Name: Succession by Why Theory
Duration: 1 h 24 min 39 s
Description: Ryan and Todd analyze the recently concluded television series Succession. They discuss it in terms of capitalist subjectivity, tragedy, the death drive, and the ideology of the family. There are spoilers at every point in this discussion.

Dear Ryan and Todd, Long time listener to your show, and a huge thanks to you both for helping me get through my Master's back in 2020 where I had about 9 months to get my head around both Hegel and Lacan, you guys really saved my bacon. I suppose this question is more aimed at Ryan as I feel you are closer to TV/Internet culture - Are you familiar with the concept of Liminal Spaces and if so would you consider doing an episode on them? I've seen a number of video essayists and such take on this topic (most recently Contrapoints) but I feel like beyond the Freudian Uncanny aspects and the Mark Fisher Hauntological/Weird and Eerie, there's something of Lacan/Hegel at work in the Liminal Space

Ryan and Todd delve into the western in its most radical manifestation, but they use as a starting point, the paradigmatic western Shane. They then examine more contemporary films that turn from the individual hero into a collective one.

The Radical Western

Ryan and Todd delve into the formal limitations that define the medium of Twitter. They analyze the politics of Twitter and the impact of the takeover by Elon Musk. 

Ryan's article cited in the episode is available here: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/vol24/iss4/

Twitter

Ryan and Todd discuss Todd's recent book The Racist Fantasy, which explores the psychic structure that underlies racism and that allows it to deliver enjoyment to those invested in it. They cover the role that fantasy plays in social life and the prospects for fighting racism.

https://forgeorganizing.org/article/building-resilient-organizations

https://www.baylorpress.com/9781602587359/trauma-and-race/

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lacan-noir-david-s-marriott/1139152118

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-VIi7tb44

https://fielddaylab.wisc.edu/

The Racist Fantasy

Ryan and Todd explore the concept of the bottle episode from the production and analysis of television. They discuss a variety of its manifestations along with its theoretical importance as a form. 

Ryan's article:
https://www.academia.edu/82724525/The_Limitation_of_the_Bottle_Episode_Hegel_in_Community_preprint_

Bottle Episode

Ryan and Todd analyze the recently concluded television series Succession. They discuss it in terms of capitalist subjectivity, tragedy, the death drive, and the ideology of the family. There are spoilers at every point in this discussion.

Succession

Ryan and Todd attempt to show why the term "poststructuralism" is inapt for describing any of the thinkers that it usually is thought to indicate. They go through the major theorists known under this moniker and reveal why poststructuralism doesn't exist.

Poststructuralism

Ryan and Todd analyze Freud's essay "The Uncanny" and the broader implications of this concept. They discuss the importance of the uncanny for understanding the horror film and focus on the difference between a psychoanalytic approach to the concept and the notion of the uncanny valley.


Links from the episode:
Žižek & So On podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6S0mig3K8TiuJoXHOG5VnT?si=6a55de55c2f24b22
 
Shibui (minimal groove quartet):
https://shibuimusic.bandcamp.com/
 
Joseph Aisenberg’s Brian De Palma’s Carrie: Studies in the Horror Film:
https://www.amazon.com/Brian-Palmas-Carrie-Studies-Horror/dp/B09NH3BCCP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PCVQVVCQ49BW&keywords=joseph+aisenberg&qid=1689001285&sprefix=joseph+aisenber%2Caps%2C205&sr=8-1

Uncanny

Ryan and Todd analyze Freud's essay "Creative Writings and Daydreaming." They look first at the theory of fantasy that Freud develops in this essay and then turn to his conception of what generates the work of art, discussing it in terms of the current strike in Hollywood. In their concluding remarks, they deal with problems that Freud runs into in his theorizing here.

Creative Writers & Daydreaming

Ryan and Todd interpret the film Barbie while responding to both leftist and rightist critiques of the film. They discuss the film's exploration of fantasy, its highlighting of contradiction, and its emphasis on the role of desire in politics.

Barbie

Ryan and Todd unpack Marx's concept of surplus value and explore its fundamental role in the interpretation of capitalist society. They discuss the relationship between surplus value and profit, while considering how we should think about the drive to amass surplus value.

Surplus Value

Ryan and Todd explore the idea of surplus enjoyment as the basis for a theory of capitalism. They consider the psychic hold that capitalism has in terms of the surplus enjoyment that it both promises and provides.

Surplus Enjoyment

Why Theory brings continental philosophy and psychoanalytic theory together to examine cultural phenomena.

Succession

Why Theory

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