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The Syllabus

@the-syllabus.bsky.social
1.6K followers 938 following 1.4K posts

Knowledge Curation Done Well. Non-Profit. Podcasts, videos, books, academic articles, and more. Subscribe: www.the-syllabus.com

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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 8h
Since 2000, the number of hospital beds per capita has decreased in nearly all OECD countries. Our hidden gem of the week shows how public-private arrangements have driven the growth of private hospital bed provision. By Mauricio Matus-Lopez et al. at @pablodeolavide.upo.es osf.io/49tuw
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 10h
Talk of the coming end of dollar hegemony has resurfaced once again. Yet as our book of the week explains, the dollar's persistence relies on the security umbrella that the US offers to the world’s wealthiest countries. By Ho-fung Hung on @uchicagopress.bsky.social buff.ly/fF42QbU
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Microphones serve as tools of listening as well as public speech. This conversation traces the device from its 1870s origins in telephones to its role as an audio tool and visual prop for politicians such as FDR and Hitler in the 1930s. With David Trotter on @lrb.co.uk buff.ly/LoaqRIq
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An Alternative History of the Microphone
Podcast Episode · The LRB Podcast · October 1 · 47m
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This piece argues that drained pools, ruined clubs, barricaded enclaves, gang warfare, and human remains recur in J.G. Ballard's fiction because they first appeared in Shanghai's "Badlands." By @chinarhyming.bsky.social in @chinabooksreview.com buff.ly/P2QborZ
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J. G. Ballard’s Dystopian Shanghai | China Books Review
How the English novelist J. G. Ballard’s boyhood in war-torn Shanghai influenced his darkest fiction.
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
This piece reviews a recent book that reads Zionism through its Jewish critics and argues that the project rests on disavowal: a settler-colonial fantasy that masks Palestinian dispossession behind tales of Jewish victimhood and civilizational mission. By Barnaby Raine buff.ly/VSpTVeu
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Encountering Zionism
In 1902, a founder of Zionism wrote a utopian novel. Theodor Herzl’s Altneuland imagines European Jews, with the blessing of European imperial powers, conquering Palestine. They make its desert…
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
This article is featured in this week's edition of the Best of World: buff.ly/eXHX3uz
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
The author examines a Chinese state-owned sisal plantation in Tanzania as a temporal, not just spatial, enclave. This article argues that the state's future-oriented "going out" mandate collides with the multiple rhythms of everyday life. By Wen Lei in @urbanstudiesjournal.com buff.ly/GbY8vxw
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‘Going out’ and ‘going on’: Teleology, polyphony and temporal encounters of a Chinese plantation in Tanzania - Wen Lei, 2026
While China’s overseas engagements are frequently scrutinised as spatial enclaves, their temporal constitution remains largely unexamined. Drawing on ethnograph...
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
This document can be found in this week's edition of the Best of World: buff.ly/eXHX3uz
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
This report examines how Moroccan authorities use surveillance to harass, discredit, and silence human rights defenders. It centers on the domestic intelligence service, the DGST, describing monitoring operations paired with smear campaigns. By @amnesty.org buff.ly/zTXqDXr
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Morocco: “We start with the verdict”: Inside Morocco’s surveillance machine - Amnesty International
This report documents the surveillance ecosystem that enables the Moroccan authorities to use repressive tactics to harass, discredit and ultimately silence human rights defenders. It outlines the…
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Since 2020, authorities in China have sought to rein in platforms like Alibaba amid their growth in market power and concerns about political disruption. Our article of the week examines the political economy of Fintech disruption. By @cchia.bsky.social & @jingdingwang.bsky.social buff.ly/XDo7crG
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This essay is part of this week's edition of the Best of World: buff.ly/eXHX3uz
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Pax Silica, a Trump-backed US initiative, seeks to secure AI supply chains. This piece argues that the project blends geopolitical competition with private tech interests and revives a colonial model of development. By @kieraevebutler.bsky.social in @motherjones.com buff.ly/Kwv9zye
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Tech Bros and the Trump administration are building an AI empire—in the Philippines
Pax Silica aims to lock up rare earths, and hand Silicon Valley the keys.
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Delivery app workers and urban movements in Brazil confront a common problem: securing livelihoods as state support declines. Our video of the week argues that capitalism increasingly operates through "peripheralization." Feat. @gabrieltupinamba.bsky.social at @alameda.institute buff.ly/gJ9Qz3S
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This episode is featured in this week's edition of the Best of World: buff.ly/eXHX3uz
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Lebanon's electricity crisis has a long history. This dialogue treats bill boycotts and protests not as signs of state failure but as forms of popular politics that helped shape national identity through everyday infrastructure. With @ziadaburish.bsky.social on @afikra.bsky.social buff.ly/DB3FJwn
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Lebanon's Electricity Crisis is Not New - It Started in 1952! | Prof. Ziad Abu-Rish | The afikra Podcast
The history of electricity in Lebanon serves as a vibrant arena for struggles over political economy, foreign corporate ownership, and the very definition of national sovereignty. Associate Professor…
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The US's designation of the Italian hacktivist collective Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist is not unique. As our podcast of the week details, the action is part of a long history of US intervention in Italian politics. With @margaret.bsky.social buff.ly/4puBahy
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
From 1829 to 1990, the French illustrated satirical press alternated between glorifying colonial conquests and denouncing the Second Empire's violence. Our French pick of the week chronicles the ambiguities of colonial history. By Sofiane Taouchichet on @purh.bsky.social buff.ly/iGdDRlo
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan has quietly risen in recent years to become a major player in AI infrastructure and investment. Our essay of the week profiles the man behind UAE’s tech-security empire. By Jack Shenker in @theguardian.com buff.ly/T08z2fr
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
If current proposals advance, Pennsylvania could see 66 new data centers built, on top of the 71 currently active. But as our hidden gem of the week shows, communities are pushing back. By @mwoluchem.bsky.social et al. at @datasociety.bsky.social buff.ly/aMa3tph
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The Claremont Institute began as a home for conservative political philosophers but has since become a key part of the MAGA movement. Our book of the week traces how the Institute shapes US conservatism. By F. Darrell Munsell on @univpressofkansas.bsky.social buff.ly/Ak3KjM9
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This episode is featured in this week's edition of the Best of Social Justice: buff.ly/MW4EFu2
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Throughout its 250-year history, the US has consistently decided who should reproduce, and under what conditions. The guest in this dialogue traces a line from slavery and one-drop racial classification to eugenic sterilization. With Michele Goodwin buff.ly/xq6EkqA
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Policing the Womb | Michele Goodwin
Podcast Episode · OVERSHOOT | Shrink Toward Abundance · September 22 · 54m
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This podcast can be found in this week's edition of the Best of Social Justice: buff.ly/MW4EFu2
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
As the world has learned, threats to the Strait of Hormuz can quickly disrupt global supply and trigger another energy shock. This episode links the current conflict to the UK’s exposure to volatile fuel prices. With @alchap.bsky.social et al. on @neweconomics.bsky.social buff.ly/ztBGQ95
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Shockwave: Strikes on Iran and the future of energy
A miniseries from the New Economics Podcast which asks how have energy crises shaped our economy and what do we need to do to shockproof our energy system in an increasingly volatile world? The Strai
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
From the Covid-19 pandemic to the rise of AI, debates about the value and future of work are once again at the center of attention. But how does work actually operate? Our open-access article of the week analyzes work as a Foucauldian dispositif. By Önder Özden buff.ly/J32SCkf
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This video is part of this week's edition of the Best of Social Justice: buff.ly/MW4EFu2
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
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 · 02/10/2026
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
This essay is featured in this week's edition of the Best of Social Justice: buff.ly/MW4EFu2
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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 · 28/09/2026
Over the past decade, Steven Pinker has shifted from a mainstream intellectual to an anti-woke polemicist. This piece links this turn to the decline of evolutionary psychology and his proximity to figures in Epstein's circle. By @virginiaheffernan.bsky.social in @thenerve.news buff.ly/cAnmZ0B
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From celebrity intellectual to anti-woke outlaw: how Steven Pinker lost his way
The pop psycholgist’s new book seems to betray a lurking fear of others’ criticism – about his Epstein links, his manosphere admirers and his discredited former field of study, writes Virginia…
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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
This episode is featured in this week's edition of the Best of Podcasts: buff.ly/KNpUvyU
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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
This episode is part of this week's edition of the Best of Podcasts: buff.ly/KNpUvyU
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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
This podcast can be found in this week's edition of the Best of Podcasts: buff.ly/KNpUvyU
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The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This episode explores Chinese Dreamcore, an internet aesthetic influenced by nostalgic elements like classroom bells and early 2000s schoolyards, and reads it through Mark Fisher's hauntology. With Ennan Wu et al. on @acidhorizon.bsky.social buff.ly/BnQ8mUx
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Chinese Dreamcore: Tangping, Mark Fisher, and Hauntology in the Anthropocene - Acid Horizon
Acid Horizon offers affordable online philosophy and humanities courses: https://www.acidhorizonpodcast.com/ahrc-coursesCan you feel homesick for something that hasn't even disappeared yet? This week…
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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
This episode is featured in this week's edition of the Best of Podcasts: buff.ly/KNpUvyU
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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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