

Nihilism Now: Politics After Atheism
(AR+IO) Eisel Mazard
A podcast about the politics of atheism, about atheist perspectives on politics, and the nihilist critique of both, in the era following after the failure and dissolution of "New Atheism" as a movement.
AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.
AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 22, 2025 • 1h 50min
Jordan Peterson is not a genius: brain damage, bible bashing and scientific racism.
The old "equal opportunity" vs. "equality of outcomes" conundrum. Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 22, 2025 • 50min
Prostitution in Principle, Pornography in Practice: the Philosophy and Politics of OnlyFans.
Shout out to Ghostface. Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 20, 2025 • 1h 1min
The Triumph of the Will, the Tragedy of the Will, the Philosophy of the Will: Social Darwinism, Schopenhauer, George Bernard Shaw, etc.
How could you possibly require a synopsis after such a long title? ;-)This is episode 14 of Nihilism Now, but also the 15th episode of the separately numbered sequence (across many podcasts) of Active Research and Informed Opinion. (AR+IO-015)Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 19, 2025 • 1h 12min
The Critique of Sam Harris, Hallucinogenic Drugs, Hinduism, Meditation and Pseudo-Skepticism.
This is Episode 13 of Nihilism Now, a podcast about the politics of atheism (and the importance of atheism in politics) from a nihilist perspective. You may also want to take a glance at my other podcast, Brand New Ancient Buddhism.Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 18, 2025 • 49min
Nihilism: the only religion you can believe in, the only philosophy you can live by.
Shout out to Woody Curry. This is episode 12 of Nihilism Now: Politics After Atheism.Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 16, 2025 • 1h 9min
Nihilism vs antisemitism: from the occult origins of the Nazi movement to Kanye West.
Occult in its origins, occult in its undoing in the end: this could instead be titled Nihilism vs the Neo-Nazis (although we might need a footnote to clarify that this category includes Kanye West).This is episode 11 of Nihilism Now: Politics After Atheism.Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 16, 2025 • 46min
Burning Down Notre Dame Cathedral: the Atheist Revolution in Practice, not in Principle.
This is episode 10 of Nihilism Now: Politics After Atheism, a podcast about the politics of atheism (and the importance of atheism in politics) from a nihilist perspective.Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 16, 2025 • 1h 3min
Nihilism vs Judaism: Jaclyn Glenn and the Greatest Taboo in the Atheist Movement.
Although it is commonly said that Judaism is not quite the same thing as Jewishness, supporting either one while rejecting the other entails a paradox that comes close to racism —and these are precisely the arguments that Jaclyn Glenn attempts to make, defending the continuation of the religion "as an identity" that is supposedly rooted in D.N.A. while remaining nominally atheist, and yet demonstrating her faith through prayer and ritual, including circumcision. This is episode 09 of Nihilism Now: Politics After Atheism.Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 11, 2025 • 47min
Economic Nihilism: Neoliberalism's Fatal Flaw.
The problem is not so much that Milton Friedman is wrong about everything, but, instead, the extent to which people presume that being right about any particular factoid (in the overlapping fields of politics and economics) means that you "must be" correct about anything (or everything) else. (AR+IO-014) A podcast about the politics of atheism (and the importance of atheism in politics) from a nihilist perspective.Find me on Instagram. Support me on Patreon. Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings).https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/postsAR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon. Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

Mar 8, 2025 • 1h 12min
The American Empire with the Mask Off: the Canadian Empire with the Mask On.
Episode thirteen (AR+IO-013). Let us be blunt: if Quebec has the right to establish its independence by a referendum, then the Crimea does, too —along with the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk) and Taiwan and everyone else, everywhere else. If not, we're back to the phony sovereignty (and even phonier empire-building) of the Napoleonic wars. How, after all, was Poland supposed to establish its independence during the reign of Napoleon? And Haiti? Oh no, let's not give ourselves nightmares by talking about Poland and Haiti.There is no doubt, in praxis, that the people of Greenland would benefit enormously from being annexed by the United States of America. The people of Canada would, too, and yet we are staring at an advantage in praxis without a principle. The philosophical poverty of the American Empire is so profound that when the mask comes off we can only laugh at its face laid bare: what could be more absurd than Canada and Greenland joining the American Empire? What could be more absurd than regarding the United States of America as —morally— no different from the Russian Empire of Vladimir Putin? Communism is dead in one place and Democracy is dead in the other: what is it, now, that they are conquering the world for? The inability to articulate an American philosophy entails the inability to administer an empire, here, there, everywhere: from Afghanistan to Greenland.