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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 16h

This book talk traces the aftermath of the speaker's partner's beating. Research into trauma and caregiving offers few practical answers, so she turns to a lifesaving manual and trains in wilderness survival, rescue, and first aid. Featuring @virginiaeeubanks.bsky.social buff.ly/pdUgc2g

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Virginia Eubanks—Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival

Virginia Eubanks is an investigative journalist and author of, "Automating Inequality," (see that 2018 talk recorded by Forum Network). Eubanks is also an associate professor of political science at…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 18h

The rise of neoclassical models that treat people as individuals and the Cold War purge of Marxist approaches from economics departments severed the link between politics and economics. Our video of the week calls for repoliticizing economics. Feat. @ingridhk.bsky.social on @iai.tv buff.ly/KGr8h08

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Recent calls to abolish the family mistake a political institution for a problem of care and labor. This piece argues that family abolition borrows radical rhetoric while neglecting how families reproduce authority, domination, and the state. By Robyn Marasco buff.ly/unBUyqS

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The Anti-Politics of Family Abolition - Salvage

In loving memory of Asad Haider ‘And just as God has been pronounced dead quite often but has this sneaky way of resurrecting himself, so everyone debunks marriage, yet ends up married.’ – Shulamith…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The retreat from neoliberal globalization is signalling a new political-economic order that combines free-market policies at home with protectionism abroad. Our podcast of the week maps the implications of this shift for the global economy. With @brankomilan.bsky.social buff.ly/hNefPYM

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Delegating functions to machines changes more than what people do: it reshapes how people experience themselves. But rather than reject technology, our Italian pick of the week advocates for forms of hybridization that preserve the singularity of living. By Miguel Benasayag buff.ly/iTqZAbY

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

With governments buying stakes in AI and defense contractors, a new political economy is fueling imperialist scrambles abroad, while deepening illiberalism at home. Our essay of the week traces the rise of imperial state capitalism. By @iliasalami.bsky.social in @illsp.bsky.social buff.ly/fJRL9xn

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

For many extremely wealthy Americans, philanthropy has become a key part of defending their power. Our hidden gem of the week lays out the political conditions that allow the rich to dominate and benefit from charitable giving. By @bdevaan.bsky.social et al. at @ips-dc.org buff.ly/ZTLqA6L

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

When does a greyish mass become a brain? Our book of the week examines five 20th-century clinics that tried to loosen doctor-led control through preventive care, patient self-help, and community participation. By Benoît Loiseau on @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social buff.ly/HwXoswI

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Examining Weimar Germany through the split between Rudolf Koch's Gothic lettering and Jan Tschichold's turn to New Typography after 1922, this talk frames the dispute as one between historicism and modernism, nationalism and universality. Featuring Paul Stirton buff.ly/Ql9dJkv

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Gothic vs. Modern: Letterforms and Graphic Design in Weimar Germany

A lecture by Paul Stirton (Bard Graduate Center) In 1922 the young designer Jan Tschichold traveled to Offenbach to meet Rudolf Koch, the presiding genius of German _Schriftkunst_ (lettering art)…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Reporting from Budapest's Danube Institute as Viktor Orban's rule unravels, this piece traces how US and European conservatives treated Hungary as a model for using state power against liberal institutions. By @briankgoodman.bsky.social in @thedriftmag.com buff.ly/AeMVDS4

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The Last Days of the Danube Institute | A Report from Postliberal Budapest

By Brian Goodman. In the wake of Viktor Orbán’s defeat, Budapest’s postliberals face end times.

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

What does a "second decline of the West" mean today? This dialogue links postcolonial critique to planetary history, arguing that the older project of "provincializing Europe" now extends to "provincializing humans." With Dipesh Chakrabarty on @futurehistories.bsky.social buff.ly/zcGRGbe

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S04E13 - Dipesh Chakrabarty on the Second Decline of the West | Future Histories

Dipesh Chakrabarty on the Second Decline of the West. Shownotes Dipesh Chakrabarty Dipesh Chakrabarty at the University of Chicago: https://history.uchicago.edu/directory/dipesh-chakrabarty…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

What does the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident reveal about AI discourse? The hosts of this episode argue that public debate treats AI less as a set of explainable machine-learning systems than as a mystified force with opaque intentions. With @jathansadowski.com & @edwardongwesojr.com buff.ly/AueQIHb

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475. Never Let a Computer Tell Me Shit

Podcast Episode · This Machine Kills · September 17 · 1h 24m

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Between 1971 and 1974, John Cage attempted to reconcile the "irreconcilable" social philosophy of Buckminster Fuller and the politics of Mao Tse-Tung by "listening to both." Our article of the week examines the politics of Cage's philosophy of silence. By Luke Martin buff.ly/e1BJYgE

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

When the country’s unemployed youth were compared to “cockroaches," Abhijeet Dipke jokingly put out an online call: “What if all cockroaches came together?” Our video of the week explores the rise of India's Cockroach Janata Party. Feat. Anuradha Chenoy at @tninstitute.bsky.social buff.ly/zPgccvm

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In Buenos Aires, psychoanalysis permeates everyday life, influencing TV shows and even taxi drivers' commentaries. This dialogue examines "psychoanalytic listening" in the city, where people often interpret comments as having deeper meanings. With Xochitl Marsilli-Vargas buff.ly/6swG8nW

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Therapy Speak, with Xochitl Marsilli-Vargas

Podcast Episode · Uncommon Sense · July 24 · 46m

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Patriarchy is not only a system in which men dominate women; it is a grammar that teaches people how to see the world. As our podcast of the week details, the concept makes hierarchy and injustice appear as natural. With Robin Dembroff on @unhappinesspod.bsky.social buff.ly/d0tahRS

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A 1938 National Geographic map of the "Bible Lands" linked the extraction of artifacts to the extraction of natural resources. Our French pick of the week shows how museums and universities enable cultural extractivism. Featuring Bénédicte Savoy buff.ly/gTri7PQ

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Why are there so many data centers if so few people like AI? Our essay of the week maps the growing US backlash against the infrastructure powering the AI boom, driven by electricity costs and distrust of corporate power. By @brianjchen.bsky.social in @dissentmag.bsky.social buff.ly/tkw7eyB

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

In 1994, China initiated its first reform of urban housing, allowing state employees to buy government housing at a discount and build home equity. Our hidden gem of the week models the sustainability of property-backed welfare and redistribution. By Kaiji Chen et al. in @nber.org buff.ly/vLjpl9u

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

How did a puzzle game created in a KGB-monitored Soviet computer lab cross the Berlin Wall and become a global blockbuster? From its 1980s origins through complex licensing deals, our book of the week traces the rise of Tetris. By Julien Mailland on @mitpress.bsky.social buff.ly/cLR8jgs

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Soviet Blocks: The Bizarre Puzzle of How Tetris Embraced Western Values

A geopolitical and legal history of the bestselling videogame Tetris—the stunningly successful game that began in a Soviet research lab monitored by the KGB.Tetris—the game that would take the world…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Who carried out the 1920 Wall Street bombing, and why does the case remain unsolved? The speaker recounts the noon explosion in New York's financial district that killed 38 people and injured about 150, then examines competing theories. With @everywheretrip.bsky.social buff.ly/mhP46m1

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The 1920 Wall Street Bombing

Podcast Episode · Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More · September 4 · 14m

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Scotland's 2011 Curriculum for Excellence was a model that replaced a knowledge-rich secondary curriculum with a skills-based one. In doing so, this piece argues, the government dismantled a shared literary and intellectual tradition. By Alec Thompson in @asteriskmag.bsky.social buff.ly/NpSqyzX

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The Destruction of the Scottish Canon

What’s the point of content knowledge when you can teach skills instead? Scotland decided to find out.

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This essay reads 9/11 through the idea of disappearance: the towers vanish into dust, victims remain missing, and memorials mark absence and not repair. The author argues that this logic extends beyond the attacks into post-9/11 politics. By Brad Evans in @philosalon.bsky.social buff.ly/t3ilV4Z

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The Disappearance of 9/11 - The Philosophical Salon

Disappearance became as clear as the blue sky, which, for a moment, appeared complicit in the violence below. Planes exploded and steel melted as the world observed a spectacle characterized ... Read…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the early French Empire formed a connected transoceanic system. This conversation focuses on how this process shaped the lives of enslaved and free people. With Mélanie Lamotte on @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social buff.ly/7gfgd7w

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Mélanie Lamotte, "By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire" (Harvard UP, 2026) - New Books Network

Support Kritika | Support H-Net | Buy Books Here | Join the NBN and NBN en Español on Patreon | Visit New Books Network en Español!

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Centering on "Ways of Seeing," the 1970s BBC series that treats Western art through its economic conditions, this piece revisits John Berger's unusual place in British public life as an intellectual who reached a mass audience. By @johnlivesey.bsky.social in @jacobinmag.bsky.social buff.ly/Yaryd40

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The Discreet Charm of John Berger

Art critic, novelist, Marxist, lover, exile, storyteller: John Berger resisted every easy definition. His new biography embraces the contradictions he left behind.

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Can a guaranteed income make dissent harder to punish? Our open-access article of the week argues that universal basic income (UBI) weakens the "soft repression" used by illiberal regimes, pushing them toward tolerating more opposition. By @ckwok.bsky.social buff.ly/4YVKuRk

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

What defines South Indian classical music, and how should listeners approach it? This talk introduces Carnatic music through performance, outlining raga, tala, and vocal ornamentation as organizational systems. With @manasamitrauk.bsky.social at @yorkfestofideas.bsky.social buff.ly/hm57xTR

youtube.com

Demystifying South Indian Classical Music

Speakers and performers: Supriya Nagarajan, Duncan Chapman, Sumie Kent and Ranjan Vasudevan As one of the UK’s most sought-after Carnatic vocalists and Artistic Director of Manasamitra, Supriya…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

From Victor Hugo to Rudyard Kipling, poets and intellectuals often interpreted the geopolitical conflicts of their time in artistic terms. Focusing on World War I, our video of the week looks at poetic responses to the Great War. Featuring Hall Gardner buff.ly/jqJWFGP

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This book examines how three generations of feminist science-fiction writers use ecological speculation and "memory-work" to rethink history and futurity, arguing that archival labor sits at the center of their worldmaking. By @shelleysuz.bsky.social on @nyupress.bsky.social buff.ly/Vky3JL6

nyupress.org

https://nyupress.org/9781479833405/science-fiction-ecologies/

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

As corporate concentration rises, a new competition movement seeks to reverse the EU's shift toward Chicago School antitrust. Our podcast of the week examines how and why the EU initially turned towards the likes of Milton Friedman. With Nicholas Shaxson on @euscream.bsky.social buff.ly/ONXpF2I

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Is the populist right really an economic left in disguise? Drawing on the AfD's manifesto, our German pick of the week finds an agenda favoring free trade, lower taxes, deregulation, and intensified interstate competition. By Armin Schäfer in @pvs-journal.bsky.social buff.ly/jPWsinq

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Over the last century, Big Industry has built a vast apparatus of think tanks and obliging news networks to manufacture doubt and shield corporations. Our essay of the week explores the deep history of "information pollution." By @markhertsgaard.bsky.social in @thenation.com buff.ly/9fz3Jku

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Instead of pigeonholing the discipline, it is perhaps more fruitful to examine philosophy through the lens of a transdisciplinary epistemology. Our hidden gem of the week defends an interdisciplinary and more modest conception of philosophy. By @profwilson.bsky.social at @ucl.ac.uk buff.ly/nIgVPH1

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Large-scale buildout of solar and wind projects is harming communities and ecosystems while failing to meet our ever-rising energy demand. Our book of the week makes clear that we cannot consume our way out of climate chaos. By @joshuafrank.bsky.social on @haymarketbooks.org buff.ly/mt5YtQr

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

What do ghosts, fox spirits, demons, and talking animals do in premodern Chinese literature? The speaker surveys the classical fantastic, showing how supernatural tales entertain, moralize, and encode Buddhist or Daoist themes. Ft. Lisa Indraccolo at @helsinki.fi buff.ly/ML1V3Q1

youtube.com

Stranger Things in Premodern China

Stranger Things in Premodern China – Ghosts, Demons and the Supernatural in Classical Chinese Fantastic Fiction Chinese premodern literature is populated by a rich pantheon of supernatural beings…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Over the course of a generation, “cool” became the supreme compliment of American culture. This conversation traces its origins to Black resistance, jazz, existentialism, film noir, Method acting and youth rebellion. WIth Joel Dinerstein buff.ly/84TieHk

podcasts.apple.com

The secret history of cool | Joel Dinerstein

Podcast Episode · Philosophy For Our Times · August 25 · 29m

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Country music’s popularity in Jamaica reflects decades of radio, cinema, migration, and a listening culture unconcerned with rigid genre boundaries. This episode traces how artists like Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline resonated with Jamaican experiences of rural life. With Jamal Khadar buff.ly/OiMRdXz

podcasts.apple.com

The Cowboys of Kingston's Music Culture with Jamal Khadar

Podcast Episode · Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture · September 2 · 52m

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

In Loudoun County, Virginia, a data center boom turned abandoned dot-com infrastructure into a large commercial tax base that funds schools. This piece argues that the same model now exposes the costs other US communities may face. By @laurenfeiner.bsky.social in @theverge.com buff.ly/FIbqFMu

theverge.com

Your future is in Virginia

If you want to know what the data center occupation looks like, there’s one place where it already arrived — 20 years ago.

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This interview examines the South African photobook as a medium that shapes, rather than merely contains, photographic meaning. The interviewee traces how books move beyond iconic images and news photography to archives and private experience across apartheid. By Sean O'Toole buff.ly/7DnwLzY

theideasletter.org

The Medium as a Site of Struggle

South African photography, whether emerging from the front lines of oppression and struggle, or documenting everyday life in a troubled, hopeful place, has occupied a distinctive position in the…

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

During Greece's National Schism, rival factions turned partisan songs into tests of loyalty. Our article of the week introduces the concept of "acoustic coercion" to show how nationalist conflict is enacted through audibility. By Argyrios Kokoris in @nationalitiesp.bsky.social buff.ly/eEVx6ph

cambridge.org

Acoustic Coercion: Music, Violence, and Nationalist Conflict | Nationalities Papers | Cambridge Core

Acoustic Coercion: Music, Violence, and Nationalist Conflict

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

In reflecting on a Chicago arena concert by Rosalía, this essay describes the near-hysterical devotion of the crowd and the singer's command of voice, image, and sexualized stagecraft, arguing that the performance offers private adoration. By Anne Carson in @lrb.co.uk buff.ly/api0AwX

lrb.co.uk

Anne Carson · On Rosalía

We require heroism of our entertainers. We want them sacrificing themselves to a certain ultimate degree of input. No...

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Can public housing be built quickly without sacrificing dignity, affordability, or the environment? Our video of the week proposes a model to reframe social housing as a public asset and a source of community life. Featuring Cris Ballester Parets & Carles Oliver Barceló buff.ly/U5bzKfL

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

While marketing itself as "fully automated," Waymo's taxi service depends on low-level human labor: workers clean sensors, move stalled cars, and follow reset scripts. This interview describes chaotic contracting through Transdev. By Stephanie Reist in @bayareacurrent.bsky.social buff.ly/4kx8RWe

bayareacurrent.com

Cleaning Up Poop: The Human Labor Behind Waymo

Human feces isn’t even the nastiest thing they’ve found in the backseat.

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Long before the rise of Big Tech, computers shaped how people worked, how markets operated, and how businesses became big. Our podcast of the week offers a new history of the digital economy. With Devin Kennedy on @whomakescents.bsky.social buff.ly/sOSbRtK

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

How do digital platforms draw young users into spirals of radicalization? Drawing on cybernetics, our Portuguese pick of the week reframes radicalization in Brazil as the product of the technical and economic logic of digital platforms. By @letcesar.bsky.social buff.ly/SIoC6lG

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

El Salvador’s neoliberal model rests on an economy that produces little, imports much, and relies on migration to stay afloat. From dollarization to deregulation, our essay of the week traces the shifting contours of the nation's neoliberal restructuring. By Melissa Salgado buff.ly/oRhWD3K

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

First coined in 1882 by the classicist and poet Frederic Myer, telepathy drew the attention of a wide range of thinkers across several decades. Our hidden gem of the week examines how interwar British socialists imagined mind-to-mind communication. By @duncanbell.bsky.social buff.ly/soE0J9m

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Since the late 18th century, trade, migration, and technology have bound the world into a shared but fractured system. Our book of the week explores 200 years of arguments and counterarguments about what made the modern world. By Jeremy Adelman on @princetonupress.bsky.social buff.ly/vV4K0qq

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