In this episode we talk about Adorno and Horkheimer's Dialectic of Enlightenment, focusing on their notion of reason as abstractive domination and their understanding of the culture industry as a means of producing mass complicity with the machinations of capital. The good news is that we've got a much better sense of humor than either of them, so it's not as miserable as all that might sound. The bad news is we're not sure if they're wrong to be so pessimistic. We also drag a fair bit of popular culture, admit we still love it, and call out the podcast form itself. But you don't need to worry: your media consumption habits are good. You're fine. You're one of the ones who gets it, definitely.
This is just a small clip from the full episode, which is available to patrons:
patreon.com/leftofphilosophy
References:
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, trans. Edmund Jephcott (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002).
Theodor Adorno, "Free Time", in Critical Models (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005).
Music: Vintage Memories by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com
What's Left of Philosophy