logo
episode-header-image
May 2025
1h 8m

Response to Philosophy Tube

Untimely Reflections
About this episode

This episode is an upload to Spotify of my response to Abigail Thorn's "Was Nietzsche Woke?" video. This video was previously uploaded to Youtube.


Watch me spend more time than the entire length of Abigail Thorn's video explaining why it is a superficial hit piece based on strained, bizarre arguments and outright false information. There are many "creative omissions" in Philosophy Tube's video, "Was Nietzsche Woke?": rather basic information about Nietzsche's life and his ideas is left out that would completely one's view of the information presented. In this rebuttal, we'll look at the statements in Nietzsche's own published works in Human, All Too Human (1878), Daybreak (1881), The Gay Science (1882), Beyond Good & Evil (1886) Ecce Homo (1888) & Twilight of Idols (1888) as well as selections from Nietzsche's letters, his essays, and unpublished notes assembled in Will to Power. Philosophy Tube's video relies almost entirely on secondary sources and clearly does not derive from a direct engagement with the actual texts. While I actually have read all of the primary source material, I also reference the following secondary sources in this video:The Legend of the Anti-Christ: A History by Stephen J. Vicchio (2009)Nietzsche, Philosopher, Psychologist, Antchrist by Walter Kaufmann (Fourth Edition, Princeton University Press, 1974)Nietzsche's Women: Beyond the Whip by Carol Diethe (2013, De Gruyter)I was also informed in my study by the biographies provided by Krell & Bates, as well as Curtis Cate and the work of Charlie Huenemann. Stephen Hicks' book, Nietzsche and the Nazis, while I disagree with it on many points, was also helpful in elucidating the difference between Nietzsche's view of Christianity versus that of the Nazis. Also, Robert Solomon helped contextualize the common views around eugenics in 19th century Europe.


Up next
Oct 7
Q&A #13
If you would like to have your own questions answered on The Nietzsche Podcast, no matter how unusual, niche, or rambling, then join the Patreon and participate in our regular Q&As that happen about twice per season. Season six starts next week! 
2h 12m
Sep 23
The Gay Science #20 (IV.328-342)
The conclusion of the main books of The Gay Science! We'll cover some of the best aphorisms so far: the greatest weight, the dying Socrates, long live physics, and many more. Thus begins Zarathustra's down-going. Episode art: Nicholas Roerich - Zarathustra (1931) 
2h 25m
Sep 16
The Gay Science #19 (IV.311-327)
More aphorisms concerning drives, the way that impulses appropriate thought for their own ends, "moral pluralism", means of finding happiness, pleasure and pain as means rather than ends, and experimentation as method.Episode art: The Two Crowns (1900) by Frank Dicksee 
2h 14m
Recommended Episodes
May 2025
Close Readings: Nietzsche's 'Schopenhauer as Educator'
In this extended extract from their series 'Conversations in Philosophy', part of the LRB's Close Readings podcast, Jonathan Rée and James Wood look at one of Friedrich Nietzsche's early essays, 'Schopenhauer as Educator'. For Nietzsche, Schopenhauer’s genius lay not in his ideas ... Show More
31m 43s
Nov 2019
Episode 68, The Abigail Thorn Interview (Part I - Behind Philosophy Tube)
Abigail Thorn is an actor and educator, best known as the creator and host of the popular YouTube channel Philosophy Tube. Boasting around half a million subscribers, Abigail’s channel is notorious for its well-researched content and colourful presentation. With over six years of ... Show More
38m 20s
Dec 2018
Episode 51, Simone de Beauvoir (Part IV - Further Analysis and Discussion)
Simone de Beauvoir was a pioneer for the second-wave feminist movement and one of the most famous philosophers to have lived. Strikingly, Beauvoir did not label herself as a philosopher, since she never attempted to provide an original treatise which aimed to fully encapsulate th ... Show More
50m 41s
Jan 2025
Philosophy Series: Nietzsche and the Death of God
Breht listens to, reflects on, and critically engages with a public lecture by the late philosopher Michael Sugrue entitled "Nietzsche and the Death of God". He discusses the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, the politics of modern day Nietzscheans, the death of god and consumer ... Show More
2h 32m
Nov 2019
Episode 68, The Abigail Thorn Interview (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)
Abigail Thorn is an actor and educator, best known as the creator and host of the popular YouTube channel Philosophy Tube. Boasting around half a million subscribers, Abigail’s channel is notorious for its well-researched content and colourful presentation. With over six years of ... Show More
41m 59s
Mar 2025
The philosophy of geopolitics SPECIAL | Donald Trump, Homer's Odyssey, and Korean Web Novels
What do Friedrich Nietzsche, the Korean War, and Homer's Odyssey have in common?Join the team at the IAI for four articles about the history and philosophy of geopolitics, ranging from Nietzsche's impact on Russia's imperialist strategies to the importance of Ancient Greek traged ... Show More
43m 55s
Nov 2018
Episode 51, Simone de Beauvoir (Part I - The Life of Simone de Beauvoir)
Simone de Beauvoir was a pioneer for the second-wave feminist movement and one of the most famous philosophers to have lived. Strikingly, Beauvoir did not label herself as a philosopher, since she never attempted to provide an original treatise which aimed to fully encapsulate th ... Show More
1h 1m
May 2025
Nietzsche, the birth of tragedy, and the technology trap | Babette Babich
Nietzsche, the birth of tragedy, and the technology trap with Babette BabichBabette Babich discusses Nietzsche, the importance of tragedy, and the danger of technology interfering with our judgement. Babette Babich is a world renowned Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University ... Show More
24m 19s
Nov 2018
Episode 51, Simone de Beauvoir (Part II - The Ethics of Ambiguity)
Simone de Beauvoir was a pioneer for the second-wave feminist movement and one of the most famous philosophers to have lived. Strikingly, Beauvoir did not label herself as a philosopher, since she never attempted to provide an original treatise which aimed to fully encapsulate th ... Show More
1h 3m
Jul 2023
Thus Spake Zarathustra - A Book for All and None by Friedrich Nietzsche ~ Full Audiobook
Thus Spake Zarathustra - A Book for All and None by Friedrich Nietzsche audiobook. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900) was a nineteenth-century German philosopher. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, using a distincti ... Show More
15h 34m