Society & CulturePhilosophy

The Students

Weapons-grade political philosophy.

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48 episodes
a few times a week
Avg 1 hr 10 min
English

Episodes 48

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S1 · E8
May 27 · 1 hr 1 min
Your Life is a Hypothesis
The Earth has become small -- and the Last Man lives the longest.In 1885, Nietzsche foresaw mankind's transformation into a being who cares only for safety and contentment -- the final step before he gives up his higher nature. Jonathan Wallis joins Wolf Tivy to help us understand the Last Man.0:00 — Intro0:32 — The greatest threat is not disorder but the Last Man3:39 — Radical potential is always recuperated, domesticated, defanged16:46 — Cults reenact the logic of modernity23:45 — You have to live the hypothesis37:20 — Civilization is the ability to pass the crown51:34 — There is no soul-atom; you are an intersection of forces
S1 · E7
May 20 · 1 hr 12 min
Machiavelli's Virtue
Machiavelli saw that Christianity had made Italy weak, servile, and prey to criminal men. His answer: ground politics in "what is", not imagined republics — and dare great men to act on it. The consequences founded the modern world. Duncan Umphrey joins us to discuss the Machiavelli's virtue.
S1 · E6
May 13 · 1 hr 17 min
The Machine Gun Killed Democracy
Ben Landau-Taylor discusses Carroll Quigley's thesis on how weapons systems shape political order—how military technology determines whether a society ends up democratic, authoritarian, or something else entirely.
S1 · E5
May 6 · 1 hr 25 min
The War that Destroyed the Greek World
The Peloponnesian War destroyed the Greek world and exposed the violence behind the civilized facade, much like the World Wars of the 20th century. Maxim Dmitrienko walks us through Thucydides' timeless History.
S1 · E4
April 29 · 1 hr 13 min
Why Study Greek Philosophy?
Should a student of the 21st century read Plato and Aristotle? Stephen Pimentel explains how Greek philosophy helps us to see past the conceits of our own era.
S1 · E3
April 24 · 1 hr 14 min
How Civilizations Die
Carroll Quigley's 1961 book The Evolution of Civilizations describes the stages a civilization goes through as it grows, expands, decays, and falls. Ben Landau-Taylor tells us how Quigley's theory works, and where our civilization sits in this process today.
S1 · E2
April 16 · 1 hr 3 min
Nothing Human Makes It Out of the Near Future?
DC Posch and Wolf Tivy read Meltdown from Nick Land, the prophet of 21st century artificial intelligence and runaway capitalism.
S1 · E1
April 10 · 1 hr 38 min
Should I Pick My Kids' Genes?
Rachel Wallis is using cutting-edge gene selection technology to have kids. Wolf Tivy is using traditional methods. Which is better? They debate. ----------- Reproductive Frontiers 2026 conference in Berkeley this June: reproductivefrontiers.org

Showing 41–48 of 48 episodes