Laura Flanders and Friends: Solutions-Focused Progressive Perspectives on Politics, News, and Culture Donna Haraway on Cyborgs, “Oddkin” & Resisting the Monoculture of the Mind [full uncut conversation]
Synopsis: A leading voice in feminist philosophy, Donna Haraway joins Laura for an incisive discussion on challenging patriarchal norms and cultivating a more inclusive understanding of humanity, one that prioritizes accountability and empathy in an increasingly complex world.
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Description: “Thinking requires action and passion,” says feminist philosopher and scholar, Donna Haraway in this unique conversation. In her 1985 essay “A Cyborg Manifesto” and 2003 work, “The Companion Species Manifesto”, Haraway challenged patriarchal, capitalist, binary, species-ist ways of looking at the world. It’s no surprise that people are looking to her work again now. Generative thinking, she tells Laura, requires “taking the risk to try a new pattern; to invent something that may very well fall apart in your collective hands but leaves threads to be picked up again.” In this episode, Haraway and Flanders sit down for an expansive conversation about what it means to be human in an age of AI and resisting what she calls authoritarian “mono-thought.” Plus, a commentary from Laura on staying in the present and “staying with the trouble.”
“An individual is embedded deeply in worlds with other people, with other organisms, with living and non-living parts of the world. To be a self is to come to a thicker appreciation and accountability for the way we're embedded in the world and act in the world. That's what I mean by being a proper self.” - Donna Haraway
Guest: Donna Haraway, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of California Santa Cruz, History of Consciousness Department; Author, A Cyborg Manifesto, When Species Meet, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene
Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel 11:30am ET Sundays and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast January 21st, 2026.
Full Episode Notes are located HERE.
Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation.
Music Credit: 'Thrum of Soil' by Bluedot Sessions, 'Steppin' by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper
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RESOURCES:
*Recommended book:
“The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness” by Donna Haraway: *Get the book
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Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:
• Pride Pioneers Holly Hughes & Esther Newton: How Queer Kinship Ties Help Us Survive: Watch / Listen: Episode Cut
• Survival Guide for Humans Learned from Marine Mammals with Alexis Pauline Gumbs: Watch / Listen: Episode Cut and Full Uncut Conversation
• “Powerlands”: Indigenous Youth Fight Big Oil & Gas Worldwide: Watch / Listen: Episode Cut and Full Uncut Conversation
Related Articles and Resources:
• Donna Haraway: Story Telling for Earthly Survival by Fabrizo Terranova - Watch
• Making Oddkin: Story Telling for Earthly Survival lecture at Yale - Watch
• You Are Cyborg by Hair Kunzru, February 1, 1997, WIRED
• Donna Haraway, Erasmus laureate 2025 at the Next Nature Museum, November 21, 2025, by Next Nature
• Rethinking Humanity with Donna Haraway: A Cyborg Manifesto for the AI Age, August 18, 2025, Philosopheasy
CHAPTERS:
Donna Haraway's Insights on Technology and Species
00:00:00
Why Haraway's Work Resonates: Thinking as a Collective Game
00:02:29
The Most Dangerous Story: Authoritarianism and Racial Capitalism
00:05:27
Beyond Binary: Understanding Technology's Dual Capacity for Good and Harm
00:08:48
From Isolated Individual to Networked Holo-Bion: Redefining the Self
00:11:09
Challenging Fixedness: The Diverse History of Humanity and Collective Life
00:18:40
Staying with the Trouble: Practicing Accountability and Making Kin
00:22:25
Finding Joy in Collective Action and Building Support Structures
00:27:49
The Power of Friendship and Non-Biological Kinship in Life and Work
00:31:50
Learning from Dogs: Agility and the Dance of Being with Others
00:36:58
From Local Action to AI: Revisiting the Cyborg Manifesto for Today's World
00:42:57
Affirmative Feminism and the Transformative Power of Compost
00:48:31
The Future is Now: Making Our Thick Present Livable & Show Outro
00:53:06
Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer.
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