Wretched of the Earth

On this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss Frantz Fanon's decolonial classic, Black Skin, White Masks. The hosts work through the conversation surrounding his credentials as a psychoanalyst, his engagement with Freud, Lacan, Octave Mannoni, and Carl Jung, and his dialectical relation ... Show More

On this episode, Ryan and Todd theorize the adaptation as a form of film. The episode takes its point of departure the continuing conversation over Nolan's Odyssey. Film adaptations, according to the hosts, must represent an intervention to the source text. This intervention can ... Show More

On this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss Christopher Nolan's recent film. The conversation begins with Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey that Nolan consulted and adapted to the screen. Much of the conversation is focused on teasing out the consequences of the changes Nolan ... Show More

<p>Topics covered include: the thrill and terror of acting without a script, the meta nature of <em>The Souvenir </em>movies, Joanna Hogg as genius puppet master, the return of real film, Paul’s “chill and kind” rugby-playing brother, Irish gatekeeping, drama school memories, slo ... Show More

This week, the fellas are back discussing Alenka Zupančič's Problemi essay, 'Lying on the Couch'. How does the psychoanalytic framework allow us to make sense of culture and lying, what is the asymmetry of a truth and a lie, and what did we think of the new Beatles song? Mike is ... Show More

UNLOCKED: Today we're talking Žižek's chapter in his book Absolute Recoil called "The Violence of the Beginning". The reading begins with the notion that there is "nothing prior to the loss" of the sense of lost origins. Žižek then sets into play the idea of the self-alienation o ... Show More

Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, and Russ Sbriglia explore the points of greatest strength and greatest weakness in the thought of Jacques Lacan. They focus on the notion of surplus enjoyment, the formulas of sexuation, and the four discourses. They frame … Continue reading → 

<p>Topics covered include: the world of childhood, collaborators as playmates, blasting <em>Remain in Light</em> on loop, Mike’s innate desire to give everyone a hug, being allergic to bullshit, the Wim Wenders Easter eggs in <em>C’mon C’mon</em>, black and white movies as their ... Show More

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE! This week the fellas read through Žižek’s Looking Awry. We’re talking anamorphosis, Shakespeare, Zeno’s Paradoxes and the end of the world. Will is in the woods, Peter is at a gathering and Michael’s cat is out of the bag. Thank you to all our fel ... Show More

Join Aaron and T.J. this week as they discuss Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, a tautly constructed drama about two men who murder their classmate, thinking that they've pulled off the perfect killing. They discuss the erotics of suffering and the star text of Farley Granger, the film's ... Show More

<p>Danielle and Millie discuss BROADCAST NEWS (1987) and LÉON MORIN, PRIEST (1961), the sexual nature of confessionals, himbos in the workplace, and the wrestler who does the X over his crotch. Plus, they are joined by the wonderful Scott Youngbauer and Peter Lozano from the podc ... Show More

<p>Topics covered include: the importance of letting your movie breath, hate-cutting <em>The Green Knight</em>, the fall of Troy, Grail mythology, a mom’s helpful nudge, old-fashioned movie magic, the epic oner from <em>Eternal Sunshine</em>, concentric circles of production and ... Show More