If you have ever gotten excited over buying a new object only to feel let down once you acquire it, then today’s discussion will be relevant to you. My guest is Todd McGowan, author of the book Capitalism and Desire: The Psychic Cost of Free Markets (2016, Columbia University Press). We discuss his critique of capitalism as a system that encourages us to for ... Show More
Sep 15
Tom Hulme, "Belfastmen: An Intimate History of Life Before Gay Liberation" (Cornell UP, 2026)
Professor Tom Hulme's second book reconstructs the erotic and romantic lives of queer men in Belfast across roughly seventy years, from the recriminalisation of sex between men in the 1880s to the emergence of a mainstream public debate about homosexuality in the 1950s. It follow ... Show More
48m 1s
Sep 12
John Charles Simon and Jennalee Donian, "Understanding Laughter and Humor: Why We Laugh, Why We Don’t, and Why It Matters" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2026)
In John Charles Simon and Jennalee Donian’s Understanding Laughter and Humor: Why We Laugh, Why We Don’t, and Why It Matters (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025), the authors put forward a comprehensive new theoretical approach to understanding laughter and the humour we use to inspire it. ... Show More
1h 7m
Aug 2025
Todd Mcgowan, "Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity" (Columbia UP, 2024)
Todd McGowan forges a new theory of capitalism as a system based on the production of more than what we need: pure excess. He argues that the promise of more—more wealth, more enjoyment, more opportunity, without requiring any sacrifice—is the essence of capitalism. Previous soci ... Show More
1h 4m
Mar 2025
Pure Excess: Capitalism, Commodity Fetishism, and the Promise of More
<p>Todd McGowan joins the show once again, this time to discuss his newest book <a href= "https://cup.columbia.edu/book/pure-excess/9780231217590">"Pure Excess: Capitalism and the Commodity".</a> Together, he and Breht discuss commodity fetishism, the tensions between Marxism and ... Show More
1h 28m
Oct 2021
Hegel: The Case For Contradiction with Todd McGowan
<p>In this episode, Craig, Will, Matt, and Adam are joined by University of Vermont Professor Todd McGowan to discuss Hegel's concept of contradiction as he lays it out in his book, Emancipation After Hegel: Achieving a Contradictory Revolution. Throughout the latter part of ... Show More
1 h
Oct 2025
Morgan Housel: Why More Money Won’t Make You Happy
Money, happiness, and the elusive idea of “enough.” In this conversation, best-selling author Morgan Housel (The Psychology of Money, The Art of Spending Money) shares raw insights on why chasing more rarely leads to fulfillment—and how to rethink the way we use money as a tool f ... Show More
56m 11s