Diet Soap Podcast

Umut Özkýrýmlý reveals how the Left has been sucked into a spiral of toxic hatred and outrage-mongering, retreating from the democratic ideals of freedom and pluralism that it purports to represent. Exploring the similarities between right-wing populism and radical identity politics, he sets out an alternative vision. It is only by focusing on our common humanity and working across differences that the Left will find a constructive and consensual way back from "woke".

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Douglas Lain and Chris Cutrone discuss György Lukács' "The Theory of the Novel: A Historico-philosophical Essay on the Forms of Great Epic Literature," which provides Doug an opportunity to reminisce on his long-lost vocation as a novelist.

Link to Lukacs' Theory of the Novel
https://analepsis.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/georg-lukacs-the-theory-of-the-novel.pdf

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Benjamin Studebaker takes on the co-host role in this first of the new Sublation Magazine streams. In this episode, we'll discuss the idea of the pseudo-event, the assassination of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, and the meaning of the East Coast drone invasion while also covering Toby Green and Thomas Fazi's essay for Sublation Magazine entitled: "A Victory for the Covid Policy Skeptics?" Is Neofeudalism ending, or is it merely rebranding? We will also discuss Donald Barthleme's short story, "Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby."

Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby
https://www.jessamyn.com/barth/colby.html

A Victory for Covid Policy Skeptics essay:
https://www.sublationmag.com/post/a-victory-for-covid-policy-skeptics

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Phil Illy is the author of the book "Autoheterosexual: Attracted to Being the Other Sex" and in this week's podcast, he discusses the theory that the transgender phenomenon is best understood through the lens of human sexuality. He argues that by covering up what he calls "autoheterosexuality" the culture is harming trans people.

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The Sublation Magazine Show will be moving to Mondays starting on the 16th of December as we transition from the era of Ashley Frawley and welcome Benjamin Studebaker as the new co-host.
In this Tuesday transition episode, Spencer Leonard and Doug will discuss the ideas of Henryk Grossman, the Marxist radical who believed that capitalism would eventually lead to a terminal crisis.

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Chris Cutrone discusses his essay from Marxism and Politics entitled "The mass psychology of capitalist politics" as well as his essay "Critical authoritarianism." We are all living with the fear of freedom and this leads us to embrace authoritarian solutions to political and social problems.

Buy Chris's Book:
https://sublationmedia.com/product/marxism-and-politics-essays-on-critical-theory-and-the-party-2006-2024/

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In seven days, America will choose between Fascism and Joy, but how do we know which is which? David Shields joins Douglas Lain and Ashley Frawley to discuss how the Democrats are making their closing arguments against Trump. (And we introduce the return of Sublation Magazine on its own website.)

Watch the second hour on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/posts/parroting-chaos-114941879

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Fabio Vighi is a professor of Italian and Critical Theory at Cardiff University and the author of the upcoming book "Emergency Capitalism" coming from Sublation in December. In this episode of Emergency Capitalism, Fabio discusses when and why paranoia can be rational, why de-dollarization is on the horizon, and how the mass production of wealth leads to poverty under capitalism.

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Chris Cutrone and Douglas Lain discuss an essay from Cutrone's book "Marxism and Politics." The article is entitled "Chinoiserie: A Critique of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA’s 'New Synthesis.'" In this episode of the Cutrone Zone Chris explains just why the 2010 "communist turn" was a repeat of the failure of the New Left even as it was a regression from the New Left into counterrevolutionary reaction.

Purchase Marxism and Politics
https://sublationmedia.com/product/marxism-and-politics-essays-on-critical-theory-and-the-party-2006-2024/

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What does it mean that JD Vance did or did not make love to a couch? Is Kamala Harris mentally impaired? Will Donald Trump be an American dictator? Are the pets of Springfield safe? David Shields, author of "How We Got Here," evaluates the US presidential election.

Purchase "How We Got Here"
https://sublationmedia.com/product/how-we-got-here-melville-plus-nietzsche-divided-by-the-square-root-of-allan-bloom-times-zizek-squared-equals-bannon-by-david-shields/
(discount code: howwegotherediscount)

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Eric Russell is the editor and reader in charge of Sublation's new Historical Socialism audiobook line. In September, we released the first title: "Frederick Lessner-Sixty Years in the Social-Democratic Movement." In this special edition of Diet Soap, Eric and Doug discuss the contemporary left/socialist movement in juxtaposition to the socialist movement that Lessner helped to build.

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Douglas Lain and Fabio Vighi explore Slavoj Žižek's influence on the left, the concept of emergency politics, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. Fabio offers a critical perspective on Žižek’s controversial support for NATO, arguing that Žižek misunderstands the true functioning of capitalism. Together, they delve into the contradictions and complexities of Žižek’s stance, questioning the role of intellectuals in shaping leftist politics amidst global crises. This conversation challenges mainstream narratives and digs deep into the philosophical and political underpinnings of our time.

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Fabio Vighi discusses how the current proxy wars are being used by the capitalist class to prop up a dying capitalist world order. He also discusses how the Ukrainian conflict is decimating Europe rather than Russia.
(No Russian money was procured or involved in the production of this video, but we are open to negotiating with Russian Nationals as long as we are allowed to register the funds through customs.)

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Chris Cutrone and Jack Ross join Douglas Lain to discuss the political realignment occurring through the 2024 election. Chris Cutrone is the author of Marxism and Politics, and Jack Ross is the author of The Strange Death of American Exceptionalism.

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Marxism and Politics
https://sublationmedia.com/product/marxism-and-politics-essays-on-critical-theory-and-the-party-2006-2024/

The Strange Death of American Exceptionalism
https://sublationmedia.com/product/the-strange-death-of-american-exceptionalism/

The defeat of the anti-imperialist Free Palestine Left and the rise of MAGA Communism is the topic for this week's Sublation Magazine Show. We will also discuss Benjamin Studebaker's "Critique of the Critique of the Administrative State."

Join Us for a Second Hour on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/posts/parroting-maga-109584292

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Benjamin Studebaker discusses his essay for the Platypus Review entitled: "Beyond Bonapartism: Breaking statephobic thought taboos." Doug was triggered by his essay and attempts to counter the argument, to little effect. Is the subject of history dead along with the left?

Benjamin's Essay:
https://platypus1917.org/category/platypus-review-authors/benjamin-studebaker-platypus-review-authors/

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Ashley and Doug discuss the new Stalinist/MAGA Communist anti-imperialism. Without condemnation or presuming that the anti-imperialists are acting in bad faith, but with the aim of understanding the ideological moment we are in, this stream will take a look at some clips from videos from Infrared, Caleb Maupin, and Peter Coffin.

Join Us for a Second Hour on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/posts/106007137?pr=true

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Chris Cutrone returns to discuss the reaction to his essay "The Alternative to Genocide" and to discuss how and why leftists are, in reality, right-wing.

BUY MARXISM AND POLITICS by Chris Cutrone
https://sublationmedia.com/product/marxism-and-politics-essays-on-critical-theory-and-the-party-2006-2024/

Listen to the Second Hour on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-left-became-104860372

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Ben Burgis and Djene Bajalan join Douglas Lain to discuss the War on Disinformation, and to resolve an argument that broke out on the Diet Soap 15 hour anniversary livestream.
Should be hope that social media companies become the fully recognized property of the state, how concerned should we be about the war on disinformation, and how should socialists understand and relate to the Capitalist State?

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Fabio Vighi discusses his upcoming book "Emergency Capitalism" and explains how financial capitalism and productive capitalism can't be treated separately but must be understood as united. How the disintegration and irregulatiry in the financial sector is the result of a crisis stemming from production.

Watch the Entire Episode on Rumble
https://rumble.com/v4vtfgh-is-western-finance-to-blame.html

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In this episode of the Sublation Magazine Show Ashley and Doug discuss the Canadian Online Harms Act, a new US presidential election poll, the Strange Death of American Exceptionalism, and the meaning (or lack of meaning) of the pro-Palestinian protests.

Join Us for a Second Hour in the Parrot Room
https://www.patreon.com/posts/104234479

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Ashley Frawley and Douglas Lain discuss Benjamin Studebaker's essay for Sublation Magazine entitled "The Left Cannot Make Use of the Gaza War" and Doug reads the opening remarks he gave at the Platypus panel "From Politics to Protest" last week.

The Left Cannot Make Use of the Gaza War
https://sublationmedia.com/the-left-cannot-make-use-of-the-gaza-war/

Join Us For a Second Hour
https://www.patreon.com/posts/from-politics-to-103343741

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Jack Ross, author of "The Strange Death of American Exceptionalism," discusses the ideas in his book with Ashley Frawley. Jack goes slowly through the history and his own influences and antecdents as he explains how he's dropped the idea that "before their can be a decent left we need a decent right" and has instead embraced the more pessimistic notion that we have to start by rebuilding the "concept of the left."

Preorder the Death of American Exceptionslism
https://sublationmedia.com/product/the-strange-death-of-american-exceptionalism/

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Chris Cutrone discusses the third essay in his "Why Not Trump" series in the context of a US election wherein all sides are abandoning the constitutional order. Lawfare, the power of the executive, impeachments, and a many other topics are discussed in this episode of the Cutronezone.

Buy The Death of the Millennial Left
https://sublationmedia.com/product/the-death-of-the-millennial-left-interventions-2006-2022/

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Kyle Baasch is a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at the University of Minnesota and the author of the essay “Too Late for ‘Late Capitalism’” for Compact Magazine. In this episode of Diet Soap we discuss how the idea of "Late Capitalism" has changed and perhaps been emptied out of content over time.

Too Late for Late Capitalism by Kyle Baasch
https://www.compactmag.com/article/too-late-for-late-capitalism/

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Ashley Frawley and Douglas Lain discuss how postmodernism lingers on in a political form, and how the remnants of the socialist left might find its way back to politics. Topics included: David Shields' documentary, the 2024 US election and Trump, the Strange Death of the American Creed, and can we feel good when things are this bad?

Join Us for a Second Hour on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/posts/more-fake-101568924

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Fabio Vighi joins the Sublation channel as we are publishing his next book: Emergency Capitalism: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy this year. In this new series Fabio will help viewers keep track of the underlying economic conditions that are shaping our world in a time of emergency. Given the nature of these conversations only the first half of these shows will be available on YouTube. This podcast version of the show includes the entire conversation.

Arturo Desimone writings on politics and culture has appeared in CounterPunch, Compact, openDemocracy, the Fortnightly Review, and Sublation Magazine. From 2018 to 2021 he was a co-founding member of the "Peace and International Policy" a subdivision of the "Democracy in Europe Movement" which concerned itself with the movement's critiques of EU foreign policy and security issues. In this episode of Diet Soap Arturo discusses the meaning of Yanis Varoufakis.

Ron Kelch and Urszula Wislanka are members of the Marxist Humanist group News and Letters. In this episode of Diet Soap they discuss Franklin Dmitryev's essay Israel’s war and Hamas attack stoke retrogression.

Essay "Israel’s war and Hamas attack stoke retrogression" by Franklin Dmitryev
https://newsandletters.org/israels-war-and-hamas-attack-stoke-retrogression/

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Ashley Frawley and Douglas Lain discuss the struggle for civil liberties after the WPATH (World Professional Association of Transgender Health) document leak. How do we defend our civil rights and civil liberties even as we address the revelations that "gender affirming care" is more dangerous than previously believed and may amount to medical malpractice? This podcast features Meghan Murphy and Andrew Doyle as guests.

Conrad Hamilton explores the anti-imperialist quasi Fascism in Dugin's thought and the history that shaped "Putin's Brain."

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Read an Excerpt from Hamilton's Essay
https://www.sublationmag.com/post/dugin-s-postmodern-denial-of-reality
Purchase Conrad Hamiilton's Full Essay/Pamphlet
https://www.sublationmedia.com/product-page/research-project-pamphlet-10-the-apostate-fascism-of-alexander-dugin

Originally Uploaded October 21, 2021

Sean Sayers is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kent. He has written extensively on Hegelian and Marxist philosophy from a Hegelian Marxist perspective. In April of 2020, he appeared on the Zero Books channel in order to discuss his criticism of GA Cohen, an analytic philosopher, and Marxist. Since then Steve Paxton, who is the author of Unlearning Marx (a book that came out in January of 2021 from Zero Books), has made it known through Twitter that he believes Sayer’s criticisms of Cohen has some flaws.

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David McKerracher from Theory Underground describes his book "TIMEENERGY: Why You Have No Time or Energy" and discusses left philosophy with Douglas Lain

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TIMENERGY on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/TIMENERGY-Why-Have-Time-Energy/dp/B0CH28JL4N
TIMENERGY on TheoryUnderground
https://theoryunderground.com/product/timenergy-bulk/

Douglas Lain and Reid Kane Kotlas discuss Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin and the revelations from Special Prosecutor Rober Hur's report on Biden's classified documents scandal. The question for this channel is "how should the left think through this moment of crisis for the democratic party?"

Join Us for the Second Hour in the Parrot Room
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David Shield's is the author of the upcoming book "How We Got Here" along with dozens of other bestselling books such as "Reality Hunger" and "The Thing About Life is One Day You'll Be Dead." In this episode of Diet Soap Douglas Lain uses the Black Mirror Episode "Joan is Awful" as an example that helps to explain the ideas in David Shield's' book.

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Jack Ross is author of "The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History" with Nebraska Press and "The Strange Death of American Exceptionalism," a book that is coming soon from Sublation.
This video introduces Ross's argument that the real aim of the puritanical but progressive "woke" ideology, is to erase or overturn the bill of rights and to smash the notion of individual liberty to pieces.

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Chris Cutrone and Douglas Lain discuss the impact and importance of the Death of the Millennial left. Along the way they also discuss the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

Listen to the Second Hour on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/posts/debating-form-94327736

Buy the Death of the Millennial Left from Sublation Media
https://www.sublationmedia.com/books/the-death-of-the-millennial-left

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This interview with Slavoj Zizek was meant to be the moment when the channel stopped obsessing about the brutal bombings on Gaza and the intractable conflict between Israel and Palestine and returned to theory. This was not to be. Zizek had a lot on his mind regarding the allegations of anti-semitism that he faced, the strange embrace of Hamas in some quarters of the left, and the need to think during a time of crisis.

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