Best Masochism Podcasts (2025)

1
The Last to Arrive 7:02

11h ago7:02

7:02

I had a double-shot macchiato this morning. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ayoto.substack.com/subscribeBy Ayoto

1
Episode 194 - Slip It In 50:45

3d ago50:45

50:45

Sex.By Nick and Kyle

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Men Are Born to Rule 1:05:58

9d ago1:05:58

1:05:58

Send us a text Here finally is a true and powerful traditionalist response to both feminist accusations and the cheap bragging of low-IQ wife-beaters. Why and how are men "born to rule"? The answer is clear once we recover the once-obvious link between authority, violence, and sacrifice. The gory origins of authority in blood sacrifice, archaic, an…

1
Episode 193 - Seriously, Stephen Merchant Looks Like a Tree Ent 42:00

17d ago42:00

42:00

He's back and he's as tall as ever! And we talk about other stuff. Check out our bonus content and help support the show by becoming a patron at: patreon.com/tbbttBy Nick and Kyle

1
The Stoned Ape Theory 1:35:30

17d ago1:35:30

1:35:30

Send us a text Parks Gore and I discuss Terence McKenna's Stoned Ape Theory. McKenna argued that human evolution was driven by hominid consumption of psychedelic mushrooms. We explain his theory and argue against it in light of René Girard's work. Girard believed that in-group violence was the unprecedented problem whose solution through violent sa…

1
The Autism Fad 58:36

23d ago58:36

58:36

Send us a text Autism is a rare but real disorder, but the recent rise in claims of being "on the spectrum" is a massive fad, a mimetic contagion. The spectrum is glamourised by popular entertainment and embraced by celebrities. With reference to René Girard's work, I analyse why people might want to signal autism (rather than "mask" it). It has to…

1
To Laugh or Cry 53:31

29d ago53:31

53:31

Send us a text What is the link between comedy and tragedy? Why do both laughing and crying involve tears? How is comedy related to tickling? Why do we laugh more in modern times? These and many other questions answered in a philosophical discussion based on René Girard's essay on the topic, "Perilous Balance: A Comic Hypothesis." Support the show…

1
Episode 192 - Real Philanthropists Only 43:29

1M ago43:29

43:29

Sheldon gets the most real he's ever been, and Leonard wants to be bullied in a negligee.By Nick and Kyle

1
White Masochism is not Innocence 6:00

1M ago6:00

6:00

Letter to my unborn. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ayoto.substack.com/subscribeBy Ayoto

1
Episode 191 - Stephen Merchant Sure Is Lanky 56:16

2M ago56:16

56:16

Also, Bernadette is a real actual stalker but I bet it will never come up again.By Nick and Kyle

1
Episode 190 - Vulcans Party 39:39

2M ago39:39

39:39

Sheldon finally admits he has feelings. Wolowitz thinks having a baby will fix things. Nick and Kyle are anxious about the state of the world.By Nick and Kyle

1
Whiteness Cannot Thank You 37:21

2M ago37:21

37:21

What if whiteness isn’t something possessed, but something performed—an anxious choreography of refusal, projection, and idealization? What if its power lies not in strength, but in its compulsive need to survive critique, to erase debt, to never owe? This essay does not ask whether whiteness is real—it asks how it defends itself, and what that def…

1
Episode 189 - Imaginary Dilemma 44:49

2M ago44:49

44:49

The nerds spend the whole episode worrying whether there's an ethical reason they can't buy back alley helium.By Nick and Kyle

1
Transit of Flesh 11:32

3M ago11:32

11:32

moving through the quiet rituals of hospital life—moisturizing mama's skin, watching my baba massage through pain, painfully. wrestling with memory, detachment, and the strange intimacy of care. a meditation on love, loss, and time in transit. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epis…

1
Secure Attachment, Inc. 13:16

3M ago13:16

13:16

Attachment Theory is no longer just a theory—it’s an economy. A brand. A currency. And like any economy, it thrives on belief. On confidence. On your continued sense of lack. Because the moment you heal, the market collapses. Security isn’t the goal. It’s the product. The metric of compliance. An emotional credit score. And like all systems of cont…

1
Quantum Mechanics of Racism: The Schrödinger’s Cat of White Supremacy 1:03:10

3M ago1:03:10

1:03:10

A sharp intake of breath. A pause, imperceptible but charged. The illusion of neutrality fractures, and something unseen is forced into view. A skull measured, a law passed, a room recalibrated. Racism is always someone else’s problem—until it isn’t. Until it is measured, but only on terms that absolve. Until it moves, shifting probability, collaps…

1
Episode 188 - Creepers Be Creepin' 47:30

3M ago47:30

47:30

Stuart nasty.By Nick and Kyle

1
Episode 187 - Non Committal 58:42

3M ago58:42

58:42

We're back! Technically we never left, but Nick accidentally sent the show into the void for a bit. Thanks for hanging with us through these completely avoidable yet nonetheless turbulent times.By Nick and Kyle

1
A White Horse Is Not a Horse, A Mother Is Not a Mother 2:52:32

4M ago2:52:32

2:52:32

I had a strange moment during this podcast recording with Professor Robert Beshara—I blanked on 媽 (mā, mother). It was the same day my mother was taken into the hospital for an aneurysm. I looked at the character and thought: This must not be it. It wasn’t just forgetting—I had refused the word itself. The Chinese character for mother, 媽 (mā), cont…

1
Attachment Theory is White Supremacy in a Lab Coat 32:47

4M ago32:47

32:47

What if your so-called “attachment issues” aren’t personal but political? Attachment Theory, wrapped in the authority of science, is less about psychology and more about empire—policing intimacy, erasing Indigenous kinship, and repackaging colonial violence as developmental norms. From British boarding schools to the algorithm-driven self-diagnosis…

1
Episode 186 - Thermal Detonator 46:10

4M ago46:10

46:10

The gang once again fails to make their journey to a different set.By Nick and Kyle

1
Desire for Truth 5:51

4M ago5:51

5:51

Speaking about respecting and giving space for Palestinians to speak—and not letting yt voices dominate or recreate the same oppressive structures in activist spaces—is critical. But where do we draw the line between developing an awareness of structural power dynamics and replicating the logic of scarcity? This scarcity mindset is a fictitious fun…

1
Is this Europe? 13:02

4M ago13:02

13:02

Proteus vs Procrustes This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ayoto.substack.com/subscribeBy Ayoto

1
Hostages of Empire 11:34

4M ago11:34

11:34

hey, so last night i was walking and listening to ngũgĩ wa thiong’o’s decolonising the mind, thinking about how stories mess with us—like lord of the flies pretending to be about "human nature" but really being a colonial fever dream. then i got hit with how triangle of sadness does something similar, dressing up rich people guilt as critique while…

1
What happened when I infiltrated a Unabomber reading group 23:15

4M ago23:15

23:15

White supremacy thrives on contradictions: exalting individualism while demanding conformity, masking insecurity as power, and rationalizing violence under euphemisms like "eccentricity" or "genius." Join Ayoto as they dissect how these dynamics manifest everywhere—from a "Not a Unabomber book club" to global complicity in genocide. With references…

1
Episode 185 - Toxic Masculine Sheldon 1:01:37

4M ago1:01:37

1:01:37

Sheldon's a creep but it's pretty funnyBy Nick and Kyle

1
Episode 184 - Begrudging Nuptials 47:12

5M ago47:12

47:12

New year, new problems. Sorry the audio stinks! We love you!By Nick and Kyle

1
Dostoevsky Part 2: Resurrection from the Underground 1:38:23

5M ago1:38:23

1:38:23

Send us a text We start where we left off in Part 1: Dostoevsky the romantic wakes up and realizes he lives in the underground, filled with resentment, frustrated ambition, and tormenting idols. The underground man struggles to break free in the character of Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment and the teacher in The Gambler. We then encounter for…

1
Dostoevsky Part 1: From Romanticism to the Underground 1:14:08

5M ago1:14:08

1:14:08

Send us a text A review of the life and works of the great Fyodor Dostoevsky following René Girard's book Dostoevsky: Resurrection from the Underground. A masterpiece of literary criticism in its own right, this book brings edifying and brilliant insights into Dostoevsky's own masterpieces, but only by connecting them to the novelist's lesser works…

1
Episode 183 - One Ring to Rule Them All 55:39

5M ago55:39

55:39

Marriages a-go-go, baby!By Nick and Kyle

1
Assimilation Scanner 16:33

6M ago16:33

16:33

The lights above the checkpoint bathe my sensors in white surgical luminescence. The humanoids shuffle forward, their bodies exhaling data into the air. I process them one by one. Optimize. Purge. Execute. Most pass without incident. Green light. Welcome. Next. T heir relief perfumes the space, mingling with the stale humidity of recycled air. But …

1
Math and Masochism 57:47

6M ago57:47

57:47

Send us a text René Girard's mysterious quote on masochist reasoning being a model of scientific induction. Connecting masochistic conclusions about the nature of the universe to that of the scientist. What logical genius may have in common with masochism – the idiot-savant stereotype. Why modern materialistic and atheistic ideologies tend to turn …

1
Episode 182 - The Mommas 48:35

6M ago48:35

48:35

The two best characters in the series show up and blow everyone else out of the water.By Nick and Kyle

1
The Mimetic Status of the Devil 1:21:44

6M ago1:21:44

1:21:44

Send us a text The Devil is trending. Talk of demons can be heard from Tucker Carlson, theorists on UFOs and AI, right-wing podcasters interviewing exorcists, and the Psychedelic Renaissance aficionados. So I go over what I recently wrote about the devil on my blog: Girard's anthropological interpretation of the Devil as the force behind seduction,…

1
The Man and the Octopus 4:14

6M ago4:14

4:14

A marathon, piercing thorns, and ink-stained desire—an NSFW journey of seduction and darkness. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ayoto.substack.com/subscribeBy Ayoto

1
Episode 181 - Electric Eye 47:46

6M ago47:46

47:46

We've entered the age of consumer ready drone technology, and no one is safe from Wolowitz's gaze.By Nick and Kyle

1
Decoding the Fox 31:05

6M ago31:05

31:05

In this episode, we dive into the psychological and rhetorical gymnastics often used to sidestep accountability in conversations about Gaza. Drawing on insights from psychoanalysis, colonial history, and real-life role-playing scenarios, we explore how patterns of deflection, historical denial, and faux neutrality derail meaningful dialogue. 🔍 What…

1
Fluid Fantasies 11:04

7M ago11:04

11:04

When Squirt violates, who are we in its presence—and what do we become when we turn away? An essay on the Fluidic Turn by Ayoto Ataraxia. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ayoto.substack.com/subscribeBy Ayoto

1
Episode 180 - THE OMEGA MALE 25:55

7M ago25:55

25:55

Kyle and I wonder which type of Greek alphabet hunks we might be.By Nick and Kyle

1
The Double Bind and Schizophrenia 1:31:01

7M ago1:31:01

1:31:01

Send us a text Gregory Bateson's double bind as the cause of schizophrenia René Girard on the double bind as a universal human experience Girard's notion of the haunting double as the source of the double bind and central cause and symptom of schizophrenia Support the show

1
Episode 179 - Silent Hill 2 48:41

7M ago48:41

48:41

It's a pretty good game.By Nick and Kyle

1
Episode 178 - The Spookiest of Fogs 52:29

8M ago52:29

52:29

SpooOooOoooOOky!By Nick and Kyle

1
A Critical View on the Name-of-the-Grandfather with Dr. Fu Wai 44:27

8M ago44:27

44:27

Life rarely turns out the way I plan, but rather its negation. If I could trace back how this interview came about, it would be because I was part of a small reading group on Julia Kristeva’s abjection. During this time, funny enough, I brought up the artist formerly known as Kanye West concerning abjection. This was before October 7, but I was sch…

1
Episode 177 - Leftovers 1:02:51

8M ago1:02:51

1:02:51

The show is milking all it can out of "Deborah" Wolowitz' passing.By Nick and Kyle

1
On manipulation 6:08

8M ago6:08

6:08

Lately, I’ve been accused of being manipulative. People look at me with disdain and doubt, keeping their distance. They unfollow me, ignore my messages, and even walk out of dinners, leaving me with the bill. Why is that? The empire’s latest weapon isn’t soldiers; it’s diagnosis—specifically, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5, or DSM-5. It’s …

1
Episode 176 - Body Paint 55:12

8M ago55:12

55:12

The only good part about this episode is its demonstration of a healthy sexual relationship.By Nick and Kyle

1
Comment response rant 21:11

9M ago21:11

21:11

Thanks to user LMdz-f1c for the thoughtful response to the episode with Dr. Robert Beshara on A Psychoanalytic Biography of Ye Also, I wanted to note that the conversation I had with Dr. Beshara will never be able to replace the research he has put into his book, so I highly recommend you pick up the book. He has spent a good many years producing t…

1
On White Loss 22:55

9M ago22:55

22:55

A two side essay and reflections. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ayoto.substack.com/subscribeBy Ayoto

1
Sunday licks face 1:58

9M ago1:58

1:58

“Sunday licks face” 2024 Pastel on Paper This is Sunday—a white boxer. I never cared for boxers, but Sunday melts anyone’s heart. Sunday’s humans were moving to the countryside. They got married. She's the blondest woman I have ever met. She met Sunday and the black man in this city of polyamory. They got married and had two kids because neither wa…