley, and more.

https://cactus.substack.com/

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/rule-of-midwits

]]> The Great Debasement with Alice Gribbin https://outsidertheory.fireside.fm/great-debasement 67aaa7cd-69d4-452f-ac95-4453a10541cd Fri, 10 Jun 2022 12:00:00 -0400 Geoff Shullenberger full Geoff Shullenberger Alice Gribbin joins me to discuss her recent essay in Tablet, "The Great Debasement," on the recent ideological transformation of our major cultural institutions. 2:05:21 no Essayist and poet Alice Gribbin joins me to discuss her recent essay in Tablet, "The Great Debasement," on the ideological transformation of museums and other cultural institutions into propaganda organs; the utilitarian attitude to art; the continued relevance of John Berger's "Ways of Seeing"; and more. https://substack.com/profile/5192682-alice-gribbin https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/great-debasement-art https://quillette.com/2021/06/05/the-artist-and-the-censor/ culture, institutions, art, museums, propaganda, literature, poetry, censorship, John Berger Essayist and poet Alice Gribbin joins me to discuss her recent essay in Tablet, "The Great Debasement," on the ideological transformation of museums and other cultural institutions into propaganda organs; the utilitarian attitude to art; the continued relevance of John Berger's "Ways of Seeing"; and more.

https://substack.com/profile/5192682-alice-gribbin

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/great-debasement-art

https://quillette.com/2021/06/05/the-artist-and-the-censor/

]]> Essayist and poet Alice Gribbin joins me to discuss her recent essay in Tablet, "The Great Debasement," on the ideological transformation of museums and other cultural institutions into propaganda organs; the utilitarian attitude to art; the continued relevance of John Berger's "Ways of Seeing"; and more.

https://substack.com/profile/5192682-alice-gribbin

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/great-debasement-art

https://quillette.com/2021/06/05/the-artist-and-the-censor/

]]> The Invention of Symbology; or, Dan Brown, Part 2 (Angels and Demons & The Da Vinci Code) with Pseud Dionysius MPH https://outsidertheory.fireside.fm/dan-brown-2 14f65f3b-05db-4abc-8a80-c727d96a6f1e Sun, 27 Feb 2022 20:00:00 -0500 Geoff Shullenberger full Geoff Shullenberger Pseud Dionysius MPH returns for an epic exploration of Dan Brown's turn from post-Cold War techno-thrillers to a new sort of novel, centered around the adventures of Harvard professor Robert Langdon, and of the persistent themes of Brown's writing: institutional crisis, elite succession, secrecy and revelation, and the need to restabilize knowledge. 3:06:14 no With the 2001 publication of Angels and Demons, Dan Brown shifted away from his early focus on the US security state and its post-Cold War identity crisis and introduced a new protagonist: Harvard professor of "Religious Symbology" Robert Langdon. This improbable hero's first two adventures transport him to the Old World and entangle him with a secretive institution far more ancient than the American deep state: the Roman Catholic Church. Curiously, the rise of Langdon signals Brown's turn away from the national security preoccupations of his early writing just as the 9/11 era brought the challenges facing the US state to the center of most people's attention. Despite its apparently obscure subject matter, 2003's The Da Vinci Code became a sensational hit – one of the bestselling novels of all time – and turned Brown's fictional avatar Langdon into a household name worldwide. Pseud Dionysius MPH joins me once again to try to make sense of Brown's success at forging a new, global anti-postmodern mythology just as the "end of history" consensus of the 1990s was beginning to fracture. dan brown, da vinci code, angels and demons, robert langdon, symbology, semiotics, institutions, succession, bloodlines, security state, secret societies, opus dei, priory of sion, the holy blood and the holy grail, pierre plantard With the 2001 publication of Angels and Demons, Dan Brown shifted away from his early focus on the US security state and its post-Cold War identity crisis and introduced a new protagonist: Harvard professor of "Religious Symbology" Robert Langdon. This improbable hero's first two adventures transport him to the Old World and entangle him with a secretive institution far more ancient than the American deep state: the Roman Catholic Church. Curiously, the rise of Langdon signals Brown's turn away from the national security preoccupations of his early writing just as the 9/11 era brought the challenges facing the US state to the center of most people's attention. Despite its apparently obscure subject matter, 2003's The Da Vinci Code became a sensational hit – one of the bestselling novels of all time – and turned Brown's fictional avatar Langdon into a household name worldwide. Pseud Dionysius MPH joins me once again to try to make sense of Brown's success at forging a new, global anti-postmodern mythology just as the "end of history" consensus of the 1990s was beginning to fracture.

]]> With the 2001 publication of Angels and Demons, Dan Brown shifted away from his early focus on the US security state and its post-Cold War identity crisis and introduced a new protagonist: Harvard professor of "Religious Symbology" Robert Langdon. This improbable hero's first two adventures transport him to the Old World and entangle him with a secretive institution far more ancient than the American deep state: the Roman Catholic Church. Curiously, the rise of Langdon signals Brown's turn away from the national security preoccupations of his early writing just as the 9/11 era brought the challenges facing the US state to the center of most people's attention. Despite its apparently obscure subject matter, 2003's The Da Vinci Code became a sensational hit – one of the bestselling novels of all time – and turned Brown's fictional avatar Langdon into a household name worldwide. Pseud Dionysius MPH joins me once again to try to make sense of Brown's success at forging a new, global anti-postmodern mythology just as the "end of history" consensus of the 1990s was beginning to fracture.

]]> The Death and Life of Pagan America: On Dave Hickey, with Daniel Oppenheimer https://outsidertheory.fireside.fm/dave-hickey 4fbb0100-3cc5-407f-9d7f-42069a1b9aad Fri, 16 Jul 2021 10:00:00 -0400 Geoff Shullenberger full Geoff Shullenberger Daniel Oppenheimer joins me to discuss his new book on the legendary art critic Dave Hickey, "Far From Respectable." 1:42:15 no Writer Daniel Oppenheimer joins me to discuss his new book on the legendary art critic Dave Hickey, "Far From Respectable." We explore Hickey's case for the continued vitality of beauty as a criterion for thinking about art and culture, his defense of controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe and simultaneous critique of Mapplethorpe's other defenders, his aesthetic populism, his abandoned project "Pagan America," and the relevance of all of these to the current cultural panorama. We also explore Hickey's critique of institutions alongside the ironic fact that institutions sustained his best work – and what that might mean for current institutional outsiders in the Substack economy and elsewhere. Daniel's website: http://www.danieloppenheimer.com/ Far From Respectable: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/oppenheimer-far-from-respectable Dave Hickey, art, criticism, beauty, institutions, aesthetics, populism, Robert Mapplethorpe, Las Vegas Writer Daniel Oppenheimer joins me to discuss his new book on the legendary art critic Dave Hickey, "Far From Respectable." We explore Hickey's case for the continued vitality of beauty as a criterion for thinking about art and culture, his defense of controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe and simultaneous critique of Mapplethorpe's other defenders, his aesthetic populism, his abandoned project "Pagan America," and the relevance of all of these to the current cultural panorama. We also explore Hickey's critique of institutions alongside the ironic fact that institutions sustained his best work – and what that might mean for current institutional outsiders in the Substack economy and elsewhere.

Daniel's website: http://www.danieloppenheimer.com/

Far From Respectable: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/oppenheimer-far-from-respectable

]]> Writer Daniel Oppenheimer joins me to discuss his new book on the legendary art critic Dave Hickey, "Far From Respectable." We explore Hickey's case for the continued vitality of beauty as a criterion for thinking about art and culture, his defense of controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe and simultaneous critique of Mapplethorpe's other defenders, his aesthetic populism, his abandoned project "Pagan America," and the relevance of all of these to the current cultural panorama. We also explore Hickey's critique of institutions alongside the ironic fact that institutions sustained his best work – and what that might mean for current institutional outsiders in the Substack economy and elsewhere.

Daniel's website: http://www.danieloppenheimer.com/

Far From Respectable: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/oppenheimer-far-from-respectable

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