Your Boss Is An Algorithm Book Cover Image

Your Boss is an Algorithm, part two

In part two of this episode, we discuss how to address the pervasive power of AI-enabled monitoring, the likelihood that the gig-economy model will emerge as a new organizational paradigm, what social partners and political players can do to adopt effective regulations that protect workers, and even what a future without work could look like. Take a listen.

Thinking Through Loneliness, Part Two

This is part two of our episode on Thinking Through Loneliness. We are continuing our conversation with Diane Enns, Professor of Philosophy at Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada. In part of two this episode, we discuss the ambiguity of loneliness, social media, the ways we can re-focus on the societal, rather than the personal, failures that produce loneliness, and whether there is a political alternative to our isolation. Take a listen.

Thinking Through Loneliness, Part One

Diane Enns is Professor of Philosophy at Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada as well as the author of Thinking Through Loneliness, a lyrical and compassionate philosophy of loneliness. Throughout the book, Enns explores the ambiguities of being alone and argues that loneliness needs to be recognised as a political issue as much as a personal one. In part of one this episode, we break down the meaning of the book’s title, the aspects of loneliness that became more apparent during the pandemic, the changing role of the nuclear family, and much much more. Take a listen.

Queer Euripides book cover image

Queer Euripides, Part Two

Sarah Olsen is Assistant Professor of Classics at Williams College, USA, and Mario Telò is Professor of Classics and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Together, they are the editors of Queer Euripides, the first volume to reconsider the entire corpus of an ancient canonical author through the lens of queerness broadly conceived. In part two of this episode, we delve into what Euripides play our guests would see in the ancient past, as well as the classic figure they’d bring to a desert island. 

Queer Euripides book cover image

Queer Euripides, Part One

Sarah Olsen is Assistant Professor of Classics at Williams College, USA, and Mario Telò is Professor of Classics and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Together, they are the editors of Queer Euripides, the first volume to reconsider the entire corpus of an ancient canonical author through the lens of queerness broadly conceived. In part one of this episode, we delve into what we know about Euripides and what we can benefit from viewing his tragedies and other ancient materials through a queer lens, as well as the process of selecting contributors for this volume and much much more. Take a listen. 

The Future is Feminine

The Future is Feminine with Ciara Cremin, Part Two

We are continuing our conversation with Ciara Cremin about capitalism and what she refers to as the masculine disorder. We explore the relationship between far-right authoritarianism and masculinity, as well as the ways in which masculinity dominates leftist spaces.  Upon that reflection we discuss what it would look like to collectively reject masculinity, and what our future might look like if we all reconciled as a society with the feminine. 

The Future is Feminine

The Future is Feminine with Ciara Cremin, Part One

Ciara Cremin’s work draws on Marxist, psychoanalytic and critical theory perspectives to diagnose the human condition in capitalism today. In part one of this episode, we delve into the values, behaviors and aesthetic choices typically associated with masculinity and how these standards reproduce cycles of violence, the ways in which masculinity can be interpreted as a psychological disorder, how capitalism caters to masculinity, and much more.

Book cover image

The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays, Part Two

This is the first play anthology to offer eight new plays by trans playwrights featuring trans characters. It establishes a canon of contemporary American trans theatre which represents a variety of performance modes and genres. In part two of this episode, we talked to anthology editors Lindsey Mantoan, Angela Farr Schiller and Leanna Keyes about the importance of studying the work of trans artists, trans theatre is a form of activism, and what the editors hoped to achieve with this collection. 

Book cover image

The Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays, Part One

This is the first play anthology to offer eight new plays by trans playwrights featuring trans characters. It establishes a canon of contemporary American trans theatre which represents a variety of performance modes and genres. We talked to anthology editors Lindsey Mantoan, Angela Farr Schiller and Leanna Keyes, about the plays selected, and how they explicitly call for trans characters as central protagonists in order to promote opportunities for trans performers.

Blackface with Ayanna Thompson

After a breathtaking episode on Othello last season, Ayanna Thompson is back to talk about her book, Blackface, which is part of our Object Lessons series. In this episode, we discuss the events that drove Ayanna to write this book, the history of Blackface up to the 21st century, how media weaponizes the notion of white innocence in contemporary examples of Blackface, and much more.