
Theory Underground
Theory Underground aims to make challenging philosophical and theoretical work accessible, not by summarizing, but by aiding those who seek to engage in this work as a way of life. Keep up with everything at theoryunderground.com
Latest episodes

Dec 13, 2024 • 1h 28min
The Natural, Normal, and Good | Capital, Church, and State | Guest: Daniel Garner
Critical theory can challenge what gets normalized as seemingly natural and good, but these things are not the same, nor are they "things," so how do we talk about them?
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk

Dec 1, 2024 • 2h 60min
Episode 2 of THE SELF-LEGITIMATING JOHNSONS - Dave and Nance are Pierre Bourdieu's Classification Struggles
Classification Struggles - Socioanalysis - Epistemically Rigorous Social Theory - Pierre Bourdieu
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk

Nov 27, 2024 • 2h 33min
MIKEY DRUNK STREAM - Democrats LOSE The Culture War and Nick Land Bros BIG Mad About Deleuze and IQ
David McKerracher, Nance, Michael Downs, and *drum roll* Benjamin Studebaker!!! With friends
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk

Nov 25, 2024 • 6h 40min
Episode 1 of THE SELF-LEGITIMATING JOHNSONS | Sides A and B
The guest, Pierre Bourdieu, renowned sociologist, presents lectures that delve into complex social theories. He discusses the significance of socio-analysis and cultural distinctions, unveiling how social capital shapes our identities. Listeners are invited to engage with the new Turn Initiative, promoting community collaboration. Bourdieu humorously critiques societal views on wealth and social class, challenging conventional narratives. The podcast emphasizes language's dual role in education and the importance of nuanced understandings in sociology to navigate modern complexities.

Nov 21, 2024 • 48min
The end of the November EMSTU (Post Haz debrief) - Dave, Nance, Mikey and Benjamin Studebaker
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk

Nov 11, 2024 • 1h 2min
THE POLITICAL THEORY OF LIBERAL SOCIALISM - Matthew McManus
Check his book out here https://www.routledge.com/The-Political-Theory-of-Liberal-Socialism/McManus/p/book/9781032647234?srsltid=AfmBOooqc4eqhUVrEdkb1GcD5toUCEJq3R63oYRjODv0CkaDrlwvELci
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk

12 snips
Nov 8, 2024 • 59min
THE GRAPH OF DESIRE + What Is Philosophy? Lacan and Deleuze with Terence Blake of Agent Swarm
Terence Blake, a scholar with 40 years of expertise in French theory and a key contributor to Agent Swarm, dives into the philosophical complexities of desire through Lacan and Deleuze. He discusses the 'graph of desire' and its implications for identity in our social media age. Blake highlights how rigid beliefs can impede growth and emphasizes the need for self-reflection. The conversation also touches on the interplay between personal identity and communal roles, illustrating how engaging with diverse perspectives enriches philosophical understanding.

Nov 4, 2024 • 1h 5min
THE RECOVERING ANARCHIST - Meet Kier!
Subscribe to Kier's Substack here: https://kier.substack.com/
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk

Nov 3, 2024 • 3h 8min
Why NOT Left?, The Functional Illiterati, and That (Theoryfic?) Email We Got...
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk

Oct 22, 2024 • 1h 8min
1Dime and The Swoletariat on The American Revolution and Gabriel Rockhill
We still have two leftist friends!
ABOUT
Theory Underground is a research, publishing, and lecture institute. TU exists to develop the concept of timenergy in the context of critical social theory (CST). To get basically situated in this field you will have to know a handful of important figures from a bunch of areas of the humanities and social sciences. That would be a lot of work for you if not for the fact that Dave, Ann, and Mikey are consolidating hundreds of thousands of hours of effort into a pirate TV-radio-press that goes on tours and throws conferences and stuff. Enjoy a ton of its content here for free or get involved to access courses and the ongoing research seminars.
GET INVOLVED or SUPPORT
Join live sessions and unlock past courses and forums on the TU Discord by becoming a member via the monthly subscription! It’s the hands-down best way to get the most out of the content if you are excited to learn the field and become a thinker in the milieu: https://theoryunderground.com/products/tu-subscription-tiers
Pledge support to the production of the free content on YouTube and Podcast https://www.patreon.com/TheoryUnderground
Fund the publishing work via the TU Substack, where original works by the TU writers is featured alongside original works by Slavoj Zizek, Todd McGowan, Chris Cutrone, Nina Power, Alenka Zupancic, et al. https://theoryunderground.substack.com/
Get TU books at a discount: https://theoryunderground.com/publications
CREDITS / LINKS
Missed a course at Theory Underground? Wrong! Courses at Theory Underground are available after the fact on demand via the membership. https://theoryunderground.com/courses
If you want to help TU in a totally gratuitous way, or support, here is a way to buy something concrete and immediately useful https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2MAWFYUJQIM58?
Buy Dave and Ann a coffee date: https://www.venmo.com/u/theoryunderground https://paypal.me/theorypleeb
If Theory Underground has helped you see that text-to-speech technologies are a useful way of supplementing one’s reading while living a busy life, if you want to be able to listen to PDFs for yourself, then Speechify is recommended. Use the link below and Theory Underground gets credit! https://share.speechify.com/mzwBHEB
Follow Theory Underground on Duolingo: https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTP747NSNMAOYEI
See Theory Underground memes and get occasional updates or thoughts via the Instagram :
https://www.instagram.com/theory_underground
MUSIC CREDITS Logo sequence music by https://olliebeanz.com/music https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Mike Chino, Demigods https://youtu.be/M6wruxDngOk
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