The Political Animals

In this, their final episode, Holly and Jonathan discuss political lesbianism. Is lesbianism innate or a political choice? Are political lesbians superior to heterosexual feminists? What is the intersection of lesbianism and feminism? Has the LGBTQ movement domesticated and defanged radical lesbianism?The Political Animals is co-hosted by:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel.Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

Holly and Jonathan discuss a controversial article published in the Journal of Controversial ideas that claims to have found that recent immigrants and refugees in Germany have lower average IQs than the German population, with implications for their participation in the labour market. The journal also published three critical responses that Holly and Jonathan discuss.The articles can be found here.The Political Animals is co-hosted by:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel.Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

Holly and Jonathan discuss an essay by right-wing libertarian Hans-Hermann Hoppe arguing for a stateless society based on comprehensive private property, along with his view of the different anthropologies that shape the left and the right (and his view that white, heterosexual males are responsible for progress and prosperity). The Political Animals is co-hosted by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel. Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

Is there an alternative to the hegemony of liberalism? Controversial Russian philosophy Aleksandr Dugin proposes a Fourth Political Theory (beyond liberalism, communism and fascism) to address the empty degeneration of postliberalism, construed as the post-ideological form of liberalism that has triumphed and reigns globally today. Dugin proposes a multipolar civilisational new world order in which various antilibearl traditionalisms can thrive in communities connected by language, religion and culture. Is his critique of liberalism cogent? Does the Fourth Political Theory only make sense in the Russian context? Is Dugin even able to articular its content as a theory and practice? The Political Animals is co-hosted by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology. Jonathan writes for Liberty Itch on Substack; and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel. Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

Jonathan and Holly discuss far-right intentional communities and utopias, using two case-studies that appeared in a recent special issue of the Journal of Political Ideologies focusing on far-right utopias in practice. One case-study focuses on a Traditionalist community in Indiana in the US and the other looks at the Heralds of the Gospel in Brazil. The Political Animals is co-hosted by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel. Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

Jonathan and Holly ask whether abortion is more a question of values or science? Whether the ethical or the legal is the most difficult aspect of the issue? Whether men should have any say on abortion? Whether abortion is a question of individual choice or majority opinion? And the role of symbolism in the way people understand the foetus. The Political Animals is co-hosted by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel. Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

Do white people need to become race conscious? Is America a white supremacist culture? Is racisim a structure rather than an event? Should white women cry in the presence of women of colour? Jonathan and Holly discuss the notion of white fragility popularised by Robin Diangelo in her controversial book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism. The Political Animals is co-hosted by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel. Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

Jonathan and Holly explore decolonisation. What does it mean? What are its goals? Has it overreached and can it succeed? The article discussed in this episode is “On Decolonisation and the University." The Political Animals is co-hosted by: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠. Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel. Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

This week Jonathan and Holly discuss (debate) the issue of hate speech and in particular whether it should be banned or addressed by counterspeech, especially state-based counterspeech.The Political Animals is co-hosted by:⁠⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and⁠⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠.Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠ channel.Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.

Where is the boundary between legitimate and illegitimate political association? Jonathan and Holly examine the case of the “Let Women Speak” rally held on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in March 2023, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis and led to the expulsion of Moira Deeming from the Liberal Party for the alleged sin of political association. The Political Animals is co-hosted by: ⁠⁠Jonathan Cole⁠⁠, an academic interested in conservatism, libertarianism, political ideology and political theology; and ⁠⁠Holly Lawford-Smith⁠⁠, an academic working in moral and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminist theory and movement. You can find Holly on ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠. Want to see our faces? Check out our ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ channel. Want to suggest a topic for a show, provide feedback or say hello? Email us at polanimalspod@gmail.com.