Don't miss the second of our special Friendship podcast series based on our Summer Virtual Reading Group on Arendt & Friendship.  Hannah Arendt, whose thinking is at the heart of our center, was said to have a “genius for friendship.” Known as a political thinker, Arendt wrote to her friend Gershom Scholem that she could never love a state or a political people, but only her friends. For Arendt, “only in misfortune do we find out who our true friends are.” It is our true friends, she wrote, “to whom we unhesitatingly reveal happiness and whom we count on to share our rejoicing.” Arendt prized the humanity of intimate friendships where “friends open their hearts to each other unmolested by the world and its demands.”  As much as she believed in the power of intimate friendship, Arendt also understood what she called “the political relevance of friendship.”  The world is not humane simply because it is made by human beings. Rather, the things of this world only become human “when we can discuss them with our fellows.” For Arendt, it follows that in public life, “friendship is not intimately personal but makes political demands and preserves reference to the world.” The common world is thus held together by friendship. Politics and friendship both are based in the act of talking with others. There are no absolutes in either friendship or politics, where everything emerges from the act of speaking and acting in concert with others. Thus, Arendt insists there is no truth in politics. In politics it is opinion and not truth that matters. Absent truth, what holds the political world together is friendships, our sober and rational love for our fellow citizens.That friendship emerges in conversation and that conversation, and not the revelation of truths from on high, is the source of political consensus. That is why Arendt can say, with Cicero, “I prefer before heaven to go astray with Plato than hold true views with his opponents.”  She means that friendship more so than truth is the foundation of a meaningful political world.   See more about our Annual Conference, Friendship & Politics.

This episode of Reading Hannah Arendt with Roger Berkowitz deals with Chapter 5 of Origins of Totalitarianism: Race-Thinking Before Racism. Our podcast follows the book that we are reading in our current Virtual Reading Group (VRG), which meets weekly on Fridays at 1 PM EST. We are currently reading Arendt's classic analysis of the 20th century, The Origins of Totalitarianism. In Origins, Arendt tracks the rise of Fascism and Communism and explores what differentiates these regimes from past authoritarian systems.    THE HOST Roger Berkowitz is Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College. He is editor of The Perils of Invention: Lying, Technology, and the Human Condition and co-editor of Thinking in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt on Ethics and Politics (2009), and Artifacts of Thinking: Reading Hannah Arendt's Denktagebuch (2017). Berkowitz edits HA: The Journal of the Hannah Arendt Center and the weekly newsletter Amor Mundi. He is the winner of the 2019 Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought given by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Germany.

In this podcast, Roger Berkowitz discusses Hannah Arendt's analysis of the rise of Fascism and Communism. Topics include the role of the bourgeoisie, the contradictions of expansion and imperialism, corruption of the civil service and its link to racism, and Hannah Arendt's interpretation of Thomas Hobbes. They also explore the alliance between the mob and capital, the dangers of dividing mankind into master races and slave races, and the connection between private interest, politics, and authoritarianism.

This episode of Reading Hannah Arendt with Roger Berkowitz deals with Chapter 3 of Origins of Totalitarianism: The Dreyfus Affair. Our podcast follows the book that we are reading in our current Virtual Reading Group (VRG), which meets weekly on Fridays at 1 PM EST. We are currently reading Arendt's classic analysis of the 20th century, The Origins of Totalitarianism. In Origins, Arendt tracks the rise of Fascism and Communism and explores what differentiates these regimes from past authoritarian systems.    THE HOST Roger Berkowitz is Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College. He is editor of The Perils of Invention: Lying, Technology, and the Human Condition and co-editor of Thinking in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt on Ethics and Politics (2009), and Artifacts of Thinking: Reading Hannah Arendt's Denktagebuch (2017). Berkowitz edits HA: The Journal of the Hannah Arendt Center and the weekly newsletter Amor Mundi. He is the winner of the 2019 Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought given by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Germany.

Don't miss the first of our special Friendship podcast series based on our Summer Virtual Reading Group on Arendt & Friendship.  Hannah Arendt, whose thinking is at the heart of our center, was said to have a “genius for friendship.” Known as a political thinker, Arendt wrote to her friend Gershom Scholem that she could never love a state or a political people, but only her friends. For Arendt, “only in misfortune do we find out who our true friends are.” It is our true friends, she wrote, “to whom we unhesitatingly reveal happiness and whom we count on to share our rejoicing.” Arendt prized the humanity of intimate friendships where “friends open their hearts to each other unmolested by the world and its demands.”  As much as she believed in the power of intimate friendship, Arendt also understood what she called “the political relevance of friendship.”  The world is not humane simply because it is made by human beings. Rather, the things of this world only become human “when we can discuss them with our fellows.” For Arendt, it follows that in public life, “friendship is not intimately personal but makes political demands and preserves reference to the world.” The common world is thus held together by friendship. Politics and friendship both are based in the act of talking with others. There are no absolutes in either friendship or politics, where everything emerges from the act of speaking and acting in concert with others. Thus, Arendt insists there is no truth in politics. In politics it is opinion and not truth that matters. Absent truth, what holds the political world together is friendships, our sober and rational love for our fellow citizens.That friendship emerges in conversation and that conversation, and not the revelation of truths from on high, is the source of political consensus. That is why Arendt can say, with Cicero, “I prefer before heaven to go astray with Plato than hold true views with his opponents.”  She means that friendship more so than truth is the foundation of a meaningful political world.   See more about our Annual Conference, Friendship & Politics.

The podcast explores Hannah Arendt's analysis of totalitarianism, focusing on Jews in society, the tension between being a pariah and assimilating, and the complex relationship between political and social anti-Semitism. It also delves into discrimination, assimilation, and vice, and highlights the essayistic nature of Arendt's writing.

In this podcast, they discuss the distinction between social and political antisemitism, the paradoxes surrounding Jewish identity and privileges, the complex relationship between equality and privileges in the emancipation of Jews, Hannah Arendt's ideas on the identification of Jews, the emergence of political antisemitism and societal discrimination, and exploring responsibility, choice, and antisemitism in totalitarianism.

In this podcast, the host explores Hannah Arendt's 'Origins of Totalitarianism' and its analysis of fascism and communism. They discuss the importance of understanding anti-Semitism and responsibility in the Holocaust. The chapters explore the distinction between Jew hatred and anti-Semitism, and the centrality of anti-Semitism in Nazi ideology.

Exploring Hannah Arendt's analysis of totalitarian movements like Nazism and Stalinism, emphasizing understanding root causes to prevent recurrence. Discussing modern issues of homelessness, rootlessness, and loneliness in society, advocating for thought and freedom as defense mechanisms. Delving into anti-Semitism, imperialism, and power struggles, analyzing the impact of citizen action and mobilization in politics.

The crisis facing democratic regimes today is cause for serious concern; it is also an opportunity for deep reflection on questions and assumptions concerning liberal representative democracy. Instead of assuming a defensive posture and taking up arms to defend the status quo, our conference asks: how can we revitalize our democracy?   This event took place October 16th, 2020 and featured David van Reybrouck, Hélène Landemore, and Roger Berkowitz.  Click here to learn more.