What's Left of Philosophy
Episodes
130 | Max Horkheimer: What Makes Critical Theory Critical?
06 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk about Max Horkheimer’s essay “Traditional and Critical Theory”, which serves as a kind of manifesto for the Frankfurt Sc...
129 TEASER | The General Strike and Socialism: Sorel's Reflections on Violence
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss Georges Sorel’s 1908 Reflections on Violence. We focus on his central claim that all of socialism is concentrated in the ...
129 | Introducing: Marxism & Religion, Part I: Martin Luther King, Jr.
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we introduce our new series on “Marxism and Religion.” At political, social, and spiritual levels, the series explores this compl...
127 | Hayden White's Forms of History
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the work of historian Hayden White. His provocative claim is that the practice is inescapably the practice of narrative fo...
126 | Marx's Critique of the Gotha Program
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about Marx’s critique of the Gotha Program, but you knew that from the title. We discuss Marxian critiques of redistributiv...
125 TEASER | Elias Canetti: Crowds and Power
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about Elias Canetti’s 1960 book Crowds and Power. Equal parts political theory, poetic sociology, and speculative anthropol...
124 | Living Through Capitalism w/ Dr. James Chamberlain
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk with James Chamberlain about his new book, Living Through Capitalism, in which he argues that capitalism is hostile to biolog...
123 | Adam Smith and the Lessons of Sympathy
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we take on Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Although he is now more well known as an economist because of his later boo...
122 | Real Abstraction and the Origin of Consciousness with Alfred Sohn-Rethel
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about Alfred Sohn-Rethel’s audacious and influential text Intellectual and Manual Labor. A fellow traveler of the Frankfurt...
121 | The Federalist Papers
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss the essays of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton compiled as the Federalist Papers. We talk about the philosophical justi...
120 TEASER | Raymond Williams on Literature and Cultural Materialism
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the literary and cultural theories of Raymond Williams. Famous for classic works of literary analysis like The City and th...
119 | Exploitation and the Theory of Domination w/ Prof. Nicholas Vrousalis
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we welcome Nicholas Vrousalis onto the show to discuss his recent book Exploitation as Domination: What Makes Capitalism Unjust. The ...
What’s Left of Philosophy Live Show! August 7, Epiphany Center for the Arts, Chicago
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our live show at the Epiphany Center for the Arts is right around the corner! Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 8. It’s a one-night only eve...
118 | Axel Honneth and the Ideal of Social Freedom
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss Axel Honneth’s Freedom’s Right: The Social Foundations of Democratic Life. As one of the most prominent representatives...
117 | Hardt and Negri's Empire, 25 Years Later
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s Empire. First published in 2000, this seminal post-Marxist text analyzed changes to po...
116 TEASER | Are We Losing our Morality? Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue and the Nihilism of Modern Society
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss Alasdair MacIntyre’s landmark book After Virtue. MacIntyre, an ex-Marxist and committed anti-liberal, offers a defense o...
WLOP LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT! | AUGUST 7 | EPIPHANY CENTER FOR THE ARTS, CHICAGO
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hi everyone! We are thrilled to announce that we will be performing live on August 7 at the Epiphany Center for the Arts in Chicago.This is a one-time...
Gil is Teaching a Class on Spinoza's Ethics in Chicago
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
That's right, folks! Next month, Gil is teaching a class on Spinoza's Ethics at Twelve Ten Gallery in Chicago through the Brooklyn Institute...
115 | Modern Barbarism with Thorstein Veblen
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class. In it, he argues that modern culture is basically continuous with tha...
114 | What's Left of Representation?
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the centrality of ‘representation’ in politics and political theory, guided by Hanna Pitkin’s 1967 treatise The Conc...
113 TEASER | Political Marxism
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss “political marxism” as a paradigm shift in Marxist thinking about historical development, the transition from feudalis...
112 | Excavating Utopias w/ Dr. William Paris
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss WLOP co-host William Paris’s recently published book Race, Time, and Utopia: Critical Theory and the Process of Emancipa...
111 TEASER | Infantile Disorders: The Coming Insurrection
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the 2007 text The Coming Insurrection, written by the pseudonymous collective The Invisible Committee. We talk about the b...
110 | What is Liberalism? Part VI. Possessive Individualism and the Collapsing Order
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, the boys talk about C.B. Macpherson’s insightful text The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism. Macpherson holds that liber...
109 | Should We Abolish Prisons? w/ Dr. Tommie Shelby
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by special guest Tommie Shelby to discuss the arguments presented in his most recent book, The Idea of Prison Abolition...
Will Has Published a Book!
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a short promo for Race, Time, and Utopia: Critical Theory and the Process of Emancipation (Oxford University Press, 2025), written by WLOP’s...
108 TEASER | Friedrich Nietzsche on Learning How to Live in a Dying Culture
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we tackle Friedrich Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil. In this book, Nietzsche diagnoses the cultural pathologies of a Europe that n...
Gil is Teaching a Class on Kant's First Critique in Chicago
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You read the title! Next month, Gil is teaching a class on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason at the Goethe Institute in downtown Chicago through the...
107 | How Labor Can Win w/ Eric Blanc
10 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss Eric Blanc’s new book about the strategies re-building U.S. labor today, as well as how they can translate across moveme...
106 | Karl Polanyi and the Critique of Market Society
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the work of brilliant heterodox economist Karl Polanyi. We talk about his criticisms of neoclassical orthodoxy, his argume...
105 TEASER | Fredric Jameson: Marxist Criticism and the Role of Theory
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the work of the late, great Fredric Jameson. Basing ourselves on his Marxism and Form, The Political Unconscious, and Arch...
104 | Does History Have a Repetition Compulsion?
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Black Reconstruction, and The Black Jacobins. What do these three texts have in common? They all aim to ma...
103 | Habermania w/ Dr. Steven Klein
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Another week, another German philosopher. This time, Steven Klein joins us to discuss the ideas and legacy of one Jürgen Habermas. We talk about his ...
102 TRAILER | The Heidegger Episode
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Here, we finally deliver on our longstanding threat to do an episode all about influential philosopher Martin Heidegger. We give him credit where it’...
101 | Free Time Under Capitalism
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss Theodor Adorno’s essay “Free Time”, in which the critical theorist really lets his cantankerous old man flag fly. He...
100 | Special Q+A Livestream!
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For this very special 100th episode of the show, we set aside a few hours to answer questions submitted by listeners! We livestreamed the session on o...
100th Episode Livestream Announcement | Ask Us Anything!
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some news! We are going to livestream our 100th episode recording session at 1pm Eastern / 12 noon central standard time on our YouTube channel on Sun...
99 | What is Dialectics? Part VI: From Explanation to Emancipation: Roy Bhaskar’s Critical Realism
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the philosopher of science Roy Bhaskar and his essays in Reclaiming Reality. We discuss whether it is possible for the hum...
98 TEASER | Reform or Revolution?
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we take on a Marxist classic, Rosa Luxemburg’s “Reform or Revolution,” in which she skewers Eduard Bernstein for being a feckles...
97 | Poulantzas, Marxism and the State
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we take up the question: what is the State? With 1978’s State, Power, Socialism by Nicos Poulantzas as our guide, we talk about what...
96 TEASER | What is Utopia? Part IV. Bacon's New Atlantis
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk about the weird little unfinished utopian novel The New Atlantis, written by founding enlightenment figure Francis Bacon. We t...
95 | John Dewey and the Education of Experience
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the educational philosophy of the American pragmatist John Dewey. Focusing on his 1938 treatise Experience & Education...
94 | Norman Geras' Ethics of Revolution
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the contributions of political theorist Norman Geras to socialist debates about revolutionary ethics, movement democracy, ...
93 TEASER | Charles Mills and the Racial Contract
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about the late, great Charles Mills and his landmark book The Racial Contract. Forcefully arguing that the modern discourse o...
92 | What is Liberalism? Part V. Robert Nozick’s Libertarian Reveries
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss Robert Nozick’s libertarian political philosophy as presented in his 1974 book Anarchy, State, and Utopia. We consider h...
91 | Fanon’s Dialectic of Violence
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we tackle the concept of violence as it appears in the revolutionary and anticolonial work of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Ea...
90 | Ecological Materialism and Logistical Strategy w/ Dr. Jeff Diamanti
27 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by Jeff Diamanti to discuss what it looks like to watch the climate change. Our conversation shifts from analytical, ae...
89 TEASER | G.A. Cohen's Analytical Red Sublime
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss essays from throughout G.A. Cohen’s philosophical career. Cohen is known as one of the founders of Analytical Marxism, s...
88 | On Late Fascism w/ Alberto Toscano
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by Alberto Toscano to talk about his analysis of contemporary far-right movement and ideology. We discuss his new book ...
87 | The Politics of Left-Wing Climate Realism w/ Dr. Ajay Singh Chaudhary
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by Ajay Chaudhary to discuss his book The Exhausted of the Earth: Politics in a Burning World and the political, econom...
86 | Right-Wing Political Thought w/ Dr. Matt McManus
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by Matt McManus to discuss his research into the history and philosophy of right-wing politics in his book The Politica...
85 TEASER | Giving an Account of Oneself: Judith Butler's Ethics of Opacity
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we delve into Judith Butler’s Giving an Account of Oneself, an illuminating book from 2005 that examines subject-formation and the r...
84 | Sex in Philosophy w/ Dr. Manon Garcia
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk with Manon Garcia about the problem of women’s submissiveness in feminist philosophy. Then we discuss longstanding femini...
83 | What is Aesthetics? Part III. Ernst Bloch: In Search of the Red Sublime
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we return to the work of Ernst Bloch and his theory concerning “aesthetic genius” and the possibility of the red sublime. Bloch a...
82 | The State and Right: Kant's Metaphysics of Morals
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we dig into the Doctrine of Right in Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals to see what he has to say about the state. Turns out he’s a fan...
81 TEASER | David Harvey: Capitalist Urbanization and the Right to the City
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about David Harvey’s analysis of the urbanization process as a form of accumulated surplus capital expenditure and consider...
80 | Grab Bag Special Episode with Michael Peterson! Utilitarian Harems, Nietzschean Ciphers, and Cowardly Chatbots
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this nonstandard episode, Gil and Owen are joined by Michael Peterson to talk about how dreadful utilitarianism is, consider some of the offers tha...
79 | What Could It Mean to Say, “Capitalism Causes Sexism and Racism”? with Professor Vanessa Wills
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by George Washington University Associate Professor Vanessa Wills to discuss her article “What Could It Mean to Say, ...
78 | Perry Anderson's Considerations on Western Marxism
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we get the Perry Anderson treatment and ask if we philosophers are the problem with how Western Marxism has evolved over time. We disc...
77 | What is Ecosocialism? Part I. John Bellamy Foster and the Metabolic Rift
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this inaugural episode of our new series on ecosocialism, we discuss some writings by ecological Marxist thinker John Bellamy Foster, whose main co...
76 | For and Against Participatory Planning & Economics
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this patron-requested episode, we discuss the proposals for participatory planning and economics developed by Robin Hahnel and Michael Albert. They...
75 TEASER | Power, Reason, and Justification: Rainer Forst’s Critical Theory
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the social theory of the Kantian critical theorist Rainer Forst in his book Normativity and Power. We work through how wel...
74 | Time and Work Discipline with E.P. Thompson
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss E.P. Thompson’s amazing article “Time, Work Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism.” E.P. Thompson is the legendary M...
73 | Effective Altruism is Terrible w/ John Duncan
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by researcher and video essayist John Duncan (@Johntheduncan) to talk about the Effective Altruism movement and why it ...
72 | Gerrard Winstanley and the English Revolution
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk English Revolutionary politics in the mid-17th century, and specifically the philosophy and practice of legendary 'Digger...
Updates and Live Show Announcement! 8/22/2023
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
No episode this week BUT we've got some big news: that's right, at long last, a What's Left of Philosophy live show! Come see us on Oct...
71 TEASER | What is Liberalism? Part IV: Neo-Republicanism
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we dive into Philip Pettit’s Republicanism from 1997, which argued that republicanism and liberalism are not the fast friends many ...
70 | How Does Propaganda Work? w/ Dr. Megan Hyska
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Megan Hyska to discuss her work on propaganda. She takes us through the history of the term propaganda, what mak...
69 | Mute Compulsion: Economic Power and Capitalist Domination w/ Dr. Søren Mau
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode we are joined by Dr. Søren Mau to discuss his new book, Mute Compulsion: A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital. We talk a...
68 | F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom: Competition, Individualism, and the Politics of Reaction
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the ideas of economist and political philosopher F.A. Hayek as they appear in his 1944 book The Road to Serfdom. This infl...
67 TEASER | What is Liberalism? III. John Rawls and Political Liberalism
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we finally get down and dirty with the big dog of Anglophone political philosophy, John Rawls. We discuss his 1993 book Political Libe...
66 | What's Left of Equality? Between Opportunity and Flourishing
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we unpack tensions between theories of equality that emphasize opportunity and outcomes in a discussion based upon Christine Sypnowic...
65 | Gramsci's The Modern Prince
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk about Antonio Gramsci’s book The Modern Prince. Written while imprisoned by the fascists in Mussolini’s Italy, the work is...
64 | What is Aesthetics? Part II. How Does it Feel to be a Problem, Hip Hop Nation? W/ Dr. Michael Thomas
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we are joined by Michael Thomas to talk about Black aesthetics and hip hop in particular. We work through what it means for hip hop t...
63 Teaser | Lenin's State and Revolution
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this patrons-only episode we discuss Vladimir Lenin’s 1917 The State and Revolution. When he’s not snarkily dragging his political opponents fo...
62 | What is Aesthetics? Part I. Schiller's Letters on Aesthetic Education
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this inaugural episode of our new series on aesthetics, we discuss Friedrich Schiller’s 1795 Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man. We begin ...
61 | Frantz Fanon, Racism, and the Alienation of Reason
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we take a deep dive into Frantz Fanon’s first book Black Skin, White Masks. We discuss his views on racism as a form of alienation ...
60 | Antifascism and Emancipatory Violence with Devin Zane Shaw
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we are joined by Devin Zane Shaw to talk about his book Philosophy of Antifascism: Punching Nazis and Fighting White Supremacy. We dis...
59 | Herbert Marcuse B-Sides Mixtape
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Feeling alienated? In this episode, we are here for you. We dig into three periods of Herbert Marcuse’s thought. Marcuse was Martin Heidegger’s st...
58 Teaser | Angela Davis: Dialectics of Oppression and Liberation
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we dig into some early writings by the incomparable black radical feminist and communist Angela Davis. We reflect on some of the contr...
UNLOCKED: 24 | What's Left of Foucault?
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We couldn't put together a new episode for you this week, so we thought we'd unlock an old Patreon exclusive! Thanks to everyone who helped ...
57 | What is Liberalism? Part II. Policing and Political Economy
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the second installment of our “What is Liberalism?” series we discuss the relationship between liberalism and the institution of the police. If...
56 | Special Minisode: Hating on New Year’s Day with Antonio Gramsci
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special holiday episode we bring in the new year by being complete and total haters! We keep it real light and breezy for this short little co...
55 Teaser | Rousseau's Discourse on Inequality
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was many things, but chill was not one of them. In this patron-exclusive episode we have no chill either, getting into it about ...
54 | Expropriating the Expropriators w/ Dr. Jacob Blumenfeld
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk with Jacob Blumenfeld about the concept of property in German Idealism. As it turns out, Kant, Fichte, and Hegel each had a pr...
53 | Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism: Anti-Materialist Sociology
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism is probably the most important foundational text for modern sociology, and we think ...
52 | Mike Davis: Historical Materialism and Militant Theory
14 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is a tribute episode to the great Mike Davis, the visionary social theorist and comrade who recently passed away in October 2022. We discuss his ...
51 Teaser | What is Utopia? Part III. Hermeneutics and Utopia: From Hans-Georg Gadamer to Ernst Bloch (Part 2)
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Part Two of our two-part mini-series we discuss the work of Ernst Bloch’s The Principle of Hope. We ask what difference there is between the thou...
50 | Hermeneutics and Utopia: From Hans-Georg Gadamer to Ernst Bloch (Part 1)
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In part one of our two-part mini-series on hermeneutics and utopia we discuss the thought of Hans-Georg Gadamer in his 1983 text Praise of Theory. We ...
49 | Coming to Terms with Human Finitude w/ Prof. Martin Hägglund
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we are joined by Martin Hägglund to discuss the existentialist's argument for what makes human life meaningful—and why democra...
48 | Gillian Rose: Speculative Thinking and Post-Kantian Sociology with James Callahan
19 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we are joined by James Callahan (aka Crane) to talk about Gillian Rose’s book Hegel Contra Sociology. We explore Rose’s critique o...
47 | Guy Debord and the Society of the Spectacle
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode we talk about Guy Debord’s critique of life under modern capitalism by looking at his scathing and provocative The Society of t...
46 Teaser | What is Dialectics? Part V: Adorno's Negative Dialectics
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this patron-exclusive episode, we continue our series on the concept of dialectics by talking about Adorno’s Negative Dialectics. We reflect on w...
45 | On Solidarity and Conflict with Nathan DuFord
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we are joined by Nathan DuFord to discuss their new book Solidarity in Conflict: A Democratic Theory. We unpack why they believe solid...
44 | Karl Kautsky's Cooperative Commonwealth
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk about the most important Marxist thinker during the time of the Second International, Karl Kautsky. We talk about his infamous...
43 | Transindividuality and Marxism with Jason Read
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk with the wonderful Jason Read about his work on the concept of transindividuality and what it means for critical social theory...
42 | Going Beyond the Pleasure Principle with Freud
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk psychoanalytic theory and practice. With Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle as our touchstone, we get speculative about h...
41 | James Boggs and the Problem of Rights under Capitalism
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss James Boggs’s 1963 The American Revolution: Pages from a Negro Worker’s Notebook. We talk about Boggs’s materialist c...
40 Teaser | What is Liberalism? Part I. John Locke's Second Treatise of Government
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we kick off our new series called “What is Liberalism?” with private property, conquest, and a discussion about John Locke’s apo...
39 | Lukács: Social Totality and the Commodity Form
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss the work of György Lukács, focusing on the reification essay from his seminal 1923 book History and Class Consciousness. ...