

Political Philosophy
Dr Johnson
A podcast devoted to the history of political thought in the spirit of sharing, not perfection. Explanation and discussion of classic and contemporary political ideas. YouTube: YouTube.com/politicalphilosophy
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 7, 2025 • 22min
The Vulnerabilities of Democracy in the Age of Image
People are really falling for Chance … er, Chauncey in Chapter 5 of Jerzy Kosinski’s Being There.
Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: https://pmaurin.org
Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Aug 23, 2025 • 25min
Romantic Democracy: The Blind Following the Blind. (Kosinski’s Being There, 4)
We continue with our discussion of Jerzy Kosinski’s novel, Being There, at the point where “Chauncey Gardiner,” mistaken for a wealthy and handsome businessman, meets the President of the United States and the American press–and a desperate heiress.
Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: https://pmaurin.org
Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Jul 31, 2025 • 28min
An Empty Signifier Makes an Ideal Lover (Being There, Part 3)
We continue with our discussion of Jerzy Kosinski’s novel, Being There, at the point where “Chauncey Gardiner” meets EE by accident and gets mistaken for a wealthy and handsome businessman.
Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: https://pmaurin.org Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Jul 26, 2025 • 22min
Victim or Boss? Depends on Your Perspective (Being There, Part 2)
Jerzy Kosinski’s Being There is a satirical story about American democracy and the effects of electronic media on the American mind. This video covers the first two chapters of the novel, which was made into a movie starring Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine.
Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: https://pmaurin.org
Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Jul 22, 2025 • 22min
From Gardener to Politician: The Impact of Media in ‘Being There’ (1)
We begin a new series inspired by Jerzy Kosinski’s classic novel, Being There (1971). Being There is a satirical and allegorical tale about the adventures of Chance, a simple gardener who has previously lived a sheltered life saturated with television as his main source of human contact. Chance is thrown into the media spotlight by accident, propelling him to the top echelons of American politics, as people read wisdom into everything he says.
Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: https://pmaurin.org
Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Jun 27, 2025 • 19min
Thomas Aquinas’s Natural Law Theory: Brief Explanation (Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics Public Segment #4)
This is a segment of an hour long lecture followed by a Q & A session for patrons of the Maurin Academy. To get the entire course and all the courses, reading groups and our lecture series, support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: https://pmaurin.org
Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Jun 20, 2025 • 19min
The Quality of Friendships: Does it Matter for Politics? Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics Public Segment #3
This is a segment of an hour long lecture followed by a Q & A session for patrons of the Maurin Academy. To get the entire course and all the courses, reading groups and our lecture series, support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: https://pmaurin.org
Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Jun 13, 2025 • 17min
Introduction to Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics, Public Segment #2: The Mean Between Extremes
This is a segment of an hour long lecture followed by a Q & A session for patrons of the Maurin Academy. To get the entire course and all the courses, reading groups and our lecture series, support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: https://pmaurin.org
Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Jun 11, 2025 • 8min
Introduction to Ivan Illich: A New Maurin Academy Class Starting June 17
Starting June 19, the Maurin Academy will host a class by Deacon Chris May on Ivan Illich. Here Deacon May discusses who Illich was and why we should know more about him.
Maurin Academy Patreon (join at the Salt of the Earth for all recordings of this and all our classes, or Worker-Scholar level for live access to all our content plus our recordings): https://patreon.com/maurinacademy
Maurin Academy Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.fi/cc/the-maurin-academy-311669
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Instagram and Facebook for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/

Jun 11, 2025 • 21min
The Relationship Between Freedom and Justice (Federalist 51, Part 3)
We finish up Federalist 51 and end the series on Federalist 10 and 51, the basics of American Political Thought.
Get Laurie’s book, The Gap in God’s Country, at most bookstores in paperback and hardcover. Laurie’s book on Kindle: https://a.co/d/9m0zrg8
The Maurin Academy: https://pmaurin.org
Support the Maurin Academy on Patreon: patreon.com/maurinacademy
Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com
Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms!
Follow the Maurin Academy on Twitter and Instagram for notifications about upcoming events, and get our free newsletter: https://pmaurin.org/newsletter/