Category: Political Philosophy Podcasts

What if Matter Is Sacred? Conversation with Jakob Hanschu on Arts and Crafts Movement (McCarraher 7-Audio)

October 25, 2020

In a discussion that launches from Part 4 of McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, especially the part on the Arts and Crafts movement and its preoccupation with beauty, we get into the question of how to view human labor and the material world. McCarraher’s sacramental view of nature informs a discussion of whether and how it is realistic and beneficial to see matter as sacred. What would it mean for Christianity and other religions if we did? What would it mean for work and for the economy?
… More What if Matter Is Sacred? Conversation with Jakob Hanschu on Arts and Crafts Movement (McCarraher 7-Audio)

Corporate Love Affair: Populists & Socialists Too? (McCarraher 6-Audio)

October 18, 2020

I discuss content from Chapters 12 and 13 of Eugene McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, especially his treatment of the American populist and socialist movements. McCarraher shows that underneath their anti-capitalist rhetoric lies a deep agreement with US corporate capitalism. The corporate system was seen by both as a model of cooperation, organization and efficiency which they simply wanted to harness more productively for people as a whole. The populists did not dispute capitalism so much as they attempted to reform it. The socialists (somewhat apropos to my conversation with Chris Cutrone recently) thought the corporate system and scientific management would work better with the profit motive out of the way. Both, then, in their own way, according to McCarraher, were still enchanted with Mammon. … More Corporate Love Affair: Populists & Socialists Too? (McCarraher 6-Audio)

Chris Cutrone on the Hidden Potential of Liberalism and Possible Futures (Part 2-audio)

October 10, 2020

In this second half of my interview with Chris Cutrone, we discuss his view that Enlightenment liberalism holds the potential to liberate mankind but only if capitalism gets out of its way. We discuss ways in which this might happen (futures), and the potential risks and benefits involved. Along the way we discuss Democrats, Republicans, environmental challenges, and the reason to persevere in extremely challenging times. … More Chris Cutrone on the Hidden Potential of Liberalism and Possible Futures (Part 2-audio)

Chris Cutrone on the Death (and Life) of the Left and the Meaning of Trump (Part I)

October 9, 2020

This is the first part of my recent interview of Chris Cutrone. In this part, he explains his slogan “the left is dead; long live the left,” and we get into his take on the meaning of the American Revolution. We discuss the place of the U.S. in revolutionary history, the impact we are having currently, and how that could be different. . … More Chris Cutrone on the Death (and Life) of the Left and the Meaning of Trump (Part I)

Does the Corporate God Love Us? (McCarraher 5-Audio)

September 26, 2020

Drawing from Part 3 of Eugene McCarraher’s The Enchantments of Mammon, I take a good look at the way evangelical Christians in the late 19th century put God and Mammon on the same level. The corporation was raised to the dignity of a human person in U.S. law, begging the question of whether anyone who believes that can really adequately respect human life as “made in the image and likeness of God.” … More Does the Corporate God Love Us? (McCarraher 5-Audio)

The Rise of the Illiberal Right: What We’re Missing

September 20, 2020

In this video I address, through some Ideas from Ch. 6 of my book Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right, some deeper systemic reasons for the rise of the illiberal right and other phenomena that are disturbing societies around the globe. The problem is bigger than just blaming one source of trouble, whether it be the Internet, new organizations, racial groups or university progressives. … More The Rise of the Illiberal Right: What We’re Missing

Mammon Hits America! Puritans, Evangelicals & Mormons (McCarraher 4-Audio)

September 13, 2020

In these three chapters of McCarraher’s book, The Enchantments of Mammon, we get a front row seat to the peculiar developments of American Christianity from colonization through the 19th Century, and the reactions to it from Transcendentalists, Romantics and most importantly America’s enslaved African Americans. This video hits some of the highlights and hopefully gets us to ponder whether America’s historical take on Christianity is really very accurate, and just how much of a problem is its constant admixture of theological and commercial values. Spoiler: it’s a problem. … More Mammon Hits America! Puritans, Evangelicals & Mormons (McCarraher 4-Audio)

Ruskin, Blake and the Romantic Rejection of Automation (Enchantments of Mammon 3-Audio)

September 6, 2020

Eugene McCarraher’s book, The Enchantments of Mammon, explains how the Romantic movement spawned an alternative critique of capitalism, one that can be compatible with conservative as well as certain Enlightenment tendencies even while envisioning a type of communism. John Ruskin is perhaps the greatest inspiration among the Romantic authors for McCarraher. While his love of British empire and embrace of hierarchy may not be desirable, other elements of Ruskin’s thought, and romantic thought generally, are worth considering. … More Ruskin, Blake and the Romantic Rejection of Automation (Enchantments of Mammon 3-Audio)

Medieval Radicals? Fighting the Enchantments of Mammon (2-Audio)

August 29, 2020

We begin to get into Eugene McCarraher’s book The Enchantments of Mammon with the first chapter, in which he surveys the development of two kinds of Christianity, the kind that’s comfortable alongside wealth and the kind that isn’t. Throughout Christian history, before and after the Protestant Reformation, both types are to be found struggling to define Christian faith and practice. With the Protestant Reformation we see an attempt to sacramentalize work and productivity, replacing older more obviously enchanted Catholic eucharistic sacramentality. … More Medieval Radicals? Fighting the Enchantments of Mammon (2-Audio)