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Slavoj Žižek is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University, and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy. This is Slavoj’s fifth appearance on the show. On episode 109, he and Robinson discussed wokeness and psychoanalysis. On episode 118, he, Sean Carroll, and Robinson discussed quantum physics, the multiverse, and time travel. And on episode 206 he, Lee Smolin, and Robinson discussed quantum physics. In episode 212, Robinson and Slavoj talk about ancient philosophy, god, communism, quantum mechanics, and psychoanalysis. In this episode, they discuss current political events, marxism, quantum mechanics, and artificial intelligence. Slavoj’s upcoming book is Quantum History: A New Materialist Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2025).
Quantum History: https://a.co/d/7WFcAGi
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OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
01:07 Marxism and Quantum Mechanics
07:34 Why We Aren’t Pessimistic Enough
16:29 The Wisdom of the First Philosopher
29:27 The Assassination of Charlie Kirk
38:10 On Curtis Yarvin
49:23 The Naivety of Pete Hegseth
51:06 The Contradiction in American Fascism
57:43 Could a Coup Overthrow Trump?
01:04:17 The Utter Shamelessness of Today’s Society
01:14:15 The Danger of the Disappearing Left
01:18:06 AI Is a Tool of Authoritarian Suppression
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.