Psyche

In this episode of Psyche Podcast, I sit down with philosopher and Lacanian theorist Todd McGowan for a deep exploration of Frantz Fanon’s engagement with G.W.F. Hegel. Together, we unpack how Black Skin, White Masksreimagines Hegel’s master–slave dialectic through the lens of colonialism, race, and psychic struggle.Todd explains how thinkers like Alexandre Kojève shaped the 20th-century obsession with recognition and how Fanon both inherits and critiques that legacy. We explore Fanon’s bold claim that freedom must be won through struggle, not simply mutual understanding—and how his universalism sets him apart from later postcolonial and identity-based readings.Our conversation also moves into psychoanalysis, examining Fanon’s dialogue with Freud and Lacan, his implicit engagement with the death drive, and his view of colonialism as a system driven by disavowed self-destruction. We also touch on Fanon’s reflections on violence, alienation, and the tension between theory and political action.This is a wide-ranging discussion about freedom, universality, and the cost of liberation, and why Fanon’s work still speaks urgently to our moment.

In this solo episode, I explore what Erich Fromm and Frantz Fanon can teach us about suffering, freedom, and what it means to be human. I’m not speaking as a scholar — I’m speaking as a psychotherapist who sits with real people in real pain every day. This is my humble, subjective take on how their ideas show up in the therapy room.I look at how both thinkers believed our struggles aren’t just personal — they’re shaped by the world we live in. Fromm leans toward love, boundaries, and humanistic change; Fanon toward rupture, fire, and reclaiming dignity through action. I also reflect on our tendency to idealize intellectual heroes instead of learning to think for ourselves.If you’re curious about the intersection of mental health, meaning, and the social world we’re all trying to survive, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, I talk with Tyrique Mack-Georges, a PhD student in philosophy at Penn State, about the deep connections between Frantz Fanon and Jean-Paul Sartre. We explore how both thinkers help us understand the systemic nature of racism, the power of language in maintaining or challenging colonial systems, and Fanon’s vision of a new humanism.Tyrique shares how his Caribbean background shapes his philosophical journey and how Fanon reworked Sartre’s existentialism to illuminate what it means to become fully human in a world structured by domination.🎧 A thoughtful conversation on philosophy, race, and the ongoing project of liberation.

In this solo episode, I explore Frantz Fanon’s ambivalence toward religion—how he wrestled with the sacred, the modern, and the so-called “primitive.” Drawing on Federico Settler’s thought-provoking essay, I reflect on Fanon’s complex relationship with Catholicism, Islam, and indigenous spirituality, and how those tensions shaped his vision of liberation and the “new man.”I’m also excited to share some of the conversations coming up on the podcast, including Tyrique Mack-Georges on Fanon and Sartre, Todd McGowan on Fanon and Hegel, Donovan Miyasaki on Fanon and Nietzsche, and Matthew Beaumont on Fanon and Reich. I’m hoping to keep expanding this exploration—into Fanon’s engagement with Manichaeism, his possible connections to Alfred Adler, Simone de Beauvoir, and others who helped shape his revolutionary psychology.

In this episode of the Psyche Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Peter Hudis for a rich and energizing conversation on the life, thought, and legacy of Frantz Fanon. As I mention at the start of our discussion, Peter’s book Frantz Fanon: Philosopher of the Barricades has been one of the most accessible and illuminating introductions to Fanon I’ve ever encountered. If you’ve wanted to understand Fanon beyond the buzzwords—this is the place to begin.Together, we explore the philosophical influences that shaped Fanon’s thinking, from the Negritude movement and Sartre to Merleau-Ponty, Hegel, and beyond. Peter shares fascinating stories about Fanon’s early exposure to philosophy in Martinique, his evolution as a revolutionary thinker, and the ways he transformed the ideas he inherited rather than simply repeating them. We also discuss Fanon’s commitment to a new humanism—one rooted in mutual recognition, dignity, liberation, and social transformation.Whether you’re new to Fanon or have been journeying with his ideas for years, this episode offers both depth and accessibility. I left the conversation energized, challenged, and more convinced than ever that Fanon’s work remains essential for thinking about race, liberation, and humanity today.Tune in, reflect with us, and see what new connections emerge for you as we revisit Fanon’s enduring legacy through the eyes of a leading scholar.

In this episode of Psyche Podcast, I sit down with Daniel José Gaztambide to talk about his brilliant new book Decolonizing Psychoanalytic Technique: Putting Freud on Fanon’s Couch. This was one of my favorite conversations to date — part intellectual exploration, part personal exchange, and entirely alive with the spirit of Fanon’s revolutionary thought.Daniel and I trace the roots of his work back to his childhood in Puerto Rico, his experiences growing up in a psychologically attuned church, and his journey through psychoanalytic and liberation psychology training. We talk about what it means to read Freud through Fanon — how psychoanalysis itself must be decolonized to reckon with the realities of race, class, and power.From Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents to Fanon’s psychiatric innovations in Blida, Daniel unpacks the political and clinical stakes of psychotherapy today — including the idea of intersectional suffering and how our personal struggles are shaped by larger systems of racial capitalism and patriarchy.This episode is full of warmth, humor, and deep insight. Daniel’s passion for both clinical practice and social transformation really shines through, and I can’t wait for listeners to hear how Fanon’s legacy continues to challenge and inspire the next generation of therapists and thinkers.

In this solo episode, I dive into the electrifying intersection between Zeal & Ardor’s genre-bending music and Frantz Fanon’s revolutionary psychology of liberation.I trace the origins of Zeal & Ardor — from Manuel Gagneux’s provocative “what-if” experiment blending slave spirituals and black metal — to their evolution into a powerful exploration of history, rage, and rebirth. Through Fanon’s lens, this fusion becomes more than music: it’s a sonic revolt, a reimagining of how trauma, faith, and resistance can transform into new cultural life.Along the way, I unpack Fanon’s ideas about the “white mask,” violence as catharsis, and the creation of a new humanism, showing how Zeal & Ardor’s sound captures the psychic energy of decolonization.This episode is part cultural analysis, part therapy session, and part love letter to the power of art to rework our deepest wounds.

In this episode of Psyche Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Sinan Richards to explore his brilliant article “The Logician of Madness: Fanon’s Lacan.” Our conversation dives into the deep intellectual currents connecting Frantz Fanon and Jacques Lacan—two thinkers often treated as distant but who, as Sinan argues, share a surprisingly intimate lineage.We trace Fanon’s early psychiatric influences at Saint-Alban under François Tosquelles, the Catalan psychiatrist whose fusion of psychoanalysis, surrealism, and social activism helped form the basis for institutional psychotherapy. From there, we follow how Tosquelles’ reading of Lacan’s fertile moments of delirium and psychogenesis evolved into Fanon’s own radical idea of sociogenesis—the notion that the colonial order itself produces mental illness.Sinan also illuminates the feedback loop between these two towering figures: how Lacan’s early emphasis on the social helped shape Fanon’s thought, and how Fanon, in turn, may have anticipated the late Lacanian critique of the symbolic order as a kind of psychic prison. Together, we discuss language, desire, and disalienation—how the colonized subject’s struggle to speak and dream in a colonizer’s tongue exposes both the political and psychic dimensions of liberation.Along the way, Sinan shares vivid stories—like Tosquelles and his patients hand-binding copies of Lacan’s thesis and selling them in the village market—and we reflect on Fanon’s enduring insight that things cannot go on as they are.This conversation is for anyone drawn to psychoanalysis, decolonial thought, and the places where philosophy meets political action.

In this episode, I talk with Jungian analyst and musician Rodney Waters about his remarkable thesis, The Orphic Descent. Rodney explores how the myth of Orpheus reveals the deep psychological and spiritual power of music—its ability to connect opposites, suspend suffering, and awaken what’s lifeless within us.We trace his journey from classical pianist to Jungian analyst and discuss how music serves as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious, spirit and matter. Rodney reflects on Orpheus as the archetypal musician whose song could soften even the gods of the Underworld, while I share how a Gojira concert unexpectedly became a moment of transcendence for me.This conversation invites you to listen differently—to hear music not just as sound, but as a living symbol of the psyche’s movement toward wholeness.

In this solo episode, I take a deep dive into the life of Frantz Fanon, tracing his journey from his early years in Martinique to his groundbreaking work as a psychiatrist and revolutionary thinker.I explore how Fanon’s experiences growing up under French colonial rule shaped his understanding of identity and freedom, his formative time studying medicine and psychiatry in France, and his clinical work at Saint-Alban and Blida-Joinville, where his ideas about decolonization and mental health began to take root.This episode serves as an introduction to the series of upcoming conversations I’ll be having with scholars and clinicians about Fanon’s work and legacy. My goal is to offer listeners—especially those who may not be familiar with Fanon—a sense of the man behind the ideas, the experiences that shaped him, and why his thought still matters so deeply today.