web02.fireside.fm Wed, 13 May 2026 05:09:46 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Outsider Theory - Episodes Tagged with “The Left” https://outsidertheory.fireside.fm/tags/the%20left Sun, 13 Feb 2022 19:00:00 -0500 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 Road to Wigan Pier with Angela Nagle https://outsidertheory.fireside.fm/nagle-orwell 797e3393-1871-4817-8964-a392cf86077a Sun, 13 Feb 2022 19:00:00 -0500 Geoff Shullenberger full Geoff Shullenberger Angela Nagle returns to discuss George Orwell's 1937 book "The Road to Wigan Pier" and its many contemporary resonances. 1:45:30 no <p>George Orwell's "The Road to Wigan Pier" begins as a report on life in the depressed coal and industrial region of Northern England and expands into an ambivalent critique of socialism and progress. It's a book that belongs to its era – which saw the Great Depression, the peak of industrialism in the capitalist core countries, the rise of both communist and fascist challenges to the interwar liberal order – but also speaks in interesting ways to ours. Angela Nagle returns to Outsider Theory for an appreciative discussion of Orwell's book and its relationship to her longstanding interests. </p> <p>Follow Angela's Substack: <a href="https://angelanagle.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://angelanagle.substack.com/</a> </p> George Orwell, industrialization, unemployment, socialism, communism, futurism, progress, the left, capitalism George Orwell's "The Road to Wigan Pier" begins as a report on life in the depressed coal and industrial region of Northern England and expands into an ambivalent critique of socialism and progress. It's a book that belongs to its era – which saw the Great Depression, the peak of industrialism in the capitalist core countries, the rise of both communist and fascist challenges to the interwar liberal order – but also speaks in interesting ways to ours. Angela Nagle returns to Outsider Theory for an appreciative discussion of Orwell's book and its relationship to her longstanding interests.

Follow Angela's Substack: https://angelanagle.substack.com/

]]> George Orwell's "The Road to Wigan Pier" begins as a report on life in the depressed coal and industrial region of Northern England and expands into an ambivalent critique of socialism and progress. It's a book that belongs to its era – which saw the Great Depression, the peak of industrialism in the capitalist core countries, the rise of both communist and fascist challenges to the interwar liberal order – but also speaks in interesting ways to ours. Angela Nagle returns to Outsider Theory for an appreciative discussion of Orwell's book and its relationship to her longstanding interests.

Follow Angela's Substack: https://angelanagle.substack.com/

]]> Toward a Unified Theory of Contrarian Hunting with Oliver Bateman https://outsidertheory.fireside.fm/contrarian-hunting f310e5a1-b41b-4ee1-a90c-1a808a75089d Wed, 10 Feb 2021 15:00:00 -0500 Geoff Shullenberger full Geoff Shullenberger Writer Oliver Bateman joins Outsider Theory to discuss the contrarian, a marginal yet crucial figure in online spaces. 1:10:05 no <p>The "contrarian" is an outsider on the edge of the inside: attached to a particular group but defiant of its pieties and orthodoxies. Contrarians often seem to be one of the most despised figures in online spaces – yet strategic contrarianism can also be a career-building strategy. Hence, accused contrarians are often accused of "grifting" and similar sins. But are they any worse than more orthodox-minded hustlers? Oliver Bateman, writer for the Ringer, Mel, Splice Today, and many other publications and co-host of What's Left? podcast, joins Outsider Theory to try to make sense of the role of this spectral figure in reinforcing ideological orthodoxies and (para)social formations online. </p> <p>Preliminary Theory of the In-Group Contrarian: <a href="https://outsidertheory.com/preliminary-theory-of-the-in-group-contrarian/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://outsidertheory.com/preliminary-theory-of-the-in-group-contrarian/</a></p> <p>Oliver Bateman, The Cooties Theory of Criticism: <a href="https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-cooties-theory-of-criticism" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-cooties-theory-of-criticism</a></p> <p>Oliver Bateman, The Grifters: <a href="https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-grifters" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-grifters</a> </p> contrarians, Twitter, cancel culture, grifters, the left The "contrarian" is an outsider on the edge of the inside: attached to a particular group but defiant of its pieties and orthodoxies. Contrarians often seem to be one of the most despised figures in online spaces – yet strategic contrarianism can also be a career-building strategy. Hence, accused contrarians are often accused of "grifting" and similar sins. But are they any worse than more orthodox-minded hustlers? Oliver Bateman, writer for the Ringer, Mel, Splice Today, and many other publications and co-host of What's Left? podcast, joins Outsider Theory to try to make sense of the role of this spectral figure in reinforcing ideological orthodoxies and (para)social formations online.

Preliminary Theory of the In-Group Contrarian: https://outsidertheory.com/preliminary-theory-of-the-in-group-contrarian/

Oliver Bateman, The Cooties Theory of Criticism: https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-cooties-theory-of-criticism

Oliver Bateman, The Grifters: https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-grifters

]]> The "contrarian" is an outsider on the edge of the inside: attached to a particular group but defiant of its pieties and orthodoxies. Contrarians often seem to be one of the most despised figures in online spaces – yet strategic contrarianism can also be a career-building strategy. Hence, accused contrarians are often accused of "grifting" and similar sins. But are they any worse than more orthodox-minded hustlers? Oliver Bateman, writer for the Ringer, Mel, Splice Today, and many other publications and co-host of What's Left? podcast, joins Outsider Theory to try to make sense of the role of this spectral figure in reinforcing ideological orthodoxies and (para)social formations online.

Preliminary Theory of the In-Group Contrarian: https://outsidertheory.com/preliminary-theory-of-the-in-group-contrarian/

Oliver Bateman, The Cooties Theory of Criticism: https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-cooties-theory-of-criticism

Oliver Bateman, The Grifters: https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/the-grifters

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