Best Graham Culbertson Podcasts (2025)

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166. Goliath's Curse -- Luke Kemp 1:18:04

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2h ago1:18:04

1:18:04

According to conventional history, the last 12,000 years has seen the steady march of progress from primitive savagery to enlightened civilization. In the age of Trump, Elon, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Putin, Xi, Orbán, Netanyahu, Erdoğan, and Khamenei, this story can't be true. Luke Kemp joins me to offer another story, one in which mutual aid is what mak…

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165. Politics in Hollywood Westerns-- Ruth Kinna 1:10:12

14d ago1:10:12

1:10:12

Happy 4th Anniversary to Everyday Anarchism! For this year's anniversary episode, Ruth Kinna comes on to talk about a couple of Hollywood Westerns: Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948) and Rancho Notorious (Fritz Lang, 1952). Hollywood Westerns are about law and order, violence and vigilantism, community and individualism, savagery and civilization, and i…

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164. Slow Cinema as Democratic Cinema -- Paul Schrader 46:05

28d ago46:05

46:05

In normal cinema, the goal of the director is to control the audience, to direct their gaze, to dictate their emotions. What does it mean when directors make movies where the audience is allowed to decide what the film means to them? Legendary filmmaker Paul Schrader (screenwriter of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull; director of Mishima: A Life in Four …

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163. Capitalism and Nature -- Alyssa Battistoni 51:40

1M ago51:40

51:40

Alyssa Battistoni joins me to discuss her new book Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. Capitalist theory generally describes nature as a "free gift." If gifts are already free, why does capitalism have to claim that nature is a "free gift"? And why does capitalism keep declaring that nature is "worth" some billions or trillions of do…

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162. Divorcing Anarchism and Liberalism -- Alexandre Lefebvre 43:24

2M ago43:24

43:24

Alex comes back on the podcast and we try to separate liberalism and anarchism, with some success! (I think the problem is that what Alex and I agree on is democratic socialism - so liberal socialism and anarchist socialism end up pretty close). The business of basketball is our central example, so sorry if that part bores you to tears. Being bored…

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161. The German Peasants' War -- Lyndal Roper 1:03:54

2M ago1:03:54

1:03:54

Lyndal Roper joins me to discuss her book The Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War. 500 years ago, German peasants learned that Martin Luther had declared that they should be free. They agreed - and Europe was plunged into war.By Graham Culbertson

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160. Marrying Anarchism and Liberalism -- Alexandre Lefebvre 49:46

3M ago49:46

49:46

Alexandre Lefebvre, author of Liberalism as a Way of Life, joins me to discuss the many ways that anarchism and liberalism are compatible. Later this month, you'll here Alexander back on the show, as we try to divorce the two traditions.By Graham Culbertson

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159. The Folksinging Anarchist Tradition -- Willi Carlisle 57:24

3M ago57:24

57:24

In celebration of his new album Winged Victory, Folksinger Willi Carlisle joins me to discuss the connections between folk music and leftism, especially anarchism. I love all of Willi's albums. Here's his website: https://www.willicarlisle.com/By Graham Culbertson

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158. Tolkien's Romantic Anarchy -- Meredith Veldman 1:01:49

4M ago1:01:49

1:01:49

Everyday Anarchism goes back to where it all began: the romantic anarchism of J.R.R. Tolkien. Meredith Veldman, author of Fantasy, The Bomb, and the Greening of Britain, joins me to talk about the romantic protest underlying The Lord of the Rings. We discuss the romantic quest for reintegration at the heart of the novels, the appeal that romanticis…

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157. Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols -- David Hill 55:30

4M ago55:30

55:30

My colleague David Hill rejoins the show to discuss Twilight of the Idols, one of Nietzsche's last works, and one in which Nietzsche directly discusses anarchism. In addition to Nietzsche's putdowns of anarchists, David and I also discuss the ancient Greeks in Nietzsche's thoughts, the unsavory aspects of Nietzsche's philosphy, and Nietsche's attac…

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156. Bauhaus and the Anarchic City -- Robin Schuldenfrei 1:06:33

4M ago1:06:33

1:06:33

Robin Schuldenfrei joins me to discuss her new book Objects in Exile, which is about the many afterlives of the Bauhaus school and its practitioners. Robin and I particularly focus on the relationship between Bauhaus and city planning, especially focusing on Chicago and the work of Ludwig Hilberseimer. Key questions include: How can societies ensur…

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155. Baseball Utopia in Eephus -- Carson Lund 55:59

5M ago55:59

55:59

"What is joy when everything has been monetized and optimized?" For Carson Lund, the answer is rec league baseball, and his new film Eephus is about how a meaningless, anachronistic activity like a local baseball league can actually be the most meaningful and important thing you can do. The film is an ode to baseball, a comedy, and "an argument for…

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154. Hannah Arendt and Civil Disobedience -- John McGowan 1:14:42

5M ago1:14:42

1:14:42

John McGowan joins the podcast again to discuss a recent republication of Hannah Arendt's essay "Civil Disobedience, which responds to Plato's Crito, Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government," and the leftwing mass movements of the 1960s. John and I discuss Arendt's importance as a theorist of revolution and totalitarianism, as well as the complex…

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153. Organizing in the 21st Century -- Jaz Brisack 37:59

5M ago37:59

37:59

Jaz Brisack joins me to discuss their new book, Get on the Job and Organize. Jaz and I discuss why billionaires take union organizing personally, how organizing is different in the 21st century, and how you can organize your workplace. Jaz might be coming to a town near you soon - here's the link to their book tour sites: https://www.simonandschust…

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152. Why Billionaires Love AI -- Brian Merchant 1:05:51

5M ago1:05:51

1:05:51

Brian Merchant, author of the newsletter Blood in the Machine, returns to the show to talk about the newsletter, ai, tech oligarchs, the neoliberal "abundance" agenda, jobs, and pretty much everything else you want to know about the terrible, horrible, no good collusion between Trump, Tech billionaires, and ai. Fight the tech billionaires. Support …

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151. Graeber's Debt Chapter 12, The Beginning of Something Yet to Be Determined 1:17:53

6M ago1:17:53

1:17:53

In which I end my series on David Graeber's Debt, apologize for mistakes, and offer some hope for a new world in which we have more money and less monetarism. Thank you to all of the listeners to this series, and my wonderful lineup of guests: Dirk Ehnts, Eleanor Janega, Cory Doctorow, Bill Maurer, Henry Farrell, James K. Galbraith, Fuad Musallam, …

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150. Secret Mall Apartment -- Jeremy Workman and Michael Townsend 41:48

6M ago41:48

41:48

When capitalists developed their neighborhood with a giant mall, eight artists developed an abandoned space in the mall into an apartment. It was art without permission, and now there's a documentary about what it was like to make a secret mall apartment as a form of art. Jeremy Workman, the director of Secret Mall Apartment, and Michael Townsend, …

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149. Anarchy in the Big Easy -- Max Cafard and Vulpes 39:55

6M ago39:55

39:55

Max Cafard (which is a pen name) and Vulpes (which is also a pen name) join me to discuss their fantastic new graphic novel Anarchy in the Big Easy, which is just what it sounds like. Max and Vulpes and I discuss the cosmic anarchy, political anarchism, and everyday anarchy that's flowed through what is now called New Orleans for centuries and mill…

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148. Debt Discussion 12, In the Middle of Something New with Yanis Varoufakis 41:56

6M ago41:56

41:56

Yanis Varoufakis joins me to discuss his new book, Technofeudalism, how the world economy has changed since Graeber wrote Debt, and where things might be going next. Live long and prosper.By Graham Culbertson

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The Meta of Free to Play Games -- Donald MacKenzie 40:16

7M ago40:16

40:16

Sociologist Donald MacKenzie joins me to discuss his recent article in the London Review of Books, "Hey Big Spender: What Your Smartphone Knows About You." Game Studies rarely focuses on phone games - but billions of people are playing them. And they are mostly free. So getting you to pay for them is another game entirely. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the…

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147. Luigi Mangione and Anarchist Terrorism -- Constance Bantman 58:31

7M ago58:31

58:31

Constance Bantman joins me to discuss the history of anarchist political violence through the prism of Luigi Mangione - and vice versa. Some of the questions we cover include: Can the history of nineteenth-century anarchist terrorism help us understand the recent assassination of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Mangione, and its rapturous receptio…

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Adapting The Lord of the Rings as Trick-Taking -- Bryan Bornmueller 38:19

7M ago38:19

38:19

Game designer Bryan Bornmueller joins me to discuss his new game The Fellowship of the Ring: The Trick Taking Game. This game pushes narratology and ludology together in a way I had never seen before: an adaptation of a story in which trick-taking (the abstract mechanic from bridge, spades, and hearts) captures the soul of a literary work. Bryan an…

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146. James C. Scott's Two Cheers for Anarchism -- Luke Kemp 1:03:54

7M ago1:03:54

1:03:54

Luke Kemp returns to the show to discuss Two Cheers for Anarchism, James C. Scott's six essays or "fragments" applying an anarchist squint to the world. Luke and I discuss the joy of Scott's book, it's controversial place in anarchist theory, and why it's a good place for the anarcho-curious to start their journey into anarchism. Along the way I al…

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145. Debt Discussion 11, The Great Divergence with Christopher Isett 58:55

7M ago58:55

58:55

Christopher Isett joins me to discuss the rise of capitalism and "The Great Divergence," in which Christendom transformed itself from an obscure corner of the world into the dominant global power. Just how did that happen, what part did capitalism play in it, and why did capitalism develop in Europe? And what does China have to do with all of it? C…

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144. Victor Serge, Anarchist Bolshevik -- Mitchell Abidor 54:16

8M ago54:16

54:16

Today Mitch Abidor joins me to discuss Victor Serge: acclaimed novelist, anarchist, Bolshevik, anticommunist, and all-around 20th century contradiction. Mitch and I discuss the legend of Serge, what's true about it, and the ways that Serge fails to live up to the legend. You can find Mitch's writing all over the place, but here's a good place to st…

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143. Graeber's Debt Chapter 11: Age of Great Capitalist Empires 38:15

8M ago38:15

38:15

What is capitalism? It's not efficient markets, factories, and free labor. It's the financialization of empire and slavery, using greed, shame, indignation, and debt. And that means the first great capitalists weren't British factory owners, but colonizing conquistadors.By Graham Culbertson

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142. Green Earth -- Kim Stanley Robinson 1:00:55

8M ago1:00:55

1:00:55

Kim Stanley Robinson returns to discuss his novel Green Earth, a technothriller about a near future world in which scientists work to solve the global climate crisis. Stan and I discuss how the book went from a trilogy to a single volume, its similarity to The Ministry for the Future, and its place in the genre of naturalism. Plus Emerson and Thore…

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The Malaise of Modern Video Games -- Simon Parkin 46:18

8M ago46:18

46:18

Simon Parkin, host of the podcast My Perfect Console and contributing writer (mostly on video games) to The New Yorker, joins Plumbing Game Studies to talk about his recent NYTimes article on modern video games. (Paywalls on both articles - no paywall on My Perfect Console though!) Simon and I discuss the difference between modern video games and t…

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141. A New Model for Food and Politics -- Mark Bittman 51:46

10M ago51:46

51:46

Mark Bittman returns to Everyday Anarchism to discuss Community Kitchen, his new model for how we can do restaurant food better by running nonprofit restaurants rooted in their communities. But we also talk about RFK's crusade against seed oils, what's wrong with Pod Save America, why food is so cheap in the US, the recent US presidential election,…

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A Board Game Whose Rules Will Never be Known -- Amabel Holland 48:38

10M ago48:38

48:38

Board game designer Amabel Holland joins me to discuss her recent board game The City of Six Moons. City of Six Moons isn't an ordinary game - the game is presented as an alien object, and the rules are in an unknown language. Amabel joins me to talk about what this means for games, rules, systems, communication, and knowledge itself. Along the way…

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140. Graeber's Hidden Truth of the World -- Shawn from SRSLY Wrong 1:13:10

11M ago1:13:10

1:13:10

Shawn Vulliez from SRSLY Wrong joins me to discuss the new collection of David Graeber essays, The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World. Shawn and I talk about the tyranny of economics and how Graeber gave us permission to reveal that the emperor of economics has no clothes. Warning: Contains discussion of the recent election. Stay away if you just c…

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The Emulation Game of Japanese Culture -- Morgan Pitelka 1:12:50

11M ago1:12:50

1:12:50

This episode is co-hosted by David Hall, PhD Candidate in ECL at UNC. David and I are joined by Morgan Pitelka, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and of History at UNC - Chapel Hill, joins us to discuss representations of the early modern period in Japan, video games and otherwise. Over a discussion ranging from 8th century historiograp…

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139. Hill's The World Turned Upside Down -- Ann Hughes (English Revolution) 54:25

11M ago54:25

54:25

A spectre is haunting the Everyday Anarchism series on the English revolution: the spectre of Christopher Hill's 1972 book The World Turned Upside Down. It turns out most of the ideas I've shared in this series came from Hill's book! Ann Hughes joins me to discuss the book, and we talk through the following questions: Did Hill invent the idea of th…

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138. Debt Discussion 10, Debt in the Middle Ages with Eleanor Janega 1:02:44

11M ago1:02:44

1:02:44

Eleanor Janega, the very first guest on the Graeber's Debt series, comes back on the show to discuss what the middle ages were, how they were a global phenomenon, and why they weren't as bad as you've heardBy Graham Culbertson

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137. Mao and Anarchism -- Karl Gerth 1:00:01

11M ago1:00:01

1:00:01

I'm joined by Karl Gerth, professor of modern Chinese history at the University of California, San Diego, to discuss the Chinese Communist Revolution and how Maoism attempted to avoid the mistakes of the USSR and yet largely repeated them.By Graham Culbertson

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136. Graeber's Debt Chapter 10: The Middle Ages 49:30

12M ago49:30

49:30

In Graeber's middle ages, empires fell apart while temples and monasteries kept everything together with metaphysical debt. Oh, and Europe isn't very important. Eleanor Janega returns later this month to discuss the chapter in the next Debt discussion!By Graham Culbertson

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135. Graeber's Debt Chapter 9: The Axial Age 35:24

12M ago35:24

35:24

Following on my discussion with John Weisweiler, more detail on Graeber's account of the Axial AgeBy Graham Culbertson

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134. Debt Discussion 9, the Axial Age with John Weisweiler 54:12

1y ago54:12

54:12

In this episode in my series on Graeber's Debt, I'm joined by John Weisweiler to discuss Chapter 9, "The Axial Age." John and I discuss Graeber's insights into the relationship between money, debt, and community, and the way that Graeber often got the ideas right even before the archaelogical record had gotten there.…

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133. 3rd Anniversary Episode! -- Ruth Kinna 57:14

1y ago57:14

57:14

Ruth Kinna comes back on the show to celebrate 3 years of Everyday Anarchism. We talk about the relationship between anarchism and protest, and where everyday anarchism fits with capital-A Anarchism. Plus Occupy!By Graham Culbertson

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132. Debt Discussion 8, Cycles of History with Luke Kemp 53:47

1y ago53:47

53:47

Luke Kemp joins me to discuss Chapter 8 of Debt, asking the question: Is Graeber right when he says that history follows clear cycles? Sort of!By Graham Culbertson

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131. The Case Against Competition -- Alfie Kohn 37:55

1y ago37:55

37:55

I'm joined by Alfie Kohn to discuss No Contest: The Case Against Competition, his 1986 book about how competition hurts rather than helps people do their best. We cover the problem with grades, the reason why excellence and competition are opposed, and whats wrong with rewards and what makes awards even worse. For more from Alfie, check out his web…

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130. Graeber's Debt Chapter 8: Credit vs. Bullion, and the Cycles of History 33:58

1y ago33:58

33:58

The Debt series returns, hopefully to finish by early 2025. This my reading of Chapter 8 (and a little of Chapter 7), soon to be followed by a discussion with Luke Kemp.By Graham Culbertson

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129. The Everyday Anarchy of Colin Ward -- Roman Krznaric 56:16

1y ago56:16

56:16

This episode publishes on the hundredth anniversary of Colin Ward! Colin was one of the popularizers of many of the ideas featured in this podcast, and I've stayed away from covering him for fear of copying him. But my guest today, Roman Krznaric, convinced me to do an episode on Colin's thought, and we had a thrilling conversation about anarchy, c…

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1.7 Graeber's Fun -- Aris Politopoulos 1:02:58

1y ago1:02:58

1:02:58

Aris Politopoulos joins me to discuss David Graeber's essay "What's the Point if We Can't Have Fun?" We also discuss Aaron Trammel's recent book Repairing Play, which you can find here: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262545273/repairing-play/ For more from Aris and to learn about his work at Leiden University, you can check out his appearance on my o…

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1.6 Huizinga's Homo Ludens -- Martin Roth 1:02:44

1y ago1:02:44

1:02:44

Martin Roth, of the Ritsumeikan Center for Game Studies at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, joins me to discuss Homo Ludens, Johan Huizinga's 1938 study of play and culture. Martin and I discuss the way that Homo Ludens can be considered the first "game studies" book, but also all of the ways that it is more complicated and surprising than its repu…

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"Games are Perfect Anarchist Practices" -- Miguel Sicart 1:04:04

1y ago1:04:04

1:04:04

Here's a crossover episode from my other podcast, Plumbing Game Studies. Things have been crazy lately, and I have emails from back in April I haven't responded to. My apologies if you've emailed me and not heard back. I hope to get caught up soon, or at least in 2024!By Graham Culbertson

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1.5 Agon and Ancient Greek Society -- David Potter 41:54

1y ago41:54

41:54

Historian David Potter joins me to discuss the concept of agon, or competitive play, and how it animated everything in ancient Greek society from sports to education to politics to art. And Plato's The Republic, often considered the foundation of Western philosophy, was an attempt to end the agonistic nature of society.…

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128. Hobbes' Leviathan -- Alison McQueen (English Revolution) 1:01:20

1y ago1:01:20

1:01:20

Who create the modern theory of political sovereignty? Thomas Hobbes. What was Hobbes afraid of? Anarchy. What made Hobbes so afraid of anarchy? The English Revolution. Today's guest is Alison McQueen, who can be found at https://www.alisonmcqueen.info/By Graham Culbertson

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1.4 Maria Lugones (and David Graeber) -- Miguel Sicart 1:02:10

1y ago1:02:10

1:02:10

Miguel Sicart, author of Playing Software, joins me for a playful, even anarchist discussion which was supposed to be about the work of Maria Lugones but ended up being about Lugones, Graeber, Almodóvar, Maradona, and much more. You can find Miguel's work here: https://miguelsicart.net/By Graham Culbertson

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127. Debt Discussion 7, Honor and Dignity with Clif Mark 48:37

1+ y ago48:37

48:37

Clif Mark, host of the Good in Theory podcast, joins me to discuss honor and degradation in Graeber's Debt. Also I make Clif talk about representation in Star Wars, for some reason.By Graham Culbertson