Sean Hannity, Gayborhoods, and Running Tutus
Past Present Episode 128
In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki debate the Sean Hannity phenomenon, battles over the “gayborhood,” and the popularity of running tutus.
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The Face of ‘Post-Truth’ Politics
Observations from the trenches
‘Post-truth’ is a concept that has been much discussed in recent years. But what is it like to experience its effects for real? Mykola Balaban, a history student and soldier, describes how it feels to be attacked with ‘non-existent’ rockets, and how one can come to doubt even one’s own ...
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What Do Military Attacks Accomplish?
Effective Action in Syria
When, on April 7, Syrian aircraft dropped canisters of toxic chlorine -- and maybe the chemical weapon sarin -- on the city of Douma, in an attack that killed seventy civilians, for once President Donald Trump spoke the truth: he called repeated chemical attacks “crimes of a monster.” On April ...
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Freud’s Jaw and Other Lost Objects
Fractured Subjectivity in the Face of Cancer
Public Seminar spoke to Lana Lin, author of Freud’s Jaw and Other Lost Objects, about the genesis of the book, psychoanalysis, and art-making.
Q&A with Lana Lin
Public Seminar (PS): Why did you write Freud’s Jaw and Other Lost Objects: Fractured Subjectivity in the Face of Cancer ?
Lana Lin (LL): I had been training to become ...
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Consonance, Dissonance, Harmony
Itinerary of some thoughts on thinking politically
"I merely took the energy it takes to pout, and I wrote some blues." -Duke Ellington
This is my fourteenth “Blue Monday” column. In but a few weeks, I have already written over forty thousand words in this virtual space. It’s not as if I don’t have a life. The column is not ...
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Translating Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Work
An interview with David Stromberg
You can read the translated essay "Socrates and His Teaching" here on Public Seminar.
Q & A with David Stromberg
1. How did you come to be a reader and translator of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s work? How did you find Singer, or how did Singer find you?
I don’t know when I ...
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Socrates and His Teaching
Isaac Bashevis Singer translated by David Stromberg
Socrates is the best-known Greek philosopher among most people. The reason for his fame is not the philosopher himself but his mean wife, Xanthippe. People in no way interested in philosophy know that the great Socrates had a bitter spouse who caused him great suffering. Socrates is also famous for ...
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Are Cities an Environmental Curse or Blessing?
Yes.
Every day, people in Chicago consume immense quantities of food that arrive from nearby farms, large agri-businesses further afield, and producers around the world. Oranges are sent from citrus groves in Florida, chicken parts from processing plants in South Carolina, bananas from growers in the Dominican Republic, olive oil from ...
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Agent Sabina
On the abjection of Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva’s recently released secret service files reveal a similar persona to that which comes through her writing: unruly, witty, courageous. And yet Kristeva is denying the allegations. Is it something other than the truth that she fears?
‘On the surface, an intelligible lie; underneath,
the unintelligible truth showing through’
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable ...
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The Global Civil War
Gray Reflections on a Gray Friday Morning
It’s a cultural war that here and there sometimes includes guns. It is hard to see the end of it, short of victory or defeat, as it is important to realize it has long been with us. The war is being fought as a struggle between the good guys and ...
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The Origins of Mutuality
How worker co-operation has emerged and re-emerged over time in the City of London
Ask people what they appreciate about London, and money is outranked by the people, the culture, the opportunities and even the parks and green spaces. But when it comes to the City of London, all people remember is finance.
My contribution is to unpick some of this association by telling a ...
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Gender and the Politics of Secularism
A conversation between Joan Wallach Scott and Judith Butler on Scott’s latest book Sex and Secularism
An excerpt from Joan Wallach Scott’s latest book Sex and Secularism can be found here.
Judith Butler: Shall we start the interview? I am wondering whether you could describe the decision to work on a book on sex and secularism. What led up to that decision? How does this book follow from your The Politics ...
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