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 Liberalism, which expands on his earlier theory of justice to develop an account of the pluralistic tolerance at the heart of a liberal society characterized by the fact of a diversity of incommensurate but reasona ... Show More
Today
130 | Max Horkheimer: What Makes Critical Theory Critical?
In this episode we talk about Max Horkheimer’s essay “Traditional and Critical Theory”, which serves as a kind of manifesto for the Frankfurt School of Marxist thought. We talk about how he defines these categories, reflect on whether the distinction holds up, and ask ourselves w ... Show More
1h 4m
Jan 28
129 | Introducing: Marxism & Religion, Part I: Martin Luther King, Jr.
In this episode, we introduce our new series on “Marxism and Religion.” At political, social, and spiritual levels, the series explores this complicated relationship for a transitioning age. We start with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is a political and spiritual beacon for ma ... Show More
1h 1m
Aug 2023
A Conservative on How His Party Has Changed Since 2016
<p>The 2024 Republican presidential primary is officially underway, and Donald Trump is dominating the field. But this is a very different contest than it was in 2016. Back then, the Republican Party was the party of foreign policy interventionism, free trade and cutting entitlem ... Show More
56m 58s
Apr 2023
Best Of: The War Within the Republican Party
<p>On Monday, Fox News abruptly announced that the network and its star primetime host, Tucker Carlson, “have agreed to part ways” after more than a decade. The announcement came less than a week after Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit that prominently feat ... Show More
1h 23m
Sep 2023
What the Cold War Did to Liberalism (w/ Samuel Moyn)
<p>In his provocative new book, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300266214/liberalism-against-itself/"><i>Liberalism Against Itself</i></a>, historian Samuel Moyn revisits the work of five key Cold War thinkers—Judith Shklar, Isaiah Berlin, Karl Popper, Gertrude Himme ... Show More
1h 11m
