Episodes
![HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE?](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE?
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
In this podcast, I discuss the proposition that "Hell is other people" which is found in Sartre's play Hui Clos (1944). I draw on my own reflections, and the works of Freud and Hegel rather than closely following the original play. [Free. 22 minutes.]
![OPTIMISM OF THE WILL, PESSIMISM OF THE INTELLECT - INTERESTING TIMES 80](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Wednesday May 22, 2024
OPTIMISM OF THE WILL, PESSIMISM OF THE INTELLECT - INTERESTING TIMES 80
Wednesday May 22, 2024
Wednesday May 22, 2024
In this podcast, I apply Gramsci's concepts of optimism of the will and pessimism of the intellect to some recent news items in order to expose the propaganda nature of their reporting by the BBC and other MSM, to expose the "common sense" and natural seeming language of the broadcasters, which however obscures reality whilst pretending to illluminate it. [Free. 31 minutes.]
![WHAT IS FASCISM? 4 - SATURN EATS HIS SON & THE DEATH INSTINCT](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
WHAT IS FASCISM? 4 - SATURN EATS HIS SON & THE DEATH INSTINCT
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
In this wide-ranging podcast, I interpret Goya's painting of the early 1820s, Saturn Eating His Son. This leads me to considerations of Freud's notion of Thanatos or the death instinct, Nietzsche's readings of human cruelty and its relationship to the will to power, current affairs and recent history, particularly with respect to all too common orgies of depraved destruction of life. I describe how the death instinct and the possibility of joy in cruelty are mobilsed by the rich and powerful in pursuit of their own agenda. [Free. 24 minutes.]
![THOUGHT FOR TODAY - INTERESTING TIMES 75](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Friday Feb 09, 2024
THOUGHT FOR TODAY - INTERESTING TIMES 75
Friday Feb 09, 2024
Friday Feb 09, 2024
In this podcast we take a critical look at the output of BBC Radio 4's Today Programme which has an influential position in the distribution of news to the UK. We take a couple of examples for closer scrutiny, the daily homiletic Thought for Today slot, and a particular interview with opposition shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, on her back-peddling on green issues. [Free. 28 minutes. Strong language.]
![A MAD MONDAY IN UK POLITICS & BEYOND - INTERESTING TIMES 71](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
A MAD MONDAY IN UK POLITICS & BEYOND - INTERESTING TIMES 71
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
In this podcast, we discuss three political events reported in the UK on Monday morning [13/11/23]. They are: the sacking of the Home Secretary, the appointment of David Cameron as Foreign Secretary, and the Liberal Democrats call for a cease fire in Gaza. We relate all of these to the unfolding cataclysm in Gaza, and its history and geopolitics. [Free. 52 minutes.]
![LAO TZU 63](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Saturday Aug 05, 2023
LAO TZU 63
Saturday Aug 05, 2023
Saturday Aug 05, 2023
In this podcast, we consider Chapter 76 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. The main theme that emerges is that Lao Tzu distinguishes ways of being which are inflexible, rigid and death-orientated from ways of being which a supple, flexible and life-orientated. We draw out how these orientations play out in all aspects of life, including politics and meditation. [Free. 20 minutes.]
![LAO TZU 62](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Friday Jul 28, 2023
LAO TZU 62
Friday Jul 28, 2023
Friday Jul 28, 2023
In this podcast, we reflect on Chapter 75 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. We consider the role of tax and money in various social organisational forms, the notion of surplus product disposed of by a hegemon, anarchism in relation to capitalism and marxism, and resonances with our current state of affairs, and more. [Free. 46 minutes.]
![LAO TZU 58](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Tuesday Jul 04, 2023
LAO TZU 58
Tuesday Jul 04, 2023
Tuesday Jul 04, 2023
In this podcast, we consider Chapter 71 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. This chapter is about self-deception, understood as a sickness. We appraise the character of many modern politicians in the light of Lao Tzu's insights on this matter. [Free. 25 minutes.]
![BORIS JOHNSON’S PERFECT POST-TRUTH MOMENT - INTERESTING TIMES 66](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Saturday Jun 17, 2023
BORIS JOHNSON’S PERFECT POST-TRUTH MOMENT - INTERESTING TIMES 66
Saturday Jun 17, 2023
Saturday Jun 17, 2023
In this podcast, we reflect on the resignation of Boris Johnson from the UK parliament after having been found by the Commons Privileges Committee to have lied to Parliament. We take it that Johnson's subsequent and immediate appointment on a six-figure salary as a columnist for the Daily Mail is significant as a kind of culmination of the UK's deep immersion in post-truth confusion, which has for some time been an advantageous state for global oligarchs in a time of wide-spread unrest. [Free. 26 minutes.]
![AI - THREAT OR PROMISE?](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/771447/hyradiologobig2_300x300.png)
Saturday Jun 10, 2023
AI - THREAT OR PROMISE?
Saturday Jun 10, 2023
Saturday Jun 10, 2023
In this podcast, we discuss AI and its recent emergence into the public sphere. We examine four main aspects of AI; what the term 'AI' signifies, the knowledge status of its products, the political and economic ramifications of AI, especially its role in automation, and its position in current affairs public discourse. [Free. 61 minutes.]